Nieces, Nephews, and a whole bunch of Minnesota Fun!

We're back in London after a lovely trip back home to MN for a week and a half. It was wonderful! A whirlwind tour of the twin cities, our hometowns, and of course, Tobies Bakery in Hinkley. I think the pictures speak for themselves, we had a great time visiting with our family and friends. I especially loved playing with our nieces and nephews. We had a couple of gathering in which we could reconnect with friends, but we were so busy visiting, we neglected to take any photos.
It was a bittersweet time because we loved being home, but it reminded us of how hard it is to be far from family and friends. At the same time, the flights seemed to quick that we felt like MN isn't actually that far from the UK. On the otherhand, we were both happy to be back in London and after a restful weekend, we got back into our regular, comfortable routines. I'm a creature of habit and was glad to come back to our current "home."
We had a great weekend recently. There was a big social event at our church on Sunday and I was even asked to sing with the worship band that morning. On Friday, we went salsa dancing with some friends from Peurto Rico. It feels good to know that even though we're far from MN, we have some great friends and support here in London.
Hope all is well for each of you wherever your home is.
Peace, Mandy

Visit Home

Hey Everybody!
Just an FYI that we will be travelling back home for a short visit. We'll be in the Cities and up north between April 30th and May 10th. Hope we can reconnect with many of you.
Peace, Mandy
P.S. The picture is if my sister's dog, who I miss and can't wait to see :)

Adventures Gallore!

Well, this past month has been full of adventures. On our recent trip to Yorkshire, we discovered how wonderful it is to get out of the city once and a while. It is such a fast pace here, it was good for us to get away from that and we hope to plan little trips like that more often. But, on the other hand, our time here is short and London is a wonderful place to have new experiences. So, here's a sampling of all the places we've been lately....
This first picture above is of China Town (which is really only about a block here, but it is a great place for dumplings and red bean pastries. The Chinese New Year was not that long ago, so there's more lanterns and decorations than normal.



We also learned about another holiday called Purim. One of Andy's fellow students is from Israel and she is Jewish. We celebrated Chanuka with her in December and recently we celebrated Purim with her and a whole bunch of people from her job. They rented out a room in a club and had dancing a food late into the night. She told us that the holiday involves an elaborate story with all different characters and that traditionally people dress up as the characters. But, now they mostly just get dressed up, kind of like Halloween. We didn't really pack any costumes when we moved here, so we decided to dress up as tourists. It was a great time!



This is a picture of our friends Kat and Michael who did an act in a Cabaret that we went to. Cabarets seem to be quite popular here. They ususally include some music acts, comedy acts, and some dancing. Kat and Michael did this great comedy act where they pretend to do a knife throwing routine with imaginary knives. OK, it doesn't sound funny on paper, but it was really entertaining. The whole night was fun and lots of people dressed up in fancy costumes. They had a hip-hop contest and Andy did a little rap and tied with another woman for a prize of Bavarian sausages. We left the Cabaret with Michael and then went to a club where our friend Imagen was celebrating her 30th birthday. It was a fun night, but a long one. It took over an hour to get to the second place and then almost 2 hours to get home (only buses run past midnight, and cabs are too expensive). We had a similar adventure with Michael recently when we went swing dancing with him. Costumes and long bus rides were the theme that night as well.



Here's us on the bus. Friday and Saturday nights on public transportation is interesting because it is legal to drink in public here. So, whether on a bus or a train, there are usually people just sitting and talking and laughing with a beer in hand. It took a little getting used to it, but it's normal to us now, and from time to time we participate.



In our effort to get a break from the city, we've found a new place called Hampstead Heath. It's this great park that is huge and it's got a really nice neighborhood around it that feels a bit like Stillwater.





The Brighton Pier is what I imagine Coney Island to be like. It's a city that is about a one hour train ride east of the city just on the coast. We went out there and had a nice day walking on the boardwalk, eating lots of fried food, and trying out the games and rides on the pier. It was fun, although it was really windy and cold by the beach. We might go back in the summertime.


So, there you have it. From our pictures, you might think we're running around a lot, but this has all happened over the course of a month. To be honest, we haven't done much at all lately because both of us have been sick. First me just after our Yorkshire trip and now Andy has been in bed all week. We learned an important language lesson, did you know that "conjunctivitis" is really pink eye? How do we know, you ask...we just do. Andy's got is now, and I'm trying desperately to avoid getting it. But, it has been good for us to slow down a little and have time together.

Hope all is well for each of you back home. We'll be back for a visit soon at the end of May and we're counting down the days. I will leave you with one more photo. This is one of a small little alleyway near where I work. Someone has put some poetry on the wall there, here's just one little part of it. Life IS all around you.

Yorkshire, how we love thee!

Here's some pictures from our weekend in Yorkshire county. We stayed at a huge house where our friend, Sophie, grew up. It's in the cute little town of Ilkley. 11 of us from the school went up north in Sophie's van and then a few of us went home on a train. We had a great time hiking around the moors, playing pub games, and eating Annabelle's yummy food (Sophie's mom).
Hope all is well in your corners of the world.
Peace,
Mandy

Tagged

We've just been tagged by my friend Jenn who lives in Memphis. I don't know how entertaining my answers will be, but let's see...

A- Available or married? Married for 2.5 years
B- Best Friend? It's a tie between my twin and my husband, together, they are my super-friends!
C- Cake or Pie? Both, please. I like fruit and vanilla and sometimes chocolate
D- Drink of Choice? Most days water, but the English have been getting me hooked on tea
E- Essential Item? My blue barret, won't leave home without it
F- Favorite Color? Purple
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Either, as long as they are the sour kind
H- Hometown? Born in Eveleth, but will always have a place in my heart for Hastings, MN
I- Indulgence? Dancing, every girl's gotta do it every once and a while
J- January or February? January, my birthday is that month
K- Kids & names? none yet, but I could only marry Andy if I agreed our first girl would be named Claire
L- Life is incomplete without? God, family, friends, and balance
M- Marriage Date? September 10, 2004
N- Number of Siblings? 3, all women, all older
O- Oranges or apples? do clementines count?
P- Phobias/Fears? snorkeling/scuba diving, I know it sounds silly, but I just can't help but freak out...still a little bit of fear of bicycling after our accident, and if you want me to be really honest, I am afraid that people might not like me, but that's just a part of life, so I'm learning to accept that
Q- Favorite Quote? "If you want peace, work for justice." - Pope john Paul II
R- Reason to Smile? Lots of little things each day...somedays it's Andy's ridiculously loud laugh
S- Season? I'm longing for summer now, but I do always love the fall
T- Tag three people! my three sisters (for some reason, I had the urge to type that one fast)
U- Unknown fact about me: I want to become a Reiki Master (or a world-touring musician, but I think the reiki thing might actually happen)
W- Worst habit? forgetfulness
Y- Your favorite food? fresh picked strawberrieds, Grandma Sylvia's lasagna, Thai coconut curry with rice, and vanilla bean ice cream
Z- Zodiac? Capricorn

Language Lesson #2

Hello Everyone!

Just a little update before the language lesson...It SNOWED! We were so happy to wake up one morning to everything covered in white. I know many of you are probably sick of the snow in Minnesota, but we miss it somedays. We live near a school, so here's some photos of the cute little kids playing and slipping and sliding all over the place. The report said it was 2 inches of snow, but it was all melted by noon.
The other pictures are of our friends Alissa and Abby when they came for a quick weekend visit to see some of their old hang-out places from when they spent a semester here. They went to school in the same neighborhood as we live, so they told us about some great restaurants in our area. Also, there are some pictures of some friends from our job at the opera house. Two of the women we work with play guitar, so we spent a whole Sunday just playing and eating, and playing some more. It was a lot of fun.

So, you ready for another language lesson?
Here's a few more things I've been picking up....
courgette = zuccini
aubergine = eggplant
tomato = tomato (but you have to put an accent on the "ah" sound)
innit = aint it (this is a slang term that's used quite alot by young people)
bloke = a guy
mad = crazy

OK, so that's all I can think of right now, I'll find some more words and phrases for next time.

Hope all is well for you!

Peace and Blessings,
Mandy

You Come And Visit Us Now

I love how international this city is. On any given bus or tube, I regularly hear at least 3 different languages being spoken. Just last night we got together with friends that were from Italy, Spain, and France. We're both trying to learn more Spanish since we know so many Spanish-speakers here.
We've learned a lot about the English language from other immigrants here. For example, some of our friends from the Middle East and India have this wonderful ability to use language to do Jedi-like mind tricks. For example, if you say "It's hot in here." They will reply, "Yes, but you like hot, hot is good." And in your mind, you are now thinking, "Yeah, maybe." Then they ask, "What, you want to be cold?! Of course not, hot is good. You like hot." You can't argue with that kind of logic, so now you decide that you like hot. It's great! So....you come and visit us now. What? You want to just stay at home and be bored? Of course not. Visiting us is good. You come. You will like it.
All joking aside, I do admire all the inspiring people that I have met from all over the world. Most of them speak 2 or 3 languages and have worked hard to get here build a life. It's strange to consider myself as an immigrant. Over the past few months, we've had to fill out a lot of paperwork and go through all the complex motions for simple things like a bank account or health insurance, or even having to apply for a number that would allow us to pay taxes here. I really feel like an outsider (especially with an accent different from everyone else's) in many ways, but so is everyone else. So, I guess we're in it together.
Anywho, I thought it would be good to post some of Andy's breaks from school. If you are interested in visiting, you can at any time, but you'll most likely have a tour guide if you come when he has a break.
He's off on these dates: Feb. 24 - March 11, April 28 - May 13 (and we'll be back home for part of that time), and then summer vacation is from July 21 - late October. His school will have performances on June 12 - 15.
Well, that's it for now. Life is progressing as usual. Andy is glad to be back in the swing of things at school. I'm plugging away at my job and I just found out that I'll be at my current location a month longer than expected, so I need prayers for patience. I've also posted some pictures from our recent adventures over the holidays and with my family. Enjoy.
Hope you are all in good spirits and good health.

Peace,
Mandy