Busy Couple Weeks

Happy New Year!
How were all of your celebrations? Our New Year was wonderful; Jaimie was here and we ate lots of food at home and then went out to a bar near our house for the evening. It was nothing huge or fantastic, but sometimes I think those make the best evenings. We got quite a buzz on and then Justin made a few drunken phone calls when we got home. 'Twas quite funny. We had considered going to the huge fireworks celebration in central London but even our London guide book said to avoid it, and none of us were gung-ho enough to be the motivator, so we bought tickets for the bar instead. Stumbling distance home is always a bonus, and not something you find in Vancouver very often so it was nice to take advantage of that.

I feel like I haven`t done much but enjoy myself over the past couple weeks; first with Amsterdam and then with Jaimie here. Justin told you all about Amsterdam in the last post, but I just wanted to say that it was such a beautiful city and we had a great time. It was probably the most un-Christmassy holiday I will ever have, but that is ok. I am still craving Turkey dinner though. This picture is the group of people we met at our Hostel and who we went out to party with on Christmas night. It was pretty unforgettable.

Having Jaimie here was awesome. We did a lot... Went to Stonehenge which was pretty awesome. I was reading reviews online about it just to see how much you had to pay to get in and things, and I couldn't believe how many people literally said 'it's just a pile of rocks in a field'. Even the girl renting us the car to go there told us that. As we expected, it's not just a pile of rocks (if you care about that sort of thing). It was awe inspiring. The audio guide tour was a bit of a bust but if you do you research you don't need it. Justin driving around was pretty great too. I think he's caught the fever and the only prescription is more driving. We drove up to the stones at Avebury as well which was completely different from Stonehenge. We drove around all these little villages and so many houses had thatched roofs, which I had never seen before. It felt like we were in medieval times.
We also went to the Tate Modern museum which is a museum based around art after 1900. It was very interesting, bizzare in some cases, ridiculous in others, but very educational. We went to Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland for the 2nd time and drank some German beer. It's a really great festival with rides and pubs and food. We ate a Zebra burger. It was odd. We went to a few other museums and tried to cram as much into one week as we could while still enjoying our time and relaxing. Jet lag plays a big factor for the first couple days of the trip too... something to keep in mind if you`re coming to visit.

I`m back at work now and have worked full days for the first time since before Christmas, in fact my hours have been increased so I work from 9am - 7:30pm with one half hour break. My body is aching like a 90 year old woman's. Quite a lot of my job is physical, which would be great for my figure if cheese wasn't so cheap and amazing here. I am obsessed with the cheese.
You know, it crossed my mind yesterday that although my job isn't ideal - I have to vacuum with a smiley face hoover, I've finger banged a sink full of porridge and carrot & coriander soup to unclog it, I mop and clean up after people every day - I am not less happy than I was in a more "rewarding" career. I like the job less, yes, but if I assess the overall quality of my life I feel about the same. Interesting to think about, because I have always believed that a job can make you happier. I am second guessing that now.

So what was your New Year's resolution? Mine is to think before I speak. Being here has given me a lot more opportunity to observe people and in turn observe myself. I'll let you know how that progresses.

I could write a lot more but I have to get ready for work, so instead I'll throw in a few random pictures of where we have been and who we have been with over the past couple weeks.



Love you all. Miss you. Think about you every day.
Gen