And, by the way, Happy Christmas (today), or Chanukah, or other seasonal holiday of your choice.
The occasional webcam
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Oops, what happened to November? And most of December?! Been longer than we thought, but don't worry, not too much has happened so we won't keep you long. We'll start with our visitors and end with our trips.
And, by the way, Happy Christmas (today), or Chanukah, or other seasonal holiday of your choice. |
The occasional webcam |
We've had a couple of visitors since our last update. My cousin Mark was in London for business (he works for a British company) so his daughter Liana came over to join him for the weekend. She arrived on Halloween and we met them in London to see Sing-A-Long Wizard of Oz. It was similar to Sing-A-Long Sound of Music except there were less props and more ad-libbing. There were some pretty funny moments and it's always fun to be allowed to sing along.
On Saturday we went to city center Oxford where Liana and I split from the boys (who went home to play Xbox!) to do some shopping. For those of you who haven't gone clothes shopping with a teenager, I highly recommend it. So much more fun than shopping for yourself!
It seems like they just got here before they turned around and left again on Sunday, but it was nice to have them with us.
The next weekend 3 of the girls (sorry) I used to work with at Interleaf came over to London for a long weekend. Anne, Jean and Abby - what a fun trio. I have never seen 3 more excited or better tourists. They were interested in and excited about everything! They bought souvenirs. They took pictures of EVERYTHING they saw - even in the dark. Abby took over 300 pictures in 4 days - which I guess is ok since, being from Tortola, she is a subject of the queen and all. On Saturday I joined them in London where we took the bus tour and then visited the Tower of London (where I hadn't been in 20 years). On Sunday they came out to Oxford - unfortunately they got here as it was getting dark, but I did my best to give them the full walking tour followed by dinner at a pub. It was really great to see them.
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) Mark and Liana |
) Anne, Jean and Abby |
) Tower of London - the crown jewels are kept in this building. |
) The Tower again |
) London Bridge |
2 Holidays
We once again celebrated Guy Fawkes Day in early November - bonfires and fireworks abound and our local (that's our pub 100 feet away) obliged with a bbq, bonfire and fireworks display. Sadly, we were a little late for the start and missed the lighting of the bonfire and the effigy of Guy Fawkes. Still, it was good fun and the whole village seemed to turn out for it.
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) Bonfire ready... |
) Bonfire at full force |
) Fireworks! |
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The next holiday was of course, Christmas (Thanksgiving is farther down the page). Not only did we go to the local church's candlelit carol service again with our neighbor, but we participated in another even more widespread holiday tradition - the Christmas Panto (or pantomime). They are everywhere here - put on both professionally and by local villages and small theatre groups. Despite the name, they are basically audience participation shows for kids, sometimes with famous actors or guests (local dj's, etc…). Often volunteers are invited up on stage, although not at the show we saw at the Oxford Playhouse. We saw a production of Jack and the Beanstalk that was brilliant - pure fun. The kids had candy thrown at them and we all got to yell things - warnings when the bad guys were afoot ("behind you! behind you!"), or when someone was about to steal Simple Simon's pie ("nickers, Simon, nickers!" [to nick = to steal]). We got to boo the giant's assistant Malice and whenever he said "I'm going now" we all yelled "and don't come back!"……which he HATED!
It was really a well done production, with both kid and adult humour throughout. But I haven't told the about the best part yet. You see, every Panto has a 'dame'. That is, a big guy playing a woman. (Kinda like Dame Edna.) Ours played Jack's mom, Dame Trott. He was great. He interacted with the kids a lot and had most of the best lines. Near the end of the play, the main characters came out into the audience and ran around the edge of the theatre. Lucky Tom was sitting in an aisle seat and damned if Dame Trott didn't come sit on his lap and give him a big fat kiss on the cheek! It was great and Tom loved it. What a hoot.
The thing that is so great about the pantos here is that everybody loves them. Without exception, everyone who heard we were going to our fist one said how much we'd enjoy it and how fun they were.
We're actually still celebrating Christmas (since it is today!) - we're trying to have some sort of a traditional English Christmas with ham for our dinner and Christmas pudding for dessert (made by a co-worker's mom). Getting drunk at Christmas seems to be somewhat of a tradition here too. We'll have to work on that one.
2 New Things We Did
Pub quizzes are very popular here. Many pubs have them on Sunday or Monday nights, often with cash prizes. We finally went to one with Sharon and Steve (who are regulars). Thought we'd help out with the American questions (e.g. list ten of the twelve coastal states between Maine and Florida) but we actually did fairly well overall. Unfortunately, we (yup, Tom's coming with me this time) signed up for Monday night yoga in January so we won't be able to go back for a while. Something we could definitely get hooked on.
Another interesting thing we did was to go to a literary dinner featuring Alexander McCall Smith (who wrote The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book series). It was sponsored by Blackwell's bookstore and held at the Randolph Hotel (where the Clintons stay) and was really very nice. It started with a wine reception, was followed by a nice turkey dinner (where we sat with some nice people) and then about 20 minutes of 'Sandy' (as he's called) talking, reading from one of his new books and answering questions. Then he was available for signing. We haven't read any of his books yet, but we now own three signed copies. They come highly recommended (by Tom's mom and others) and if they are anything like he was, they'll be great. He was relaxed, warm, funny and interesting. Plus he is really passionate about his characters and has them fully developed in his mind. It was really interesting to hear him speak about them as if they were as real to everyone else as they were to him. He told me that he owes a debt of gratitude to Boston because that's where his books really started to take off in the States (now they are on all the best seller lists). At the Concord book store in Concord, MA, as a matter of fact. Let's hear it for independents! You can read more about him and his books here.
This was the first one Blackwell's has done. It would be nice if they continued it.
2 Plays (well, three if you include the Panto….)
2 Movies (In two months? Not likely!)
2 (+1) Concerts
We were lucky recently in having some good musicians come across the pond. We saw our friends Darryl Purpose play just outside of London one week and Brooks Williams up in Warwick the next. A real treat on both accounts.
Then Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Lynn Miles and Larry John McNally came to the Borderline in London. They were doing an in-the-round tour - good stuff. Worth the trip into town.
2 Trips
Our biggest trip was going home for Thanksgiving. Hectic as it was and had to be (we wanted to see everyone and do everything!), it was wonderful to be back home. This year though, more than last year, I think we both noticed how much 'British' we've picked up be it vocabulary, driving skills (I only drove on the wrong side of the road once, and Tom too, but in an empty parking lot), or eating habits, there was a definite awareness that we'd been gone for a couple of years. Still, the old and familiar were sweet - I had the best burger I think I've ever had my first night back. Shopping was a pleasure. And there's nothing better than being with old friends and family. We split up to cover all the bases - me to Boston and then down to D.C. to my aunt's. My sister came up from North Carolina so I got to see my nieces and meet my new nephew Nat. All three were wonderful, as was spending time with my Aunt. Not to mention all the food! Tom went directly to Philadelphia and then to D.C. to his sister's for his family's Thanksgiving feast. We were apart for most of the time (including our 2nd anniversary!), but we did get to spend a little time with each other and our respective families in DC. Tom says his nieces are really cute and have given him a nickname he's afraid he won't be able to shake. He's not telling what that nickname is though - you'll have to ask. We both had a great time and flew home together on Saturday night.
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) Toby with some old Interleafers (Al, Mari, Dan, Faina and Val) in Boston at a diner - YUM! We miss those. |
) Nat, the newest Robinson |
) Carla |
) Toby and Emily |
) Aunt Doris, our host |
) The girls |
) Tom's niece Hannah |
) Tom's niece Ellie |
In mid December we took a 3-day weekend trip to the eastern side of England along the coast to a small town call Southwold. It's a lovely seaside town with art galleries and nice shops, a lighthouse with a very informative tour guide, the North Sea pounding away at the end of the High Street. We even saw something in a gallery we were tempted to buy, but we hesitated and it was gone the next day. Oh well, lesson learned. Lots of classic beach huts right along the sea (that can cost upwards of £40,000 for a structure that is 11 feet by 12 feet!). Plus we stayed at a nice bed and breakfast (with a delicious restaurant) owned by one of Tom's co-worker's in-laws. Got that?
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) Brussel Sprouts - did you know they grew like this? |
) Beach huts |
) Tom by the North Sea |
) Toby by a beach hut |
) A pig farm nearby |
) A roadsign just for Toby |
) The Southwold Lighthouse |
) The light in the lighthouse |
) The ocean view from the lighthouse |
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On the way home we stopped in Cambridge for a couple of hours because Toby hadn't seen it yet. It definitely has a very different look and feel to it than Oxford. The most obvious difference is that the university is very prevalent, and grand. In Oxford, you have to look through fences to see most of the universities, but in Cambridge they are right there in front of you. I've found that most people here have definite opinions about which city they like best, so it would be interesting to go back and spend a weekend in Cambridge to see more and get a better feel for it.
Miscellaneous
Toby's visa was officially renewed last week. We went up to Birmingham to get it done, because you can get an appointment there and the alternative is to queue at 4:30 a.m. outside of London at the head office and hope you get seen that day. Anyway, one hour and £250 later (the company paid), it was done. And, as an added bonus, they removed the requirement for Toby to maintain registration with the police, which if you remember, we did a year after getting here (see the March 9th entry) and should've done within 9 days of getting here! They said it was a mistake, so we want our £34 registration fee back. Doubtful.Here's our artistic photo series:
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) Inside the lighthouse, looking up |
) Beach huts |
) Light from above |
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Coming up:
Tomorrow we leave for Seville, Cordoba and Girbraltar (southern Spain), where we will spend the better part of a week. More on that trip in the next report.
Also coming up…..Toby's 40th (!) birthday in early January. (Just makes me laugh, it does! Any thoughts on how I should celebrate?)
Bits & BobsAnd there you have it for this report.
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