My Birthday, etc.

Hello! So most of my posts so far have basically been trip reports, so I thought I'd do something slightly different with this post. I know a lot of you are waiting to hear about my trip to Switzerland, but you're going to have to wait until this weekend when I'll have time to go through my 1036 pictures. Seriously.

Birthday Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/MyBirthday



So my birthday was great! It really started a day early, on Wednesday, when my co-workers and I went to Charlie Chinese for lunch, a China Buffet near work. Of course I ate far too much, but you all know how much I love a good china buffet. On Thursday, my co-workers brought in some proper english treats: Scones (biscuits), berries, clotted cream (basically butter), and some chocolates. It was great! After work we headed to our local favorite happy hour, and as of today our favorite lunch, spot and enjoyed some drinks amongst good camaraderie. haha Then Hayley and I headed toward Central London to meet up with my roommate, who shares the same bday, and her friends. We had a great time and it was complete with a stop at a Kebab stand on the walk home! Thanks to everyone here for celebrating my bday with me!

So I thought I would also write a little bit about how I'm doing in London and what I think about things. A lot of you have asked me random questions since I've been here, so I'll try to answer a lot of them for all of you.

Work: Work is going really well. It's busy, much busier than what I'm used to mostly because there is so many things to do. It's not just tech support, it's also sales and everything else that a normal office has to do. It's definitely different enough to make it fun and refreshing again. Hayley and I are really motivated to do well and we want to exceed all of our goals to show everyone what kind of job we can do. Let's hope it happens! We have moved into a bigger office in the same building and we have had one new intern start on the Active side of the business. She is an American from New Jersey!

Flat: I love my flatmates, although as can be expected we are rarely all home at the same time. We do get along well and we try to hang out once and a while. Marsha and I have been to a concert and we're going out to meet some of her friends this Saturday night. I find that my room is often a mess because it's just too small to be able to handle all my crap, especially after I get back from a trip. I pay 535 pounds per month, which is over $1000USD, and it includes all utilities including cable, internet and a landline that allows me to call landlines in the US for free. It's actually a really good deal for the area. Our flat is less than a 10 minute walk to the Thames river which is great because it has an endless path that follows it. I've been running along the river lately and it's been really nice!

Life: I joined a gym and I try to go quite often still. As always, it's hard to balance a healthy lifestyle and have fun socially, but I'm trying my best. I definitely feel the need to find some friends with more similar/active interests, so I'll probably try to stick around London a little more and see what I can do. I'm enjoying it here, especially the ability to travel and see new things. I do still feel like London is really overwhelming...basically it's just huge. I'm not sure I'm cut out for it indefinitely, but I'm enjoying it for the meantime and hopefully I'll be able to establish more of a real life here like I had back home.

Weather: Before this week, it's been colder than I had expected. The first month or so I was here it was really just perfect...around 20 (70 far.) every day and sunny. The problem is that it is often windy and therefore feels kinda cold, but still real nice in the sun. We had a pretty bad week or two when it got pretty cold (50s, maybe 60) with a lot of rain. This week it's been right around 80 and a little humid once and a while, so it actually feels like summer now! We've been getting out at lunch, walking down to the parks along the river and playing frisbee and stuff. There is also now almost a daily market in the square where I work which is nice.

Random Things:
- Just keep in mind that everything I write about regarding London is just about London. The rest of the UK is so different, as I'm sure you can imagine. It would be like someone living in New York and assuming the rest of the US is the same...as we all know it's certainly not. I have to admit that I prefer the areas I have been outside of London.
- It's really nice not having a car. I walk everywhere...to work, the gym, the store, to the tube station, etc. It makes things difficult sometimes when you want to buy a lot of groceries or whatever, but for the most part it's real nice not worrying about a car. Taking the bus is pretty cheap, but taking the tube places adds up pretty quick. On average I would say I spend about 5 pounds per week on public transportation. I only use it when I want to go to a shop that is further away, are going to a pub or somewhere further away, or am just getting out to sightsee and explore town. I do really need to get a cheap bike sometime.
- People here are familiar with miles and sometimes even lbs. They are not familiar with our normal units of measurements (specifically kitchen type measurements). When reading labels, everything is in grams and ml and other things I don't understand. I guess I need to start trying harder.
- I haven't really watched any TV. Sometimes I may turn it on and watch the UK Big Brother because it seems to be on all the time. Friends is also on a lot.

I'm sure there are a lot more, but I'm just not thinking of them right now. If any of you have specific questions or are wondering something just let me know!!