Here Comes the Sun!

It's Friday!
I just had to quickly mention that Peter had an interview for his job on Wednesday. He'd been nervous for days (weeks even!), and after so much preparation, found out yesterday that he got it!!!! So proud of him :-)
I am just getting back from a run and it's sunny again today!!! I love it! I also have to mention the fact that pedestrians DON'T have the right away here when crossing, so that's been tricky. I am meeting Peter's sister Cat for lunch today, which I am excited about! So I am going to start getting ready, but wanted to end this saying that I am really missing these girls today!

Enchanted

I've gotten a bit behind on uploading pictures, 

so these are just a compilation of a few different occasions.

The first batch are taken in town, just a few blocks from where we are. We walked up to the Cathedral in the evening, and stopped inside the Starbucks that is basically attached to the entrance of the Cathedral. We were sucked in because it had just started to lightly rain. We were also on a hunt for vanilla syrup, since I had introduced vanilla milk to Peter and he loved it so much... it's also great with tea! So I got a peppermint hot chocolate, and Peter got a caramel hot chocolate. Yum! And we were able to buy a bottle of vanilla! The cafe had a nice warm welcoming touch to it, as I couldn't help but notice. We decided to sit inside the lobby and enjoy our beverages, and you can't help but notice (whether you worked at Starbucks for nearly five years, or not) how BIG their lobby was! There were about five different rooms! And each room was completely filled with people chatting, or studying, whatever! It was awesome, but I really couldn't imagine working with such a huge space! As you can see, the Cathedral is just stunning. It turned out that night the Cathedral was open! Normally you'd have to pay about 7 or 8 pounds if you aren't a resident, so getting inside for free was great. There was a group of students inside practicing singing, so we sat and listened for a little bit, as the music was just incredible with the echo of the Cathedral. What an amazing atmosphere!

The next set of pictures are from this past weekend. We both really look forward to the weekends, since we only have time together before and after Peter has work. So we woke up early on Saturday morning to send my bike away with Peter's mom--his dad was looking forward to having a project to work on, and turns out, he ended up putting it back together in just minutes! :-) So sweet.

Then, Peter had a haircut appointment around 10:30, so we started our walk into town, and I waited and watched in the barber shop as he got his hair chopped! Since we didn't really have definite plans of our day yet, we were able to kind of go-with-the-flow of whatever we wanted to do, which I loved so much! So we went and had a nice breakfast at a little place called Boho. We had a cup of coffee and tea, and both ordered a traditional English Breakfast. It was affordable, delicious, and so filling! Our seats near the window kept us occupied, as we were able to watch everyone on the main walkway. After breakfast we were in no rush, and so took our time walking through town. Without anything specific in mind, we went in and out of shops and mostly just enjoyed our company together :-) On our way home, we stopped at a Floral shop and found this absolutely gorgeous bouquet for only 3 pounds, so Peter made my day even more perfect and got them for me...thank you!!

This is the view of Peter's place as you walk up the street.

Here is the "car park"

 This is the front door

 

And this is the back door--with my bike box still visible for the neighbors to complain about...

(Just yesterday a neighbor came and knocked on the back door and told me that this box was an "eye sore" for everyone in the communal area to look at. So to take care of our rubbish properly and move that mop bucket, too!)

This was on the way to his parent's house

Driving through country side and some forest, too!

This last batch are pictures from a run. Peter and I have only done this run at night, so I was overjoyed to find that it was sunny and get to do this run in the daylight! It's beautiful, and was the prettiest day, yet! I am also really loving autumn colors. It's kind of a shame that we don't really get proper seasons and colors in SD--it's really a treat!

Okay. After coming home on Saturday from our perfect morning in town, we got nice and cosy and Peter started to watch their rugby game: England vs. Australia.

Since I have only lived with women for so long, I found it really amusing to watch and listen to him get SO worked up during this game. I managed to take a few videos, but they really don't do any justice. I took them after the real cheering and moaning had happened, so even though I still think this is kind of funny, it's nothing compared to what it was before I took the camera out. Enjoy!!

Our Shutterfly Photo Book

Shutterfly was having a promotion of 50% off all photo books, on top of the already 20% off.  I am a total sucker for deals and scrap books...so here is our book!!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Week Two

Glad to see the blog is up and running, and working for everyone. Thank you for the comments and feedback for my shin! (Which is still numb...)
Every day has been different so far. The weather changes slightly day to day, but is constantly cool. It was sunny the other day, but because of that, it was actually colder since there weren't any clouds. I was so excited, but so miserable at the same time--haha, imagine that! It is something I will definitely have to be patient with, as I adjust to not having the warm sunlight from San Diego.

Last night was our first run since I've been here. We've been talking about going for a while, but something always seems to come up, or it's just too cold. So, after having a lazy day (mostly due to the bad weather!), I was ready right when Peter got home from work. His housemate JP ended up coming along, and it turned out to be really nice. It was a short 4 miler, and it felt so good to be out running again, as it's been a few weeks since I've been able to run. Once we reached the top of the hill (about half way), there was a fabulous view of Canterbury from Kent University, looking something like this:

After our run, Kerry had made everyone dinner which was amazing--chicken stuffed with mozzarella and sun dried tomatoes, wrapped in bacon with peas and potatoes. Yum! Then, we all watched the last episode of An Idiot Abroad. The show is absolutely hilarious. If there is any way of watching, and you have a bit of spare time, it's seriously a good laugh.

The other night Peter and I walked into town to pick up some hangers for the closet which I have completely taken over, and afterwards we had dinner at a restaurant called Wagamama. I got "yasai katsu curry," which was described as follows: sweet potato, aubergine (eggplant) and butternut squash, deep-fried in panko breadcrumbs, served with a curry sauce and sticky white rice, garnished with mixed leaves and red pickles. And it looked like this:

I'm sad to say, that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It isn't very often that I don't like what I've ordered, so I was a little disappointed. Peter ordered almost the exact same thing but his came with chicken, so there wasn't much we could do. The sauce had a weird tang that just wasn't my favorite, I guess. 

We may just be better off cooking at home, instead! Right Peter?! :-)

Yesterday morning was another early wake for me. Apparently there had been a "weather warning," because the wind was so strong, and it was raining too. After Peter left for work, I laid in bed, and got sucked into the internet, and here is what I managed to get done:

I think Peter had a nice laugh while receiving them through email at work :-)

Soon after creating these, I had a nice chat on Skype with my friend Freddy. It was good  to catch up, as we have a similar little love story. His girl being in Germany, while he's in San Diego. Towards the end of our conversation, he asked for my address, so to potentially send me a care package, and asked what I was missing most. I couldn't think of much at that moment, but since have thought of a few things that unfortunately cannot be sent via care package. They include:

• The sun: As a San Diego native, I have truly been spoiled by the sunlight. It determines the hour at which I wake up in the mornings (usually). It motivates me to go outside and enjoy it's rays. It gives me a glow that I don't get anywhere else. All it takes is to be without it to really appreciate it's extraordinary effects.
• My mom: I don't think there has ever been a time that I've felt down when she hasn't been able to lift my spirits. At any moment that a doubt might creep into my mind (after all, I've just taken a huge leap into the unknown), I miss her the most. And I think of how nice it feels to be held by her, having her gently stroke my hair and tell me that "everything is going to be okay." Send that in a care package!
• Amarin Thai Lunch Special: I would have thought sushi would overrule any food craving of mine, but I can't stop thinking about my vegetable rama lunch special with thai iced tea! It's cheap and simply delicious! 
• Clothes fresh from the dryer: Dryers are not common here, and one of my favorite things is feeling my clothes come right out of the dryer. Having a freshly washed and warm towel to dry off with or putting warm socks on. Or just having clothes that aren't totally wrinkled and feel hard once they're dried. Another one of those things you don't really appreciate until you don't have it anymore.

I am meeting Peter's mom in town for lunch today at noon, so I am going to start getting ready and get a few things done first. My online banking hasn't allowed me to log on since being here, so I'll need to give them a ring. In the meantime, thanks for reading, and please stay in touch! 

The Journey

Since the purpose of this blog is to keep everyone updated, and so I won't have to send ten different emails, here is the picture of us at the Spaghetti Factory the night before I left. Thank you so much for such a fabulous meal! It was so nice to have everyone together and just enjoy each others company. Especially sweet baby E, who now says "papa!"

So the flight into London from LAX wasn't too bad at all. It was actually fairly relaxing after such a hectic day. With hardly any sleep at all, I had managed to pack my entire room up, pack my luggage, have problems at the bank with them accidentally canceling my debit card (perfect timing), said my goodbyes at work and to family and friends, packed an extra suitcase on my way out the door after calculating that one of my suitcases weighed 70 pounds when my max was 50, had problems with dad's car starting on the way to the airport (and had to rush over to buy jumper cables), then carry two suitcases, one duffel bag, a carry on bag AND my bike into the airport, unpack the duffel bag (yes, I was that person!) into the suitcase after finding out that it would be cheaper to have an overweight bag than to have an extra bag period, and then finally board the plane.

We took off about 10:30 PM, had dinner served around 11:15--I had a chicken and rice curry which included a bread roll, a salad and some type of banana pudding, not bad for an airplane meal, though I was on Virgin Atlantic, and hadn't eaten anything all day! Then after being given some cosy socks, eye covers, a pillow and blanket, I was fast asleep until about 7:30 AM when the rest of the plane seemed to wake as well. Then breakfast was served, I had a bagel with ham and cheese with orange juice. I had no desire to take advantage of the television in front of me, or utilize the fancy remote control attached to my seat (which even controlled the light switch!), however, I did get restless in my seat after nearly ten hours, which is typical. 

A lot of people told me I would feel much more relieved after having packed my bags and once in the air, however, my biggest fear was actually getting through the UK Border Control. When we first bought my ticket, it was a one way. So after being told from many people to buy a return ticket home, we finally did. Of course I had printed all of my proof of leaving in March, as well as our ticket to France in January, and a letter from Peter letting them know he was okay with having me. The line was ridiculous in customs. As I looked around to see so many foreigners, (hopefully this isn't racist), I couldn't help but think--if they're letting these people in, they have to let me in, too! Once it was finally my turn, the woman helping me asked the obvious question: Why are you coming to the UK? Then followed the thousand other questions: Why are you staying for so long? What is your occupation and what's happening with your job? How much money do you have, cash and in your bank? Why were you here in July? How do you know Peter, how did you meet, what is his occupation? As you can imagine, I tried to answer each question as adequately as possible to meet the requirements, and during so she was taking notes, and thumbing through my papers. After I waited a few minutes for her to continue writing (the perspiration now dripping down my back and forehead), she stopped to tell me her conclusion, and honestly, I was convinced I was going home. She then let me know that because I had proof that I would be leaving, she would be stamping my passport with the allowance of entry, however, with a different stamp than the one she would have used, had she been 100% satisfied with me. So basically saying, if I leave the country again (which we will in January to France), to be prepared for a similar experience and to bring all of my proof with me again. Though quite a traumatizing experience, I was finally able to feel: Relief.

Since the theme of my journey seemed to be that the universe was slightly against me, of course my phone was dead, to top it all off. No worries though, I managed to get all of my luggage onto a trolley (cart), with the help of a nice man who saw me struggle to fit my bike in with the mix, and after walking through the exit, Peter found me! I arrived at the airport about 4:30 PM to find that since their recent time change, it was already dark outside. Which made staying awake on the car ride home a struggle. Once we got back to Canterbury (it took close to two hours because of traffic in London), we got my luggage inside and went for a short walk to pick up dinner, where we got a simple and lovely meal of Chinese takeout. I came inside to find a nice pile of presents waiting for me, including flowers, wellies (rainboots),

the DVD Once, a hoodie, and a few cards and presents from his housemate Kerry. The following day, I am pretty sure I managed to sleep close to 16 hours, waking up only to shower. I was, as they would say here, "knackered!" Peter had to drag me out of bed, and once I was, we went to see the movie "Social Network," at the cinema with Kerry. It turned out to be really good, and then we came back to enjoy a nice evening inside together. The next day, Friday, we went into town for a little bit to walk around (it's so cute!) and I think we had a few things to get done, but this was their firework day! Similar to our Fourth of July, but it's: Remember, Remember the 5th of November. So we went to his family's house that evening in Lyminge to watch their village fireworks, came back to watch Peter's dad light a few more fireworks from the garden, and then we all had a nice meal. Saturday, we had a bit of a "lay in," (slept in), came back to Canterbury, watched the opening of their rugby game, New Zealand vs England, and headed over to Leeds Castle to watch the firework show there, which turned out to be amazing! Even better than Disneyland, dare I say!

With the castle as the backdrop, and 'classic film' themed, the fireworks were in sync with music that everyone knew--they were indeed, quite spectacular!

Since the weekend, we haven't been up to much, really. The weather is grey, gloomy and cold, so I haven't been very motivated to go outside, unless we have to. We've gone grocery shopping for a few things, and have made a couple nice dinners and I made french toast with berries the other morning. We did go out to a pub on Monday night, where I had my first taste of alcoholic Ginger Beer. It's really tasty! That ended up being a nice evening with some friends, though Peter and I started to freeze, as we were sitting outside. Yesterday was Peter's first day back to work since my being here. I had big plans for the day--start up my blog, do some laundry, iron some clothes (they don't have dryers), UNPACK, etc...and what did I do instead? I slept from 9am-3:30pm. Good ol Jet lag, still hangin around one week later. So in the hour before Peter came home, I was able to hang up the majority of my clothes in our closet and clean the room up a bit. 

Not sure if anyone can help (a bit of feedback?), but since Saturday, my left shin has been completely numb! I thought it was from being cold on Saturday night while watching the fireworks, but I've noticed that it still hasn't gone away. It was especially weird shaving my legs in the shower the other day and not having any feeling. It spans from my knee to about three quarters down my leg, and it's only the left portion of my shin (not my calf). Weird. I may be persuaded into getting it checked out if it persists much longer. I've read a few things online that say it could be a nerve in the lower back that affects certain areas of the leg, depending on which nerve and is caused from bending motions under resistance, or I have also read that it could be pinched from sitting in one position for too long (the plane?). Alongside that, I am still struggling with sleeping through an entire night.  I get tired throughout the evening, and am able to fall asleep around midnight, but then I wake up around 4-5AM and am WIDE awake until Peter wakes up, or until I wake him up (around 6:30-7).  When I wake up, my mind immediately starts racing with thoughts of random things, and I can't shut it off. My back gets really sore too, but I can't understand how I can fall asleep comfortably, but then wake up a few hours later so uncomfortable. So with my mind racing, my back hurting, I still can't manage to get a good night's rest. Not sure if that's even jet lag anymore. 

Anyway, the sun is finally out! So, I may have to go celebrate and actually get some stuff done today! Will keep this updated with pictures and such. Feel free to comment, or shoot me an email!

Also, here is my address for the next five months:

42 Kirbys Lane

Canterbury

Kent

CT2 8AG

ENGLAND

Missing and loving my family and friends! xx