Isle of White and Fancy Dinners

Friday morning I am asked if I want to go down to the Isle of White to tour another school for sailing and such. Sure when? Saturday morning, we have to leave around 6am... Wait a minute.. you want me to wake up at WHAT time??... okay, I can deal with this. Friday night, I get talking to Madre and lil sister and Steve. I then realize it is 1am, I got to get up in about 4hours. So I say goodnight and then go to sleep. I am woken up at 5:30am and I jump in the shower and start getting ready. Its gonna take about 2 hours to get down to the ferry, and we have to be at this school for 10. We wanted to allow for 1 hour of getting lost (almost always comes in handy, cuz I am the one reading the map lols). So we leave the driveway at 6:15am and we get to see the sunrise.. I am not used to that.. sunset maybe.. but we are well on our way. We dont get lost, but we get to the ferry place in Southampton. A pretty little town, and pay for the ferry and Stuart got a cafe latte, and I got a hot chocolate. Then we were on the ferry for nearly a half hour. Soon as we got off the ferry there was a few people with jackets from UKSA (The school that Stuart wants to attend) United Kingdom Sailing Academy. So we got in their vans and was shipped directly to the school. We went into the room and watched about an hour of presentation. It was very informative and interesting, but unfortunately my head kept bobbing up and down and despite my interest in things I kept dosing off and on. After an hour or so of presentation it was tea time. I had an OJ (they also offered coffee, tea and pastries). Then back into the room for another hour or so of presentations.. Back to head bobbing again... for 2nd tea time I got myself a coffee.. I had no trouble the rest of the day staying awake after that (and I only put 1 tablespoon full of sugar.. wasnt gonna risk the strange looks again lols). Then another hour of presentations. Then we got to go on a tour of the facilities of the school and we got to play a simulator game type thing for sailing boats.. that was interesting. We got to see the living accommodations where you would live if you went to the school. There were 3 different types of rooms. 1 room had 3 beds in it. 1 bedroom had 3 beds in it but had bathroom accommodations with the individual rooms, and the 3rd bedroom the "suite" had 2 beds bathroom accommodations and had tv, vcr, and internet hookups. They were all "dorm-like" accommodations. They try to prepare you to small spaces on the boats. Then after this tour we went to the cafeteria where we ate lunch. It was very good. Then we did a little more touring and then we went up to the Bar for some 1 on 1 questions and attention. Stuart got to ask all the questions he had and decide if this school was for him. Needless to say, he starts Jan 5th 2009. He is taking the Ocean Graduate class. He will get skills in all sorts of aspects of things. The course seems very intense. 2 weeks in class 2 weeks on a boat, then 2 weeks in class 2 weeks on a boat. Not getting very much time off on weekends. The course is 23 weeks long. A few of the nice things about this school are that if you live on the property, you get free breakfast, lunch and dinner. And the food is actually really good. This school is very well known around the world. People from all over have come to this school to train. It is located on a little island south of England and it is just beautiful. And then much to Stuart and I's surprise... we got to see Gyspy Moth IV. I heard about it back in HS a long time ago.. but forgot a lot of the history and such. But I remembered the name... Stuart was like going into fits like he had been standing next to a celebrity. In the yacht world, he was... and you could even touch it. It was the real Gypsy Moth IV not just a model we learned. In case you are reading this and aren't up with yacht's which I am going to assume most aren't. Gypsy Moth IV is famous for sailing around the globe a few times. One of her most famous voyages was in 1967 when it took Sir Francis Chichester around the world. She was beautiful. We weren't allowed to get in, but we could touch it hehe. After all the tours and signing up, we were put back on the vans when we were ready and sent back to the ferry where we were taken back to Southampton. We saw an Oceana Cruise Liner and OMG it was huge... the world Titanic came to mind. I got a few pictures of this too. So beautiful. Then we headed back for home, but stopped off in Warmister to visit Stuart's mother and brother, they were not home, so we stopped across the street at Jean and Fred's who are Stuart's grandparents. Had tea and biscuits then headed back for home. We were both soo exhausted but neither of us could sleep. So we watched a few films and then finally went to sleep.

Tonight we went out to dinner. It was pretty incredible. Most fancy dinner I ever had in my life. The kind where you got more silverware than you know what to do with. 6 course meal. Im not sure what all we ate, but I tell ya what. it was good! I know we had pigeon, and lamb, potatoes and quite a lot of other things. It was kinda funny because I attempted to eat like everyone here does.. I am not gonna describe it in here, but I will tell you different than the way we do at our house, or what I have been exposed to. I find chopsticks easier.. but I am going to try to use this skill the rest of the trip, maybe I will get good at it. *smiles* I want to take a few things I learn here back home with me.. One thing I am gonna learn is how to make Pad Thai... my family is hopefully gonna like it, cuz I am gonna be making it as often as I can.

I have thought about what am I gonna take home with me... am I gonna want to have tea 3-4 times a day? Am I gonna get free range chicken and eggs... do we even get the option at our stores? Am I gonna want wine with dinner... or am I gonna just go back to the way I used to be? I am not sure to be quite honest. A few things I do want to change. I do want to try to be a little more conscious about my sugar intake. We have kinda figured out that my diet and exercize does affect my mood quite a bit (yes I know all my family and friends and doctors and everyone always told me this.. but I never really tried it for real).

Okay I cant think of anything else to write about tonight, so I will sign off.

Hope you enjoyed reading feel free to comment

Donna

One Month Reflection

Okay, so it has been one month today that I left home, it will be one month tomorrow that I arrived here. Time feels like it is going very fast, but also slow at the same time. I feel like I have been here a lot longer because of all the things we have done in a short amount of time. I kinda just wanted to do a little "reflection" of all the things, without talking about things that I already have. So here goes....

I feel that I am becoming more accustomed to the culture. For instance.. The other day we were in town and I just finished eating subway. It tastes different than back home, the meats are probably processed differently. Anyways so we were sitting on a bench just got done eating, and this couple walked up to me and asked where the subway is... my automatic thinking was, I have no idea... I am not from this country.. (I was thinking the "train" type subway.. not the food) and they looked at me very strange.. then it dawned on me that they meant the food.. That made Stuart and I just laugh. Back home you ask me where the nearest subway is and I can tell you 2 places within walking distance of my home, but it isn't the "train".

Gas prices over here suck, we complain all the time back home about this... but here, wow, they truly suck. The other day Stuart and I had to get gas, it was on "E" so we stopped. and bought some gas..That's 61.49 pounds... Now at the time our $1.00 was equal to their 0.56 pounds. so that is basically $120 for one tank of gas!!! He can get roughly 400 miles to the tank. They don't sell things by the "gallon" here its by the litres. And the bottom line that says 107.9 that means that it is 1 pound 7.9 pence per litre. I was totally confused because I would have thought it would have been like this 1.079.. that is the way it would be done in America. but here it is 107.9 So when I first saw this I was like its 107 pounds for a litre? OMG.. but they just place the decimal in a different spot. Okay so now I understand that.

I have got to eat a few very interesting dishes since being here. Nearly everything you eat here is home cooked.. it isn't fast food or delivery here. There are a few places over here that you can find back home such as KFC, Burger King, McDonald's, Subway, Pizza Hut. Anyways, So I had the pigeon that I believe I mentioned in an earlier post. That was really good. it was 3pounds for 2 birds, so basically $6. Stuart made them with a really nice sauce and put it over Mashed Potatoes. Really good. As seen below (and I think in a previous post as well)

I have had Pad Thai which so far is my most favorite dish. We have had it 3 times since I got here... each time though it gets spicier and spicier. We had it last night and it was like WOW.. that is hot. but I ate most of it, because it was just sooo good. Now I know why they drink white wine with it, it does take the burn out unlike water. I will have to get the recipe before I leave, cuz it will definitely be something I am gonna try to make when I get home for the family... Wont be as good as Stuart's but I will try. Also each time we make it, seems to have more of it. The first time there was this much (below), the 2nd time more and last night the bowl/plate was completely covered.. mmmmmm!

Okay, I have also finally tried the Haggis. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Though it wasn't a true Haggis because it was not in a sheep's stomach, it was in a bag. It tasted more like a sausage type with a different texture. The ingredients of Haggis is usually a sheep's stomach filled with lungs, fat, liver, herbs, and a few other things that I can not think of at the moment. But to see it, you wouldn't know that was all in there, because it is like all mixed in, I guess my thoughts were that I was going to see all the different parts inside, and I think that is what grossed me out more than anything. But it didn't look bad, smell bad, or taste bad. I admit it is not a favorite dish, partly because I have never really been a huge fan of "sausage" to begin with, I eat it, but I don't crave it. We also had mashed potatoes and swedes along with the Haggis. Stuart made a whisky sauce as well.

Other than the fact that there is no such thing as Mt Dew over here... I am getting used to the no sugar thing. I still joke about it, but it really isn't an issue for me anymore. So that is good and I have made progress!

Okay let's see.. what else have we done.. We don't just sit around and eat all the time. We have done quite a bit of cycling the first 2.5 weeks. The cycle to Bristol was the last time though. My bike is put back together now I will have you know... Stuart did it last night. I need to learn how to do it because we have been discussing the possibilities of me taking the bike home with me in December. (so when he comes back to the US we can cycle)

I have got to meet his Mother Beth, his brother Robin, his grandparents Jean and Fred. Some of his friends from work and Akido. We have gone to Akido 2 times, tonight we are going again I believe, its Thursday. I got to meet Madeline, Jason, and Rosa. Stuart's nephews and family. Been to the pub 1nce.

We have been to Stone Henge, Wookey Hole, Cheddar Gorge and Caves, Lyme Regis, and Redhill. We are planning our London trip the first weekend of November. I will get to see Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, The Eye (But we aren't riding it... nooo way Jose), The palace, and we are going to eat at the School Dinner's restaurant (LOADS OF FUN) hehe. Then stay at Mike and Diane's house Saturday night and then come back home Sunday. The week of November 10th we are going to travel up to Stuart's father's house for a few days so that I can meet them. That will be fun, they seem very nice and I cant wait to meet them.

Of course we have seen a lot of Bath. We go into town quite regularly park in the Victoria Park which is free parking for 3 hours. Then we usually make our way to Pret a little place in the center of town. He gets a latte and a croissant.. I get a water and croissant. Then we make our way around to at least 1 book shop, and sometimes a few clothing shops just to look around.

Oh another neat story, I got to be in the Circus.. that was neat. But not what you people back home are thinking... there are no animals.. well maybe a cat or dog.. not sure. But the Circus is a group of 3 buildings that are in the shape of a circle. It surrounds one of the most famous "roundabouts" in Bath if I remember correctly. The Circus has 3 apartments per section. (Not sure how many sections per building times 3) But they are very nice apartments. Stuart has a friend who lives in the Circus so that is how I got to be in the Circus. hehe.

Types of vehicles are different here as well. I have seen a total of like 3 pick-up trucks here. You either have a car or possibly a van. The vans are even small by our standards. There are a lot of those "smart cars" riding around, they are soo cute, I would love to take a ride in one before I go. Not sure if that is possible. They have double decker buses that is kinda neat, haven't got to ride one of them yet either. I had my first train ride on the way back from the Bristol cycle we did a few weeks ago. That was neat.

I am somewhat sometimes getting a little home sick. But it isn't bothering me too bad as I talk to my mother nearly every day, my older sister nearly every day, my father and stepmother on Thursdays and Sundays, and then just the random friendly phone call to other people as well. I try to keep in touch with everyone. With my skype program it only cost me 2cents a minute to talk on the phone. Luckily a lot of the people I talk to have a skype account, so if I need to talk to someone I will call them and tell them to get on there. So that is free and saves me quite a bit of money.

I did have a little bit of a spell that lasted about a week, where I got quite depressed inside, but I tried not to show it, and it just stayed all bottled up until it finally surfaced. I couldn't sleep for a few nights and then one night I journaled all my thoughts and feelings and it made me feel a little better. I emailed my thoughts and feelings to Stuart, we talked about them, and now I feel great again. I just have a hard time sometimes expressing my thoughts and feelings verbally. But now I feel a lot better having got my thoughts and feelings down and then out. so Horray!

As far as Second Life goes.. I keep in contact with the important people in there. But Stuart nor I have had the urge to really go in and spend time. I have been in there maybe a total of 4 times. One it is kinda hard with the time zone difference. I feel bad that we don't get to spend any time with Gordon, Stuart gets to talk to Zeb occasionally on yahoo, but it is just soo late to be up to see them. That doesn't mean that I don't think about them. I miss them a lot too!

Ohh and another thing that has been a topic of my interest. I recently just found out, that the Queen Elizabeth.. she has no power, she is not allowed to vote or be political in any way. Basically she just has lots of money, has the title of being the Queen. Its the government that has all the power cuz like us they are a democracy. I was totally like whoa, wait the Queen has no power? what is her purpose then... Basically what it boils down to (IN MY UNDERSTANDING... I COULD BE WRONG) this country used to be ruled by the King and or Queen. That is bloodline... Now that they are a democracy the Government has the power. But they are not going to take the Queen's title from her. I believe there will always be a King or Queen or Prince or Princess whatever... Because they have family and stuff.. so it is basically only the blood that makes them have the title. (0r marriage). So yeah that was interesting I thought.

Something else I found kinda interesting.. there are some places in Bath.. prolly all of England where windows are bricked out. Because there used to be a "Window Tax".. so depending on how many windows your house has, you pay a certain amount of tax for it... so people started bricking up their windows. Then apparently there was a period of time where it just became kinda kewl to brick up the windows and when building a house they would make a spot for a window but brick it up the same way without ever really having a window there.. I will try and get a few good pictures of what I am talking about, its kinda neat.

There are no houses made out of wood or anything other than stone and that sorta stuff. Even out in the country side... the entire country there is no wooden houses.. everything is made from stone, brick, or some plastery looking stuff. You can find some houses with thatch roofs tho that was kinda neat.

Well I guess it is about time to wrap this up for now. That is pretty much it all in a nutshell. Hope you didn't find it too boring.

Until next time

Donna

Lyme Regis and Wookie Hole

Okay so basically since last monday....



Monday was a long day, Stuart was gone all day at work, and then most the night due to his sailing classes. I entertained myself with talking with my family, chatting online, checking my sites, and watching movies. Very glad to see Stuart when he arrived home!



Tuesday we went into town and walked around a little bit, and then went and had tea and dinner at Beth's (Stuart's mother's house) and Robin, (Stuart's younger brother). For dinner we had keesh, baked potato, and then for desert there was like a fruit pie. It was very good, and I had a lovely time getting to know them more, they seem like very nice people. Next time we go out, we talked about me teaching Beth some line dances, if she doesn't already know them. She goes to line dancing school, but I might know a few she hasn't learned.. She also has a greyhound named Eli. He is cute, but seeing him makes me miss Mariah terribly, but it is nice to enteract with another dog. We finally headed back prolly a little later than we should have, because we had to get up early on Wednesday for Lyme Regis, but we were enjoying the company very much.



Stuart had an interview for a Boat Building course Wednesday afternoon. Luckily we planned on getting lost, because we did, but we still made it on time. After we got a lovely tour of the school, and the residentual area he had his actual interview. That went well. Then after that we walked all along the beach and I got to stand in the ocean for the first time ever! That was totally amazing. We got to see all kinds of fossils. If you find them along side the beach you are allowed to take them if you wish, as long as you dont take them from the hillside/wall. Unfortunately the only ones we saw were ones that were in rocks that weighed at least 50lbs or more... so there was no way we could have taken those rocks.. but I got plenty of pictures of them. Then we went and got something to eat as it neared dinner time. We each got a steak. We ordered rare but it came back medium-well, but it was good none the less. Then it was quite dark and we walked around a little more then headed back for home.



We got home pretty late so we both just crashed out after watching a film.



Thursday neither of us were feeling above the weather so we stayed home and didn't do much of anything. Stuart picked Rosa up from school and she came over for a few hours and we watched The Dark is Rising. A pretty good film. Then on Stuart's way taking Rosa back home he passed his nephews Alexander and Finnin (hopefully I spelt that right, sorry if I haven't). They came to the house for a little while and then their family invited us to dinner. So we went over and had dinner. It was very lovely. Beef stew, fried squash, baked potato, and there was something else, I can't remember, and then for desert we had ice cream. Thank you Alice and Tom.



Friday Stuart went to work, again I entertained myself with chatting with family and friends, playing around online, and watching movies. I also cleaned up the kitchen and that sort of thing. When he came home we watched a few films. Stuart enoys Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Foxworthy and Ron White. I have been introducing him to them the past few weeks. He is getting pretty good at understanding them a little better everytime we watch them.

GIT-R-DONE!!!



Saturday mostly I was unconcious because I took my seroquil the night before and it knocked me out. I woke up and we went into town got something to eat, and did a little window shopping and then went grocery shopping then came back home, and I sadly fell back to sleep as I still wasnt feeling too great. But in between sleeping spells, we watched our weekly show Merlin. (Great show btw I will miss it when I go back to America). And then a few episodes of Beavis and Butthead... I am Cornholio.... anyways.. then we went to sleep.



Today we went to Wookie Hole. For real this time, last time we went to see the caves of Cheddar we thought we were in Wookie, and turned out to not be there, so we took Rosa today. We had a lot of fun and the caves were amazing. After that we headed to Beth's house to visit, but they weren't home so we stopped at Fred and Jean's (Stuart's Grandparents). We had a cup of tea and visited for a little while and then headed home. Once home we finished The Dark is Rising and started a little of Pirates of the Caribbean 3, At World's End. Then Stuart took Rosa home, and now here I am... So now I will stop talking and start showing pictures... hope you enjoy...

Lyme Regis

Standing in the Ocean for the first time... WOW! Wasn't as cold as I thought it was gonna be.

Stuart resting on a great big fossil. Some were HUGE!

Another neat Fossil

A Bunch of little Fossils

Wookey Hole Caves

Inside the caves. The lights made them purple!!! WHOOT!

Some more of the Caves.

And Again....

The Fairy Garden and Mermaid Statue with a pretty waterfall.

Cycle to Bristol... and other things

I know, it has been almost a week since I actually did the cycle to Bristol last Wednesday and it is now Monday but I am just now recovering.. lol, nah just kidding. A lot seems to have been happening. Well first off, let me explain this, Stuart normally cycles into work, (in Bristol) to save on gas, at nearly 9 dollars a gallon, wouldnt you? its 'only' 20 miles right.. I can do this.. wait, I gotta cycle all that back in the same day?? you have got to be kidding me. It takes Stuart about 2 hours to get there. Three and a half hours later... we are pulling into Bristol.. After I collapse in chair at his place of work, and drink down an OJ "initiate a bag a potato chips" lol (I been learnin Stuart on how to be a redneck... what better way the Blue Collar Comedy Tour). Anyways on the way in my hip popped out of its socket 2 times.. that sucks because it is really painful, but luckily Stuart has mastered the technique of putting it back in. Oh another funny lil story... on our way to Bristol, we stopped in town for a latte. I dont really like them cuz they are not sweet to my opinion (Stuart says that I cant taste the sweetness because my taste buds have been tortured through the huge amounts of sugar it 'used' to taste..but it will relearn to taste the real sweetness in time...) But since we are doing this great big cycle, he allowed me to put as much sugar as I wanted WHOOT WHOOT.. but when I got to about packet number 5.. I noticed... people were looking at me like I was some strange freakazoid from another planet... so I stopped. Apparently no one in this country enjoys the pleasure of SUGAR.. you know, they dont even know what Mt Dew is??? that's sad.. lol but I am getting better at this no sugar deal. Eating healthy, and getting into shape. Thursday last week was the first time I left the house alone... getting a little more confidence with the area. so I walked down to the convinient store to get something to eat. It was soo expensive tho, so I just got a little soggy sandwich and a water, went over to the park ate it then made my way back home. Nothing too exciting that day. Thursday evening we headed off to the supermarket and got some food. Haggis... yay.... Then we headed off to Akido. I sat out this time though, a little more intense than I am ready for. But Stuart enjoyed beating up Mark. Until Mark got his leg hurt. lols. but he is alright, then we went home and Stuart made me Pad Thai again.. hmmmmm one of my favorite dishes so far.. Then we went to bed. Friday he was at work all day, Saturday he went into Bristol for his sailing class, Sunday we had Rosa over for Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and now today he has work today then sailing class tonight so instead of comming home for an hour he is just gonna stay in Bristol til his sailing class is done. He will get home around 1030ish tonight. Today is gonna be bad for him at work tho.. cuz he has 2 meetings and then has to work on a program. But its begining of the month, and things are always hectic at the begining of the month for him. (HUGS STUART). But he wants a change in career anyways. So wednesday we are going south,, forget the name of the town. He has an interview its about 3.5 hours away. He wants to take a carpentry class next year on building boats. So that will be neat. But yeah, nothing really more to report at this time, I am gonna work on a few other things now. I will post a few pictures of the Bristol Bike Ride.

BEFORE PICTURE

BEFORE PICTURE

AFTER PICTURE....

TRAIN RIDE WHOOT WHOOT

THIS IS WHAT THE TRAINS LOOKED LIKE, NEATO