When the sun comes out...

This is a beautiful place. These photos are of the Sage in Newcastle (technically Gateshead), where we went to see Punch Brothers last week (thanks for the heads up, Stace!). The Sage has a few different halls, so we were in a tiny cylindrical one that went up three stories. Each level was about 2 rows deep plus standing room behind (cheaper tickets), making it feel almost like a modern remake of a Shakespearean theatre. Very cool. The pokey thing in the photos is this bamboo bridge they're building over the river. We can't walk over it, so I'm not sure the point. At least the waterfalls in NYC might splash you or something.At one point during the evening, the band suddenly decided to change their set, so Chris Thile (also of the well-missed Nickel Creek) came up and said they were pulling 'an audible at the line.' Then he stopped, realized he was in England and that no one would know what that meant, mumbled something about American football, and then, flustered, introduced the next song. It was one of the funniest moments of the night. It happens to the best of us, Chris!

Funny Photo Friday: Imports

I don't know if this is funny or sad.

Compare the prices on the regular cereals, between £1 and £3, with that of the imported Lucky Charms box. With the current exchange rate, that makes it 13 bucks. That's a lotta money for Magically Delicious.


(Found at the nice Fenwick's department store food centre in Newcastle. Never seen them anywhere else.)

Autoreply: Out of the Office

I have two songs in my head. One is that American guy spelling out: "V! A! C! A! T-I-O-N; We’re on vaca-ay-ay-tion." And the other is Madonna’s Holiday. Whatever you call it, we’re doing it. Today we leave for five days in Barcelona, Spain, a city of which I’ve long wanted to visit and where we will meet our good friends Q+A from New York, drink lots of sangria, wilt in the unfamiliar heat, and gorge ourselves on seafood and tapas. I cannot wait.

Seriously, I am really excited. The weather, the friends, and the food hold as much appeal for me as the place right now, but I also feel like it’s been years since we’ve taken a vacation. Don’t get me wrong. I fully acknowledge that 2007 was the Year of the Holiday for us, but long term travelling doesn’t hold the same kind of excitement (kind not amount) as actually claiming some of those very grown-up things called Work Vacation Days (or Holidays here), leaving for a specific and finite period of time, staying in a hotel you’ve reserved in advance... It’s just exciting, that’s all.

In fact, I’m struggling with that strange and annoying Anticipatory Time Vertigo Thing that comes when thinking about the future. You know it. It’s the uneasy feeling of "in two days I’ll be in Barcelona where I've never been and time will keep passing and I'll be back here again and this will be a memory." "Tonight I see Queenie again." "Where will I be this time next year?" "Will I remember this moment?" It comes when I try to think about where I am right now and where I will be at a time in the future when I will not be where I am right now. I wonder what it will feel like and look like and smell like. And it makes my head spin in a way that’s really uncomfortable.

Anticipation. Why is it so strange?

(I also wanted to comment that my water glass is sweating right now. I forgot they did that. Yes, it’s hit the 70’s here in Durham.)

I know I already posted something today, but I just need to say that I cannot see a single cloud in the sky right now, and it is completely freaking me out.

(A few degrees warmer and I might even be fooled into thinking it was summer out there.)

Our posh little city

Our version of the Great Britain Lonely Planet says, 'Durham is small, posh and exquisite. Its joys are apparent as soon as you get off the train... The university may not have the wizened prestige of Oxbridge - it was only founded in 1932 - but its terrific academic reputation and competitive rowing team make the disappointment of not getting into Oxford or Cambridge that bit easier to bear.'

What it fails to mention is that while no mining took place in the city itself (it was too hilly), Durham was the center of NE England's once-vast coal mining industry, and that although the mines have been closed for over a decade now, there's still one day of the year when Durham becomes a bit more gritty and a little less, well, posh.

Read about the Miner's Gala and one pret-ty amazing balloon arch...
Back in the 1800's, the big bosses met in Durham to set miners' wages and talk business, while the pitmen showed up with their newly-formed unions to parade outside. As families and others began to attend, this 'Big Meeting' turned into an even bigger event. The day is basically filled with speeches, a service at the cathedral, rides and games (at least these days. Josh called it a county fair. Only socialist.), and unions carrying their banners into and around Durham, each accompanied by its own (or hired) band.

We happened to have our friends, Emma and Gerard, up from London for the weekend (with whom we took not a single photo !!). We were planning on a nice stroll around Durham, but we didn't realize the crowds we would encounter. I don't know what it was this year, but in 2006, 50,000 people attended the Gala! The city was packed, but not with the typical student/tourist crowd we associate with our medieval city. This was a proud, loud, beer-guzzling, overweight, tattooed street party for young children to old men. We had a great time wandering the crowds, watching the bands, and marveling at the beer consumption. I almost started to feel proud of the mines myself, until I remembered I have absolutely no stake in them whatsoever!

The Gala also happens to be just about the biggest Socialist gathering this side of (what was) the iron curtain.

And it happens in our posh little city. Cool.


---
Also, because I don't know if it warrants its own post, Josh, his coworker Hannah, and I made a balloon arch on Saturday for the youth group's end of the year party (Josh and Hannah called it 'Prom'.) I just thought you should see how talented we are.

Funny Photo Friday: A series of signs..

A moment of confession, we only took one of these three photos but we did see all three, much to our disbelief on some.


For those of you who don't know the Red Squirrel is the native breed that is being driven out by the larger, more aggressive, (dare I say bossy?) grey squirrels, from North America. Symbolic?












Badgers! (For what its worth they are endangered)














Seriously. They make fun of us for violent devices but they have tank signs, SIGNS!

Not really our ususal kind of thing but, its funny...

And there is something to be said about watching the politics and policies of our country while you aren't living there. Its funny to watch the whole thing develop. Its especially interesting to watch in Brittan where major issues in American politics are followed quite closely. Anyway, those are all excuses because I find it funny and am too lazy to write a real post at present. :)

Rabbits and running...

So we went for a short run last night which takes us by several fields and in those fields we saw a number of rabbits. Now we often see rabbits and sometimes I count them; last night's total?

103!

Holy cow.

Funny Photo Friday

Note to self, I will no longer let my toddler pump the gas.

Happy birthday, america, megan.

I had a birthday week. Or, at least a birthday weekend. First, I had a few packages arrive from the USA (thank you!!). Then I initiated a pub visit for the first time at work (as opposed to simply going along), so almost the entire office headed out on Thursday for birthday and 'not leaving' drinks (rather than the leaving drinks I was expecting around now). A little bleary-eyed, my half work day on Friday led to a Fourth of July picnic with some fellow Americans, and then Saturday Josh turned up with car keys after breakfast! We took our newly hired car North for the day to Holy Island, not that I knew where we were heading until 45-minutes into the drive.

Find out why it's holy...Holy Island is where Saint Cuthbert lived and worked in the seventh century. After death, his body was carried to Durham and now resides beneath the cathedral. The island is also where the famous illuminated manuscripts, the Lindisfarne Gospels, were made. It now has some ruins from the monastery, a nice village, and a small castle, along with some colonies of sea birds (puffins, even!!), some seals, and handful of sheep.
While our visit was nice, we decided that other than the history, what makes the island the most interesting is the getting there. You can actually drive to the island... but only when the sea lets you! The causeway is covered under high tide, so tide tables and signs showing flooded cars are everywhere. Apparently every year, some fool decides to risk it, gets stuck, and ends up getting winched away by helicopter. The last time someone was on the news was when my parents were here in March, so we were hoping for some excitement...
At high tide (3 hours before it would be safe to cross again), we took a drive to see just how high the water got. This eager driver must have thought we were trying to cut in line, because he actually pulled into the water up to his front bumper. We weren't about to get in his way, so we snapped some photos and waited for the helicopter. A little disappointing when the car wisely stayed put... but you can see from the photos below how much the water changes.
This is the same spot 3 hours later:
Again, high tide:
Low(ish) tide:
Despite it being the coldest birthday I've ever experienced, Josh brought a summery surprise in the boot... a grill! We had our own private barbecue on the beach. Thanks for the paper plates, Mom...
I think the best part, though, was the S'mores! Brilliant, Josh! Plus, I'd been wanting to try them out with a digestive... it's round already, so worked well instead of a graham cracker. A little thick, perhaps. The cadbury chocolate was great, except for the first time in my life, I missed Hersheys- we needed something thinner that would melt before the marshmallow dripped away!

Yum. Nice surprise, Josh. I love birthdays (except for the getting older part...).

Stereotypes

Written months ago... but finally getting posted!

Residing in a non-native country as an adult (neither traveling through nor as a student), I've had to (re)define myself with and against my fellow countrypersons. Obviously, I knew in advance that there were plenty of stereotypes out there about Americans, America, and American-ness. I grew up traveling and got the Don't be an Ugly American lecture at a young age. Josh and I had considered pretending to be Canadians if it ever spared us a potentially dangerous situation in certain countries (we were anticipating Vietnam and Bangladesh, in particular- ironically two of the most positive towards our nationality) simply because of these notions about our native country. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that, while not always correct, the opinions we encountered in Asia were mostly positive (or at least not negative). We were pleased that most people were able to distinguish between Americans and the American president (who hit an all-time popularity low in the USA during our trip) or the war in Iraq, and most seemed to realize that the United States is a huge country consisting of 300 million unique opinions.

We were surprised, then, to find our most negative encounters here in England. It appears the same might be true in most of Europe, and it's possible it has something to do with actually spending time here rather than moving through in a matter of weeks. Perhaps if we lived in one of the other countries we had visited, we would have encountered the negative stereotypes there, too. Of course, the majority of people we have met here are polite and friendly. I am simply talking about stereotypes, getting asked if we own a gun (yes, a popular question), the look of surprise when I reach for the tea rather than the coffee, a skeptical response when I say my mom's Christmas gift included a bike basket... and I can't help but list the most prevalent:

Read the rest...

1. The USA is very violent.


2. The USA is full of guns, and this contributes to/causes the violence.


3. Most Americans don't hold passports and rarely travel.


4. Americans like everything big, from cars to houses to waste sizes.


5. Americans are overweight.


6. Americans are overly, and superficially, friendly.


7. The American health care system works only for the rich.

I think this portion of our time living outside the United States is an excellent opportunity for me, as an American, to figure out how I feel about all these things. I never knew much about crime statistics and gun laws, about the number of American passport-holders and health care costs, so such conversations have led to many an internet search, resulting in shame and pride and interesting conversation for Josh and I. Perhaps I should list the quick version of responses we've garnered so far. Sure, why not? (we're trying to make them general personal reflections, but for comparisons, the UK comes up.)

1. Apparently, the most common American TV shows exported are our crime shows. Too bad. The statistics we've found show that the USA does have a much higher murder rate than the UK, but half the violent crime (one report said a third) and half the hot burglaries (occurring while the home-owner is present, sometimes leading to, well, more violent crime). I've been surprised at the number of beatings (sometimes to death) that show up in the paper here, and I'd personally rather walk around Manhattan at 3am than Newcastle or London. Also, US crime rates vary drastically from place to place. Drastically. I think it depends on where you live, here and in the USA.


2. This is a new thing for me, the fascination with the American gun obsession (if one exists). Again, opinions vary widely from urban to rural areas, as does gun ownership. Some states have 50% of the population owning a gun while others have less than 10%. I’ve never seen a gun outside of hunting parameters or a museum. Strangely, the number of gun-related murders per state does not necessarily correlate with a high rate of gun ownership, and many people attribute the low incidents of hot burglaries to gun ownership. When Florida made it easier to own a gun in 1987, its crime rates dropped significantly. Actually, the Swiss have high gun-ownership rates but much lower crime rates than the UK, indicating that guns may or may not correlate with violence in a culture. Again, I think it depends on where you live and what statistics you look at. Rather than stating my opinion on American gun laws, I've learned that it's safe to say that it's not as clear-cut as we seem to hear around here. I find this refreshing when I hear the condescending “do you own a gun” question pop up.


3. Statistics seem to indicate that from 10% to 20% of Americans own passports. Of course, we have ridiculous vacation allowances, so there's no time to go far. The country is twice the size of Europe. Just because you don't see Americans doesn't mean they aren't traveling days away to explore a part of their own country. By the way, to our relief, we discovered many loud, obnoxious Europeans and Australians on our Asia trip. The few Americans we met tended to be the quieter, let me explore the culture type!


4. True. Remember, though, there are 300 million different opinions…


5. Yup, I think it might be 1/3 of Americans are obese. But 1/4 of the British are obese, too. I think people look about the same size around here as in the Midwest. I always noticed a difference between NYC and the Midwest myself...


6. This is a more UK-related complaint, so I guess all I can say is that it’s cultural! What may seem superficial to some is not to others… it’s just a way of understanding each other’s spatial and verbal cues. And I think Americans who find the English cold and stand-off-ish are making the same mistake. There are some overly friendly Midwesterners out there, though…


7. Health care is expensive. But the amount I pay in taxes for National Insurance (I think this includes pension and disability taxes, though!) is roughly what my employer paid for my insurance in NYC. This one is way too tricky to tackle other than to say that Josh and I haven’t had too much trouble in the USA yet, as I have been employed with benefits and/or we have been happily quite healthy. As students, we had access to what seemed like expensive insurance (but I think was not!), but was still less than what I pay in NI taxes now. Again, without stating an opinion, it almost seems like faster access for some/most to better healthcare versus access for all to healthcare in general. Frankly, we’ve noticed major problems with both nationalized and privatized health care.

We've found that there tends to be some truth but quite a bit more generality and misunderstanding to each of the stereotypes. Of course, when these topics first came up, I knew little about them. Now, after I find myself unable to respond, I go on a quest for information and begin to form an opinion about it, about my people, my country, our ways. Of course, I always wish I knew at the time of the conversation what I know now!


PS This topic may turn up again in a post about American-ness and how our thoughts on the matter have changed over the last year. That post would include the encounter with a proud work visa lottery-winner at the US embassy in Kathmandu and the conversation about English with a tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia or the comments on the presidential candidates and election (then 1.5 years out!) by our Malaysian hotel-owner. Again, another post. But overall, I am pleasantly surprised to find that initial embarrassment or discomfort over my native land has slowly been changing to a mild pride…

PPS I'm skipping the positive stereotypes for now. For example, I've been surprised by the respect for American beer!?!

See our 'post' about the lakes (and by post I really mean mostly photos with a couple of comments thrown in... )

So we recently took a short trip to the glorious Lake district, and I have to say it lived up to what I hoped it could be. The lakes aren't really known for their fine weather (they are known as having the most rain in England and I had several people tell me, 'It always rains in the lakes.'), but for whatever reason the weather worked out quite well for us. It was just a short weekend excursion with some American friends before they head home... but it was simply a lovely weekend.

And for those of you itching to know all those in-depth kinds of things that are supposed to be in travelogues... read about the Lake District here (I never really like writing those posts, so I'll just reference the people who write them when they get bored at work).
See the rest and read Josh's comments on photos...


This is a 3,000 year old stone circle outside of a town called Keswick (pronounced kes-ick, for those of you not familiar with the British trend for dropping Ws). It's funny to wander around these things because it's not as though they are that impressive in their own right... until you remember their age. But they were kind of fun to climb around on... until I saw the sign asking you not to on the way out. Oops! (In my defense I saw kids doing it when we arrived and I thought, 'why not?')


An Indian resturant in Keswick... we always thought the prominence of the 'Fully Air Conditioned' signs on restaurants in India was funny... until we began to seek out restaurants with those signs. But why do Indian restaurants feel they need to advertise AC in this part of the world? 100-degree India? Yes! The 55-degree Lakes? No! Do they just think it should be part of the experience?




The lake district is also known for its dry stone walls (and there are tons of them). They just cut around, up and through whatever they want...

Isn't my wife cute? I think so.
The Lakes is also well-known for its 'walks.' We'd call them hikes in the states, and I could never tell if I liked or disliked that they are called walks here. In some ways it feels more accurate because you really are just walking up a small mountain, and I expect hikes to involve... well, a more arduous journey. We did a short walk called 'Catbells,' and here is a photo along the ridge up.

A view from the ridge. Simply beautiful as the sun came out. It wasn't as cold as our gear looks- just windy!

Doesn't it look like we are in front of a green screen? (get it green screen? And it's green behind us? Comic genius I tell you, why aren't I famous yet?)
Flowers. Called something nice and flowerey I'm sure ...

I love our macro lens; who knew those things had hair on the inside of them?
A view of Catbells from our B and B. Simply lovely. Also, while we don't have a picture that captures it well, we stayed in a 17th century farm house that was converted to a B and B. I am still amazed that I can spend the night in houses that are older than my country here!

P.S. This is for you Queenie Tong. That piece of fish was huge! Look at it in contrast to the pint, simply massive!

Happy 4th of July!

There are so many things to say about this fourth of July (especially given that our last one was in Bangkok) but I'll just say briefly that we are going to a 4th of July party and sharing the day with a bunch of Americans.

The theme? Mexican.


Ironic.



P.S. This is just funny... I'm not sure how I feel about it and I don't know this guy but right now I just find it funny and it deals with American-ism.

Funny Photo Friday

Prawnies? Really?

Celsius Has Played a Cruel, Cruel Trick on Me.

When we first moved here, I was a little confused by the whole Celsius-Fahrenheit thing as, after our Asia trip, my knowledge of Anders' scale was limited to the upper regions of human comfort. I think the only times it got much below 30C (86F) were in Sapa, Vietnam and Darjeeling, India, two hill stations where we blissfully shivered away our afternoons. But I thought I had it roughly figured out. I know from Hanoi and Jaisalmer that 40C is hot, from Darjeeling that a rainy 17C is cool, that (after some practice) 35C isn't overly comfortable in the humidity, but I can handle it. And now I understand that a winter here means single digits, and that's not really that cold.

Read the rest... and see megan's fantastic, time-wasting creation.
But now that July is here, I keep getting frustrated by the teens announced on the weather. They don't sound too bad- it was 17 those two days in India, for goodness sake- but when I go outside... well, let's just say I've gotten a bit grumpy. And I'm not even a big hot-weather girl. So today I looked up the average temperatures in Durham. In Fahrenheit.

Have I mentioned before that THE AVERAGE MONTHLY HIGHS IN THIS DAMNED PLACE NEVER, EVER HIT 70F? Have I? Because let me just tell you that July peaks at 68 and the rip-roaring month of August, typically the wilter, the sweat-inducer, the I-can't-wait-for-winter month in temperate climates, just squeezed by 67. Sorry for the language. I'm a little upset.

Sigh.

After realizing just how long my 'summer' was going to be, I couldn't help but chuckle at the crazy extreme (and anti-extreme) climates we've encountered over the last 18 months. We'd waited for a bus in -30C (or F, same thing at that point), sat through monsoon downpours in +30C (86F), splurged on AC in 45C (113F), and drank some tea at this unending 13 (55). So to cheer myself up (no, I don't want to know what this says about me), I looked up the monthly average temp of all the places we were in and made this handy chart of Josh and Megan's Personal Average Monthly Temperatures:

Sun

Today it is predicted to reach a high of 23 degrees celsius (72 farenheight) and in the town marketplace I saw no less than three men with their shirts off. I guess when it finally gets warm you go full out...