home

I'm missing home a bit today. I'm pretty sure that this is for two reasons, the first being that I'm sick. I called in to work today and I've barely moved from bed all day. I think that everyone misses their mom when they're sick. I don't really know why, because even if I was at home she would just tell me to rest and drink a lot of liquids, which she did in an email yesterday. But I think it's a comfort thing, just knowing that she's nearby if I need her. I don't spend much time at my flat anyway, and when I'm here I rarely watch tv, but today I found out just how horrible daytime British tv really is. There was no "Price is Right" or "Saved by the Bell" reruns to watch, which everyone must admit that's what they watch when they're home sick.
The second reason I'm missing home is that this weekend is graduation at RMCAD. This is great news because that means that Ross is done with school and comes in ten days! But as I just hung up the phone with him I couldn't help but wish that I was there to celebrate with him this weekend. I'm sure it's a lot of the sickness and the fact that I've been at home all day, but I was jealous hearing about all of my friends in Denver hanging out tonight. Maybe it's the time of year, or the time of life, but I feel like people are starting to move on. It's exciting to see how people are beginning their lives, but it hit me tonight when Ross said that he was going to say goodbye to Tamara today, and that Becca is moving back to Seattle this weekend. Steiner is moving to New Zealand next week, Tamara and Matt just set their wedding date, Drew and Liz are pregnant. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed thinking how life moves on, and sometimes I'm excited to think about how different things will be when I come home.
Last night I had dinner with Trace. He was talking about his sort-of ex-girlfriend, sort of current girlfriend in Michigan, Kristin. He said that if it wasn't for Kristin he probably wouldn't miss home very much. It's true that I like living here. I have a very comfortable life, but there are people at home that I miss very much, that make sick days even that much harder.

"Good Afternoon Heat Architects"

I started at Heat Architects on Thursday. I was told that the office opens at 9:30, and being the overly-excited new girl I arrived about 20 minutes early. I killed some time in a nearby Borders, but was quite surprised when by 9:45 there was still no one there. I was beginning to think that I was one the recieving end of a bad practical joke when a girl (I later learned is named Liz) arrived to open the office. The others arrived around 10-10:15...it's a very different work ethic here, which is wonderful! The office is really laid-back and fun. There are two directors, Robert and Charles, who started the firm five years ago. Two girls from Australia, one guy from Sweden, one from France, and another Bunac girl. It's really cool actually, everyone is in their twenties, and negotiating a new country. I'm basically the admin girl and also stepping in as an architectural assistant when they have a big job. For now I'm just getting into the flow of it all there, keeping the office organized, answering the phone, managing the post. It's a really easy job, and they're so happy to have an admin girl at all that they're thankful for anything that I do. Thursday night was the office Christmas party. It was really fun, but it made for a 14 hour first day.
It's been a lazy weekend in London this weekend. Yesterday Gina (my roommate from Korea) and I went up to Willesden Green where Andy and Trace live. They live in a big house (called a bedsit) with about 20 people. One of their roommates, Guiseppe is moving out today and Andy and two of his Aussie roommates were taking him out to a pub for his last day, they asked us to tag along. We spent the afternoon watching football and playing foosball. Guiseppe and I were the champions of the foosball tournament, no thanks really to me, but my fortune for being on a team with the Italian.

Christmas Time

Holy Moly, I really need to blog more often....okay, here's the big update. I have a new job working at an architecture firm called Heat Architects. They're based in Islington which is in Northeast London. It's a small firm but it seems very cool and laid-back. I start work on Thursday, which also happens to be the night of their christmas party, so I guess I'll get to know everyone pretty quickly! This last weekend was pretty eventful....on Saturday night my roommate Morgan and I helped out our friend Ruthie at a christmas party that her cousins were throwing at their flat. Morgan and Ruthie are both from South Carolina and Ruthie's two cousins both came to London on Bunac visas in the early 90's and never left. They have a lot of American friends here, though, and all night everyone kept saying, "well I declare, it's been ages since I've been in a room full of Southerners!"
Sunday morning began with an early morning jog through the streets of London since Morgan and I found ourselves late and the tube shut down. We were on our way to the International Student's House to go catch the bus to Leeds Castle. It was a trip organized by Bunac, basically two big tour buses and lots of Bunac kids doing the tourist thing for the day. Leeds was really pretty, but I was kind of disappointed when I went inside. The castle was built starting in 840, so it's really super old, but it was sold out of Royal hands around 1600 and since then has been a private residence. Apparently the owners along the way didn't care that they were living in a ridiculously historical building and have renovated the entire interior. Now for an interior design nerd like me it was kind of cool to see rooms that were designed by people I learned about in my history of design classes, it just seemed strange for a castle to feel so new. It's located in a beautiful countryside with sheep and black swans roaming about. There's also a maze on part of the grounds that we were lost in for probably far too longer than we should have.
After Leeds we went to Rochester, a small town east of London. The high street of Rochester is on the path that historically ran from London to Dover, out to sea. But the real claim to fame for Rochester is that it is the town that Charles Dickens set many of his stories. Great Expectations is the best-known example of this, and our tour guide pointed out several pubs and inns that are mentioned in the book and are still operating today. Every year Rochester hosts a Christmas festival, which we were able to enjoy this weekend. The town is really cute. It looks exactly like you would expect an English countryside village to look like with tudor buildings. thatched roofs, and cobble-stone streets. The people who live in Rochester dress up for the Christmas Festival in Dickensian dress, and not just a few people, but the entire town! I seriously felt like we had stepped out of 2005 and into "A Christmas Carol." It was really great, there were street performers singing carols, vendors roasting chestnuts, and mulled wine, and then the night finished with a parade. As cheesy as it sounds, this town was so genuine in their celebration that it was addicting to be around it. we were talking on the way home that you always see towns like that in movies but I never thought that there would actually be a place like that.

Pictures are: Morgan and I at Leeds Castle; G.P, Stephanie, Kate, Me and Morgan on the back side of the castle; and Kate, Trace, Morgan and I with some Dickensian folks.