Pictures from my last weeks in SF, OC, Ohio, and the beginnings of England

San Francisco

The lovely Tabby and Nicole on Shayla and Tabby's last SF Monday!

Nicole and me at Q Bar.

Me and Tabby...We're demonstrating something, I just don't remember what anymore.

Me and Shayla! Ms. Madagascar!

Stephen, Nicole and Ashley at my going away party.

Lianne and Nicole!

These lunatics...

Totem pole.

Dave, Ryan, Martin and Jessie.

Ashley, Danielle me and Amanda.

Orange County

Doug, my almost-brother, and Nate, my real brother.

Doug, Lauren and Nate.

Doug, me, Lauren and Nate.

Me and my car with Vincent, they guy that owns it now.
Ohio

My many bug bites on my back.
Gerrards Cross

The ADORABLE Cassidy at Ellie's tennis practice. We played "tennis" with the cones.

English mailboxes.

Downtown GX.

The train station/construction for the new Tesco, due to open in late November!

The view out my window...part of Ellie's school.

Another view out my window.

Language differences, among others

This is going to be, by far, my dad's favorite post, I'm sure. Every time I Skype with my dad, he asks me about the slight language differences ALL the time. He flew through London a little less than a year ago on a business trip, and sent this email: 

"I didn't say anything right at the airport in London.

Me: 'Can I place an order to go?'

Them: 'So you want place at order for take-away?'

Me: 'Do you have a lid for the drink?'

Them: 'Sorry, but we're all out of covers.'

Hilarious.  "

So now he can't stop asking me about it. 

So far, here's what I've got:

1. What we'd call a wallet has two different words: if you're a woman, it's your purse, if you're a man, it's a wallet. 
2. What we'd call a purse is a handbag.
3. They'll ask "are you all right?" instead of "how are you?" Meghan gave me a heads up on that one, if she didn't I'm sure that would have taken me ages to get used to. It's still weird to hear "are you all right?" all the time though. 
4. My cell phone is my mobile.
5. They put a heavier emphasis on the "s" in schedule. 
6. Baseboards are skirtboards. 
7. You give someone a ring, don't call them if you need anything. 
8. You're not vacuuming, you're hoovering.  
9. Rainboots are called wellies. 
10. There are SO MANY coins here. £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p. I tried to explain to Kari how ours are easily identifiable and there are only FOUR, but she didn't get it. 
11. Ranch dressing basically doesn't exist here. But they have "Cool Original" Doritos...which are Cooler Ranch from America. Silly geese. 
12. Lays potato chips are called Weavers. 
13. They don't sell alfredo sauce. 
14. They have Dominos Pizza here too!

Today, Kari, Ellie and I went up to High Wycombe to go to Primark. It's so hard for me to describe some of the stores here. Primark reminds me of Forever 21 because of the clothes they sell and the prices. But, they also have a ton of mens clothes, kids clothes, and home stuff. Almost like a Kohl's, but cheap! I bought some wellies [much needed!], a cute sweater top, a hoodie [I left all mine at home...]. We ate some pre-made sandwiches from Tesco, which is a lot like WalMart, but more of a grocery store than anything else. It seems to me [at least so far] that almost all of the grocery stores also sell clothes. 


The trains here remind me of a mix between BART and Muni. The pricing varies based on where you're traveling/if you're an adult or child, and they seem to be VERY on-time [ala BART]. Actually, now that I'm writing this, I can't tell you why I thought it was like Muni. It's really not. OH! And they have TOILETS ON THE TRAINS. Crazy!!

Tomorrow I'm heading into London for the "Bank Holiday Weekend" and my birthday. It's also the Notting Hill Carnival in London this weekend, so I'm really excited. I have Monday off as well, but I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay in the city. Two friends from Australia are letting me stay with and go around with them, and I'm so glad! 


I'm going to do the picture post now, I promise this time!

Today, I went for an accidental long walk

Well, today was...interesting. I got up this morning knowing I needed to go into town to buy some stuff. When I got up, Penny was leaving to go pick up her mom and nephew who were going to spend the day down here. As soon as they got back, her mom had a hair appointment, so she left and I was watching the four kids, including 2 year old Cassidy. She got back right as I was about to leave to take Ellie to tennis practice. I was going to take Cassidy with me because she wasn't back yet and Kari and Harry were fighting, but she walked in right as we were getting ready to leave. I ended up taking Cassidy anyways, and he and I played tennis and ran around while Ellie played. We had lunch when we got back, and then Penny drove me into town to do some shopping and mail some letters. Everyone else was going shopping...somewhere else, but there wasn't enough room in the car for everyone. I was fine with it because I had to get Kari's birthday present/card anyway, and I was happy to have some time on my own.
I went to the post office first and got all my stamp purchasing taken care of. I now own 50 stamps. Woo!
I wandered around and got everything I needed, then started heading back the way I thought I had to go. I got confused thinking that I was supposed to turn sooner than I really was, and spent probably an hour walking in a giant circle, as shown here:

I got BACK to downtown GX, and went into a real estate office, figuring they'd know the streets and could tell me where to go. The guy was very nice, and gave me about 4 different sets of directions, but it came down to the fact that I needed to go further before I turned. So, I finally made it back. THIS is how I was supposed to go:

I got back and had issues unlocking the back door, so I had to let Bindi out the side door, which was easier to open despite the fact that it has MORE locks. Oh well.
I bought a shower rack while I was out, and I hung that up, hooray for perfectly flat tile walls!


Once the pictures finish uploading, I'll do a picture post...hopefully later tonight!

Start of Week 1

Massive progress here:
1. Ordered my iPhone tonight! It should be here Thursday! I'm sooooo glad! If you have an iPhone, Android or BlackBerry, find/download PingChat [www.pingchat.com]. It's an instant messaging client that works across platforms! Since international texting is still absurdly expensive, this is how I'm going to be texting my parents/brother while I'm here...Since my dad doesn't have an iPhone, I'm super excited that there's something that works on a bunch of platforms! Also, I'm just really excited to get my hands on an iPhone again! I've missed it so! And it's the new one! Mmmmm I love me some new technology.
2. Today I FINALLY got to the point where I know how to flush my toilet all the time. Yeah, go ahead, laugh. I know it sounds lame, but it wasn't easy! You have to pull the handle up first, then flush it twice. If you forget to pull it up first, it doesn't work...which I think was what I was missing at first. I was lucky if I could flush it once a day, but today, it's been mastered!
3. Started writing some letters! Very excited to be pen pals with people!!!
4. Heading into town tomorrow with Kari and Harry to buy stamps, possibly an alarm clock, envelopes and hopefully a phone case I can live with. Oh, and maybe a power strip? We'll see!
5. Put up some pictures in my room today, and moved my vanity area off my window sill. I'm trying to really make the room "mine."
6. Took Ellie to her tennis lesson today. The best part was the end when she ran out of the facility screaming because there was a bee...luckily it was at the end of her lesson and she was already packed to go home. 
7. Helped Ellie "go through" stuff in her room...she really wasn't interested but we tried.
8. Got the shower head cleaned in my bathroom...Well, okay Penny did this for me, but HOORAY water actually comes out of it now. Much better!
9. Straightened out my dresser drawers, since until this morning they were kind of just a jumble.
10. Talked to Marj on Skype with the whole gang. They were as happy to see her as she was to see them!
12. FINALLY backing up my computer for the first time since I imported all those movies! It's currently on GB 8 of 57...I think that's going to be going for a while...


Oh! Random crazy coincidence... Shayla, one of the section editors from last semester, is in the Peace Corps in Madagascar for the next two years. She sent me a message asking if I knew James, a guy I went to high school with... He's in her Peace Corps group! How crazy is that?!?!? I'm still shocked that Shayla is IN the Peace Corps...let alone that someone else I know is too!




That's it for now. =] If you're on Skype, search for me! mandatom at gmail dot com...I'd love to see your smiling face, and I'm sure Ellie would love to prank call you! =]

I'm HERE!!!

That's right! I'm in ENGLAND!

I was flying on standby on both of my flights, and luckily I made it on to both of them. I had to RUN through the Washington Dulles Airport, but I made it!!! I was actually a little worried when I got to Cleveland because there were storms in DC and my flight was delayed, but I made it just in time. While we flew to DC we passed the storm, and there was a HUGE beautiful cloud that had the sun setting on the west side of it, and as we passed it to the north you could see that it was a lightning cloud. It was pretty long and so I watched that for a long time as it lit up. SO COOL!
I had a business class seat from DC to London [first time I've ever not been in coach] and it was AWESOME. I slept a few hours, but also played some sudoku on the 15" tv screen, watched Toy Story 2 and an episode of Psych.

I landed yesterday morning [Friday], and came home with Penny, Kari and Ellie. Ellie helped me unpack everything and get settled. We had different kinds of chicken for lunch with chips.
Later on Kari and Harry went to High Wycombe [about a 15 minute train ride] with me to exchange money and try to get an iPhone. We managed to exchange my money, but by the time that was done, none of the stores were open anymore. A few were just closing their doors and we asked about the phone, but they said if I don't want a contract [which I don't], that I have to actually go to an Apple Store, who are probably sold out for at least 3 weeks...BUMMER. Might have to order it online...
We had "fish and chips" for dinner...and by fish and chips I mean we went to a fish and chips store and I ordered chicken nuggets and "chips." Got to talk to Mom, then Dad on video chats which was really nice. 

Today Penny, Kari and I walked to Ellie's tennis tournament, and sat out in the rain for a bit before Ellie slipped and fell on her knee and didn't feel like she could walk/play anymore, so we headed home. The tennis courts she plays at are JUST across the street from the house, which is pretty nice!
We had bacon sandwiches today, which weren't what I was expecting since the bacon here is more like "Canadian bacon" than "American bacon," but they were still good. Ellie and I played hide and seek and she played some online games on my computer while I took a nap [I blame jet lag, but she says Marj did that too, and told her that as you get older you need to sleep more...Very true!;)]. Penny's mom, Sue, sister & nephew, Katie & Cassidy, were here briefly. Cassidy is about 2 or 3 was singing and "dancing" along with the radio that was on which was hilarious. We had Chinese for dinner that was interesting because of how it comes packaged as well as the sauces they were cooked in...I asked for Cashew Chicken, but I couldn't even tell you what kind of sauce it was in. Just video chatted with my parents [and Sparky] and Ellie is playing Mario Kart online with some friends.

A few Skype screen shots:

Better picture of the humans.

But in this one, Sparky is looking like "hey, where is she?!?!"


It's been cold and rainy for the past two days but it's not predicted for tomorrow so hopefully it's right!

Last US Night!!

I left California Sunday night for Ohio to visit some family before I leave for England. Got in EARLY Monday morning and have had a great stay EXCEPT for the fact that I am apparently the tastiest thing EVER to mosquitoes. I have 30 bug bites, at least. Feet, legs, hands, arms and ESPECIALLY my back. I have about 15 on my back alone. It's horrible. Luckily I'm not too itchy, but the presence of them is still annoying! I also had some new shoes I wore while I was here that gave me some bad blisters that I'm not excited about either. I just want the bites and blisters to go away!!

Other than that I've been visiting with some cousins and my grandma, who's in a nursing home and is about to move into assisted living. She broke her hip about two months ago and seems to be doing great, she's walking again and I'm really glad I got to see her before I left.

Nothing else to report, just wanted to talk about my trip to Ohio a little bit before I leave the country. My next post should be from ENGLAND!!!! Some pictures should be included from there too!!

Last California Night

This is my last night at my parent's house in Orange County. Tomorrow I leave on a red eye flight for Ohio to visit family for a few days, then I leave from Cleveland on Thursday evening for LONDON.

I can't believe the time is here already! Back in April this seemed soooooooo far away! Heck, it still seemed far away when I came home from San Francisco at the end of July!

I've been finishing up cleaning out all the junk in my room since I've been home [and I had a LOT of junk], and I'm STILL NOT QUITE DONE! I should be done before I leave, but it's been nerve-wracking to just have piles of STUFF everywhere!

I sold my car today. Little Blue Car/Dory [like the fish in Finding Nemo]/Baby Blue is no longer mine, but belongs to Vincent, a guy about my age who's black Honda Fit was totaled in an accident. I'm sad that the car isn't mine, but no one was going to use it for a year and we certainly wouldn't get MORE money a year from now, so selling it was for the best. Basically I spent all day driving around with my dad dealing with selling it, so most of the afternoon was gone to that [meaning no room cleaning happened all afternoon].

But I spent most of the evening working on cleaning my room and helping mom organize all her cables that she has in her office that she wasn't sure about. Oh, and ripping movies on THREE computers at once since I figured out how to do it too late and had too many more that I wanted to take with me on my trip! It's definitely a lot easier than I thought but SLOW, which is kind of annoying.

"Brotherface" called me last night to say bye since he went to Honduras with his GF and her mom for a week and he wouldn't be able to call while he was there. We had a nice chat and he even told mom & dad to forward his "Day 1 of trip summary email" to me. I'm glad to see we're getting along pretty well now that I'm leaving the country for a year or so. [Mom & Dad say a year at most, we'll see though...Summer Olympics in 2012 are in London, which would be AWESOME, right???]

My current movie imports are done so I'm going to go set up a few more and SLEEP! I can't believe I leave tomorrow!!!!!!!

Initial Posting!

Hello out there!
Some background to start out with: I'm a 21 [22 at the end of the month]-year-old recent college grad. I majored in journalism with an emphasis in photojournalism. Just before I graduated [late April], a friend & classmate of mine mentioned that her sister was looking for someone to take over her AMAZING job in London as an au pair [like a nanny]. Sounded cool, right??
Later that day I asked about the job, and two weeks later was for sure leaving sometime in August for LONDON for at least a year. Super-fast life decision! [And if you know me at all, you know I'm not a fast decision maker, so really that's a miracle.]

I'm leaving in two and a half days for my trips, and I'm not nearly ready! I leave home Sunday night for Ohio, where I arrive Monday morning. Spend Monday-Thursday afternoon there, then head to the airport for London!
Before then, I need to finish packing up/cleaning out my room at mom & dad's, AND finish sorting out my packing [stupid 50 lbs. airline baggage limits....]! SO MUCH TO DO.

This'll be my first foray into public blogging, hopefully I don't disappoint!
Hopefully I remember to update this!

Here's me after the department graduation ceremony, super stoked [this is also me testing picture posting...]