One Year

June 1st marked our one-year anniversary in the UK and June 6th my one year at work. We didn’t really do anything big to celebrate, you know, unless you count the entire country throwing a party from June 2 – 5, but they might think that was for the Jubilee & not us. I guess 60 years as sovereign of a nation is slightly more important.

All the same, we thought we’d throw out some randomness from our first year that we may or may not have shared before.

-- Cheese and chocolate are way better in the UK than in the US
--  We’ve put 9,370 miles on our car since living here which includes a 900 mile road trip to the Netherlands
--  I’m on my third blow-dryer; but giving Boots credit, they keep replacing them for free
--  The girls love the colder weather – to the point that Ginger sometimes runs in the park
--  We’ve seen 3 University of Kansas basketball games and 1 Texas Rangers baseball game since we’ve lived here – but Adam does tell me the score of each game first thing every morning so we are still up to date on the standings
--  We put milk in our hot tea now
--  I didn’t realize how much I would miss family events, but I’m so thankful for digital cameras & Skype that make me feel closer
--  We had three sets of visitors now & I can almost recited the Bath city walking tour
--  Clotted cream makes the world a better place
--  Men with thinning hair are said to have a sunroof on top (guess which one of us this was told to!)
--  Our next door neighbors have never traveled further than 4 hours from Bristol; something not all that uncommon for people here
--  British television is hilarious – they have a sense of self-deprivation that leaves us in stitches most nights
--  Driving on the left isn’t as difficult as remembering to drive on the right when you go home
--  Castles are cool, we should build some in Texas
--  I miss having a cleaning service; scrubbing the shower is no fun
--  When people call you ‘love’ in a professional setting, they’re not hitting on you, they’re just being nice
--  Wales is to England as Oklahoma is to Texas, it’s there & it’s close, but we don’t have to like it
--  The letter ‘u’ is way over used, while ‘z’ gets no love, ie honour & realise
--  5 o’clock Friday’s don’t happen, but working until 6 any day of the week is considered staying late
--  Charity is a big deal; and they have large, national campaigns to raise money for causes
--  Doughnuts are for desert, not breakfast
--  I might be obsessed with teapots
--  Don’t joke about health & safety unless you want to sit through a 3 hour lecture on how important it is
--  We no longer hear a British accent, but when meeting new people they still comment that we’re not from here, so ours must still be American
--  We couldn’t have done this without amazing friends & family supporting us on both sides of the ocean. We love you all!

Jubilympics

There is a television show over here called Twenty-Twelve.  It’s a comedic, spoof on-location documentary (or mockumentary as they’ve dubbed it) about the team planning the 2012 Olympics.  Over the series, the Olympic Deliverance Commission (ODC) have to overcome logistical difficulties, production errors, infrastructure problems and troublesome contributors.  Each character’s persona is developed to the extreme.  For instance, the marketing person only speaks in marketing clichés and never actually says anything of substance.  Amanda thinks it’s hilarious.  It’s a bit too much for me & I rarely make it through an entire episode.  If you think you’d like it, BBC America is starting to air it on June 28th.

In one episode of the show, the ODC are trying to figure out how to combine the build up to the Olympics with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  The ever present marketing lady comes up with the word ‘Jubilympics’.  Probably a more literal combination than the organizers had in mind.

However, Jubilmpics is a perfect way to describe our latest weekend in London.  We traveled in to experience the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in their full intensity and also were able to tour a bit of the Olympic Park prior to the Opening Ceremonies. We started off early Monday making our way to London with our most recent guests Ginny and Richard. Upon arriving at Paddington station we tubed towards the Olympic park for a walking tour of the surrounding area. The two hour tour wasn’t quite what we expected with the primary focus revolving around the “legacy” the upcoming games will leave on the city. We knew going into the tour that we wouldn’t be able to get onto the grounds but I think we all thought the general focus we on the different venues were the games are to take place and not on the improved infrastructure that now exists because of the games.

None of that is to say that it was a disappointing tour because it was actually quite interesting and we managed to take more than a few photos of the Olympic park once we got to that part of the tour. It just wasn’t what we were expecting.

Anyway after the tour we had a long tube ride back towards central London and Hyde Park for the Queens Diamond Jubilee concert. The concert was staged in front of Buckingham Palace and only a few thousand tickets had been made available to the general public for the stands that were constructed around the stage. We were not one of the lucky few to get seats at Buckingham but fortunately there were several massive Jumbotrons constructed around Hyde Park for our viewing pleasure. There were also numerous vendors selling everything from tea and coffee to fish and chips. There were even a few burger stands interspersed amongst the more traditional dining fair, although I chose to stick with what the English do best.

The concert was great fun, despite the rain – we’ve just gotten used to being wet,  and featured mostly British artists, past and present, including Kylie Minogue, Sir Elton John, Robbie Williams, Jessie Jay and Sir Paul McCartney. Oddly enough Will.i.am. even made an appearance and it seems as if he has overrun the country showing up on shows such as The Voice UK and as a torch bearer as it made its way through western England. The concert closed with a fireworks display over the Palace and Prince Charles honoring his mum with brief expression of thanks for her 60 years of service on behalf of the nation.

The next morning, Amanda and I made our way to St. Paul’s Cathedral where the Royal Family was scheduled to arrive for a special Jubilee service for the Queen. We arrived about an hour and a half before the queen’s caravan and had a decent spot to take pictures. Unfortunately, the row of people directly in front of us contained a line of amateur/professional/paparazzi photographers who were perched on stools and ladders effectively blocking the view of everyone from the third row back. Even with this set back we were able to get a few shots of the Queen as she scaled the steps in front of the Cathedral as well as a pretty good shot of all the family leaving after the ceremony.

Her Majesty arriving

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge leaving the ceremony

Prince Edward & family leaving

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie with Prince Andrew

The Queen being escorted to her car

As we approached lunch time, we made our way to Amanda’s favorite Moroccan restaurant in London, Leon, to meet up with Ginny and Richard before our tour of the National Portrait Gallery. The gallery had on display a Queens Jubilee exhibit celebrating 60 years of the Queen in an artistic collage of paintings and photos. On our way to lunch we unintentionally managed to intercept the Queen on her way to Trafalgar Square and got a few more photos as her cavalcade drove past.

The National Portrait Gallery is one of Amanda’s favorites (I prefer the National Gallery) and the Queen’s exhibit was very well done and had art spanning her sixty year reign that gave a since of all that had transpired during her time on the throne. It really is remarkable how effectively an individual’s life story can be portrayed through art and the exhibit certainly does not disappoint.  (It’s on display through mid-October if you’re going to be here before then, we’ll gladly go again!)

Once the tour was finished we ended our time with Ginny and Richard enjoying a traditional English Cream Tea before making our way back to Paddington and the train home. In all it was a very Jubilmpic trip and delivered some wonderful memories that will stay with us forever.

Bunting

The British love their bunting.  So with the Diamond Jubilee weekend approaching, the shops have been full of various types, colors, and styles of Union Jack clad bunting.  To embrace the full spirit of our new land, we’ve joined in.  I bought the weatherproof outdoor flags.  As they are plastic and slick, you end up getting a bunted mess when you open the packages…but the girls had fun ‘helping’ me unwrap everything.

But we did eventually get it all hung in nice, orderly, proper bunting style. I even convinced Adam to coordinate the thumbtacks we were using to hang it to the color that he was tacking into. (He tried to use a green tack & there was much discussion about how inappropriate this was – what if the Queen saw!)

We put ours up the Thursday evening before the weekend.  Friday as I was walking home from the bus stop, the neighbor was outside hanging his up.  When he saw me walking by, he jumped off the ladder and walked over to chat.  "You got me in trouble yesterday," he started.  I was a bit nervous – I had no idea what we’d done this time.  "All I heard last night was ‘the American’s have their bunting out and our house is still bare.  The American’s have bunting and we don’t…’"  Luckily, at this point we both could laugh.  So, apparently we started the trend for our street.

More from our Jubilee celebrations to come!