Giving Up

In the last two days I have had conversations with both county educational authorities. Also, one of the Vice Presidents at work who had to write a letter to the educational authority to explain my situation has also had a call with one of these authorities. Her exasperated response about the call was, “They were quite rude”. It was recommended to me that I should try and find a school first and then find a place to live and I think over the last few months, it has become glaringly obvious that that is an impossibility. I wish I could have transcribed the last conversation because it was comical. So I have picked out a village nearby where if we rent, our address will cleverly disguise us as rich people and rich kids don’t go to bad schools, so I am hoping our address will see us through.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

A former work colleague had me over for dinner tonight. We had a delicious meal of salad, roast beef, vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding. But the highlight of the night was the dessert. If heaven exists, I will be eating Sticky Toffee Pudding on a regular basis there. I don't know how the cake is made, but it is a dark sponge cake that is covered in a hot toffee sauce. To add to the decadence, they pour cream over the top. She sent me home with an extra helping which I handed over to B&B owner P. I don't need that temptation!

New Guest

On Saturday a new guest checked in across the hall from me. She is an Egyptian architect in her mid-twenties, very beautiful, who is contemplating coming to London for a second master’s degree. This morning I was late leaving the breakfast table because she, L, and I were deep in conversation. She lives a very different life. From what she explains, Egypt is a land of wealthy and poor with no middle class. Her family is wealthy and she is used to being very spoiled. The idea of moving to England and having to do things for herself on her own is overwhelming for her.

I hadn’t realized it until Sunday morning but I actually gave her and her cousin directions on the tube on Saturday. She told me over breakfast how she was scared for me when she saw me at the train station alone. This made L and I laugh later on. There is really nothing to be afraid of being on the trains alone at five p.m. on a Saturday.

Let the Sale Begin...

Our St. Louis house has been officially on the market since Saturday.

Canterbury Library

Centrally located on the High Street, I thought the Canterbury Library was an interesting building.

BritRail Pass - Part Two

I had to use the second day of my Britrail pass so I decided to go down to Canterbury. I had these visions of travelling all over the place with my pass, but I have found that the trains in England are not as speedy as you might think, or maybe the way I plan an itinerary is backwards. With my Eric Clapton Autobiography in hand, I boarded the train for my own personal pilgrimage. Being an English Literature major in college, I remember The Canterbury Tales being the oldest text that I enjoyed reading.

I was so engrossed in my book that I didn’t stare out the window the whole time but when I did I saw lots of sheep on the countryside. I did actually get to see a border collie shepherding in a group which was amazing. I would highly recommend visiting this city. It has a wonderful mix of old and new.

The cathedral is beautiful and so are the walls surrounding the city. There is an excellent mix of shops and restaurants.

Since I have moved here it has been painful buying a book at full price. There are many charity shops (like our Goodwill or Salvation Army) on all of the high streets in every city that benefit the RSPCA, Cancer Research, etc. and they always have loads of books for as low as 50 pence. Because of the bargain price I find myself having to talk myself out of buying as much as I want at times. In Canterbury OxFam, which has charity shops all over, has a separate bookstore that is packed from floor to ceiling. I went in to browse because I have decided that I want to read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road but refuse to buy the “anniversary edition” with its inflated price, especially since the author is deceased. I wasn’t quite sure if it was considered fiction so I went up to the counter thinking I would ask although I doubted the clerk would know their entire inventory. Before I could get my entire sentence out I was told, “It would be classified in fiction if we had a copy but we don’t, thank you”. My bargain hunt continues…

French Market Comes to Town

Every so often a French Market travels through the UK to sell their goods. They are visiting Chesham this weekend so I walked through on Friday night as well as today just looking at what they had to offer. They had some beautiful bundles of pink and smoked garlic, interesting sausages, delicious looking cheeses, as well as freshly baked breads. Without a kitchen of my own, I was simply browsing.