Cushty!

So, it has been just over a week since I arrived. Still no job unfortunatly. I am still waiting to hear back on a few that I've applied for, so hopefully something turns up. In the mean time I am adjusting to UK life. Adjusting to UK life involes many things, but in this house one of the biggest ones for me is the constant consumption of tea. I think I have drank more cups of tea over the past week than I have in my previous 21 years of life combined. (They also have lots of cherry trees!)

Another big adjustment is the driving. I had my first expereince driving on the left side of the road today. We decided it would be beneficial for me to take a lesson. So I had an hour driving lesson today where I had to get used to round abouts and shifting with my left hand (yes, it was a standard car). It was tricky. I kept looking up to my left to look into the rearview mirror, when it was on my right and more than once I found myself flailing my hand into the door to do a quick gear change. But I think it's coming along. The round abouts might tale a bit of practice though.

(Some sheep next door.)

Another common sight where I am are the small planes in the sky. The few times I've gone for a run, I'll see these small planes doing loop da loops and figure eights in the air! I guess there is a air field near by (They have a lot of small airfields in England) and they often practice during the day.

(A holly tree in Oundle)

On top of this I have discovered a few more differences. Instead of mayo, most Brits use "salad cream" on thier sandwiches. And the majority of Brits do not eat pb and jam sandwiches and for the most part, they think they sound rather nasty. I was also surprised to discover how many of our basic vegetables are called something different over here. For example, what we call zucchini, the Brits refer to as courgettes. Also we differ on turnips. What us and the Scots consider turnips, the English call a swedes. They have another smaller root vegetable that they refer to as turnips.
Anyways, that's all I have so far. I have posted a few pictures to give you an idea of where I am and what it's like over here. And I will leave you with a shot of our little friend who was getting a cheeky munch of the cat's food outside the back door two nights ago.
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Country Living

Well, I have arrived alive. My flights from Halifax to Iceland and from Iceland to London were long, sleepeless and meal-less. I managed to find a bit of food in Iceland, but was struggled to buy something as I had know idea how much an Icelandic Krona was compared to a Canadian Dollar! I ending up having a 199 krona container of yougart (which I just found out cost me about $1.70, phew!) It was weird yougart, the consistancy was somewhere between soft and hard ice cream, but it tasted alright.
Now I am currently living with the Butlers in Hardwick. It is a very small village about 1 hour North of London. I learned that to be considered a village you need a church. Well, that's about all that is here. There are maybe 6-7 houses, some fields, some sheep, and a church. It is very beautiful. I have not yet taken any pictures, but I will.
Some things I have learend in the past few days include: Brit's spell "tire" (as in car tires) "tyre". They love fresh flowers and many people will buy then regularly to put in their front rooms (they are not as expensive here as they are in Canada). Hedgehogs are a regular sight, but only around dusk. There is a mom and 2 babies that we often see in the front garden here. And lastly, something that surprised me, there are still gypsies around! When driving along a road you may spy some dodgy looking campers (what they would call caravans) set up in a random field with horses nearby. This are temporary gypsy camps! Apparantly they are a rough crowd and can cause a lot of havoc. I am told that not to long ago, right down the road from here a farmer had his car stloen by some. Every morning he would stop at his field gate jump out (with the truck still running) and walk maybe 10 metres to open the gate. One morning as he stepped out to do that, some gypsies came running from the ditch and nicked his truck!
Well, that's all I have to report for now. No job prospects yet, but I am on the hunt. I will hopefully put some pictures up soon with a new post! That is as long as I don't get taken off by gypsies.

..and she's off!

Well, I have packed just about everything. It took me an entire day to pack all of my stuff, and just like last time, I have lot's of suitcase room, but I'm already at my weight limit. I wonder if I put some helium balloons in my suitcase if that would by me some more weight...

I am flying via Icelandair which means a quick stop in Iceland before I get to England. I am excited to see a little bit Iceland on my way over. I will be arriving in England just before lunch thier time if all goes well. I will then spend the next little while at the Butler household searching for a job and a place to live. Hopefully I will sort something out soon!

And that is all I have to say for now. This post is mostly just a practice to see if I still remember how to do this. So far so good I think. I will try my hardest to update this thing every so often and will make it my goal not to up and bail like I did last time.

Well, T.T.F.N! Ta ta for now!