Monday, December 19, 2005
Tis the season
yup Christmas surely has snuck up fast, haven't really had much to do with it this year though - been a bit weird being away from home and it being, like, winter! But does make wearing a Santa suit and all the snow stuff make a bit more sense and the Christmas lights in London are rather pretty.
Talking about Santa - went out on Saturday for a bit with 200 or so other jolly red folks - part of the world wide 'Santa-con' phenomenon, however unlike the Auckland event, this one was completely harmless and non newsworthy. Can you believe one of the only NZ news stories to make it into British papers this year was the one about the out-of-control kiwi Santas!? ahh the pride just swells up in me.
Went to see Fat Freddies Drop last week, oh me oh my it was fantastic!! Such a great gig (my second since coming to London, spoilt or what!) I was almost in heaven. Went with chch mate Juliet and some folks she knew from back home - the old stereotype rang true when it turned out there was a link somewhere with almost all of them! Nice to hang out with some fellow kiwis cos don't really come across many, a few come into work though.
Work is cool - doing 30ish hours a week now, its easy peasy and a nice crew, and its shut between xmas and new years so looking forward to 10 days off! Not that I have much planned, probably just hang out - but might try a trip somewhere, Cornwalls on the cards. Only other trip out of the big smoke since Germany was to Colchester for a 3 year olds birthday party - Ben who used to live with us and the rest of his family had a bunch of us over for the weekend...
'Big Smoke' has never been so true the last week or so, guess you might have heard about the oil depot blast north of the city - gross black clouds hang overhead and makes the air even more disgusting for biking round in.
Squat is pretty groovy still, very dynamic with new people arriving and always lots of Visitors, now have a Scottish, Swis and a Pol to add to the international mix. Had another film night last Friday, not huge numbers but a great night none-the-less. And we skipped a shit load of fruit and vege from a big wholesalers market in the morning (thanks to a housemate and their car) and cooked up an absolute feast for everyone. We are still living off the food haul - I've said it before but I'll say it again, so much food gets chucked away in London, and all over the place - it really should be criminal but at the moment it means we pay next to nothing to eat pretty darn well...
Christmas should be another such example, a big banquet is planned and a nice, merry day with some lovely people is the idea... gonna miss my family and mates of course - sending big love and hugs over to you all xxx
Well, on that note I'll wind things up, lots of eggnog and chestnuts roasting on an open fire to you all
claire
PS. another example of the exorbedant London prices - Christmas trees here will set you back the equivalent of about $60! And they are strange little things too. Crazy.
PPS. It gets dark at about 3.30pm these days, but with the passing of the winter solstice on Tuesday the days will be getting longer again - thank goodness!
Talking about Santa - went out on Saturday for a bit with 200 or so other jolly red folks - part of the world wide 'Santa-con' phenomenon, however unlike the Auckland event, this one was completely harmless and non newsworthy. Can you believe one of the only NZ news stories to make it into British papers this year was the one about the out-of-control kiwi Santas!? ahh the pride just swells up in me.
Went to see Fat Freddies Drop last week, oh me oh my it was fantastic!! Such a great gig (my second since coming to London, spoilt or what!) I was almost in heaven. Went with chch mate Juliet and some folks she knew from back home - the old stereotype rang true when it turned out there was a link somewhere with almost all of them! Nice to hang out with some fellow kiwis cos don't really come across many, a few come into work though.
Work is cool - doing 30ish hours a week now, its easy peasy and a nice crew, and its shut between xmas and new years so looking forward to 10 days off! Not that I have much planned, probably just hang out - but might try a trip somewhere, Cornwalls on the cards. Only other trip out of the big smoke since Germany was to Colchester for a 3 year olds birthday party - Ben who used to live with us and the rest of his family had a bunch of us over for the weekend...
'Big Smoke' has never been so true the last week or so, guess you might have heard about the oil depot blast north of the city - gross black clouds hang overhead and makes the air even more disgusting for biking round in.
Squat is pretty groovy still, very dynamic with new people arriving and always lots of Visitors, now have a Scottish, Swis and a Pol to add to the international mix. Had another film night last Friday, not huge numbers but a great night none-the-less. And we skipped a shit load of fruit and vege from a big wholesalers market in the morning (thanks to a housemate and their car) and cooked up an absolute feast for everyone. We are still living off the food haul - I've said it before but I'll say it again, so much food gets chucked away in London, and all over the place - it really should be criminal but at the moment it means we pay next to nothing to eat pretty darn well...
Christmas should be another such example, a big banquet is planned and a nice, merry day with some lovely people is the idea... gonna miss my family and mates of course - sending big love and hugs over to you all xxx
Well, on that note I'll wind things up, lots of eggnog and chestnuts roasting on an open fire to you all
claire
PS. another example of the exorbedant London prices - Christmas trees here will set you back the equivalent of about $60! And they are strange little things too. Crazy.
PPS. It gets dark at about 3.30pm these days, but with the passing of the winter solstice on Tuesday the days will be getting longer again - thank goodness!
# posted by claire @ 11:41 AM 
