Happy Christmas!

Wow.. It has been a while since I wrote last!! Here is the catch up...

25/08 I headed to Spain! I made a side trip to Buno near Valencia for La Tomatina (the tomato festival). Mostly this consists of a huge tomato fight in the streets with dump trucks full of tomatoes they bring in. It was disgusting!!! Once was enough. I also made a side trip to Pals and drove up Costa Brava with some friends. Valencia was beautiful! We spent a fair amount of time on the beach and drinking Sangria… I somehow also made it to Seville on this trip… It turned into almost a week before we were done.

02/09 Tony and Cheree (some of my friends from Dallas) came to London to visit! While they were here we went to Cambridge and "punted" on the backs. It was good fun and nobody fell in! We also got to go to "Wicked" the musical while they were here… it was very good! Unfortunately Tony and Cheree lost their luggage on their way from London to Paris. They finally got it back close to 30 days after it was lost… and it was damp and mouldy inside! Thanks BA!

16/09 and 22/09 I spent in Greece before and after my annual 3 day group meeting in Athens. I rented a car the first weekend and drove around Greece seeing lots of ruins. More than enough really…by the time I was done I was referring to them as "piles of rocks." (what an ingrate!) Athens is a dump… I didn't care for it much… Driving there was horrible!! Scarier than driving on the wrong side of the road in the UK and scarier than Manhattan! The weekend after training some friends and I went to the island of Santorini and then to Crete. In Santorini we rented a villa with a and spent most of the time there or at the beach. The sand was black! (volcanic sand!)

30/09 I went to a town outside Amsterdam for training… can't say I did anything so I shouldn't even mention it! I walked out of the hotel and stood on the beach for about 10 minutes (does that count?).

Sometime in October/ November was "bonfire day" in London. It is the equivalent of the fourth of July as far as celebrations go (not the meaning though!). Lot's of fireworks every weekend for pretty much the whole month! I had a good time going to a few displays with friends from work.
I saw Kevin Spacey on stage in "A Moon for the Misbegotten" at the old vic recently. That was pretty neat.

I haven't been taking any trips for a while… hoping to do some snowboarding trips when I get back from the US for the holidays.

I have been working in Basingstoke UK recently. Not that interesting but being out of the city let's me rent a car. Driving a manual on the wrong side of the road is exciting! (for my passengers especially!)

I am headed to Boca Raton for training for a week here in a bit…(rough life I know) then going to Houston and Utah to see the family. Looking forward to seeing family and getting in some snowboarding!

Anyway… here is wishing you and yours a very happy holidays and a spectacular new year. I hope to hear from you all!

Cheers,
Scott

Accounting terminology differences
"Accounts Receivable" = "Debtors"
"Accounts Payables" = "Creditors"
"Revenue" = "Turnover"
"Inventory" = "Stock"
"send Confirmations" = "Circularize"

Food differences
Omelettes are for lunch.
Waffles are for desert.
Beans with breakfast!
Beans go on baked potatoes.
The purple Skittles are currant flavour rather than grape.

Phrases
"Bits and bobs" = A little of this and that
"Brilliant" = a most overused phrase… like saying perfect.
"Bollocks" = "Nuts" (Typically used as a negative phrase)
"the dogs bollocks" = Strangely this is used to describe something good!
"Happy Christmas" This is used just as much as "Merry Christmas."
"gone off" = Gone bad. Not quite right.
"sorted" = figured out ("is it sorted?" "You sorted?" "sorted!") Used quite a bit!
"potter around" = mess around..do a little of this and that

London week 9

Hello!

Well, it has been a whole five weeks since my last update e-mail. I hope I am not going overboard! I am assuming they will be a little less frequent in the winter when I have less to tell you about, but for now you will have to bear with me, this is a long one!

WINDSOR & ETON
I looked at the last update I sent and I am glad to say that I finally made it to Windsor! I still haven't made it to Greenwich though. It's so close I just keep putting it off.

It was just a short (30min) train ride from London. I visited Windsor and Eton (town just across the Thames ("Tims") from Windsor) on 24/06 which was during Royal Ascot (the week or so the queen goes to the horse races). During Royal Ascot people get very dressed up to go to the races and lots of fancy lunch and dinner parties. The men traditionally wear coats with tails and top hats. The women wear fancy dresses with fancy hats. I saw quite a few couples in this dress before I finally figured it out. Before touring the castle I watched the changing of the guard. It is quite a process! It includes a full marching band playing in front of the guard as they march up the street from the barracks to the castle.

The castle is why everyone goes to Windsor and for good reason. It is very impressive! It is a sprawling complex and much of it looks straight out of a movie set or Disney park. After touring the castle I visited Eton which is famous for the Eton boys school. It is a very traditional private boys school. The pupils wear coats with tails and top hats. Princes William and Harry attended as did some absurdly large number of past prime ministers. The campus is very old and the students have carved their names in every imaginable place over the years, including in the stone walls! I guess they want to leave their mark one way or another. After a bite at the Royal Oak pub I hoped on the train back to London.

WIMBLEDON
The next weekend (01/07) the Wimbledon 2006 championships had started so some friends from work and I decided to go. Going to the Wimbledon championships is a process that involves getting up quite early and standing in line ("queing") for hours. Luckily the British have queuing down to a science. We showed up and got in line at 6:30 or so. By 6:45 we had been handed a queue card with our number on it (as well as an " I've Queued at Wimbledon 2006" sticker) which let us know where we stood in terms of getting in. Based on our number and the number of people they allow in we knew we would get in. (Even if we were past the cut off we could get a card and wait for people to leave so that we could get in.) This makes all the waiting less anxious because you know it is for good reason. We had breakfast in line. Played some toss with an "American Football" my Nerf - much to the interest of the Brits in line! We got in around 11am or so and went to watch a match. Wimbledon is huge!! I had no idea! We watched some lower qualifier women's singles match then had lunch. After lunch we were wandering and sat at an empty court for a moment. Andy Rodick (sp?) wandered on with his coach to warm up for his next match. He was the American hopeful and the girls in my group were mesmerized! When he served it was so fast you could hardly see the ball (in the 130-140 mph range). After that I was pretty tired out and some of us left to watch some more world cup football at a co-workers. I don't have any good Wimbledon pictures sorry to say..

SPAIN
As if on some marathon travel adventure I headed to Spain for my Madrid and Pamplona visit 07/07. I arrived in Madrid Friday night but just checked in and headed to bed. I had arrived to the airport a bit to early Friday then my plane was delayed by about 3 hours so I was tired just from doing nothing!

Saturday I wandered a bit in the morning just admiring the architecture of all the old buildings. I wandered through El Parque Del Retiro - a very large and old park just east of downtown. There are so many monuments and fountains in Madrid that you don't need a map to see the sights.. I seem to have wandered across many without knowing where I was going. After the park I visited the Prado museum. It was great! I had seen many of El Greco's, Goya's and many others paintings in books but there is no comparison. They have to be seen to be appreciated! The museum had a Picasso special event for which they had flown in Picasso's from around the world. I was able to see many of his works that I had never seen before in books or otherwise. Quite an experience. That evening I did some more wandering and later on a whim went to a dance club. About half the music was American and half the remainder was Shakira as far as I could tell. Dancing is universal and I had a good time for an hour or two. I got bored after a while and headed back to my room. One thing to note.. The Spanish are night owls. I guess after taking a nap or break for two hours in the afternoon (which they really do) you have more energy. The streets were packed even at 1 or 2 in the morning. Bars don't close until 3am and clubs will stay open until 6 or 7 in the morning!

Sunday morning I wandered and saw the Palacio Real (Royal Palace),

then headed to the Reina Sofia museum. This is a contemporary art museum and it had some very interesting works.

Some modern art does nothing for me but much of what I saw here was very beautiful, thought provoking, and interesting. Sunday evening I rested in the park near my hotel and read a book for a while. Then I took a nap in preparation for my bus ride to Pamplona.

Monday I took a taxi to the bus station and boarded my bus for Pamplona at 1:30am. We arrived at 6:30 with me having gotten far less sleep than I anticipated. As soon as I got off the bus I attempted to follow a group of like dressed individuals (white clothing, read neck and waist

scarves and trainers) only to wind up at a bar. Yes, a bar!! Talk about getting an early start! I decided to try again and eventually found the start of the bull run. The way it works is this. The police barricade off the route other than the stretches which are just narrow streets so the bulls have a defined path.

Then at 7:30 am if you are in the route you will be running and they force everyone else out. They herd everyone down towards the bull pen. It gets a little crowded with a few hundred people trying to run.

The run is about a half mile or less and probably only 12-15 feet wide in a few places. At 8 they let the runners spread out down the path and take their positions. I took mine on Estafeta street which is the second half of the run on a narrow but long and straight portion. There is only two ways out from there. A cross street if you jump the barricade or the last few yards before the bull ring at the end of the street. When they release the bulls they fire a starting gun or cannon and that is when the apprehensiveness you were feeling before starts escalating to panic levels. I eventually saw the bulls round the corner at the bottom of the street and start heading my direction. I started jogging, then running as they got closer. I was careful to look forwards once in a while.. And at the last moments when they were coming up on me I noticed a few people had fallen in front of me.. So it was either go around them in front of the bulls or press my back against the wall right before the group that had fallen. I decided on the latter and it worked out. The bulls ran past in two groups. They might as well have been two animals though.. One with 4 heads, 8 bulging eyes, 8 horns and 16 hooves and the other with 2 heads, etc. At the moment they went past it was as if nothing else was present but the bulls and me. It was over in just a couple seconds from when they were close to me to when they were gone, but what a rush. They fired another cannon to let us know the bulls were in the ring and another to signify they were in their pens. I don't have pictures during the run as that is not allowed and I don't think I could have managed anyway.

Ok. It was now 8:30am. I did what I wanted and my bus ticket back was at 1:30am the next day. The first thing I did is go to the bus office and change my ticket to 6:30 pm the same day. I was tired! The town was a disaster. Trash everywhere. People sleeping in cars, in the park, people looked like they hadn't' bathed for days! Now that is some festival! I wandered the town and spent the morning at the festival. Took some pictures of the Gigantes ( people in costumes that make them look like giants).

I ate some Tapas with cold beverages. Followed tradition and took a nap in the early afternoon on a bark bench overlooking the valley below. The bus ride back was nice as I was able to see the countryside. Lots of hilly farmland. I was back to my hotel by midnight.

Tuesday… yes I am still going… I headed to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum and spent mid day there. I then checked out of my hotel and headed home. I learned a lot (like the Spanish eat lots of ham), saw a lot (art, architecture, people), I took up smoking (second hand only as everyone there smokes), was able to practice my Spanish and I had a great time doing it!

DUBLIN
I decided to take a short weekend trip up to Dublin 22/07. I arrived at 8:30 Saturday morning and dropped my bag at the hotel. After scheduling the trip I had found out the University of Texas UK Alumni group had planned a trip for the same weekend. It's not my school but I asked them if I could tag along and I did. I met up with them at 11am and we went for a tour of the Guinness store house. It is the #1 tourist destination in Dublin believe it or not.

It is basically a museum which explains the process of making Guinness. At the top is a bar (the Gravity Bar) where they serve you a free pint (well you pay for the entrance so…). The views of the city were spectacular. Almost a full 360 degrees of visibility.

You can see from the hills almost to the shores. One thing that caught my eyes is the vast number of construction cranes. There were so many you couldn't count (or maybe that was the Guinness?). Actually, London and Madrid have a fair number as well. I guess this is no different than Dallas and other big cities in the states right now… interest is low I guess is the reason? Afterwards we went to St Patrick's Cathedral for a tour.

The Cathedral was interesting but filthy… They must have some tradition of not cleaning? They charge €5 for entrance and have a gift shop set up. A priest in training or something was working the till. I guess the Catholics have to pay those lawsuits and retirement costs somehow. That evening we had dinner at the Clarence Hotel restaurant which is owned by Bono. The food was good. I have to say the music they were playing was awful!! Not what you would expect from a member of U2!

Sunday I wandered Trinity College and the Temple Bar area.

Then we all met up and went to the all national Hurling quarter finals. We saw a match between Clare and Wexford. Hurling is a sport similar to field hockey and Lacrosse.

It is a fast moving game and very aggressive. After the match we headed for some dinner at a local pub near Christ's Church and then I caught a cab to the airport and headed home.

LONDON
So what do I do when not travelling... As little as possible! A co-workers birthday dinner and dancing. Playing "football" and rugby with co-workers in leagues (as a sub). Visiting the local pubs. I went to a gallery opening (how snooty!). Reading. Cleaning, laundry… Continuing to be entertained by the British culture. Taking more pictures of things that amuse me (pictures from Windsor, Madrid, London mostly shops)… it doesn't take much.

So now the part you been waiting for.. Or the part you scrolled down to see. Scott' list of funny London words, phrases or terminology differences and my attempt at their meaning:

Rubbish = Trash
"Uni" / University = College (so you say "where did you go to Uni")
"Tele" = T.V. Television
Queue = the line you wait in
Push Chair = Stroller
Nappy = Diaper
Nappy Disposal Unit = Diaper Bin
Dust Bin = Trash Can
Jacket Potato = Baked Potato
"Kit" = Uniform/ Gear for playing sports
Mail Shots = Those flyers people put in your mail
Sacked = Fired
Hen Party = Bachelorette Party
Stag Party= Bachelor Party
Straight Away = Right Away
Buds = Q-Tips (then again I think they are buds in the US?)
Lemonade = Lemon flavoured soda

Fun social differences:
"Sorry" is a substitute for excuse me and is a very commonly heard word in the Tube
Beer is a substitute for water. I heard that Europe's 12% of the world population drinks 50% of the worlds alcohol. Their Darwinian excuse: way back the water wasn't suitable for drinking so watered down beer or wine was drank by everyone. This eventually caused a preference for people whose body has a good ability to break down alcohol.
Letting ladies go first only happens occasionally (through doors or elevators)

There is no 1 pound note. Only 1 and 2 pound coins. The smallest bill is a "fiver", then comes the "tenner." 100 pence make up 1 pound. It's only "pence" if you have multiple, (1 is a penny) but everyone just says "P". So a soda would be 65P or lunch would be 5 pounds 50 (no need for the P).

If you want Jalapeños you better pronounce the J.

Indian food is just referred to as "curry" and it is the number 1 meal eaten out in London.

There are some ridiculous number of languages spoken in London. I understand 1 total. (I understand 90% of British and 10% of Spanish)

Required Tube gear: I-Pod & a book. (striking up conversation is not normal!)

NOW WHAT?
Between now and the end of the month I am trying to figure out if I am going to do anything..and what it might be. Probably just a short trip.

25/08 I am headed to Barcelona and Valencia for a long weekend. I will make a side trip to Buno near Valencia for La Tomatina (the tomato festival). Mostly this consists of a huge tomato fight in the streets with dump trucks full of tomatoes they bring in.
02/09 Tony and Cheree coming to London to visit!
16/09 and 22/09 long weekends before and after my annual 3 day training/group meeting in Athens. I will see Athens one weekend and probably go with co-workers to the start of Oktoberfest in Germany the other. Still undecided.
30/09 long weekend before 3 days more training that is in Amsterdam. Not sure what I am doing yet as I have been to Amsterdam before. May just rent a car and drive in the country.

Sorry if I have written too much but a lot has happened!

Know that I am thinking of you.
Kind Regards

London week 3

Hey you lot!

I have been promising an update…. So here it is!

I made it to Salisbury and Stonehenge as planned! Stonehenge was amazing and the weather couldn’t have been better.

Salisbury has a large and beautiful cathedral and the best copy of the 4 remaining Magna Carta's. The town is famous for the market square and the cathedral. I was there on a Market day so I got to see the hustle and bustle…after a bit wandering with my ice cream cone and I headed home.

I have not made it to Windsor or Greenwich like I said… but I plan to this weekend!

I moved out of my temporary flat and into my new place on June 8th. I only had 2 suitcases so it wasn't too much trouble! The rest of my things from the US (a shipment of about 20 boxes 430 lbs!) was to be available for delivery on Friday the 9th… but it didn't arrive until the 13th! I had to start work on the 12th so that meant time for shopping!

I spent the weekend getting to know the neighbourhood relaxing a bit. I am close to a shopping "mall" (Whitley's), Hyde Park, Notting Hill, etc. There are many restaurants nearby including Indian, Brazilian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, American (even a soul food place called "Harlem"!), Jamaican, Pakistani, even a Mexican Taquria! (it's really good!), and of course plenty of English Pubs. Sometimes they have funny names… (well at least funny to me!)

Just around the corner I have a grocery, dry cleaner, shoe repair, library, gym, etc. which is good because I have to walk everywhere! I took a lot of pictures of my flat as I knew some of you wanted to see it… so here they are:

A couple of times recently I stopped by the Ten Bells pub. It was very close to my temporary flat. It is famous for being the place where Jack the Ripper used to pick up prostitutes. Yikes! The area is pretty up and coming these days. It is right next to a big church! Weird.

Oh. Here is a picture of how cool I am standing outside the Tate Modern. Pretty cool huh!

I am trying to write things down that I see or hear that are funny to me… because I figure soon it will sound normal! Mom suggested a journal..and I think that may be a plan… maybe I can just print these e-mails and paste them in… (wow very accountant like Scott!)

Here is some funny words or phrases and their translations:
1) A-"zed" = A-Z
2) "Splash Out" = spend lots of money on fancy things
3) "Petrol Head" = "Gear Head" - US person who likes cars
4) "Flash Car" = fancy car
5) "New Joiner" = New Hire - what they call a person who just started at a company
6) "Hash Key" = this is the pound sign to us!
7) "Top Up" = add to
8) "Dressing Gown" = robe
9) "Jumper" = sweatshirt
10) "advert" = commercial, advertisement
11) "you lot" = "ya'll" -Texas, "yoos guys" - New York, you all - the rest of the world
12) "Junction" = intersection
13) "Bird" = girl, girlfriend (just girl works too.)
14) "Bloke" = guy (guy doesn't work for this one!)

There are many others but most of them you have probably heard before, so I wont bore you.
I have been watching a lot of world cup football… go England! It is quite the experience at any local pub! (well America is out already…) Not this weekend but next I am going to watch the matches at Wimbledon!

My next big adventure is in July. I am going to Madrid and Pamplona Spain for a 4 day weekend! I will be visiting Pamplona during the San Fermin festival, where I will take part in the running of the bulls! Cross your fingers for me! :os In Madrid I will visit the museums (world famous!) and just wander around the city. In Pamplona, besides the bull run, I will try to attend a bull fight and just wander the festival.

Work is going well. Mostly because I haven't had to do much yet! It is just like starting a new job, the workload will ramp up. I have had lots of paperwork, and training, etc. to complete. The strange thing in the UK (that will kill some of you in the US!) is a standard workday here is 7 hours! The extra hour seems to be taken in the morning because the normal work arrival time is 9-9:30am… my colleagues consider 8:30 early!! Granted I will probably not be working 7 hours, but when I have little to do I have been! :)

My big excitement for work is our annual global offering services (my group or "service line") meeting in September. It is a 3 day training in Athens, Greece! They were kind enough to schedule it on a Tue- Thursday, that way you can stay a long weekend and make a trip of it. All of the people who work in our group from around the world will be there. It will be very interesting.

Now what should I do in August…. Hmmm.

Anyway… that's it for now. I hope all is well with you and yours!

Cheers!

London week 1

Well.. I made it to London and survived my first week. Despite not always remembering to look the correct way when crossing the street. Thankfully the British have had a few visitors before me with this problem so they paint directions on the ground!

My wallet is a bit lighter and I get the feeling it is going to stay that way. The prices on pretty much everything looks the same as you would expect; Fast food combo meal 5.50, Bottle of water 1.10, Starbucks blackcoffee 1.45…. But then you remember that it's in pounds so youhave to multiply by 1.9 to get to US dollars. So a plain black coffee atStarbucks (or any of the competitors) cost me about $2.75 - ouch! I havehad to stop converting otherwise I think I would starve to death. (I saw aTGIFridays.. A burger=10.95= $21 US!)

My first couple of weeks I am not working. I am staying in a serviced apartment paid for by Deloitte while I look for a place. I have toured the neighborhoods a bit. Then went out with estate agents looking at places. They quote the rent here in weekly amounts (even though you pay monthly). I think it is a way of making it sound cheaper as a small weekly diff can add up to a big monthly diff when you multiply by 4.33! Additionally occupants get to pay "counsel tax" which as far as I can tell is like property tax..but they may have that too. The fun starts again when you convert to US dollars!

All of the estate agents spoke English, and were young… but hell if I could understand everything they said, between their accents, different terminology, slang, etc… I started getting a little frustrated with the process by the end of the week, because every agent will listen to your particulars then show you 3 (always 3 for some reason) properties that are the closest they have to what you want… even if the closest they have doesn't match at all! Argh! Salespeople!

I eventually wound up "letting" (renting) a "flat" (apartment) in Bayswater which is next to Notting Hill. It is within a 10 minute walk of 4 tube(subway) stations servicing 5 lines. It is also about a 10 minute walk from Hyde park or the shopping, bars, clubs and cinema's of Notting Hill and not too far from the west end. My flat backs up to a beautiful communal garden(to which I have access), and faces a building across the street with nowindows facing my direction and a big tree! (A surprising amount of privacyfor the city) I am guessing my commute to work will consist of a 10 minwalk to the tube, a 10-15 minute tube ride and a 5 min walk to the office.

My flat is furnished (many are), somewhere between 400-450 sq ft, and a third floor walk up. To you that translates as 4th floor (they start with Ground here) no "lift" (elevator). Anyway.. all those stairs offset the price of being in a desirable area to a mere 300 ppw, plus annual counsel taxes of "only" about 800 per year. For those non-accountants that's about:1,365 "quid" (bucks) a month or about $2,600 US. Now ask me how I am coming up with a6 week deposit and the first months rent?!

What else have I been up to besides calculating how much everything costs in $$? I went to the Tate Modern (museum) yesterday. Today I wandered around the Portobello street market in Notting Hill and saw the house where George Orwell lived. Monday I am going to the Templar church for a tour and talk on the Da Vinci Code. Tuesday I am going to Greenwich to visit the observatory and see the point where 0 longitude was established (woo hoo!). Wednesday I am going to Stonehenge. Thursday/ Friday I am moving in to my new place! Anyway… I have bored you all enough.. Expect an update when I feel like I have something to say or some pictures to share.

Until then,

"Cheers"