Still Alive

Hello World!

I thought you'd all be glad to hear I'm still alive. Darren and I moved into our place last Monday. It's very nice, but then the place we were in in Christchurch was very nice too. This is a newish place... I'd say built in the 90s and everything is cream, and all the carpets are light beige. It's nice having somewhere! And we've got all our furniture now. We splashed out and bought new furniture and appliances, but nothing flash (20 pounds for a jug, toaster and toastie pie machine).

Work is going very well, I'm really happy but so busy! The days go by so quickly! Infact I've been so busy that I'm writing this at work because I need a break! I've been working late every night.

I've met a group of women at work who go for runs and to the gym at lunch time. And they're so lovely and friendly which is great so I'm going along with them. Been everyday this week, though today (Friday) is going to have to be a rest day because my muscles need a bit of recovery time! Having a gym at work is so brilliant!

Anyway what else is news. The weather is gorgeous at the moment. Not really hot but we've had so many blue sky days. Sometimes it gets quite windy here but at the moment it's pretty still. Actually here's a work story. Once it was so windy that at the container terminal at Manchester the containers were blowing around! Yes these are the bigger-than-a-shed sized container, just rolling around. That is some wind!

Speaking of Manchester if all goes to plan we're going there tomorrow. We bought a sat nav to help us find our way around, I can't wait to try it out. We're going to a Doctor Who exhibition. Yes Darren has me hooked on Dr Who now too. I half watched the first two new seasons but thought it was a bit out there. But after watching the third season in quick succession it's great! And I can't wait to watch the first two again. Also been watching Torchwood which is a related spin off... which I'm enjoying too! Not at much as Dr Who but still good. AND we're now onto the third season of Farscape, which is brilliant. We got a cheap brand new LCD 32 inch, and Farscape looks fantastic on it. Our older season Stargate DVDs don't look quite so good but the newer ones should look ok.

Soo..... my biggest moan which I don't want to write much about it the phone company here. BT. If England has a higher suicide rate than NZ then it's coz of BT. We don't even want a phoneline, we just need to get one so we can get the internet at home, and we're desperate for the internet at home... really desperate.

Ok what else is news. Oh some fun England facts, well observations:

- When you are going somewhere they don't base it on North and South. Like if you were in Christchurch you would say you're going down to Dunedin because you're heading South. London is South of Doncaster, but because London is a big centre you say you're going up to London. Confusing!!!
- At some schools here girls and boys wear the same uniform... very cool. Just a school jersery and black pants.
- There are millions more snails here. I see about 5 on the footpath when I'm on my way to work and on my home again.
- They call sports gear and any kind of gear kit.
- Instead of asking how you are, they say "how you going, alright?" which is nice because they're even answering for you as well as asking.
- A lot of them don't use the correct past tense, present tense grammar as part of their accent. Ie they'll say "those papers are just sat over there" instead of saying "those paper are just sitting over there".
- There have entire shops that only sell greeting cards... lots of chain shops!
- Stag dos almost always involve travel to another city, sometimes a European one, are for a whole weekend too. Darren might have to have one over here! Hen's nights are not so big... probably because girls are sensible.

Ok well I'm starting to miss everyone now. But I'm really happy over here still. Apart from dealing with BT. Grrr.

Lots of love,
Mindy