Gothenburg, Sweden (3.19 - 3.21)

To pick up where my last post left off...I sleep through most of the plane ride, only waking up shortly before we have to land. I noticed that my ears were not equalizing, despite chewing gum and yawning like crazy. I kept typing to "pop" them but nothing seemed to work. I figured maybe after landing they would clear up. As we are getting ready to land the captain tells us that it is snowing in Gothenburg! And as we are approaching the runway I can tell the plane is moving way too fast, and sure enough when we land the plane bounces like a rubber ball, freaking out all the passengers. I think the cabin crew was having a good laugh at this because when one of the stewardesses came on to tell us "Please stay in your seat...blah blah" you could tell she had been, or was trying to control her laughter.

The airport at Gothenburg was very small. When we departed the plane, we were actually stepping down onto the runway and had to walk a bit to the airport building. Oh, and it had started snowing. Good thing I had my North Face ski jacket. Went through security, no biggie, got my luggage and met Rolf from Maxiom (a partner company of Actify’s I was visiting). He drove me to central Gothenburg where their office is, and along the way he explained this weather is not typical, and that it will probably melt away in a few hours. I found that hard to believe because everything was covered in white. We got to the office where I met the rest of the Maxiom crew. My purpose for this trip was to work with them on creating this demo movie.

We all went out for lunch and it was my choice of what to eat. I said I wanted a traditional Swedish dish (this is brave of me seeing as how I have no idea what sort of food Swedish people eat, for all I know they indulge in cow brains). They took me to this place and I had beef and mashed potatoes/turnips. It was actually a pretty “normal” looking meal. The meat was a different cut from the cow that I had never had, but it tasted fine, and the mashed potatoe/turnip was exactly like what my Grandma Mary makes, so really nothing to crazy, which was fine by me. At the end of the day Rolf drove me to my hotel. It was a really cute little place and very central. I unpacked and took a stroll around the area. There were a bunch of shops and a mall nearby. I went to the mall because I still hasn’t exchanged any money, and I saw an ad saying there was an exchange place in this mall. Got my Swedish money and started looking for dinner.

I walked all over the mall, back outside on the main avenue, and hadn’t really found anything that appealed to me. I was running short on time because I had to go back to Maxiom’s office that evening to work with Michael on the demo (he wasn’t able to work with me on it during the day, so we agreed to meet in the evening). I kept looking but it was getting late so once again I defaulted to what I know – McDonalds. Took it back to the hotel, ate it while watching Friends on TV, then called up Michael to see if he was ready to meet. He told me the street name of where the office is, and I had a map of the area so I figured I could find it easily. They said it was about a 15-20 minute walk.

Well it turned out to be more like a 45 minute walk for me. I was going in the right direction but ended up going too far up so that when I turned down this one street I was beyond where I needed to be. Luckily my inner GPS sensed this and I started heading down and found another main street, which I turned on. I knew this one was right because the tram rail ran through it and I remember the building being right near the tram. I walked and walked and was starting to think I had gone too far and was about to turn back when I saw this tattoo shop that I remembered passing when we went to lunch. And sure enough there was the office. When I got upstairs Michael said he was starting to worry but since I didn’t have a mobile, he didn’t know what to do. But I made it there okay and the walk home went by much quicker now that I knew where I was.

Tuesday walked to the office, and had another traditional Swedish dish for lunch, fish and mashed potatoes. The funny thing I notice about these guys is that they are always having a coffee break. When they get in, a few hours after that, coffee after lunch, another one before they leave. Coffee coffee coffee. That evening Rolf took me out for a pint at this pub nearby. The guy behind the bar started saying something to me in Swedish and I was just smiling and looking at Rolf. Rolf said I was an American, then the guy said it in English, the he wasn’t going to ask me if I was cold since I had on my big jacket and scarf. We laughed, I hadn’t even noticed that I still had on all my layers. I let Rolf recommend something but it was a bit too strong for my taste and he could tell. We asked the guy behind the bar what I might like and he actually gave me a sampling of two beers. One was a Pilsner which I thought I would like since I have had it back home, but as many people have told me, when you drink a beer closer to it’s home, it tastes totally different. And it did, the Pilsner was quite sweet, so I took this other one. Then we went to dinner at this Italian Pizza place and his son Martin met us there. He was about my age and is thinking of going to Edinburg for school. I find it so funny that all the guys I work with, because of their age, have kids that are my age. Works for me :o)

On Wednesday I checked out of the hotel and met up with Tomas, one of our resellers. He picked me up from my hotel and we went to his office just outside of Gothenburg. Purpose for meeting him was to talk marketing and what we could do to increase his business. Then he drove me to the airport for my flight home. I still had all this Swedish money so after checking in I found a gift shop and spent it all in there. Got a shot glass, of course, key chain, tshirt, post cards, and another keychain. While waiting to board the plane started having a small conversation with this young guy sitting across from me. Kept chatting as we headed for the plane (again had to walk out onto the runway) and when we boarded since we were one of the last one, I didn’t think we’d find two empty seats together, but we did. So we chatted the whole flight, about America, Sweden, our jobs, etc.

Once at Stansted I headed to catch the train to Liverpool, then took the tube over to Paddington and once there I had to wait about 30 minutes for my train and it was about 6:30pm, I was hungry and none of the restaurants were open, except for…take a guess…McDonalds. Ate that, then went down to catch my train. Walked into Sublime at about 9pm, a good hour later than I expected to be home (forgot to mention that the flight from Sweden had a 40ish minute delay). I was so happy to be home. I’d rate my first “long” business trip a 7/10. Had some bumps in the beginning and was just so exhausted from traveling and having to switch transports just to get around. Would love to go back to Sweden though not on business so I can do more sight seeing.

St. Patrick's Day & Business Travels

I had a fun day. First I got to decorate Nick's pub with all this St. Patty's decor that I took from the Fish because they were being all uptight about using tape on the walls to put up posters and stuff. Whatever, their loss, our gain. Did that, then went with Nick to watch him play rugby, which is what US Football is based on but there are some major differences. Rugby moves much quicker an is more brutal, no pading at all! It was fun to watch but I was freezing my ass off.

Then we went back to the pub and shortly after began drinking the night away. We took a bunch of silly pictures, which I will send out soon. We stayed up really late, which I shouldn't have because I had to catch a train to London at 8:30am to go visit about 8 different hotels to see which one we want to use for this event we are having at the end of April. I fell asleep after hitting my alarm. Hate it when I do that. Woke up in a panic and rushed out of the pub. I missed the 8:30am which is what I wanted to catch, but luckily since I had an open ticket I just caught the next train, which showed up shortly after I got to the station.

Arrived in London and had to get on the Internet to look at where all the hotels were (was going to do that Saturday but the Internet at the pub wasn't working and there are no Inernet cafes in Bristol), did that which took about 1 hour, ate lunch, then met up with this girl Caroline from Bristol, who happened to be traveling into London as well, hung out with her and her friend for a bit, then had to "start work" and go look at the hotels. I was carrying around my laptop case and my purse and my backpack filled with my clothes for Sweden (oh yeah, I am also going to Sweden Monday morning for 3 days- will tell more about that later), and it was all very heavy and I didnt have the best walking shoes on either, so I was moving at a snails pace.

Finished hotel hoping at about 6PM, took the tube to the Liverpool Street Station, ate McDonald's for dinner (I know I know, I am in another country and I choose the most American thing to eat, but in times of desperation and exhaustion I go with what I know). Then I caught the train to Stansted Airport at 7:10pm. Arrived at Stansted, and caught the Hilton shuttle bus to my hotel (can you guess where I was staying?).

Woke up at 4am to catch the 5am bus to take me back to Stansted airport. Was moving a bit slow so i JUST made it downstairs to the lobby in time to catch the bus, then at Stansted I had a bitch of a time figuring out which line to stand in because none of them had a sign saying they were for my flight to Gothenburg. Finally found the line, which luckily wasnt too long. Got through that quick enough, then had to stand in the security line, also not so bad. On the other end I got my self some breakfast and then realized it was time to head out to my terminal. Now, I don't know what my mind was thinking, but the terminal tram I was getting onto clearly said "this will take you to gates 20-39". My flight was at gate 45, and even though I totally looked at my ticket and saw "gate 45" my mind thought the number 45 fell somewhere in between 20-39. Nice huh? Of course I don't realize my mistake until the tram pulls up to the terminal and says "This is the last stop, you must get off". So when i get off at the terminal you can't just go back from where you came. i asked people at the desk what to do and thy said they would call someone to take me to my terminal. i waited....and waited...it's 6:15am when i had gotten there and now it is 6:35am. i ask again if someone is coming. they said they will call again. keep waiting...my flight leaves at 6:55am so I am getting a bit nervous. It's 6:45 and finally the guys shows up. I seriously JUST make it to my gate. Get on a basically sleep for the whole 2 hour flight. Ahhh the joys of traveling.

AeroLink in Cardiff, Wales

On Thursday I got to attend an exhibition with my colleagues Graham and John in Cardiff, Wales. I have never gone to any of our tradeshows or exhibitions so I was pretty excited. Plus the guys are so cool and chill, I knew it wasn't going to be a serious business thing. John came to Sublime on Wednesday at about 3pm to pick me up and we'd drive together to Cardiff and meet Graham there. Quick geography recap for anyone who is a bit rusty- Wales is a country of its own in the United Kingdom. A good portion of the population living there speak your traditional English, but they also have their own language, Welsh. And let me tell you, it is nothing like English. I'll post some pictures I took of a few signs so you can see the difference. All signs in Wales are printed in English and Welsh.

Cardiff is a pretty decent sized city in Wales and is only about 30 minutes away from Bristol. In fact, you can see Bristol from Cardiff and vis versa (there is a small channel that splits the two). We arrive in Cardiff, go to the CIA (Cardiff International Arena) and set up our booth which took like 10 minutes. Then we headed to our hotel where we met Graham, checked in and headed downstairs to the restaurant for a few pints. I had Stella (wife beater) and then we walked over to the marina I guess you would call it. It was like if the Metreon was on the bay. There was a shopping center, theater, and lots of restaurants. We ate dinner at this Italian place then headed two doors down to this dim sum & cocktail place where we all had fruity girly drinks. Then we headed back to the hotel and had another round before hitting the sack at like 1am or later- and we are supposed to be ready to leave the hotel at 7:45am tomorrow? haha. I have no alarm clock, no mobile to act as my alarm clock. Then I see on the phone instructions for setting up a wake-up call. I do that but am not very sure it is going to work. Seemed a bit dodgey. And sure enough come 6:30am I don't get a wake-up call. Luckily my body knew I had to be up, so at 6:45am I jolted myself awake and got out of bed.

Got ready, went downstairs, checked out and we headed off to the show. It was a very small exhibition, but I did not mind since it was my first show. A good ice breaker. The show started a bit slow but then around lunch things seemed to pick up. My first task earlier was to take CD's with our trial version and pass them out to people and collect business cards hopefully. I was nervous because I have never had to do the in-face sales pitch before to anyone that mattered. I started out a bit rusty, but as the day progressed and I met more people I became more confident in my sales abilities. Even pulled in a few good leads.

The event was scheduled to end at 6pm but by 2:30pm it seemed like things had died down and we had spoken to pretty much everyone we had to, so we got to leave early- yay! My feet were killing me and I was tired. Packed up the booth, and on the way out of Cardiff John took my by the bay to show me the locks. It's this interesting system of letting boats in and out of the harbor. See the waters around Cardiff and Bristol are supposedly one of the most dangerous because the tide changes so quickly and at incredible depths. In a matter of minutes the tide can go in and out by 14 meters (about 40 feet). So this harbor has these locks and what is does it keep the water in the harbor seperated from the bay water. If the tide changes, the harbor water doesn't. It is always at the same level.

When ships and boats want to enter the harbor, a door opens and the ship pulls into this closed off space. The door closes behind them and then depending on if the tide was high or low, the space will fill or drain, making the water in this sealed off space equal to that of the harbor (you with me so far...?). Then when the water level inside the space is at the proper height, a door in front opens allowing them to enter the harbor. It's really cool and we were lucky enough that when we arrive a small boat was entering the harbor so I got to see the whole process.

On the ride home a took a nap, then back at the pub I met Vicky, Chris's daughter. Very nice girl. We both agree that Nick is a very messy person. We had a fun time trying to find and plug in a workin light bulb in the bathroom (the previous one went missing). Then Chris came by the pub and brought me my special food delivery. I Requested Ghirardeli chocolates for this girl Caroline who loves it, and then Hersheys bars and Graham crackers. These people have never heard of s'mores. I shall educate them in the making of one of the sweetest, messiest treats. It's funny, when I describe it to people, the girl's reactions are "Oh that sounds good!", while the guy's are "That sounds bad for you." I thought girls were supposed to be all food and figure conscious...? LoL.

Paintball

Saturday was super chill. Uploaded photos, updated blog, attempted to start laundry but only had time for 1 load before I had to head out to the Fish Market to meet Alex. Got there, Alex was working so I sat at the bar with Dom and had a pint. He has the new Nokia N73 and it is very sheik but we could not for the life of us figure out how to turn the keyguard/lock on. As we were talking his girlfriend Caroline was texting saying she was going to come over to the Fish Market but then she got a phone call and couldn't. Dom told me they were going paintballing with a bunch of their friends and funny enough Caroline sent him a text asking if I wanted to join them. A bit short notice but I have always wanted to play paintball and I really didn't have plans for Sunday.

So at 8am we all met at the Fish Market. God it was early, only had 4 hours of sleep. And before I went to the Fish Market I walked over to a Starbucks nearby hoping to God it would be open. But no...they don't open until 10am. *sigh* Darn the English and their not wanting to be open at the butt crack of dawn so I can get my coffee fix. We head outside of Bristol to the playing field and it is out in the country in the woods. When we pull into the driveway we can already see some of the playing fields with barriers and blocks to hide behind. Oh this is going to be fun. I was a little nervous about being hit by the paintballs and how much it would hurt. I have never played so have no idea what to expect. We get out suits and sit through the safety lecture. The thing that freaked me out was that the balls are traveling at like 200 MPH! Ouch. We get helmuts and the 16 of us walk down to our first playing field.

Most of us in the group have never played, only a few had before. We seperated into two teams of eight, the Green and Blue teams. I was on Blue. The first game we play is your basic old capture the flag. We get 350 balls to start with, load up our guns and head out onto the field. Oh, and the whole field is a bit on the muddy side because of recent rains. And the playing fields aren't flat. They are valleys so there is plenty of slipping and sliding to be had. The game starts and we head out. The Green team had the smart strategy of basically charging us and got the flag rather quick, but then the guy was hit so he had to drop it. Our first game did not last long and I was out before it ended. My first experience of being hit with a paintball was quite painfull. The ball hit on left hand near my knuckle between my ring and middle fingers. Owwwww.

The first match pretty much set the precendent for the rest of our matches. Green team was kicking out asses. They always seemed to get the edge on us. We played about 4 games of just the 16 of us which was cool, even if they were going really quick. Then we found out a huge group of people were supposed to have joined us this morning to play but got lost or woke up late and would be arriving right before lunch. We decided to play one game with them before lunch and found ourselves mixed in with about 30-40 Eastern Europeans (couldn't quite tell where they were from and only 3 or so spoke English). Mostly guys, about 5 girls and the guys looked like they were going to be taking this a bit more seriously than our group. Some had extra padding and gloves like they're seasoned pros.

We played one game with them and it was a bit scary. These guys were just taking it way to seriously and spoiling our amature fun. What really pissed me off was that when I got shot, and clearly held my gun up in the air, indicating this thus you should not get shot at anymore, the jerk who shot me kept shooting me! Errrr that pissed me off to no end. But I breathed and tried to not let it wind me up too much. After that game our group got to have lunch which was a welcomed break. Then we headed back out for more pain. It actually isn't too bad getting hit. Some do hurt and you will get bruised, but at the end of the day you aren't like doubled over in pain.

We played about 5-6 more games, and pretty much my strategy for most was to maintain a hidden sniper position. Did pretty well with that. Then the last game of the day is called a Run Out where you pretty much shoot away all your remaining paintballs. And even if you are hit you are not out. I was a bit scared at first becuase of the other group and I feared they would just stand behind you and shoot the shit out of your back or something mean like that. I stayed farther back on the field maintaining a higher ground and just rambo style shot and the opposing team (we still used teams but honestly if you wanted to shoot your teammates you could). Thus concluded our day of paintballing. We drove back into Bristol, I went home to take a shower and would meet everyone else at the Fish Market later. When I got there only 6 from our group were there and some of us stuck around and played The Quiz, which we lost. All in all it was a really fun day, despite the few moments of pain from being shot at. Would definitely go again.

First work week

Sorry for the long gap between posts. I had my first full work week which kept me busy all week long. I don't have a normal 9-5 work day anymore. Back home I could get off work at 5pm and still have a few hours to go run errands. Here everything closes at 5 or 6pm, so when I am "off work" I can't do anything. So what I have to do is take a big break middle of the day, do my errands, then come back to the pub and work later. It isn't too bad, just have to get used to that as my routine. Working in the pub is cool though. I wake up, shower and dress, grab my laptop and come downstairs sit at a table and set up my "desk" and start working. And because the pub doesn't open until noon, the morning hours are quiet and even when Sublime opens the afternoons are pretty chill. Only a few lunch rushes here and there. Monday I had a rough start to work. Was supposed to catch an 8:23am train to Chippenham to work with Chris in his home office. I work up at 8:30am. *doh* Luckily Chris wasn't uspset, he just said I'll see you tomorrow then. I was pissed though because I paid for a ticket I didn't even use. What a waste.

The rest of my week was busy busy. Tried to get a cell phone but they want a bank statement which will prove my address and that I have a bank account. It should come in the post in about a week. Tuesday night was JD's (my other flatmate and Nick's business partner) 30th Birthday so we all went out on the piss. But it was a short night because we went to the River, but Alex was being a pain and said he didn't want to go because he would get drunk, and he was already quite intoxicated. But he kept texting his friend telling me to go hang out with him at Sublime so I leave the River and go to Sublime to convince him to come out. It took a while but I managed to do so. But we get there are they won't let us in. So we head back to his place, which is the Old Fish Market and I stayed there. Probably a good thing because I got some decent sleep and the rest of the group stayed up drinking until 8am. Yeah I am not that hardcore. Haha.

Friday night a bunch of us went to the Dogs (Greyhound racing) in Swindon. It was so much fun. Alex organized it and we all paid 10 quid for a bus that would take us there and back. Placed some bets, and was wining every other race in the beginning but then I hit a wall and lost the rest sadly. But since I had won some money back I only ended up losing 5 quid. Not bad. Spent more money on beer, which they had a great deal, 5 bottles of Stella for 10 pounds. Score! Saturday has been a chill day for me. Slept in, did grocery shopping, uploaded photos, updating my blog, and still need to go laundry and then this group called Midnight Sausage is playing at Sublime again tonight so I will stick around for that. They are really good, just two guys with acoustic guitars. But man can they play, and when they do covers it is amazing. Will try and get a recording and share it.

Familiarizing & Socializing - day 4

* crash * * clink * * clank * This is what I woke up to at like 7am. Garbage day. And the trucks were parked right outside my window. Ugh…definitely need those earplugs. I didn’t have an alarm this morning because I only have my cell phone to use and the battery is dead and I looked at the plug and it would blow up probably if I plugged it in. Luckily my body told me it was time to wake up at about 8am. Made it downstairs without setting off the alarm, and even sorta figured out which lights to turn on so I wouldn’t be sitting in the dark.

For lunch I was going to make myself a sandwich from the few groceries I bought yesterday but when I went into the fridge I noticed it was jam packed with new stock and my deli meat packs were gone. Asked Nick if he saw them and he said he thought they were old packs left over from a buffet event they had a week ago. No biggie, he ended up cooking me a fantastic chicken sandwich instead. Very tasty. I still needed to get myself more groceries, and now an alarm clock and some office supplies, so I took a break from work and grabbed the bus to Asda. First it took forever for the bus to get there. Supposedly it should only take 20 minutes but it must have been 30 or 40 minutes. And my lack of sleep was catching up with me so I found myself snoozing on the bus.

Arrived at Asda, found a cheap alarm clock, office supplies, and got just a few basics that would tide me over for a few days – pasta, tomato sauce, lettuce, dressing, peanut butter, jelly…I think that was it. Remember I have to carry all this on the bus/walk home, so I couldn’t go crazy. Ride back to City Center was much quicker and I found a closer stop to Sublime so I didn’t have to walk as far. Logged back on to make up for my break and then at about 6 or 7pm I ended my work day. The pub was pretty busy by now and I didn’t want to get in the way by cooking my dinner in the kitchen, so I decided to go out for something cheap- pizza. Walked around, this time going in the opposite direction of where I usually go and after a while found M&M, which I remember Alex and Dutch recommending. Popped in there and paid $5 for dinner, score.

On my way back home I decided to stop in at The Old Fish Market to see if any of the guys were working. Saw Alex behind the bar, and then Dutch. Had a pint of Glosch (Dutch beer- very good), and then Alex had a break so I sat with him while he ate his burger and I ate his chips. He said they would be coming by Sublime around 1am and that we’d all get pissed. Headed home and definitely needed a nap if I was going to stay up that late. Woke up around 9:30pm and did some things up in my room, setting up the new laptop, writing more blog entries…then at about 11ish I headed downstairs for a pint.

It’s awkward to be hanging out and drinking in the pub by myself, but I didn’t want to bring Smacky down and look all anti-social. Luckily there were 4 people on staff and it wasn’t very busy so I was able to chat it up with the girls, met Dani and Josie (sp?) and Gags was there too. That worked out rather well, at least I didn’t feel like a loser standing at the bar alone. Then this guy who was standing at the bar and then moved to a table with his friends came over to us and was asking Patty if he knew one of the girls at his table because she thinks he looks familiar…it was strange and funny. Then he and I started talking- usually all my conversations with people start with, “Hey you aren’t from here are you?” and then the conversation evolves from there. His name was Marc and he was a nice guy, talked about football and why girls and boys don’t play together, about Bristol because he was born and raised here- he wants to take me around and play tour guide one Saturday. We keep talking then it’s 1am and the guys from Old Fish Market come in. Marc excuses himself to go talk to his friend at their table and then the Fish guys and I go grab the table next to them, not intentionally- it was the only one available.

Then the drinking continues and these guys are doing the best they can to get pissed before the pub closes in an hour. Met Ben and Hanah, the other two Fish people, and we have a great time drinking and talking and comparing scars. The one on my head won the contest. Then Alex and I start talking about food and decide to get some kebabs. He takes me to this place they frequent, we get our kebabs and take them back to the Old Fish Market to eat them. We’re eating and then realize it’s about 2:30am and Sublime is probably closed and I don’t have a key yet. So I crash upstairs at Alex’s flat. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday, can actually sleep in and recoup from my first week in the UK.

Bar Life Rocks - Day 3

Thursday, my first official day working for Actify Europe. Woke up at about 7:30am, took a bath (I am really starting to enjoy taking baths, they are so relaxing), got dressed- and I actually dressed up so to speak. Boots, jeans, nice top- figured it would help motivate me and make me feel like I was in an office if I dressed the part. Before I went downstairs I looked at the security unit to turn the alarm off but Nick had put a note saying to come wake him up. Strange, but I couldn’t remember the code so I woke him up and he thought I was actually going to work at his dad’s place and that he’s have to show me how to unlock the door, which is why he had the note to wake him up. I reminded him Chris is in Switzerland so he told me the code and went back to sleep.

I headed downstairs with my laptop and got to work. It’s actually pretty nice working in the pub. It isn’t very busy during the day and even when there is a lunch rush hardly anyone comes over to my side of the bar that I work from. I get drinks for free, and man coffee never tasted so good. I think I need to teach these guys how to make a mocha though…expand their menu a bit. Work was work, nothing special to report on that end. Went out for lunch to this place called O’Brians, a sandwich place round the corner. They were very nice, oh but it was so funny. I ordered a sandwich, and when I got my plate it had the sandwich and 4- yes exactly 4 potato chips (crisps). It looked so funny, wish I had my camera with me to photograph it.

Went back to the pub, continued working then signed off at about 5:30pm. It was quite dead in the pub all afternoon. Nick had gone out to look at entertainment equipment so it was just me and Jake. He was bored out of his mind so I suggested we play cards. I taught him Speed, he was doing really well. Most people take a while to catch on. Then he left after his shift ended around 6pm and I decided to try and find this supermarket called Asda, apparently it is like Walmart. However I didn’t know exactly where it was, just a general direction. I walked in what I thought was the right direction but it was getting late and dark so I just made a big circle and came back to the pub.

There was going to be live music at the pub that night so I decided to stick around. Brought Smacky downstairs and started to upload the photos from my Bon Voyage party. While I was waiting for it to finish this guy from the group sitting on the couches behind me came round to my table and sat down diagonal from me and was like, “Hey how’s it going?” I was nice and said “Doing well”, then he introduced himself as one of Nick’s friends. His name is Alex and he invited me to sit with him and his mates. So I left Smacky continue to do its thing and took my Corona round to the couches. Met Alex, Dutch (Richard) and Simon. Alex and Dutch work at this pub called The Fish Market which I have walked by a dozen times, it is right around the corner from Sublime.

We all just sat and chatted away, and of course drank. Alex was getting pissed (drunk) and we were all having a good time. It was getting late and they started talking about playing poker. So at about 1am me, Nick and Dutch started playing. Alex was to busy chatting it up with these two girls to play. I have never really played poker, so this was a first for me. And we were each putting in 5 quid. I was doing fairly well for a beginner. Nick has a certain way about him when he plays, he likes to bid high and challenge. A few times he and I went head to head, I won once, which was cool. But in the end all my chips were gone, so it was just Dutch and Nick playing. We finished up at about 2am-ish and by then I was quite tired and had to be up for work tomorrow (or today…) so I said goodnight and hit the sack.

Bristolian Life - Day 2

Quick recap on last night. Went with Jake and Guy across the street to King William to play pool. English pool tables are a bit smaller than in the US, and the balls are too and they are just two colors, no numbers at all. So we couldn’t play cutthroat. I played like shyte, but I reckon the several pints of beer in me was throwing off my A-game. After a few games we then headed down the street to a cider house called Apple. Never had cider before and it was fairly good, a bit fruity. The pint was huge and this thing is like a 9% alcoholic beverage. After that we headed out to a place called SoHo. Kind of a club, bar and here I just had water. Was getting really tired and told the guys that I needed to go home. Plus it was late and I didn’t really feel like getting locked out of the pub my first night.

They walked me back to Sublime where I headed straight upstairs and into bed. Wednesday morning woke up pretty early so I could get a start on opening a bank account and look for a mobile. I took a bath, got dressed, and headed downstairs. As soon as I walked out from the back and into the bar area I hear “BeepBeepBeepBeep!!!!!” Damn this place has an alarm and I set it off. I just stood there not knowing what to do, then I could hear Nick upstairs turning the alarm off. He said he forgot to tell me about the alarm and would show me how to turn it off. Then he let me out and I went to Barclays and opened my current account (that’s what they call a checking account here), then walked around the City Center looking for a mobile. I found a T-Mobile store and the guy in there was really nice and helpful. I had a lot of questions especially about International calls and service coverage Internationally. Then I looked at Vodafon and after sitting and reviewing the two I decided T-Mobile was the best for the money. BUT, when I went back to sign up they asked if I had a UK debit card. I won’t get it until early next week so I have to wait until then. Rats. Actually it’s good, forces me to take my time and look at other places. Picked up a brochure from O2 (looks crapy), and then I was told 3 is a really good place and so far they have the best International plan. We shall see.

So after all that I came back to the pub and JD was there and I made a comment about going around the corner to the post office to pick up my parcel that they tried to deliver a few days prior. He laughed and said it wasn’t at the post office, but somewhere else far away and that he would drive me there. We headed out and I got to see the outskirts of Bristol, it is a very pretty area. JD and I were chatting away and he was cracking me up I haven’t laughed like that since we had our “Cousin’s Dinner” before I left home. Must be an Irish thing that we crack each other up. So we are driving for a while and kind of get lost which makes us laugh even more. I mean really this BusinessPost place left a card at the pub with a little map on it basically showing 2 main roads intersecting and below that a rectangle labeled as “This is us”. We were driving up and down the roads forever, and JD even stopped at a few other businesses to ask where Business Post was, but no one seemed to know. Long story short, we eventually found it, got my parcel, and headed back to the pub.

Back at the pub I attempted to get online with the work laptop but it still wasn’t working, which worried me since I was starting work the next day. Nick went upstairs to check on the wireless port and found that it was knocked over, so he fixed it and in an instant I was online. Yay! Access to email and Internet. Stayed up pretty late checking emails and such, finally got to bed around midnight- good thing I don’t actually have to go far to get to work tomorrow, heehee.

Move to England - Day 1

Made it to SFO on time, Karina and Daniel drove me, mom was going to meet us at the airport. When we arrived mom called saying she missed the bus and wouldn’t get there until 2:30pm probably. I was a bit nervous that she wouldn’t make it in time, but as luck would have it she didn’t miss the bus and as we were walking towards the British Airways check in desk, mom was coming right up the escalator.

There was no line at the desk so I checked in my bags really quick, then we sat down and ate burgers for lunch. Then it was time for me to head through security. We took some pictures and said “See you later” with no tears luckily. Though silly Karina handed me a note as we were parting which said on the front “Do not open until I am out of sight.” Just reading that alone made me teary eyed. Went through security fine, then as soon as I got to my gate I opened her note, read it and cried a bit. Not that is was super mushy, just very sweet and reminded me what an amazing sister I have.

Boarded the plane, and my game plan for the flight was similar to my last trip to London- sleep the whole time to beat jet lag. However this did not work because I started chatting with the guy sitting next to me and he was very gregarious so we were talking on and on for most of the flight. We joked that the poor lady next to us must hate us because we were talking for so long. Whatever, I was enjoying our conversation. We finally shut up when they turned off the lights in the cabin indicating “it’s time to sleep.” I had a pretty good sleep, then woke up with about 2 hours left in our flight. Ben (my fight buddy) and I went right back into talking on and on until we landed.

At Heathrow I went to the “Non EU” passport line because I thought it would be better to travel into the country under my US passport. When I got to the desk the woman asked me why I was here, I said I am moving here. She asked if I had a visa, I said I don’t need one because I have an Irish passport. She said for me to use that one instead, so I was through immigration in a flash. Got my heavy ass bags, which Ben was kind enough to help me with, then headed to the underground to catch the tube to Paddington station.

I was nervous how I would manage my two large bags going through the tube, because there are not always lifts or escalators which means lugging them up a flight of stairs. Luckily there was always a kind gentleman to assist me with my bags. Got to love being a girl. Made it to Paddington station with about 1 hour to spare before my train departed, so I ate some Burger King, chilled in the station reading up on Vodafon and their mobile plans, then caught my train to Bristol. Slept most of the way on the train.

When I arrived at the Bristol station I caught a taxi to Nick’s pub, Sublime. It didn’t look open so I was at the front door knocking and then one of the staff came to the door and helped me in with my bags. Silly me, the place was open. Next time I should probably try the door before assuming it is closed. Jake, the guy who opened the door for me, and I had a laugh about that, wanted to make sure he didn’t think I was some stuck-up American expecting the bellboy to take my bags for me. Met John (JD), the other owner of the pub, and he told me they were just finishing cleaning upstairs. So I went to the bar and had a pint while they finished up. Then JD and Nick came down, met Nick and they showed me to my room. It’s very cozy, obviously not some huge room but it had a twin bed, closet, and several shelves. I like it. And the bathroom is right across the hall, which I could tell the guys had really cleaned up for my arrival. Candles and popuri and fresh towels, very sweet of them.

Took a bath which was like heaven after 12+ hours of traveling. Then hung out downstairs at the bar with Jake and his friend Guy while I waited for Nick to take me to a shop to buy sheets. We didn’t quite make it in time though, all of the shops were closed or closing, so we’ll create some make-shit sheets for the night. No biggie. I am just so happy and grateful to have a place to stay. Oh and the bar is fantastic. Really cool, trendy place. And everyone I have met so far is very nice. Didn’t get to the bank today like I thought but I’ll do that first thing tomorrow, and then get my mobile and I will be happy as a clam. (Why are clams known for being happy? Was there some sort of study done?) I digress…tonight is poker night at the pub, so that will be interesting. Think I’ll be a spectator. Bummed that Smacky isn’t picking up on the wireless in this place…will have to call Apple possibly in the AM to see what the deal is.