I felt inspired to share a bit more....an attempt to keep your attention yet again...and put myself to sleep.
This morning, after sleeping in - which means getting up at 7 for breakfast then taking a two to three hour family nap - we ventured on a family jog, our first in London. As you may have read in this morning's entry (it is just past midnight here), I have taken a few jogs over the past week that have consisted of a straight shot down and back on a main - though no-so-interesting - road.
Sanjay suggested a bit of exploring instead (one of my very favorite things next to Coldplay, sleeping and procrastinating, among other things). We meandered our way to the riverside walkway, which we found a bit smelly in the "fishy fish" sense. We crossed a park, went a bit further, returned to the park finding the sub-river "footpath" (which is equivalent to an American "pedestrian walkway") connecting to Greenwich, near the high street.
After crossing, we poked around for just a few minutes. Sanjay was thrilled to find that his favorite fast food sandwich, the Subway Veggie Pattie, is available in the UK, next door to a Ben & Jerry's - I can't complain. I have to admit that this brief outing reignited my enthusiasm for our upcoming move. Our flat will be just north of Greenwich Village in the Millennium Village area, so it will be only a good walk from home to reach this exciting college-y, tourist-filled area. It wouldn't be so bad not working for a bit.
I do have a first round interview with Starcom-London tomorrow, which I am looking forward to now that I have an outfit of current fashion to wear (I don't know the appropriate slang term for "outfit" yet, but I do know not to call pants "pants" unless I want a local to think I am inappropriately referring to my undergarments - might take a few "slips" to remember that one).
While I looked for the perfect shoes to go along, Sanjay went to the grocery with a list given by the "Supreme Court" (which is the equivalent of the "Queen" in my childhood household), the name Sanjay has so lovingly, and not whatsoever sarcastically, given me since motherhood. We had invited Babhi and Bhaiya (refer to first blog entry) for dinner promising home-made nachos (which they've never had). The feedback was that they were the best ever - I'll take it. Of course I omitted certain ingredients from the list, such as black olives and onions for obvious (to me) reasons, and Sanjay wonders why he did not think to get them...
Alright, time for bed. More to come later...
Liz
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Two. About a Monkey: Bumps and Bruises
(You might know to whom I'm referring as I start my second entry)
Not much to add regarding our London experience. It's getting colder...and it still rains. I am confused by certain things, for instance eggs are stored on grocery shelves, the same as any canned goods. "Please" and "thank you" are more common than "hello" but "you're welcome" is replaced by "ok" and "alright." Slang terms are used in excess, even in business conversations - a recruiter called this week and I swear all I heard was "wicked" this and "wicked" that.........and "cheers" means "thank you" more often than not. Somehow I am still not bothered the gloomy weather that persists...
We will move into our first flat in less than a week. Time to pack - AGAIN. In addition to working late hours, Sanjay has been (generously) caring for Olivia in the morning to allow me to squeeze in a short jog...I'm a lucky gal. The run allows me to collect my thoughts in preparation for the day ahead.
You may (or may not) be surprised to find out that we have a quick learner on our hands. Quick in every sense of the word. Olivia has learned to climb on the coffee table, remove and replace the couch cushions, laugh louder (using her signature shotgun laugh), build stacks three blocks high, exit the couch feet first, sideways and bottom-down, etc.......
She has had several near-disasters with bumps, bruises and scrapes to show for it.
Her favorite activity of the week has been the following series: she starts by squirming onto the coffee table - which is currently up against the couch (moved after it's effectiveness as a blockade expired), then a quick crawl onto the couch, laying still for a moment upon arrival - with a big grin, she stands up, looks behind the cushion for the remote controls, falls on her back while yanking down the cushion (after a few bumps she learned to fall on her bottom to save pain), she quickly recuperates, rises, grunts with effort as she pushes the cushion upright, crawls back to the slippery coffee table (leaving her mom on edge), stops to sit upright with a grin and briefly assesses her environment "dancing" to background music before heading back to the couch to repeat the cushion routine. She repeats this routine several times. The only stopping her is a tickle interruption, which I cannot resist due to the melodious giggles it yields.
The next best (and less worrisome) activity has involved spinning, twirling and lifting to the tunes of ABBA, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel among others. Olivia's grins and giggles are continuous throughout, which causes me to prolong the activity to the point of dizziness. Her laughter makes every bit of effort and exhaustion worthwhile.
Her third favorite activity of the week involved mashed potatoes - she is her mother's daughter.
We have had a few ventures through the Canary Wharf "village" in the evenings. Olivia seems to enjoy these trips more than daytime walks...I think the night lights of the skyscrapers have something to do with it. If we are gone too long Olivia will begin to get fussy if she's tired or in need of a stretch.
Thursday evening we were out later than usual, waiting to walk Olivia's dad home from work. She babbled and laughed the whole way, catching several passers-by off guard. They seemed a bit surprised to see a small child making these noises. I think people often mistake her for a newborn, seeing how small she is and how little hair she has. On the other hand, I have never seen someone so skilled at making strangers smile. It's amazing.
After getting the anticipated "I'm off" call from Olivia's dad we wandered our way back toward his office. While we waited, Olivia was offered three gold heart-shaped (helium!) balloons from a tired executive leaving for home. She was thrilled. Despite our disheveled appearances (I was wearing my "holiest" jeans) we were invited to see Sanjay's office views. We saw the city lights from all directions in London...a bit different from the Chicago views we're used to...but they're beautiful just the same.
Saturday was a challenging day of bumps and bruises followed by baths and cuddling and later a leisurely dinner with Grace & Shariff on the picturesque dockside near Wesferry Circus. Olivia was a huge hit with the servers, who were (like many) impressed by her friendly and oh-so-happy nature. The highlight for her was the reflective silver tray presenting the bill - she could see herself on BOTH sides.
I hope you enjoyed reading (or skimming),
Cheers!
Liz
Not much to add regarding our London experience. It's getting colder...and it still rains. I am confused by certain things, for instance eggs are stored on grocery shelves, the same as any canned goods. "Please" and "thank you" are more common than "hello" but "you're welcome" is replaced by "ok" and "alright." Slang terms are used in excess, even in business conversations - a recruiter called this week and I swear all I heard was "wicked" this and "wicked" that.........and "cheers" means "thank you" more often than not. Somehow I am still not bothered the gloomy weather that persists...
We will move into our first flat in less than a week. Time to pack - AGAIN. In addition to working late hours, Sanjay has been (generously) caring for Olivia in the morning to allow me to squeeze in a short jog...I'm a lucky gal. The run allows me to collect my thoughts in preparation for the day ahead.
You may (or may not) be surprised to find out that we have a quick learner on our hands. Quick in every sense of the word. Olivia has learned to climb on the coffee table, remove and replace the couch cushions, laugh louder (using her signature shotgun laugh), build stacks three blocks high, exit the couch feet first, sideways and bottom-down, etc.......
She has had several near-disasters with bumps, bruises and scrapes to show for it.
Her favorite activity of the week has been the following series: she starts by squirming onto the coffee table - which is currently up against the couch (moved after it's effectiveness as a blockade expired), then a quick crawl onto the couch, laying still for a moment upon arrival - with a big grin, she stands up, looks behind the cushion for the remote controls, falls on her back while yanking down the cushion (after a few bumps she learned to fall on her bottom to save pain), she quickly recuperates, rises, grunts with effort as she pushes the cushion upright, crawls back to the slippery coffee table (leaving her mom on edge), stops to sit upright with a grin and briefly assesses her environment "dancing" to background music before heading back to the couch to repeat the cushion routine. She repeats this routine several times. The only stopping her is a tickle interruption, which I cannot resist due to the melodious giggles it yields.
The next best (and less worrisome) activity has involved spinning, twirling and lifting to the tunes of ABBA, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel among others. Olivia's grins and giggles are continuous throughout, which causes me to prolong the activity to the point of dizziness. Her laughter makes every bit of effort and exhaustion worthwhile.
Her third favorite activity of the week involved mashed potatoes - she is her mother's daughter.
We have had a few ventures through the Canary Wharf "village" in the evenings. Olivia seems to enjoy these trips more than daytime walks...I think the night lights of the skyscrapers have something to do with it. If we are gone too long Olivia will begin to get fussy if she's tired or in need of a stretch.
Thursday evening we were out later than usual, waiting to walk Olivia's dad home from work. She babbled and laughed the whole way, catching several passers-by off guard. They seemed a bit surprised to see a small child making these noises. I think people often mistake her for a newborn, seeing how small she is and how little hair she has. On the other hand, I have never seen someone so skilled at making strangers smile. It's amazing.
After getting the anticipated "I'm off" call from Olivia's dad we wandered our way back toward his office. While we waited, Olivia was offered three gold heart-shaped (helium!) balloons from a tired executive leaving for home. She was thrilled. Despite our disheveled appearances (I was wearing my "holiest" jeans) we were invited to see Sanjay's office views. We saw the city lights from all directions in London...a bit different from the Chicago views we're used to...but they're beautiful just the same.
Saturday was a challenging day of bumps and bruises followed by baths and cuddling and later a leisurely dinner with Grace & Shariff on the picturesque dockside near Wesferry Circus. Olivia was a huge hit with the servers, who were (like many) impressed by her friendly and oh-so-happy nature. The highlight for her was the reflective silver tray presenting the bill - she could see herself on BOTH sides.
I hope you enjoyed reading (or skimming),
Cheers!
Liz
Friday, 5 September 2008
Rambling Round One: It Rains in London
(I thought I would begin our first ever blog by stating the obvious)
Yep, we're in London, the Aggarwals three. We spent our first week+ in Bromley with Sanjay's brother, Anant (bhaiya) and sister-in-law Pooja (babhi). They took great care of us while Sanjay and I spent our days and nights house-hunting. Olivia warmed to them immediately. They have been charged with teaching me Hindi...we'll see how that goes. I am eager to learn.
We celebrated Olivia's first birthday with them as well. She has three new loves: cake, pizza and balloons, especially with helium! In addition, she has become fond of kiwi (she whines for it the same way she would for a bottle), peanut butter and jelly toast, pears and bath bubbles. She is walking faster now, able to squat and return to standing with ease, forming new syllables, tearing paper, running laps through the kitchen, catching her fingers in drawers and diving off the bed. She injures herself daily, but seems to be learning what not to do, except when it comes to putting things in her mouth. I am in process of teaching her to exit the couch feet first. She thinks it's fun, but hasn't yet learned the value of the reversal.
We took her to the London Aquarium the week of her birthday. Her initial reaction to sea life was a bit of fear, but after a short while she watched, reaching for the fish. Her favorite seemed to be shiny and silver - I wish I had taken note of the name. We will be sure to take her to Shedd Aquarium on our first return to Chicago. I want to show her my favorite - the Belugas. After the aquarium we took a stroll along the Thames' bustling river walkway and had a taste of the local sushi with friends and former Chicago neighbors, Grace and Shariff.
We are currently staying in Canary Wharf, the newly constructed financial district where Sanjay is working. He started with Barclay's this past Monday and all is well. If all goes as planned we will have our first official London address in Greenwich Millennium Village 9/16. Canary Wharf is gorgeous, but we will get more bang for our buck (or pound) in GMV. It will be nice to finally get settled in...and for Sanjay it will be nice to have his black suits! I guess tan is not the "it color" here.
As always, I am enjoying exploring the world around me by foot (with stroller of course). It is interesting to see the demographic and cultural contrasts from one neighborhood to the next, though they are only blocks apart. It's also fun to pass through different areas and notice how they remind me of familiar places such as Chicago's South Loop or the southeast side of Cedar Rapids, though there are usually distinct differences.
More to come later...
Liz
Yep, we're in London, the Aggarwals three. We spent our first week+ in Bromley with Sanjay's brother, Anant (bhaiya) and sister-in-law Pooja (babhi). They took great care of us while Sanjay and I spent our days and nights house-hunting. Olivia warmed to them immediately. They have been charged with teaching me Hindi...we'll see how that goes. I am eager to learn.
We celebrated Olivia's first birthday with them as well. She has three new loves: cake, pizza and balloons, especially with helium! In addition, she has become fond of kiwi (she whines for it the same way she would for a bottle), peanut butter and jelly toast, pears and bath bubbles. She is walking faster now, able to squat and return to standing with ease, forming new syllables, tearing paper, running laps through the kitchen, catching her fingers in drawers and diving off the bed. She injures herself daily, but seems to be learning what not to do, except when it comes to putting things in her mouth. I am in process of teaching her to exit the couch feet first. She thinks it's fun, but hasn't yet learned the value of the reversal.
We took her to the London Aquarium the week of her birthday. Her initial reaction to sea life was a bit of fear, but after a short while she watched, reaching for the fish. Her favorite seemed to be shiny and silver - I wish I had taken note of the name. We will be sure to take her to Shedd Aquarium on our first return to Chicago. I want to show her my favorite - the Belugas. After the aquarium we took a stroll along the Thames' bustling river walkway and had a taste of the local sushi with friends and former Chicago neighbors, Grace and Shariff.
We are currently staying in Canary Wharf, the newly constructed financial district where Sanjay is working. He started with Barclay's this past Monday and all is well. If all goes as planned we will have our first official London address in Greenwich Millennium Village 9/16. Canary Wharf is gorgeous, but we will get more bang for our buck (or pound) in GMV. It will be nice to finally get settled in...and for Sanjay it will be nice to have his black suits! I guess tan is not the "it color" here.
As always, I am enjoying exploring the world around me by foot (with stroller of course). It is interesting to see the demographic and cultural contrasts from one neighborhood to the next, though they are only blocks apart. It's also fun to pass through different areas and notice how they remind me of familiar places such as Chicago's South Loop or the southeast side of Cedar Rapids, though there are usually distinct differences.
More to come later...
Liz
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