One year down, six months to go

Last year, on a sunny Tuesday in September, our Virgin Atlantic flight landed into Heathrow and JP and I deplaned with no return ticket to OC.

While walking into work this morning, I thought to myself how far we had come in the last year. The first thing is simply the walking- a year ago I would have driven up to the front of the OC building to see if there were any EY spots available to take for the day- it sure beat the 5 minute walk from free parking a block away! A year later, I walk at least a mile a day as part of my normal commute to work. This got me thinking of all the things that have changed…. Here is my reflection in numbers and figures:

A year ago we…
Drove to the gym, Golden Spoon, the store and the bagel shop- all of which were less than .5 miles from our home
Now we…
Walk walk walk… (and take the bus and tube as necessary)
A year ago we…
Drank on occasion at bbq’s and had some wine with dinner on the weekends
Now we…
Drink heavily with great abandon any day of the week.
A year ago we…
Were in great shape due to regular gym activity, participation in races and triathlons and an overall active lifestyle.
Now we…
Think longingly to our skinny days while eating nachos at 2am after drinking with our friends.
A year ago we…
We had Mexican and sushi regularly and took it for granted.
Now we…
Are regulars at Mr. India and Parrs Head for Indian and Thai food.
A year ago we…
Watched TV and kept up with all of the shows with a DVR, and JP had regular access to watch baseball
Now we…
Watch old reruns of Friends and Scrubs on tv in the absence of anything better.
A year ago we…
Commuted to work via a temperature controlled car with our favourite radio station – time 30 minutes
Now we…
Cram ourselves on the tube with our book/magazines/Ipods and pray for no delays- time 25 minutes

Just a few fun facts:
Guests to date: 18 (we should start a B&B when we get home!)
Trips to date: 12
Months it took to get set up: 3 full months (including getting a working phone, internet, tv, bank, etc.)
Interviews Angie went on before getting a job: 22 (and three job offers)
Miles walked per day: average of 1.5
Pints: can’t count that high
Pubs: see previous

It is easy to capture all the funny and fun changes in our lives. What is harder to articulate are the other things- like perseverance when the phone company hangs up on you after being on hold for 2 hours, or patience when you get shoved or elbowed on the tube during a terrible commute, or humor when your peers at work are not the same caliber that you are used to, or humility when you finally realize how lucky you are to come from a country as great as the US, or awe when you travel to places that have been through bombings and wars and still emerge gorgeous, or understanding when you realize just why people might not like Americans or integration when you finally start feeling that someplace foreign is home.

I wouldn’t give the last year up for anything- mostly because of what we have seen in our travels as well as how close it has made me and JP. However, now that we are in the countdown to coming back to the US- you bet I am excited to feel sand between my toes again and see the smiles of all the friends and family we miss so much while we have been here.

Until next time…

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest: Chaos, singing, drinking, crowds, cheering, singing, drinking, eating, eating, drinking, and some incredible corn on the cob... that in a nutshell is Oktoberfest!

After almost a year of planning, we just arrived home from experiencing the opening weekend of the world's largest party- Oktoberfest. (I think I may see how many times I can use Oktoberfest in one post). I've put some memorable pictures below... we had a great time. The city of Munich is gorgeous and very accommodating. We had a super fun time with our friends while drinking, eating, drinking, singing and drinking some more.

Here is what I pictured- think "European Vacation" circa 1985 with Clark Griswold and family donned in drundels and leiderhosen drinking liters of beer while singing along with the crazy Germans. Well, Oktoberfest isn't quite that, but there are tons of people around and the whole aim is to just drink yourself silly in the various beer tents. It is a big festival- with rides, fair food, stands selling all sorts of things German and kitchy, and then there are a load of brewery tents that seat up to 10,000 people with long rows of tables and benches. If you are lucky enough to score a seat by lining up early or you have a reservation (we had both on subsequent days) then you are served your liters of lager by a fine gal in a gorgeous drundel with the brute strength to carry up to 10 liters of beer in huge steins with a nice smile on her face. There is music and loads of singing and toasting and yelling. It is pure chaos. We heard accents and languages from all over the world and toasted friends around of all ages and backgrounds. It was a fun way to spend the weekend.

I won't go into terrible detail, because in essense we arrived Friday, started drinking and eating almost immediately, and didn't stop until we left the last tent yesterday at 5pm. If you have a chance to go, I would recommend it. It does take some years off your life though- but we'll recover. I 'll leave you with some memories:

Rachel travelled all the way from CA for Oktoberfest and even taught us some German phrases!

Here is part of the group as the day was winding down on day two:

We had reservations in the Hofbrau tent on Sunday- the biggest and craziest scene I've ever seen!

More pictures posted on shutterfly. Enjoy!