U.K. Day 4 - Houston Day 106

Caught the train up to Scotland yesterday.  It was pouring rain again so I was extra glad we had the good weather on Sunday.  Made me a bit nostalgic to take the train to Dad's, because that was the train I took every couple of weeks to visit him when I was studying at St Andrews.  We're going to try and visit St Andrews some time this week, which I'm sure is going to make me want to go back there.  They have a department called "Theology, Imagination and the Arts".  Doesn't that sound totally up my alley?
Is so nice to see Dad and Jill.  They have done lots of renovations on their house since I was here six years ago so it was really exciting to see that.  They took me out for dinner last night to the same restaurant where we'll be having dinner Saturday night after the ordination.  Lovely Spanish place, and we ordered a tableful of tapas, which we couldn't finish.  Just like that, after a year of not seeing them, and six years of not being here at their home with them, we're sitting down to dinner like nothing happened.  Makes me happy.
For those who have been asking how Jill's leg is after her accident a couple of years ago, she can't bend it more than about 100 degrees, she can't run, and she has arthritis in that knee, which will need a knee reconstruction at some point in the future.  She can drive now (she couldn't for a while).  Not fair that something like that can happen out of the blue, but given how worried we all were about her, fantastic how well she is and how much movement she has regained.  She was in rehab for about a year, and is really disciplined about working it out and strengthening the muscles according to how the physio taught her.  I so respect people who just take charge of bad situations like that and make it (and make themselves) the best it can possibly be.  Gives me some inspiration for my own situation...
By the way, I'm writing this at 5.37am.  I can't seem to sleep more than five hours a night since I got here, but it's no biggie coz I'm not really doing anything that requires too much energy! This is a lovely holiday!

U.K. Day 3 - Houston Day 105

I love England. I want to live here, not in Texas. The downside would be exchanging lovely big kitchen and plenty of parking and lots of sunshine for one-lane roads that pretend to be two-lane, and lots of rain, and everything being more expensive.

Looking out the chapel window

Anyway. I got to Auntie Maria's on Friday (after feeling nearly the whole train journey like I was going to chuck. Pleasant.)  She lives in "Outreach House", a sort of house church. For those of you who know Cornerstone in Australia, think Cornerstone team house. Think of the kind of Christians who love God with their whole lives and show it by investing as much as they can in their local community. Her daily rhythm is made up of study and discussion and silence with her two fellow housemates (a married couple), then working in the only shop in the village, then tutoring kids in Maths in the evenings. They hold slightly larger church gatherings in their house and astonishingly beautiful garden on Sundays. There's a chapel in the garden built by her son, my cousin Derek, which they use for special occasions or solitary meditation or really whenever they feel like it.

She's been taking me around the beautiful Lakes District. Yesterday was rubbish weather (hello England), but today was gorgeous so we took a nice long picnic and walk around Derwent Water. I couldn't believe something could make me so happy just by looking at it.

Our evenings have been spent cozying up with yummy food and hot water bottles (unfortunately, it is cold enough to need them - hello England!) in front of the telly.  We watched a scream of a program on Friday...I think it's just called Miranda...anyway, it was funny....

A lovely weekend with lots of lovely long chats, lots of green hills and water and tiny roads and little stone walls.  There are some people who are always your family, no matter how long and how much change between visits, and most of my English family are like that to me, especially Maria.

More photos by checking out my facebook album - click on this link.
Lakes District photos
Tomorrow I catch the train up to Scotland to see Dad and Jill! Hurrah!

U.K. Day 1 - Houston Day 103

I love London.  I was only there for three hours in transit, but I love the way it looks, the way it's all centred around an excellent public transport system, the sense of economy (in everything but actual money).  I have a suspicion that my impressions of America and Houston will change after two weeks away.  Already today I've remembered so many things I miss.

In other news, I'm on the train on the way to visit my auntie in the Lakes District.  Have been feeling a little off in the tummy ever since the descent into Heathrow, so will stop staring at a computer screen.  But hurrah for my excellent little 10-inch computer, which is connecting me to the internet whilst being ever-so-portable.  Listen to that.  "Ever-so-portable."  My language changes the instant I'm in the U.K.  The part of me that is made up of my father's genes eats up everything else and makes me speak like I live here.

Houston Day 100

Wow, 100 days.  Well done us!
The fall semester started at Houston City Dance last night.  I'll be taking classes there three times a week: Ballet on Monday evenings, Jazz on Wednesday evenings, and Tap on Saturday mornings.  Ballet was hard work last night, but a good class.  Woke up feeling very sore and tired this morning, and struggled through a Pilates class at Hope Stone at 8.30am.  Am continuing to love Hope Stone.  For the first couple of months of my internship I'll be getting free classes instead of payment, so I'll hopefully make it to Pilates twice a week as well as maybe Modern and something called Gyrokinesis.  I chatted with Gayla a little this morning (the head theater teacher at Hope Stone) and we're both feeling really positive about me coming on board there.  It's funny, though, I have this strange feeling about actually committing to something.  Maybe it's just a Gen Y reluctance to shut off any better options, but I have a feeling that there's something else in there too, athough I can't put my finger on it.
Getting a fair bit of work done at home in terms of audition preparation, singing practice, etc., but not as much as I could be - it's hard to motivate myself although every time I go to a class or an audition or a rehearsal I recognise how necessary it is.
Maybe I'll throw some kind of fun celebration with Lucas tonight to celebrate 100 days of living here.  But first, more monologue rehearsal.

Houston Day 99 - a weekend trip to Boise

This weekend just past we went up to Boise, Idaho to visit Lucas' family.  His youngest brother Brenton is moving to Seattle next week to do his Masters in Japanese Studies so we wanted to catch him before he left.  It was a really good weekend catching up with friends and family.  And not just in a "they're Lucas' friends and now my family so I have to pretend to be having a good time" kind of way.  It was really really lovely.
We got there late Friday night and were met at the airport by Lucas' dad Mark, his brothers Scott and Brenton, and Brenton's girlfriend Erica, who I'd never met before.  Saturday morning we went out for breakfast with Brenton and Erica, and Saturday afternoon was dedicated to some dear old friends of Lucas', who I think very graciously let me call them my friends too! When Lucas was in high school and college, his best friends were Dave, Carol and Nate.  Nate lives in L.A. now so we didn't get to see him this weekend, but Dave and his wife Shannon and Carol came over.  Shannon and Carol took me out for a girls' afternoon, which was so nice.  One of the - well, not problems, but less than desirable experiences we had anticipated was that as we're still building up our friendships here we get a little sick of hanging out with just each other most of the time.  So an afternoon with the girls was just what the doctor ordered! We had some great chats while we wandered around the old Boise penitentiary and gardens and then when out for a drink.
In the evening all the aforementioned people plus a few more friends - Manuel, Sally and their son Jordan - had a BBQ at Mark's place.  Sunday morning was breakfast with Mark and Scott at the diner where Brenton works, then round to Lucas' mom Robin's place to catch up with her.  It's nice to know I have another mum here when I'm missing mine so much! She even went out of her way to find a place that sells Tim Tams :).
Something else that was really nice to hear was that so many people mentioned that they've been reading this blog! Robin is one of those, and so she knows I've been getting into yoga, and gave me a yoga magazine to read on the plane home.
And to cap the weekend off, we arrived home late Sunday night and were reminded of the last time we came in to Houston on a plane...i.e., nearly 100 days ago.  That time we were exhausted, and a bit numb but also a bit terrified, and everything was unfamiliar and unattractive.  This time, I drove home, and I knew where I was going (mostly), and I have things to look forward to (I can't wait til Hope Stone starts after I get back from the U.K.).  It was a little reminder of how much we've settled in so far, and made us look forward to more to come :)

Houston Day 94 - some stereotypes explored

1. "Americans are very litigious."  The evidence points to this being true.  Advertisements have all kinds of disclaimers on them, including some pretty unnecessary ones.  Ads for drugs have to list the possible side effects.  Interestingly, "mood changes" was listed as a side-effect for anti-depressants...There's another ad for a chewing gum, supposedly so flavourful that it will be as if you've been punched in the face.  It has a shot in the style of boxing replays, with his face being impacted and rippling in slow-mo.   Down the bottom left corner reads the disclaimer: "dramatization".  As if there's a small chance that someone will believe that their chewing gum will punch them in the face.  There are also many ads for lawyers.  "Are you in this situation? Jump on the bandwagon and join this lawsuit."  Suing for medications gone wrong, suing for more money from insurance companies for Hurricane Ike damage.  Suing lawyers who approached you to sue someone else (it's true).
2. "Texans eat a lot."  Undeniably true.  Serving sizes in restaurants and fast food places are obscene.  I went to the movies last night with Maggie and her friend Kassy.  They ordered small buckets of popcorn.  I ordered a small frozen cherry Fanta.  "Small" in this case turned out to be about the size that I would expect to be labeled at least medium, probably large.  The only time I made the mistake of purchasing a large drink, it turned out to be well over a litre.  And when you order most meals at most restaurants, you will have to choose sides that are often large enough for a meal in themselves.  At Yale St, where we go pretty much every weekend, the eggs-based breakfast dishes come with your choice of toast (or biscuit or muffin) as well as either hash browns or grits.  My last meal there was composed of just two sides - biscuits and sausage - and was more than enough.  BTW, biscuit here means scone, not cracker.  Delicious with either butter or a rich, white spicy gravy.
3. "America has a very consumeristic, capitalist culture."  It's hard to tell whether this is more true of America than Australia, because it's possible that America is just more overt, but I think it is true.  There's a stronger sense of being bombarded with advertising, especially because the billboards on the freeways are more numerous and also larger.  But they could just be larger because the freeway bridges are so much higher off the ground.  And everything is advertised.  Hospitals.  Medications.  Churches.  Things that in Australia you would rarely see advertised, you would just choose based on recommendation or geography.  And I miss economic socialism.  Unbelievably, many people are morally opposed to socialised healthcare, or to welfare being available to more people.  "It flattens your ambition," is what someone told me.  To me, it seems valuable to have ambitions beyond making money to survive.

Houston Day 92

Not being busy is both a blessing and a curse.  Yesterday morning after our customary weekend breakfast at the Yale St Grill & Gifts Lucas and I came home and then this strange lethargy and grumpiness slowly washed over me.  I didn't want to sit around doing nothing in our house which needs a clean, but I didn't have the energy to do anything else.  I didn't feel capable of deciding what to do about that, and I unfairly got a bit cross at Lucas for feeling exactly the same way.  Eventually Lucas suggested we give Nick and Rebekah a call, which was a good idea, and we spent the rest of the day with them, and it was a lot of fun.
On Friday I checked out the Heights School of Yoga, and took a beginners' class there.  It was pretty good.  Mostly posture-based (asana), but as an expression of a deeper spirituality.  My favourite moment was a pose that opened up the shoulders - I was lying face down on the ground with my hands clasped behind my back and the teacher pulled my upper body up off the floor by my wrists.  It felt amazing to let go of that tension.  But I'm also kind of compelled to admit I liked it that she was using me to demonstrate because I had the most flexible back of anyone in the class.  Probably not the best reason to want to go back to a yoga class!
Today was a fairly productive day, and filled with a few pieces of good news.  Lucas won an eBay auction for a motorbike, which he's very excited about.  He just called me fifteen minutes ago to ask if I mind him going to a motorbike accessories shop on his way home from work! I got an email from my fourth cousin Emma Higgins, who lives in London, saying I can stay at her place while I'm there, which is exactly what I needed and I was about to have to get over my awkwardness and just invite myself to someone's house.  I also got an email setting up a meeting with the Kid's Play directors at Hope Stone tomorrow.  Then I spent the rest of the day hunting online for auditions and rehearsing a monologue.  I am preparing a video audition for a casting agent here.  Rehearsing that monologue is kind of emotionally exhausting - I have to emotionally fall apart, then pull it back together, and then practise it again with tiny variations several times over until I'm happy I've worked it enough for one day - so I think now I shall relax in front of the TV or an audio book.
P.S. Another stupid random difference between here and Australia is bugging me at the moment.  I can't get any good strapping tape for my achilles tendonitis.  Am settling with this flimsy white stuff that doesn't adhere nearly as well as Elastoplast brand tape, or whatever it is I used in Aus.  Never thought I'd miss a particular brand of strapping tape more than friends, or you know, Tim Tams.  :)