Tuesday 25 October 2011

Chicago Bears @ Wembley

Bears. London. America.

As I've said to many friends here in the UK, I've never been to a Bears game in Chicago for various reasons... the tickets are super expensive because there are so few games in a season, they're hard to come by, the weather at the end of the season is a gamble as you might be sitting in sub-zero wind chill with the breeze coming off the lake.... The fact there are only 7 home games in an American football regular season was mind boggling to my football (soccer) loving friends.

Over the past 6 years living in the city, I routinely gathered with friends to watch Sunday football but I never actually made it to Soldier Field. Never mind, they conveniently came to me and the tickets were easy to obtain!

Last weekend I attended the Chicago Bears vs. Tampa Bay Bucaneers NFL game at London's Wembley Stadium with some friends and it was bloody brilliant. 

Because your home is in London but your heart is in Chicago
Entering the tailgate, it was apparent that this was a celebration of American football for any fan, as we saw pretty much every NFL team's jersey represented and of course the cheese heads were out in full force (I had to explain this costume). The crowds were taking in football throwing "festival like" games, the Chicago Bears drumline performed, there were competions for fans to win prizes, an NFL apparel store, foot long hot dogs, and..... Budweiser. I haven't had a Bud Light in months but being a Miller Light fan, it sufficed and definitely felt like a taste of home. I steered clear of the hot dogs however, I didn't want to be disappointed!

On to the best part of the tailgate... WGN news was wandering nearby and I said "oh, that's a Chicago TV station". That's all it took to get dragged over to see if they'd talk to us. We made it in the segment on the 9pm Chicago news that night. My 30 seconds of fame! Too bad they cut me off mid-sentence and didn't air much of what we said, but it was good enough! My parents were super excited to see me on TV at home.


The Goo Goo Dolls randomly played, the "Star Spangled Banner" and "God Save the Queen" was sung and then the game began. Aside from the streaker that stormed the field and took his shirt off running around like a mad man high-fiving players before getting tackled by security, the crowd was relatively tame and the stadium was pretty quiet! I know the football (soccer) matches aren't like this though. It seemed like a lot of people weren't rooting for a particular team and waved their free Tampa Bay flags every time the jumbotron told them to.

 
Bears won 24-18. The only thing that was missing was the Chicago Bears song at the end!

Wednesday 12 October 2011

T as in Tango...

Kilo Romeo India Sierra Tango India November


This is how you spell my name in the NATO/ ICAO phonetic alphabet.  

Americans know some of these are military, air traffic control or police codes thanks to the movie industry, but the Brits have cleverly adopted these abbreviations into every day life. Ask one, and they'll probably be able to tell you most of them.

Ordering take-away Chinese food? Giving your license plate number over the phone? Calling an airline? Spell it with the phonetic alphabet.

My American friend pointed this out to me and said that when her English husband witnessed her order food on the phone one time, he was bewildered and puzzled to hear her fumble to come up with words on the fly.

It just makes sense! With the prevalence of outsourcing help desks, customer service lines etc... its has become even harder to communicate without having to spell everything. With the phonetic alphabet you don't have to worry that word you've just come up with will be misunderstood. Not much rhymes with "Sierra" and so that "S" can't be mistaken. Since it was brought to my attention I've noticed that my company's help desk people in India have been trained to spell with this same alphabet too...

If you've ever had to give the name of your street to the customer service line for your cable company, you know the process:
"M?"
"No, 'N' as in ummm...... "Nun."
"Mum?"
Sigh.

When I was moving to the UK, I had set up movers to come help move me out of my condo. When I called back to check on some things they had no record of my appointment. After much back and forth and time wasted we figured out that the reason the lady couldn't find my appointment is because the person who took my call the first time put my last name down as "Dunker". Serves me right for not taking the time to spell it out as I usually do!

Do yourself a favor, memorize the chart and next time you're talking to a help desk in Bangalore, you might just save some major frustration.

The Parental Visit

My parents made it to England last month for a short, yet action packed visit. We made the most of the days and did a ton of walking so I think I may have wore them out but they were troopers and post knee surgery Dad made it through.

The first full day, we took a quick loop on the open air bus sightseeing Oxford tour because my parents had some free tickets from their hotel.  For lunch, I brought them to one of the most famous and oldest pubs in Oxford, the 13th century Turf Tavern.   For Americans, this pub is etched in infamy as the place where Bill Clinton supposedly/maybe/possibly "Did not inhale". That's right, the Turf Tavern, down a discrete alleyway, nestled in between centuries old university buildings and the original city wall is where Clinton may have done a little experimenting in his Rhodes Scholar days.
 
After that city and pub orientation, we decided to hop on a bus to London for a bite to eat and a show. Rock of Ages won out over the others, and we had fantastic seats.  It was a really fun, energetic show and I was glad we picked it (even though Mom and Dad had already seen it.)  ;-)

After getting home very late from London, we were up early again to drive to Stonehenge and Bath for the day. Stonehenge really is right off the road in the middle of nowhere. I have to say from the pictures I've seen, I thought it would be much bigger, but it was impressive nonetheless.


In Bath, I had purchased a package with the Roman Bath tour, Pump Room lunch and Thermae Bath Spa 2 hour admission.  A perfect way to spend the afternoon. After lunch, we toured the Roman Baths where the 2,000 year old ruins have been preserved fantastically, and you really get a sense of walking in their footsteps.


After the tour, we soaked in the Thermae Bath Spa for a few hours. The roof top view was amazing and there were several pools to chose from, scented steam rooms and waterfall type jets to sit under. I think I need to go back sometime soon...

I had decided Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, just outside of Oxford should be on our itinerary long before my parents came. I was happy to find out however, that the weekend they were here was the Blenheim International Horse Trials.


A decidedly English event, we headed to the palace to see the cross-country horse trials and take in a new sport. The spectator uniform was clear: we weren't wearing tweed coats and wellies, and we forgot to bring our dogs along, but we did have a good time checking out the competition. For some countries, this was a London 2012 Olympic qualifying event and it was interesting to watch the jockeys in action.

Blenheim Palace's grounds are massive and after a few hours of watching the trials, we headed over to the palace to see the Winston Churchill rooms and take in the grandeur. They have a deal with the ticket purchase that you can enter the grounds for 12 months after buying a day pass and people will bring bikes and picnics and go for runs and walks around the lake on the palace grounds when the weather is nice. I'm hoping to get back there sometime soon and take advantage.



That night, we were back in Oxford for Bill Spectre's Ghost Trails tour. This guy was entertaining and quite the story teller with a few tricks up his sleeve (literally). Highly recommend his ghost tour, you won't be let down!



The last day we took in Oxford Castle, and took advantage of Oxford Open Doors. Once a year, Oxford opens up its doors to the public with a weekend of activities and free tours and access to the historic buildings. With some colleges and activities only available at certain times, we were only able to see a few things on Sunday but it was a nice leisurely end to our long weekend. We also were able to see some gymnastics and fencing demos (Dad loved this one) at Oxford Town hall. Most colleges are open where you would normally pay to visit, and others are open that are otherwise always closed to the public. It was nice to see beyond the street front of some of these colleges, as most have hidden gardens and courtyards that you can't see from the front of the building.  I learned that not only does Oxford have an open doors weekend, but there is also English Heritage Open Days country wide, which I'll have to keep in mind for next year.

   


It was a great visit! Two months until I'll see everyone again at the holidays. Anyone else want to hop a plane to England?

Tuesday 4 October 2011

The Flat

 I realized I haven't posted any photos of where I am living, so here you are! A modern 2 story little duplex in a neighborhood a 10 minute walk from the city centre. There are 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and the living area is upstairs with the kitchen/ lounge/ dining table. I am living in the bedroom below currently, but moving into the larger room with an ensuite in a few weeks. We have interviewed potential new flatmates and a new girl will be joining us soon. Living in a houseshare has to be thought of as a business transaction rather than the post college living with your friends! All has worked out for me, but I have heard some odd flatmate stories!


My Bedroom
The Kitchen: Yes, the refrigerator and freezer are built in under the counter. There is an extra small refrigerator on the end that didn't come with the place!


Kitchen 

 Front porch outdoor area

 The living area and a bedroom are upstairs, my bedroom is on the ground floor.

Living Room/Dining Area
Port Meadow is a 5 minute walk from my house. Local farmers have been allowed to graze their cows and horses here since 1086 and is considered the oldest "site" in Oxford.