The sea, the sea

As Lauren can testify, I nearly went into hysterics when I saw my first stretch of Cornish beach. The one thing I regret more than anything else about living in London is that it's not on the coast. Having grown up in a town a few minutes drive from sweeping sandy beaches and living in Wellington, with its harbour and bays, for most of the last few years in New Zealand, I love being near the sea.

Sunset at Mount's Bay near Penzance.

Which is one of the reasons why I loved Cornwall so much. People who say the UK has no good beaches are twits. True, they don't have nearly as many as New Zealand, so the ones they do have get packed in summer, but Cornwall is studded with gorgeous little harbours.

But much as I love the sea and have spend a lot of time swimming and bodyboading in it, it does freak me out a bit. I think it's the idea of being in this alien enviroment with brutal, pounding waves and vast depths. Maybe I'd end up like this ship we saw on the way to Land's End. Am I alone in this fear of the great blue yonder?

It's kind of like gulls. Listening to their calls is relaxing and watching them float on the breeze is beautiful. But they really are psychotic. Ever seen them fight over scraps, or peck at a wounded bird? The British ones are worse than the ones back home - bigger and with these yellow eyes that look more than a little insane. No wonder Lauren thinks there's a global seagull consipracy.

St Ives

There is a reason that Britons flock in their thousands to Cornwall. It's lovely - not only is Cornwall home to the best beaches I've seen since Turkey, but St Ives where we stayed is now in the running for the Lauren's Fave Place in the UK award. Bath and York ought to watch out.

White sand + Diet Coke + T-shirt weather = Haaaaapy.

St Ives feels like it ought to be on the Mediterranean rather than in England with its windy roads and white sandy beaches. We spent a happy few days exploring the town and its surrounds, relaxing, getting fresh air and a fix of beach. It was too cold to swim but that's a good thing - had it been warmer I suspect the town would have been so full it wouldn't have been as relaxing to visit.

Tane near Land's End. Walking around the cliffs near Land's End is great, although Land's End itself a bit weird and creepy.

Being in Cornwall was great - not only did we have a fabulous time, but it now feels like summer is finally on its way. Especially as news reports are saying that it is predicted to be a good one. Bring it on!

Whingeing Poms and Loud Americans

Being in the US and coming back to the UK has got me thinking about different attitudes in different countries. Stereotypes are dangerous, unfair and sometimes just plain wrong. However, often there is a kernel of truth. Nations do have cultures, with people tending to behave in ways that fits in with most other people, which is what many stereotypes are based on.

A couple of stereotypes that I'd be interested in getting your thoughts on are the friendly American and the negative, complaining Brit.

One of the things that struck Lauren and I being back in the States was just how good the customer service is. People serving us were so polite, friendly and helpful. I'd never noticed customer service in the UK or NZ as being particularly bad before, but in comparison it really isn't flash. A nice smile and cheerful snippet of conversation is not what you expect from the minimum wage slave behind the till in Pac N Save or Tesco.

Flags ringing the Washington Monument. Yanks do love the Stars and Stripes.

Back in London, I've been extra aware of how many Brits - especially in groups - like to have a good moan about something. How you'll hear something is 'rubbish', when it's merely mediocre, or 'decent' when it's very good. On the bright side, British pessimism makes for lots of great comedy and a healthy scepticism about people in authority.

I think New Zealanders have picked up some of this in our cultural baggage. There's the tall poppy syndrome for example - the urge to cut down people who stand out from the crowd.

Guardsmen at Windsor Castle, no doubt off to wet their stiff upper lips with a pint of warm ale and a moan about the boss.

So, what do you think of these stereotypes? Gigantic generalisation for sure, but is there something to them? Is so, why do you think it came about? Is it the British weather (I don't think it's that bad at all)? Is it the space and freedom of America, the optimism of people coming to the New World? What about other stereotypes - like the coarse, cocky, boozing Aussie? Or the cold, humourless German (completely untrue in my experience)? I'd interested to read your thoughts.

The people we meet

Today I was thinking about some of the interesting people you meet when going about your day -to-day life. You know, a person whose name you don't know but face you recognise, a person that is a complete stranger bar the odd incidental conversation. I am sure you can think of a few that appear in your daily routine, and I'm interested to hear about it. These are a few of mine:

1. The girl in the store outside Victoria Station that sells me Chupachups from Lublin, Poland. Yesterday she told me that Chupachups are more common in Lublin than London, and went on to say that she used to think Lublin was a big city until she moved here.

2. The Kurdish guy that sells me Diet Coke in Ealing Station. Although he grew up in Iraq he's adamant that he's Kurdish, not Iraqi. He's currently setting up a Shisha Bar in South Ealing, which I assume has gotten off the ground as these last few days there has been another Kurdish guy selling the Diet Coke.

3. The men that run an awesome diner in St Martin's Court, part of the maze of streets between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. One is half Greek and half French, and the other Italian. They both have massive smiles and greet customers with a mix of Greek, French and Italian which I find hilarious.

Who are yours?

Two years

We've been hitched two years. Yay! It's been grand, being married (or should I say Civil Unioned) is cool, although think it is my choice of husband that has made it such. Although I could go on, to spare you more OTT cheesiness, I'll just post some pics instead.

Two years ago ...

One year ago, in Paris ...
Now! In New York ...

Obamarama

Last weekend we were walking to the White House and noticed a crowd. Nosey as ever, we went to investigate. On closer inspection, we realised that not only were there lots of people standing around, but plenty of police as well. Eventually, we also noticed this sniper hanging out on the building above us.

Given that the entire situation felt like something from a movie, I was not surprised to find out that the Obama clan were inside the church across the road. Naturally, we hung around in the hope we'd see them. The wait was fun - the crowd was in good spirits in spite of the number of police around, including one on a bike that would cruise up and down to eyeball us every now and then. Strangers were chatting, and everyone was clutching their cameras ready to pounce the moment the First Couple appeared.Sadly for us, Obama snuck out a side door and we only got a fleeting glimpse of Michelle. The whole situation was hilarious though, and another reminder of both what an important man Obama is and that Washington D.C. is where it's at. Anyway, with cut-outs like the ones below, who needs to see him in the flesh anyway? ;)

Best jumping photos ever

I love jumping photos. Sure, you look ridiculous while taking them, and a lot of the time your camera ends up filled with photos of people in weird squats. Ones like these taken yesterday in the lovely city of Washington D.C. make it all worth while though - even if Ngaire did land on a strange angle after the last one and had a limp for the remainder of the day. Good times.

The Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial

New York, New York

There is reason that so many people wear t-shirts that say "I Heart New York". New York rocks. It's a crazy place filled with yellow cabs, bagels and places that remind me of the movies, and more fun in an "I cannot believe I am actually here" kind of way than anywhere I have visited yet.

Tane at Wall Street.

There were three highlights for me during our visit - going to Planet Hollywood and a Broadway show with Ngaire, visiting the top of the Rockefeller Centre, and taking a boat to Liberty Island. Seeing the Statue of Liberty was especially fun after we decided to by green foam hats to mark the occasion as these were perfect for some shameless posing.

If I were to name my top place in New York, though, it would have to be Times Square. Before I saw Times Square, I considered NY all hassle and no charm. Who knew that dozens of crazy neon lights and a three level M&Ms store would change my mind?

I loved New York, and can't wait to go back again one day. For a small island, Manhattan is somewhere that I could happily spend a lot of time in, even if dodging the yellow taxis is a daily occurrence. I didn't buy one of those cheesy t-shirts, but if I feel the same next time might just. Brooklyn Bridge, right before we approached some sifty looking Italian-Americans (one with a cut lip) in a parking lot for directions. We are sure that we interrupted a clandestine meeting and are lucky not to be swimming with the fishes ...

Gettysburg

Last week I visited the American Civil War battle site Gettysburg, the location of what many historians argue to have been where the Civil War turned against the South.

Like many other battlefields, little remains apart from grass, memorials, plaques and the odd cannon. It is still well worth a visit, however, especially to the gift shop where you are able to buy Confederate flags, Civil War chess sets and Abraham Lincoln memorabilia. The town of Gettysburg is charming, and my only regret is not reading up more about the battle before going there. I really enjoyed visiting nonetheless, and look forward to going back one day with Tane in tow.


On the left, Mikey looks a tad happy for someone born in the South. The photo on the right shows one of the many Confederate flags shown at the site.

London in the spring

In case you were wondering if Lauren was the only one having a good time, over there in the US, I should say that its pretty darn wonderful here in London at the moment. It's funny, it's not until living in this part of the world that I really appreciated what a big difference the change in the seasons makes. New Zealand doesn't have the major shift from winter to spring that the UK does, particularly because it's closer to the equator and most of the trees are evergreens. Here it was dark at 4pm back in December, but is now light until 8pm. All the trees that were grey skeletons a little while ago are now either covered in blossoms or emerging leaves. This weekend we could wear shorts and the parks were packed. It's amazing what a lift it gives to people. Sitting St James' Park yesterday, surrounded by groups of people chatting, laughing or reading, you could almost see the happiness radiating off everyone.

So here are a few reasons why spring is great.

1) Flowers! The daffodils are out everywhere and the flowerbeds are filled with colours.

Yes, I've put up two flower photos. It's true. I am a girl.

Perfect weather for football in Kensington Gardens.

Andrew Burge is in town!

OK, so my old uni flatmate, divemaster and traveller extraordinare Andrew visiting Europe actually has nothing to do with spring, but it was really cool catching up with him after a few years. Pity my photo in front of the Diplodocus in the awesome Natural History Museum was a lot less than awesome.

But despite it being so nice in London at the moment, I'm really, really looking forward to joining Lauren over in the States on Thursday. Yay!

Roadtrip, wooo!

I have been spending the last few days on the road with my best friend from school, Rachel, and her two kids. It has been great fun, especially spending time with them and watching the USA whizz by out the window. It really is a massive country, we drove for two days yet only passed through four states and covered in area of about 1 cm on my map.

Rachel with Mikey and Emmelia

The highlight for me, apart from spending time with the kids and catching up on years of conversations with Rachel, was seeing two Amish people on a horse and buggy in Upstate New York. That, and discovering dark chocolate peanut M&Ms. Happy. The wee Deck whanau has headed to South Carolina now, but I'm hoping to see them again soon. It's great that my friends live all over the world and that I am travelling myself, but it does make me a little sad that there are all these little people that I am not seeing growing up.

Capitol

Does it reflect badly on me that when I was standing on the steps of Capitol all I could think about was the many episodes of The Simpsons where they visit? Is it true then, that there is a Simpsons moment for every occasion? I think that there is - especially in Washington D.C. I haven't yet decided if that enhances or takes away from the experience of being here though!

Arlington Cemetery

There is something very eerie about being in a place where hundreds and thousands of people that fought in various wars are buried. Whatever your politics, it is impossible to be in a place like Arlington and not agree that war is tragic. Nonetheless, Arlington Cemetery is still a fascinating place to visit. JFK is buried here, and you can see the eternal flame that sits on his grave. Bobby Kennedy is here as well, as is the tomb to the unknown soldiers.

The highlight for me, however, was the Iwo Jima statue. When I was at Otago I used to have the photograph on my wall, and have since seen the cheesy-yet-interesting-although-in-need-of-an-edit movie about the men in the statue, Flags of Our Fathers. So, while I know that the original photo was staged and the statue itself in an odd location in the cemetery (it almost felt like it was in a parking lot, I'd be interested to find out why it's not with everything else) it was still cool to see it with my own eyes.

Dr Pepper and D.C.

Yesterday I travelled to the USA for the first time in over seven years. It is great to be back though, and not just because of the Dr Pepper and pizza. I'm also hanging out with Dad in DC for the first time in almost two years, and getting to be shown around Washington D.C. by someone who lives here at present courtesy of the Fulbright Scholarship system.

Dad at the back of the White House. No sign of the Obamas, alas, although the town is still filled with inauguration memorabilia.

Washington DC is a lovely city, The Mall awesome to walk around as is seeing so many sights that I've seen millions of times before at the movies. No disrespect to Cheese-heads from Wisconsin, but already I like DC an awful lot more than the American Midwest I became familiar with last time. That's not just because of the frequency of hot dog stands for us to fill up on Dr Pepper and hot dogs at either.

Unfortunately, Tane isn't here with us but joining me here next week. Just to show he's not forgotten, though, I wanted to post this pic Dad took of me texting him while standing outside Capitol.

A day trip to Windsor

Yesterday Tane and I decided to make the most of the glorious beginning-of-Spring weather and join Patti for a visit to the Queen at Windsor Castle. Well, maybe not the Queen herself, but we did visit her house and she was home and that's probably as close as we hois-palois will ever get.

At least I got close to some men wearing fluffy hats the remind me of toilet plungers on their heads

Windsor Castle, a short trip from Ealing, is remarkable. The castle is amazing to look at from the outside, and the interior that is open to the public filled with so many treasures and works of art it took us a good two hours to look around. The highlight was Queen Mary's Dollhouse, complete with running water and bespoke portraits on the walls. This was followed by the worst part of the Castle in my opinion, a room filled with treasures plundered from the Empire which I felt was not remorseful enough about the circumstances in which the goods were acquired. These objections aside, however, it can't be denied that the castle was filled with goods worth more than I could ever hope to earn in a millennium. With Heathrow close by, though, it is amusing that you may be the Queen of England and still be in a flight path.

The flag in the photograph flies when the Queen is in residence. Given the number of planes flying around while we were there I am also curious what the Queen thinks of the proposed third runway ...

Bath-tastic

Jane Austen hated Bath apparently. After finally making it there last weekend I struggle to see why, however, as it has edged ahead of York by a nose to win the much-coveted Lauren's Top Place in England award. In fact, I liked it so much, Bath had me jumping for joy. Pity I didn't have the foresight to take my handbag off first.

Injury by handbag aside, it was a glorious weekend in a fabulous place. Bath isn't a nice town with some pretty sections, it is a pretty town with some spectacular areas. I spent much of my time there wishing that I was wearing a round gown and resident for the 1821 ball season. Especially as this is where the wealthy people stayed:
I would like to imagine that my ancestors had the means to live in these apartments and danced in the Bath assembly rooms, although I suspect that if they did they were more likely to have been the people cleaning out the chamber pots and loitering in the kitchens.

Tane at the Roman Baths with the Abbey in the background. You can't actually bathe in them though, so calling the entire town Bath really is a case of false advertising.

Bath was so lovely a town I am unable to write more about it as am running out of adjectives. One thing worth mentioning, though, was what seemed to be cunning revenge on Bath's most famous ex-resident for criticising it. It is true that no-one is sure what Jane Austen really looks like, but I would like to think that she didn't look as bad as the Jane Austen replica outside the Jane Austen centre. If I knew that future generations of my town would make me look like this, I probably would have criticised the town also!

Bra-zil, Bra-zil, Bra-zil

Last month my football-watching mates Lewis, James and I went to see two of the three most successful nations in football history clash in London. Brazil, five time World Cup winners, against Italy, four time champions. It was my first international football match and it was amazing.


The game was at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal's superb new home ground, which holds about 60,000 people and had almost every seat ocupied. The atmosphere was incredible. Both sides had hugely passionate fans, with chants of "Bra-zil, Bra-zil, Bra-zil" and "I-tal-ia, I-tal-ia" roaring out. The Italian fans, whose team had two goals disallowed, got particularly fired up.

This guy was brilliant. We almost watched him rant and rave as much as we did the game.

Some true greats were playing in both teams. Ronaldinho, Robinho, Buffon, Cannavaro - some of the best players in the world. It was also the best game of any sport that I've seen live. Brazil were fabulous in the first half, taking a 2-0 lead and playing the kind of football that has made them legends. Back heels, flicks off the side of the boot, flashy dribbling - it was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters play a competitive game.

That's Italy in their famous azure blue and Brazil in their even more famous yellow and blue.

Italy came back and scored in the second half, but Brazil were the worthy winners. I'll never forget Robinho's second goal - the footwork and finish are absolutely stunning. Check it out (with French commentary!) here.

James, Lewis and I had a great time. I'm doing my irate Italian fan impression.

Technology, stop now please

Today I read that more people now use social networking sites than email. My first thought was "???", but then I realised that it's true in my case - I am just as likely to get contacted through Facebook than direct to my email.

This got me thinking, however, about Internet technology and how I find myself wishing it would just stay still. I like MSN and I like blogging, and it makes me a little sad that these two forums seem to be getting left behind already. Of course blogs are still very popular, but I have noticed that the number of people reading ours did seem to drop off after we signed up to Facebook. That is natural of course, I too am guilty of not checking the blogs of people who update on Facebook regularly as I feel I already know what they are doing. Facebook is fine and has its place, but I have reached the point when I would be happy if internet technology and social networking just stayed still for a while. I don't feel the need for more change, especially in the Twitter direction as knowing what Lily Allen had for dinner will not enrich my life.

Do you agree? Does this make me sound like an old fuddy-duddy?Some technology, however is good - I wouldn't want to put this in my pocket!

Movies, movies, movies (and sometimes other stuff)

Hi, as with Lauren's books (see below) I've set up a separate blog for my occasional movie reviews and reviews of other things, like books and concerts. That way my long-winded essays won't clog up the main blog! The reviews blog is:
http://tanesreviews.blogspot.com
I've started with a review of the latest superhero blockbuster, Watchmen.

Books books books

Last year I decided to start writing short'n'sweet reviews of books I've read. It's a little random, and the books I have reviewed are only the ones I had read in the weeks before writing. As I read about two books a week it is unlikely that I will review them all, but here is the link nonetheless to the blog! I am interested in your thoughts ...

http://laurensbookreviews.blogspot.com

A Killer concert

It was perfect timing - the night before Lauren's birthday, so us old people could sleep in. It was also the best rock concert we've been to. The Killers killed it.

I've been to shows by better artists - though The Killers are great - playing better songs with better sound. But I've not enjoyed anything else more. One of the main reasons was because as soon as The Killers came on stage and Human started pulsing out, everyone got to their feet and stayed there for the whole show, clapping, swaying, hopping and singing. It's frustrating being at a rock concert when you can't move for fear of upsetting the grumps behind you. Like during The Rolling Stones' Wellington concert back in '05. Bloody hell, it's Jumpin' Jack Flash, you should be jumpin'!

It wasn't perfect. The sound was fine for the softer and faster tunes, but it was rather muddy for the couple of mid-tempo tracks from the latest album, Day and Age. And they didn't play my favourite song from the album, Neon Tiger. But those are just a quibbles. Here's a few reasons why it was such a good gig.

Cracking songs: For Reasons Unknown, Somebody Told Me, Read My Mind - Brandon Flowers and co write some damn good tunes. It's hard to pick the highlight on the night, but I'd have to go with the mass euphoria when they played Mr Brightside. Mr Brightside kicks ass.

Surprises: The violins on the downbeat versions of Smile Like You Mean It and Sam's Town. Nice.

Discoveries:Wow, Dustland Fairytale is an American epic. Springsteen, eat your heart out.

Performance: Huge video screen, a storm of bubbles, the literally explosive finale - there was more than just sound to admire. True, Flowers' voice barely manages to carry the songs and the rest of the band don't do much, but they pull it off.

Seats: We were waaaaay down the back of the O2 Arena for Leonard Cohen, but close to the stage this time. It ruled.