Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Postcard from London #19

Hi all
> >
> > Just a quick update since I haven't emailed for a while. Spent the
> > last few days in Prague which was fantastic. I flew over on Saturday
> > and flew back in last night (Tues). The weather whilst there was
> > fantastic although very very cold. There is a big display board
> > thingie that shows the time and the temperature and it was 2 degrees
> > when I looked at it at lunchtime on Monday. Even though I was wearing
> > a jumper, coat, scarf and gloves I was still freezing. Did a 4 hour
> > walking tour around the city on Monday which was very interesting. Saw
> > a lot of things I would have otherwise missed and got to hear the
> > history of a lot of the things. Prague castle was the highlight and
> > well worth the trip. The food was quite nice although it was funny to
> > look at a menu in one restaurant and see kangaroo on offer. Had a
> > great time and am now thinking about where to go next. I'm thinking
> > that a trip up to see the Jones' in Scotland would be great (although
> > rather cold and dark).
> >
> > Went to a couple of great concerts a couple of weeks ago. I decided
> > that I'm not making enough of an effort to see bands of late so made a
> > special effort and went to see Franz Ferdinand on the Friday night and
> > Kings of Leon on the Saturday. Then on the Monday KoL released their
> > new cd so I went into town early to buy it and got special admission
> > to an instore gig and cd signing. Again, a great experience.
> >
> > Of course Holly's still back in the land of milk and honey enjoying
> > the warmth and I'm missing her over here. Naturally I don't mind
> > having the bed all to myself though. I'm going to find it hard to
> > adapt to having to share the bed again when she gets back. We've got a
> > lovely shag rug on the floor of the new bedroom so maybe she'll offer
> > to sleep on that and let me keep the bed.
> >
> > For those of you who didn't know, we/I moved house the weekend before
> > last. The new place is going well and the new housemates are lovely.
> > There's one guy and a group of Korean students. They've made me tea a
> > couple of times and I know that I'll have to take my turn soon. Last
> > night we sat around the table eating a vienetta icecream cake and
> > drinking coffee while one of the girls was on her laptop chatting to
> > friends online and terrorising the rest of us with her webcam. We've
> > also got a cat who I've made friends with. Cats will be friends with
> > anyone as long as you feed them. One other observation of Prague was
> > how many people have dogs. The people walk through the middle of town
> > with their dogs, many of them off the lead. In fact, the dogs go
> > pretty much anywhere the people go. As Holly will tell you, I'm a bit
> > of a sucker when it comes to dogs and can't resist stopping to say
> > hello to all dogs I pass.
> >
> > Work's still going fine. I went for a swim at lunchtime as I've been
> > pretty slack lately which isn't a good idea when one has a cooked
> > lunch everyday. Today I had vegetable soup, panfried turkey breast
> > with cranberry & sweetcorn relish and veges and then spotted dick
> > pudding and custard for sweets. Yum. For those of you who kept telling
> > me that I was very skinny when I was back in June, you don't have to
> > worry about that any more!
> >
> > Well, that's enough from me. Sorry I haven't been better at sending
> > personal emails but I will try.
> >
> > hoo roo for now
> > dave

Postcard from London #18

Gday All

There's been a bit going on since last I wrote so I figured it was
time to get back in touch.

Well, as you heard from Hol, we had a good time in Munich for the
Oktoberfest from the 18th September. It was my first experience of
being in a country where English isn't the primary language and I
found it quite daunting to start with. I did cope better with it as
the trip went on although I never really did come to terms with them
driving on the wrong side of the road. All the sterotypes of the
Germans as being a very efficient, officious people were reinforced by
the trip. The train service there is very reliable and clean but I
managed to get honked at by a train for being too close to the edge of
the platform and was then shouted at in German by the grumpy little
lady who was monitoring things. Fortunately Hol also managed to get
told off by a shopkeeper for using the shop's toilets so I wasn't
alone in getting into trouble.

We went to a little shop in Dachau where there was a rather
unfortunate looking checkout chick (can you still call them that when
they're aged in their late 30s?). She had a bizarre haircut which
appeared to have originated in the early 80s and someone had stolen
her eyebrows. She'd try to draw them back on in the hope that no one
would notice they were missing but didn't do a very convincing job of
it. I figured she must have been an East German who didn't know any
better.

We went to the Dachau Concentration Camp only to find that it is
closed on a Monday so we couldn't get in. Munners managed to cut his
elbow on the barbed wire whilst trying to see over the wall.
Eventually we came across an open gate and wandered inside. We were
asked to leave and so all the others did rather promptly. Naturally
I'd wandered off a bit further than the others and I think they found
it disconcerting to see the gates shut behind them while I was still
in there.

Of course you've heard about Hol's adventures after I flew back. She'd
given me her big winter coat to carry with me to save her from having
to do it the next day but had forgotten that she'd put her passport in
the pocket. Considering I didn't see her wear the coat the whole time
we were there I'm not sure why it ended up in a pocket but that's
life. As I was leaving I said to Hol that it would be rather ironic if
the weather suddenly turned bad now that she'd sent her coat home with
me... and so it came to pass that the weather turned really cold and
she was stuck there for two extra days without a warm coat. Still,
she survived and managed to make it home ok in the end.

We did come across a couple of celebrities whilst in one of the beer
tents at the fest. Boris Becker was probably the most well known one
but there was also DJ Otzi (who was responsible for that awful 'Hey
Baby.. Ooh Ahh' song) and a local model called Verona.

All in all Germany was very nice and we had a fantastic time.

Then last weekend I got up at 4.45am (along with the other guys) to
get to the Walkabout Pub to watch the AFL grand final live. Bouncedown
was at 5.30 so it was a struggle to get there in time to see it. It
was a great game with some good blues and the only downside was seeing
Port Arrogant win the game. From there we headed off to The Oval to
watch the final of the ICC Championships between England and the
Windies. It was a fairly ordinary game which became brilliant towards
the end as the Windies fought back to win a game which looked all
over. It was my first one day international so I was quite excited to
get there.

Back on the home front, we're getting towards the end of our lease and
will most likely have to move in the next few weeks. Of course, Hol is
back in November so it looks like she'll return to a new abode.
Hopefully we'll be able to find something close to the standard to
what we have at the moment.

Probably not much else to tell at the moment so it's hoo roo for now.

Take care all
Love
Dave

Postcard from London #17

Gday All

Thought I'd just drop a line to let you know that all seems to be
going well with my new job over here. I've been working at Shell now
for 3 weeks and am presently enjoying it. I still haven't really had
much training which is a little bit of a worry considering I have a
payroll to run this week but I'm sure it will all go fine. My boss is
pretty nice and supportive which is great considering the ordeal I
went through with the boss from Hell that I had before leaving Perth.
And yes.. the lunches are very nice. On Friday I had goat's cheese and
spinach pizza followed by spotted dick and custard. All very yummy but
it does leave one a little lethargic in the arvo. I finally got a
computer and desk to sit at on Friday. Up until then I'd been floating
from desk to desk depending on who was away each day. I've attached a
picture of the view from my window. The building with the green roof
is the Royal Festival Hall and the bridge is Waterloo Bridge.
Obviously the river is the Thames which may or may not be named after
the TV production company.

Last weekend was a long weekend and the annual Notting Hill Carnival
was on which was fantastic. I've also attached a couple of pics from
that. It's been going for 40 years and was originally to celebrate
West Indian culture in London. It has a great atmosphere with a lot of
really loud reggae music and dancers etc. There's also a lot of
Carribean food to be bought and Hol and I both had a fresh coconut to
drink from. Twas lovely.

We're off to Munich for Oktoberfest in a couple of weeks which should
be a lot of fun. I've seen plenty of pics of past Fests and am looking
forward to my first one. I'm also thinking about heading to Prague for
a few days whilst Hol's back in Perth. It's about time I get to see
somewhere other than London.

I'm currently watching a Midnight Oil DVD that I bought whilst back
home which is really great. It is of two concerts they did from the
early - mid 80s, including the famous 'Oils on the Water' gig
celebrating JJJ's 10th birthday in 1985. They were a wonderful band
even though Hol doesn't really see their brilliance.

On Thursday night I went to the filming of the 2004 BBC3 Slam Poets
Championship final. It was a great experience with some very good
poets (and one really awful one). I'm hoping to make it to more TV
shows although my plan to become one of the stars of The Bill still
hasn't happened yet. I still wait expectantly for a knock at the front
door but for some reason it is yet to come. Maybe they don't have my
current address.

Finally we have had a couple of warm sunny days after an awful August.
It said in the paper that it was the wettest August for 50 years and I
was beginning to think that summer was over before it even began but
yesterday and today have been lovely. It was even so wet one day
during August that they released 1 million tonnes of raw sewerage into
the Thames to stop it flowing up into people's homes. Gross!

Holly took off this morning for a couple of days with her rellies down
south but I couldn't go cos I've gotta work tomorrow. Instead I went
down to the Regent St Festival (which is held in Regent St... of
Monopoly fame) and then popped down to Trafalgar Square. The strangest
part of the RSF is that they bring in strips of lawn to cover the road
and then people sit down on it like it's a park. These poms are very
odd indeed. Anyone would think they were all Willshires.

It was very sad to see my boys miss the finals this year but I think
it may be the spur they need to boost them to even greater heights. At
least Claremont are still hanging in there even if they did get a
belting today from Subi.

Well, that's enough waffling from me. Take care all and don't forget
that Holly can bring back your presents for me (hint hint).

love, peace and respect
davo

PS:

Aunty Chris - It was great to see you on the broadcast of the Western
Derby. I was really excited to point out you, the others we sit with,
and my seat to everyone here. Let me know when the renewal form comes
in so I can pay for next season. Any chance u could give the
membership card and badge to Hol while she's in Perth?

Linda - Great to hear about the new job. It sounds fantastic. Just
goes to show that employers don't have to be mongrels!

Erin & Brad - Have a great wedding. I'm really spewing I'm not gonna
be there. Enjoy the day and don't stress about things. You'll be the
only ones who know if something's gone awry so don't let it bother
you.

Postcard from London #12

Gday All

Just thought I'd drop a quick line to keep you up to date with exciting
things from this side of the world. Firstly, I found out on Friday that I
actually managed to pass the exam I thought I hadn't done very well in.
Considering the pass mark was 70%, I'm pretty happy with that!

Also, after having been so excited to see Duran Duran, Holly managed to
score me a free standing room ticket to the final show of the tour on
Saturday night which was amazing. I was able to get reasonably close to the
front and had a wonderful view. The show was just as good as the first time
I saw them and so I'm totally stoked.

We went to the Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey as I'd said we were
going to. The service itself wasn't the most exciting thing I've been to
here but the Abbey was pretty spectacular. The highlight for me though was
getting to meet Geoff Gallop after the service. He had been travelling
around with some Perth schoolkids who'd won a competition and he read a poem
at the service. As he was walking out of the gates after the service I
figured I may as well go up and say gday to him so I did. He saw I was
wearing a Freo Dockers shirt and came over. We had a brief chat about the
footy (he was disappointed the Weagles had lost to Carlton the previous day
and I told him that Freo had beaten Geelong that morning) and about how long
we'll be here for and what we're doing. It was quite a buzz for me as I have
a lot of respect for him.

On Wednesday Katie and I caught the train down to Bath for the day. We went
on the tour of the Roman Baths there. It was amazing to think that we were
walking through a place that was built hundreds of years ago when the Roman
civilisation was still a power. We also crossed over the town bridge which
is one of only a few in Europe that have shops on either side. I've attached
a few photos of Katie and I in Bath - one at the Roman Bath, one of me with
the town behind me, and one of Katie at the front of a shop on the bridge.
The shops are really narrow and you can see straight through the back window
to the river. The day was wet and rainy, but that was ok.. we're kinda used
to that.

I never got around to going down to preseason footy training so decided not
to play this season. Instead I've taken up umpiring and am now officially a
white maggot. I've umpired a few short games but no full length ones yet. It
is a lot harder than it looks but I'm getting the hang of it. It was a
beautiful sunny day yesterday so it was great to be running around an oval.
When I got home Holly and Scoob had bought sun lounges and were out in the
backyard finally getting some rays. Hopefully my liquid paper legs won't be
quite so white by the time we arrive back in Perth. But then again, it will
be winter so no one will notice anyway. I'll have to wear shorts around just
to make a point.

Well, that's about all the news I think you can handle for now so it's time
for me to sign off. Of course, I can't let yet another derby win by Freo go
uncommented on. That's 3 out of the last 4 to Freo now.. go you good thing!!

To those who have sent me emails.. cheers. Sorry to those that I am slow to
reply to (especially Jess and Leanne).

Take care all
Love
Dave

PS. Please let me know if you don't want to receive these updates from me
and I'll take you off the list.

Postcard from London #10

Gday Everyone

Sorry for the lack of updates recently... hasn't really beeen a lot to
report.

It's almost the end of the school term here which is a bit of a relief. I've
been pretty lucky of late with the schools I've been getting. I've had a few
days a private girls' school in South Hampstead which has been wonderful. If
all kids were as well behaved as the girls there, teaching would be a great
job. Anyway, I'll have a look around to see what other jobs are going and
hopefully have a change after the term break.

On the entertainment front we went to see the John Butler Trio on Thursday
night which was great. They played for over two hours and it was a really
good show. The only down side was some of the audience. There seems to be a
habit here that when an Aussie band comes over all the Aussies flock to see
it whether they know the music or not. Consequently there tends to be a high
proportion of spaccas in the crowd who aren't actually all that interested
in the band but rather just being idiots. Still, it was a really good show
with a particularly good version of Better Man.

We're off to Ireland in two weeks for a 5 day road trip which is something
we're all really looking forward to so I'll have to fill everyone in on that
when we get back. I'm not really sure where we're going apart from Dublin
but I figure someone will tell me at some point. The one thing we've
definitely got to do is do the Guinness factory.

Tomorrow night we have a wine and cheese night organised which is the first
one for quite some time.

The bad news in the papers during the week is that summer is looking like
being a disappointment here. They reckon it's gonna be wet and miserable
until the end of July. Sounds like the couple of weeks back in the Perth
winter in June could be a welcome break from the miserable weather of the
English summer. At least we'll never take Perth's weather for granted again.

It was great to see my mighty Dockers start the season with a great win over
Carlton. It's always nice to beat the Bluebloods although I did find it
really hard being over here instead of at the match. Still, if we make the
grand final this year I'll find some way to get back for it.

Well, that's about all from me for now. Hope everyone is fine back in Perth.
We're coming over in June for a couple of weeks for Dad's 60th birthday so
we'll have to catch up with everyone then. I've attached a photo of Holly
and Muz on the train from Wimbledon to Waterloo for anyone who's interested
in some of the more mundane details of our lives here.

Hoo roo
Dave

Postcard from London #9

Gday all

Well, I'm sitting here inside on a Sunday morning while it's snowing
outside. I went out for a jog last night and as I turned for home it started
snowing lightly. It's quite a fun experience to jog in the snow so I'll have
to do it again sometime. It only snowed for a short while last night and
started up again this morning.

Hmmm.. things to tell.. Well, Holly and I decided to get out of London last
weekend and headed off down to Cornwall from Friday until Sunday. We hired a
car and drove which was great as we got to see a lot of the English
countryside which really is beautiful, especially with the daffodils
sprouting everywhere. They grow like weeds over here and are just lovely. We
decided to detour through Slough so that we could see the roundabout that
features at the beginning of The Office. We managed to find it and then
managed to get quite lost. Trying to get back onto the M4 took us quite a
while but we eventually made it and continued out journey. We stayed at a
B&B in a town called Newquay which is supposed to be Britain's best surfing
beach. I'll put some pics onto the pic site for people to have a look at. It
is a very picturesque town and would be brilliant in summer. Unfortunately
we managed to pick a weekend that was exceptionally cold; even the locals
kept telling us that they couldn't believe how cold it was. We had tea at a
Thai restaurant on the Friday night which was quite nice and then went to a
restaurant called The Riv on the Saturday night where the food was
exceptional.

On Saturday arvo we went to see the Eden Project (www.edenproject.com) which
is awesome. There are two huge biomes which have distinct environments. One
is humid and tropical and the other is more temperate..
Australian/Mediterranean. It was like the movie Biodome with Pauly Shore so
I had to at least attempt to do the Safety Dance. I took about 250 pictures
over the whole weekend so obviously I'll have to go through and cull them
before putting them on the picture site. All in all it was a wonderful
weekend and we'll definitely be going back when the weather's a bit warmer.

Holly, Katie, Murray and I went and saw the Counting Crows on Friday night
which was a great concert. Holly and I saw them in Perth and they certainly
didn't disappoint over here. The next concert we've got tickets for is the
John Butler Trio at the end of March.

Teaching is still going fine. The kids can be pretty trying at times but at
least it pays well. I'm doing my first financial planning unit over here and
once that's completed will be able to start trying to get an entry level job
in the financial services industry.

I'm attaching a couple of pics of our house and street so that people can
get the idea of where we live.

Well that's all from me for now.

Take care all
Dave

Postcard from London #8

Gday all

Well, as you have no doubt heard, we've had some rather interesting weather
over here in the past week. On Wednesday evening we had a couple of inches
of snow which was very exciting for me as it was the first proper snowfall
I've ever seen. I'm sure the people driving down our street must have
wondered what someone my age was doing taking a lot of photos and playing in
the snow. Murray and I had a good snowball fight with the kids next door
which was excellent fun. Of course, I enjoyed it much more once I'd thought
to put some gloves on as my hands froze pretty quickly when scooping up snow
without gloves on. All good things must end however, and the down side of
snow was quickly felt when Holly had to stand in the snow for an hour
waiting for a bus when tube services to Finchley Central were discontinued.
Fortunately they eventually restarted and she was able to get home via tube
when it became apparent that her bus wasn't coming. Unfortunately for Pete
he had to walk all the way home from East Finchley in the snow which took
about an hour. One doesn't feel too bad for him though as he's taken off to
France this week for a week of skiing in SNOW!!!

The other downside of snow became apparent to me the next morning as I had
to navigate footpaths covered in snow and ice. I'm pleased that I didn't end
up on my bum but it did come close a few times.

Teaching has been going well on the whole. I had a really nice year 4 class
for a couple of weeks and did a few activities with them for Australia Day.
I borrowed another teacher's guitar and taught the kids Waltzing Matilda and
True Blue which they really enjoyed and also read Banjo's poem A Bush
Christening to them. I took in a video of the Western Derby from a couple of
years back so that they could see some Australian football and they were all
excited by it finding it far more physical than the girly soccer they're
used to. The only problem was that they only got to see action from the
first half when West Coast were doing us and so the majority of kids
declared immediate allegiance to West Coast. I should have shown them the
second half when Freo (led by Clive) made a brilliant comeback to win by a
point after being 7 goals down. I brought in some Tim Tams for them and I
had a mother come up to me the next day saying that she had to go to Tesco
(the only supermarket that stocks them) that night to buy her son some.
Maybe Arnotts should be giving me a commission!! All in all it was a great
day and the kids were thoroughly indoctrinated into the brilliance of being
an Aussie.

The weather here's warmed up somewhat since last week's cold snap and is
much more reminiscent of a Perth winter which isn't really all that bad. The
days are getting longer very quickly and it is now still light at 5pm. All
this is very encouraging as it means that summer is on the way.

Haven't done any real travelling yet but Holly and I are thinking of popping
down to Venice for a few days in the near future. We also need to head up to
the Lakes District to catch up with a couple of friends we haven't seen
since arriving which should be very nice. It's great that we're finally
getting to the point of being able to see a bit of Europe.

Anyway, that's about all the news from here for now. I hope everyone has a
great February and I shall email again soon(ish).

Cheers
dave

Postcard from London #6

Gday All

Just thought I'd get in one last email for the year. I've just finished
watching the second of the 2 new episodes of The Office (don't worry.. I
won't give anything away). They were quite enjoyable although Holly did find
them a bit too cringeworthy in parts. I've attached the photo of Holly with
the guy who plays Tim in the series which was taken not long after we
arrived here.

Well Christmas went well and special thanks to all those who sent pressies
and cards. It was certainly a good haul for us and helped to make it feel a
bit more like Christmas. It was still strange having a cold Christmas but it
wasn't too bad. We went to Rachael and Mike Brewer's for Christmas day and
had a great time. Rach put on a wonderful spread with all the trimmings and
we played a LOT of pool. We also found some time to watch a bit of the Kath
and Kim DVD sent over by Pete, Ali and girls. Few of the aussies over here
had seen it before so it was a bit of a treat. We stayed at Rach and Mike's
Christmas night and then had a bit of a fry-up breakie/lunch on Boxing Day
before heading home later in the arvo.

I finished my labouring work on Christmas eve and so have this week without
any work as I await the commencement of the school term on the 5th Jan.
Hopefully I'll start picking up work fairly quickly as the money will be
very useful. Holly is still working at Sketch which she seems to be
enjoying. She has this week off as she has a friend coming over from
Australia who will be dossing with us for a week and she wants to be able to
spend some time with her.

Holly and I went down to Titchfield last weekend to stay with her family and
we had a great time. Titchfield is sort of between Southhampton and
Portmouth near the coast. We went for a walk along the coastline at a place
called Lee-On-The-Solent which is across the water from the Isle of Wight
and also walked through little Titchfield village. We had a great early
Christmas tea with the family and then sat around opening pressies and
chatting for a while.

Well, that's really about all the news for now. The house here is pretty
quiet with our 3 housemates all flying back home for Christmas so we're
enjoying the peace and quiet.

Take care and thanks to those who have sent emails. Please accept my
apologies if I haven't had time to respond personally but I will make an
effort.

Cya for now
Love, peace and respect
Dave and Holly

Postcard from London #?

Gday All

I'm not sure of what has happened since I last wrote. Things are much the
same.. still labouring. I checked the temperature guage on the wall of the
house next to where I'm working upon arriving at work at 8am yesterday
morning to find that it was -1 degree. No wonder I was feeling a tad chilly.
Thankfully by 10.30 it had warmed considerably to be 2 degrees and we were
positively sweltering in 4 degree heat by lunchtime. Still, at least it
stops one wanting to fall asleep!!

Went to a dodgy 80s night on Friday night in Stockwell. It started off ok,
and I even got some requests played (Duran Duran, The Cure & The Stone
Roses) but then songs started being played which I was sure weren't from the
80s. By the time Justin Timberlake and Avril Lavigne had perforated my
eardrums I had come to the conclusion that the 80s thing was really just an
elaborate scam to get me to attend. Still, I wasn't complaining when I
finished off the night with a good old fashioned headbang to Smells Like
Teen Spirit. Maybe not an 80s song but brilliant nonetheless.

Had an interview with a teaching agency yesterday and they reckon I should
start picking up a bit of supply (relief) work in the new year. I shall
labour until Christmas, have a break and then get ready to teach again. It's
a somewhat daunting prospect in a foreign country given that I haven't done
it since starting at PMH in May 1995 but I'm sure I'll survive.. or die
trying.

Holly's been working some gnarly hours. She's not due to finish until 10pm
tonight and is working Saturday. Still, she has tomorrow off which is a
consolation.

Sight seeing here hasn't really been on the agenda yet but will hopefully
start soon. We have been meaning to go to Madame Tusards (pronounced
Two-Swords if you're me... Too-Sar if you're Holly or French) but haven't
got there yet. I went to see the Museum of Gardening History (quite boring)
and the Imperial War Museum (very good) a couple of weeks ago.

Not much more to tell except I managed to miss the victory parade for the
English rugby team yesterday but have heard much about it. Of more interest
to me was the change in Labor leadership back home. I would have preferred
Kim but Mark does seem such a nice chap. And he has such a colourful way of
making his point known. I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall at his first
meeting with George Bush Jnr.

Love, peace and respect
Davo

ps. If you would prefer not to receive any further emails from me then just
let me know.

Postcard from London #4

G'day All

Well, losing the World Cup yesterday was rather disappointing but we still
had a great day. We turned up to the Walkabout Pub in Temple over an hour
before kickoff only to find a massive queue. We queued for a while in the
rain until we realised it was a lockout and we'd have to find somewhere else
to watch the game. Of course, many others also had to find an alternative
venue so there was this crazy sight of groups of people running up and down
streets in the rain trying to find an unfull pub showing the game. We
stumbled across a pub called the Porterhouse only to find that people were
only allowed in by prior booking. Fortunately the doorman was very nice and
took pity on us and let us in. Our group consisted of Katie, Murray, Matt
King, Scoob (Pete Southwell), Tanya Southwell, Holly and I. Apart from out
little group, there was only one other Aussie in the pub. Don't worry
though, we made enough noise to even things out. I must say, I did receive
some funny looks when I came out with a very loud 'You little ripper' when
Elton kicked the equalising penalty goal shortly before full time. The extra
time was thrilling and I was very proud of our boys even though we lost. I
reckon they showed the true Aussie spirit by doing so well against all the
odds. The poms we shared the pub with were fairly gracious in victory and
one guy made a point of shaking all of our hands. I'm quite thankful that
the Cup is now over as I'll finally be able to have a sleep in on a Saturday
morning.

There really isn't a lot more to tell as life has quickly settled into a bit
of a routine. We currently have a couple of dossers living with us and I'm
not sure how long they're gonna be here. The weather has finally turned and
it has rained almost constantly since Friday night (tis now Sunday night). I
rocked along to our local church this morning only to find that I'd got the
time wrong. I thought it started at 10.30 but it actually started at 9.45. I
wondered why I was getting some funny looks when I walked in and sat down.
It's a very old fashioned church... organ music, hymn books and a
congregation with only one other person under about 70 years of age. Still,
may give it another go (at the correct time!!) to see how it is. There's not
really many churches within walking distance of our flat so my choices are
somewhat limited. I don't really fancy having to catch the tube to church on
a Sunday morning but will see how it goes.

Pete and Ali, could you make sure you give Holly and my love to Charlotte
and Polly.. we both miss them very much! I'm saving some of my coins to send
over so that they can see what money from another country looks like (well,
at least Charlotte as I suppose Polly wouldn't really get the whole money
concept yet).

Thanks for all the emails from home.. they are gratefully received. Sorry if
I take time to reply but my internet access is still limited. We are
intending to get the net at home but it is taking longer than expected. We
finally get a phone line on Wednesday which will be good. I may even get my
act together and manage to call people!! I'll try to remember the number for
people who want it but I am terrible at such things. I still can't remember
my current mobile number and have to keep asking Reg (Murray) to tell me
what it is.

Well, all take care and I'll send another update in a while.

Love, peace and respect,
Dave