Adventures in London: Issue 75

Like all roller-coasters, this week had its highs and its lows. The low of the week was definitely being sick. It looks like I am going to end the year nursing an infection that has found a cozy home in my system. Like Monica from Friends, I guess I am just the hostess with the mostess - haha. Well I think this scuggy buggy has over stayed its visit and it is time to throw in the heavy artillery since subtle suggestions are not working :-) It is not the ideal way to end the year or to spend the winter break from work, but it was to be expected. This year I have been on the go; racing from one thing to another. As such, it is needless to say that I was looking forward to the break and having the time to relax and chill out. I guess my body decided that it would let its guards down and welcome in this dear cold/flu.

That said, it was actually good to be sick. I was forced to actually take a break from things. I had a grande agenda for the break of places I wanted to go, things I wanted to see, but at the end of the day, what I really needed was to relax. I took full advantage of being a prisoner in my flat by catching up on flat-projects that I had been putting off all year. Finally I had the time (granted I did not have the energy, but I found some) to re-color coordinate my cabinet, go through my paperwork, hoover the baseboards, go through the spice & sweet cabinets. Basically, this break allowed me to indulge in all my OCD habits - this is exactly why I should not be left unsupervised ;-) Cleaning aside, thanks to brilliant end of the year programming, I was able to catch up on series box sets including Flash Forward (it is currently on series break in both the UK & US, but will be returning soon). The show, based on the book, is about the entire world loosing consciousness for 137 seconds. During this time, everyone has a "flashforward" of their lives 6 months in the future. It is an interesting show as people stop living for today and start living for what will happen 6 months from today. It makes you think; if you knew what your life would look like 6 months for now, how would that change the way you lived today. Would it change you? Or would you try to change the vision that you saw? Can you change your future or is it already written for you? Anyway, it is a good show and if you need a reason to watch it ladies it stars Joseph Fiennes (from Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love).

This week was not all about obsessive cleaning and watching box sets of TV shows. It was after all the week of Christmas and celebrations. This is the first time that I celebrated Christmas away from the family. I have to admit, it was lonely without them. I looked up last minute flights to go home, but with the way I was feeling I was in no shape to make the 8 hour journey across the pond. Staying here made me realise how lucky I have been. In the past 18 months, I have made 5 trips home. I have friends here who get to go home once in 2-3 years. I cannot imagine that and I reckon my family would not accept that frequency of home visits. That said, knowing friends here that have made London their home allowed for a very new Christmas experience.

On Christmas Eve, I was treated to a traditional Brasilian dinner at a friend of a friend's place. This is the first year that I was exposed to different cultures and how each country celebrates Christmas. In Brasil, they start the festive celebrations on Christmas Eve (since Boxing Day is not a national holiday there). It was a nice quiet night of amasing food, delightful games and plenty of laughter. Most of the people at the party have lived here for 6+ years and this is something that they do every year. It made me wonder about the "Americans in London", will we have that same sort of tradition? Well I guess we already sorta do, but who knows if we will all be here 4 years from today. Who knows where I will be then :-)

After Christmas, it was time to celebrate Christmas day (funny how that works huh). It was not quite the same as being in Nisky, waking up in the morning, going for D&D coffee and munchkins, opening presents by the tree and then going to the kitchen for pancakes. It was however a relaxing day by the fire, drinking tea, skyping with the family, making blueberry pancakes and there was even opening Christmas presents and enjoying an very English Christmas dinner. It was not quite the Christmas roast that I was expecting to eat with Yorkshire pudding, turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. Instead we had a extremely moist and flavourful ham with boiled broccoli, brussel sprouts and carrots.

Expectations are a funny thing. This year has been a series of expectations and then a realisation things don't always work out the way we expected them to. The key I believe is learning to adapt and bend when things change. Growing up my mom used to always tell me, "In a storm you can either be a weeping willow or an oak tree. When the storm comes to shake things up you can be ridged and allow the storm to break you from the roots or you zigzag and mold allowing the storm to pass through you." No one said 2009 was going to be an easy year, in fact they probably said the opposite. If I have learned anything this year it is that plans and expectations change. What you envisioned would happened may not always be, but if you can learn to sag a little you can some times achieve much more. I am blabbling... another side effect of spending too much time on own.

It has been an interesting break so far. I am so very pleased that I have another week off of work!

Happy Christmas! Hope you all are well and spent a lovely couple of days with your friends and family.

xx

T