Here in London, pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating have umbrella-like
outdoor gas-heaters that, as an article I read recently put it, do for the
British summer what the sun does for other countries.
Since I'm tolerating the weather, adjusting to the prices (just have to
pretend that $1=£1), and ignoring the pollution, I'm loving living in
London. Parks, shops, great restaurants, several friends and public
transport are all within walking distance, and cultural opportunities
abound. Plus, Megan Lowe should be here come September, as that's almost
as good as sunshine ;)
For me, this year is vying for the position of best ever with my last two
years in Fiji, and certainly wins most interesting. My contract ended with
Community of Science (COS) in Baltimore last June; Felix and I married 25
July 1998 in my parents' back garden; we went on a three-month honeymoon
tour of the States; we spent Christmas with Felix's parents, where my new
German took a turn for the better (though I lose a word of French for every
word of German I gain-only so much space in my brain, I guess); and we moved
to London in January. Felix quickly got a contract with ODI, the development
think-tank that placed him in Fiji, and I sold by soul back to COS, making
it look like we had everything worked out before we got here.
I work primarily from home, plotting to take over the European researcher
market in expertise and grants databases. Felix does the good work in our
family, saving the world's poorest from the clutches of bad fiscal policy.
Our plans, roughly in chronological order, include my finding a challenging
volunteer job (hopefully writing and editing materials for a development
organisation), buying a house, my getting a masters (public health?)
part-time, having a baby, spending 3-4 years in a developing country,
picking a place to live in the US, UK or Germany, and continuing to be
so blissfully happy together that we make our family and friends emit
disgusted noises.
Congrats to Heidi and Jason on their new addition! And thank you so much,
Bert, for doing this for us again.