Three's a crowd, fresh beer and sweet home Chicago.

So I've hit week three now in this country and it just hit me yesterday that I really "do" live here. I say this because of my return trip back from Prague.
More on Prague later.

Anyway, anytime you go on vacation there's always the hope of it never ending and you want to stay on vacation forever. But I'll admit, sometimes on a trip back, how ever amazing it was, you're glad your coming home. Coming home to familiarity. The fantasy of "holiday" (vacation) is great, but its nice to be back home after a long trip. Well, I'm so familiar after coming home from vacation that I go back to good ol' Chicago. I arrive at O'Hare/Midway and go on with my business. Yesterday was quite different. Yes, I went on a weekend trip to Prague and it was fantastic, but the return trip home was really different as I was landing in London rather than Chicago. The whole concept of returning home really hit me.

I'm so used to coming home to Chicago after a trip and now it was different. I came into Gatwick (London's version of Midway) and I didn't have to take the blue line or orange line. Something that I'm use to. Or have friends pick me up and we'd catch a drink to talk about stupid stories that had happened while I was gone. Nope. All to myself. I had to figure out how to get home. I figure that out eventually, only to find out that the train I usually take was undergoing repairs. (They engineer everything during the weekends here) So I had to figure out what bus to take. That was annoying. I could have taken a cab, but I was determined to figure out the bus route. Anyway, long story short, I take the wrong bus and end up walking about 20 min anyway back to my place. How frustrating. It takes me about 2 hours to get home and I was hungry and frustrated. Ugh.
To continue my usual format.. I'll have stupid little blurbs about what's going on.

I miss..
Its amazing how much I depend on public transportation now. I miss my car a lot because of it.

The Bears.. woohoo.. I wish I watched some of the game.

Travels..
Prague is a beautiful city. I'll post pics when I have a chance to upload.
I can go on and on, but basically the architecture in this city is breathtaking.
A lot of is survived WWII so its very cool to see. Pictures really can't describe what you really see. The disappointing part was the castle wasn't as breaktaking as I thought it would be. From a distance it looks cool, but once you're within the grounds, its okay. The best part was Old Town Square. Now that is amazing. Digital SLR freaks, this is the place to take pics! I have little stories here and there about the trip that is best reserved later on. Things were so cheap too!

Fresh Beer
One night was really fun because we took part in a "Pub Walk." A tour guide took us to different pubs trying different beer. That was really fun. We learned some history about beer and the beer is so good! It's so fresh. If you are a fan of
Pilsner Urquell this is the place to drink it. Obviously. I also had the original Budwizer beer too. Better than the American version that's for sure. And all these beers are .5 liter too. My tolerance is definitely up that's for sure. Nonetheless, I couldn't keep up with the two guys I went with. They are 4-5 years younger and drink like fish. I couldn't keep up at all.

Three's a crowd
So I went with 2 other guys. One of them is my coworker and reports to me and the other was another coworker that works with a different group in the company. Anyway, those two were pretty close to begin with so you can imagine how I felt being the third wheel. =/ Oh well, nothing against them, but I miss my friends that I can travel with! Not that traveling with three is bad, as I've done it before successfully, but socially it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. You always feel a closer bond with the group of people you travel with afterwards, but this time it didn't turn out that way. Not that I was looking for it, but its different for once. Maybe its this weird thing that my social circles are clashing in that I use to keep work relationships and friends separate, and not they are one of the same. Its weird working with coworkers and then seeing them yet again on vacation or during the weekend. Not sure if I'm a big fan.

What's next?
Find new social circles! The search for the filipina with a british accent continues! I want to visit Greenwich this weekend and stand inbetween two
time zones. We'll see how it goes.

Off to Prague

I'm excited to see the Castle in Prague. The only castle I am familiar with is White Castle, sliders.. hmm. What you crave. Anyway, I always see Prague as a backdrop for spy movies and action shows like Alias. We'll see if it lives up to the hype. I plan on posting pics, so stay tuned!

Liquid Dinner

These liquid dinners are not helping. I honestly don't think I've ever come home "pissed" (drunk) on a Tuesday and Wednesday before in my life. It's not doing well for my digestive system that's for sure. But last night we had drinks with my boss and I honestly believe we had about 6 bottles of Reisling between 5 people, noting that 2 of them left after the 2nd bottle. The thing is, the night before was really bad too. At least on Tuesday we had dinner. Last night was small appetizers.

You've heard of beer shits right? Well until yesterday, I didn't know there was such a thing called Wine shits until now. I again complain about the level of toilet water here in the UK. It's not a pretty sight at all.

First Post from London, First Day of Work

There is so many blogworthy posts since I've arrived here, but first I want to say a BIG "thank you" to everyone that made the surprise party at the Union bar! What a shocker! BIG was the mastermind of all of it and he pulled it off. Thanks to everyone involved with organizing as well, from Mike and Karl creating the posterboards and signs, to everyone that decorated the bar. And of course to everyone that showed up to send me off. I appreciated it! And a huge thanks for the DVD tribute.. I felt so much love! Thanks again BIG for filming and everyone that contributed it. So much thanks! I miss you all so much already.

Anyway, I'm connected on a "modem" remember those? I don't have broadband in my temporary housing, so I'll have to pray that I don't lose my connection and lose this entry.

To make this short and sweet I'll summarise my experiences so far with General
Topics and blurbs about the particular topic.

Housing
I've been searching for "Flats" all last week. I put in an offer for 2 places that
I lost. Rentals go fast in London. I'm on my third offer and we'll see where it goes. It's a nice big open space with a lot of storage.

What I miss
Washer and Dryer. Things take forever to wash and dry. And it doesn't even
do it that well and you can't do a lot of it. The washer and dryer is one machine.
It sucks. There's this one dial you have to turn, and all it has are these letters on it.

Broadband. I'm on dialup right now.

Sportscenter I miss the football highlights. I mean american
football, not soccer.

And of course friends and family, but that's a given!

What sucks
Toilets! Stalls at work and in general toilets in the UK in general. The toilet stalls at work have doors that go all the way down to the floor so no one can see if you are in the stall doing your business. So what happens? People push on the door to check if someone is in there so it really disrupts your concentration. Plus, the toilet water doesn't go as high as it does in the US so it can leave for
some potential "streaks."

Camera Bad luck again. LCD cracked. I swaped with my sister and am using hers. She's going to get it fixed.

Travels
My mom, sister and I went to Paris for a few days last week. When to see the sights. It was nice seeing it again a second time since 1999. Wish I made some purchases because its 12% off all purchases since you don't have to pay for the EU's (Eurpean Union) VAT (Value Added Tax) since its built into all the prices.

Next trip: Prague next weekend.

Languages
We call it "Take Out" or "To Go" The brits call it "Take Away."

Social Scene
Went to a birthday party this weekend for a coworker that is also an expat. What is interesting was that most of the people were American. A lot of them were women that are in this program that lets them work in London for a year! Two of my other coworkers and myself showed up to the surprise party early and were greeted by 6 other women. It's never happened where I've walked into a party that contained all women. That changed quickly though! Good times though.

Work
Days go by faster here than in the US for some reason.

Take Away Thought
You don't ask where the bathroom is, or the restroom. You ask where the
"toilet" is. As one tour guide mentioned, "We gave you a perfectly good language. Bathrooms are for baths and restrooms are where you lie down."

Less than a week.

Oh my god. I'm not going to be here in a week. I won't be able to indulge myself in this fast food nation. So to celebrate my departure I've been eating fast food the past few weeks. My salad binge has all but disappeared and I'm stuffing myself with Bacon Cheeseburgers, General Tso's chicken, greasy fries, hearty steaks and prime rib, chipotle burritos, complex carbohydrates and anything that America is known for, and the key to making us one of the fattest countries in the world!
Because you know what? London food sucks! At least from my experience. I ordered chicken and ribs on my last trip there and I laughed at my plate because it was the size of an appetizer. The chicken wings were small and thin and the ribs could have used a lot more meat in them. Oh well, at least there's the sights. =)

So one last week. 6 days to be exact. All major milestones have been hit. Place is rented, car is sold, stuff is all moved out, immigration papers sorted, all debts paid off, not to mention "closure" with some relationships. =)

A fresh slate and a new beginning. What lies ahead I'm not sure, all I know is that I'm going to miss friends and family a lot, as well as all the grease that rolls down my hands when I bite into a portillo's cheeseburger. yum.