Harlequin

I think it only fitting that I would get a job at a place called Harlequin, as I do seem to be having a love affair with this town.

Harlequin Tea Room and Curio is a small shop on High Street. (My favorite used bookstore, Moss, that I blogged about previously. is on the side street directly across from the tea room.) We have every day tea, herbal infusions, coffee and hot chocolate, and an assortment of tea cakes and sandwiches. There are also collectibles and cute knick-knacks.

The photo below is looking into the shop from the front door. Take a seat please and I will come take your order.
The photo on the left is looking from the counter out into the store. That is an assortment of quilts, linen and lace work that is for sale. The photo on the right are the tea pots we use. The smaller pots are used for tea for one. The larger pots are tea for two. I already have a few favorite pots and cups and saucers. I didn't take a photo of the espresso machine, but it's your standard shiny silver espresso machine you'd find in a coffee shop. And I LOVE the smell when we grind the coffee beans and make a fresh cup. I still don't quiet know the difference between a cappucino and a latte, but not to worry, I have a cheat sheet to follow when you order.



















The picture on the right is a cute petite four tray that was made using various china saucers. The owner makes them herself. I think this coming Thursday I'll be getting to help sort out china sets in the store room and help make a few too.














The pictures below are from today. My cell phone didn't automatically adjust to British Summer Time (Daylight Savings Time) and church is a 40-50 minute walk from my home so I didn't make it. I walked to the Pittville Park instead. On the left is the Pump Room. I think the name has something to do with the spa waters. (Cheltenham is a "spa" town) The building is used today for concerts and theater events. The photo on the right is a bridge in the little pond. Pittville Park reminds me of Central Park in NYC, only much, much, much smaller.

Going Green

My head is pounding as I've been moving from the state of Ignorance to the state of Confusion while wondering how many miles to go before I reach the state of Aha! (I'm not even going to worry about packing my bags to the state of Knowledge and Wisdom for sometime to come. I've been dutiful working on trying to cram as many books and academic articles into my head as it can possibly hold at one time. Kind of like eating too much pizza, it taste really good at first and suddenly you are stuffed beyond capacity.

Despite the somewhat sickening feeling of progression, I have been loving most every moment. I experienced this when working on my MBA - I really love doing academic research and writing!

There are certain things that have happened enough to me that I should recognize the occurrence as it's happening but I still struggle during the incident. Getting a job and meeting boys are two big ones that come to mind.

Jobs: The morning I was scheduled to interview with CAP Utah last January, I was overcome with a great desire to NOT go to the interview. I had several other offers and I really, really, really did not want to go. I got the job almost immediately. The same thing happened with the job move to D.C., and one of my most favorite jobs, working at New Frontiers.

Thursday morning I was scheduled to go help out at a tea-room to see how I "got on". I woke up with such dread and discouragement and tried in earnest to talk myself out of going. What finally got me out of the door was my honor because I had promised that I would go in for a few hours. I got the job, and furthermore, the girl that I'll be working with talked a lot about how many people have applied because of redundancies. (I can't wait to take photo's to post them for you! The tea-room is just about as lovely as can be!) You would think I'd recognize this feeling at this point.

Boys: I am just ridiculous when it comes to boys! I have ruined more opportunities by sheer stupidity than you would think would be humanly possible. No blog post could do it service.

Tuesday, the most adorable man that I have ever met came knocking on the door to let us know about the changes to recycling. As I am not the decision maker in the house I normally get my flat mate for these calls, but I really wanted to talk to this guy. We talked for about 15 minutes. Talking about the weather and sports has never been so interesting to me. As he was getting ready to leave he said "Oh, let me get your name and number."
Me: "My name is Heidi. I don't know my number."
Him: pause "It's for the Council anyway so that's okay."
and the conversation quickly ends. The next day looking at the Council website regarding the street canvassers it clearly stated that the people will not ask for personal contact information. I did understand in the moment that he was asking specifically for my number because he wanted it for himself but I had no idea how to explain that I don't know my number off the top of my head but I'd be happy to get it for him. Ugh! being boy-crazy and boy-stupid is a really bad combination.

Anyway, the part of the post that any of you care about - the week in photos.

This is one of my favorite photo's of the past two months. There is something about the green cars and the yellow house that is delicious like sunshine. The lime green (non-beetle) car makes me want to go for a long drive in the rolling country side with a long cream scarf streaming behind me.


The day that I took the above photo I was leaving campus and spotted the green van in the parking lot. It makes me want to go to a cabin on the lake. Love the red rims! Since I was taken with the idea of green cars this week, I thought I'd add the cute little Green Coffee Machine that is the town center. The man who operates it is twice as large as the cab of his 'truck'!
















What could be more green than Spring? Spring is getting more into bloom around here. The daffodils are right outside my research office. The photo on the right is on my way home from my research office. Some photo's never can do justice to how things make you feel in real life. This is one of them. I loved the sunshine streaming through the white blossoms and the contrast of the pink and white.




















And this has nothing to do with Spring or green but I think it's really funny. It's a sign at an intersection crossing. I love the "If you are visually impaired" part because um, how are you going to read the sign if you are visually impaired?

The Flat

Now that I've been here for almost two months (my time here is going so quickly!) I thought I would finally post some photo's from around my flat. I wasn't at all sure that I would stay in this flat when I first arrived, it usually does take me a month or two to figure out if I can handle quirks of a place, but I feel pretty settled now, feeling a little bit more like this is "home" instead of someone just renting a room.

First I'll tell you briefly about my flat mates - all men.

1 - He is the owner. I'm guessing he's a little over 40, has a sister with my name, has his own marketing company, but earns most of his living as a DJ. His office is the garage and he is up till 4 or 5 in the morning making his mixes. Kind of jittery, but very easy going.

2 - In the room next to mine. He's a chef. He also works late and I usually don't see him. When he is home he spends most of his time in his room. Sometimes his girlfriend is over and she is the most giggly person I've ever heard. In fact I've decided the reason I'm not in a relationship is because I could never just giggle day after day after day. No one is that amusing to me. He's also nice, when I do see him. And he is Winston the Cat's master. (there might be some jealous feelings that Winston hangs out in my room more often now...)

3 - This is a new guy who just moved in a month ago, replacing a young French student who was here on exchange. The new guy is probably also a bit over 40. He's an IT professional from Bournemouth. He was contracted to work here in Cheltenham for only a few months and when he found out he'd be here through the rest of the year decided to find something more permanent than just a room let. I talk to the him the most. In fact, his moving in made me feel more comfortable because he hangs out in the common rooms, watches t.v. and socializes so I feel like I don't need to stay buried in my own room all the time.

4 - There was another Frenchmen who lived here, but he and his girlfriend just moved into an apartment together, so he has not been replaced yet. The owner is trying to find another female as that balances out the house better.

Then there is Sophie the Cat and Winston the Cat and they don't get along with one another at all.

So...pics.. The pic on your left is the front of the house, the center pic is the back yard, directly out my 2nd level bedroom window. The far pic is zoomed in on a church steeple that I can see from my window while I'm working at my desk. I like how the back yard is called a "garden". I've not heard one person refer to their plot of earth as a "yard". It's always a "garden". I think calling it a garden makes you feel more inclined to do something with it rather than just having a square of grass that you water and mow. It's also nice with all the growth that you can't see into your neighbors outdoor living space.



This is my bedroom window with the neighbor's cat coming up for a visit. He and Winston are playmates.



The living room: The decorating in the flat is unique. I wouldn't really call it masculine and wonder if it's not leftover remnants of a previous relationship. I love the giant chess set. Sophie is in the background of the center pic. And the right is a pic of two little faerie figures on the edge of the t.v.





A tall wooden bird and a giant wooden turtle in the living room. I like them.



The pic on the left is the mail on the floor. It scares me every time it's delivered. The Royal Post man really chucks it through the door. The mail carriers here ride bikes with giant baskets on the front. When going from house to house, the stand on one pedal, pushing the bike along like a scooter. The pic in the center is the electric tea kettle. I love this thing. I love herbal infusions, hot ovaltine, and barley/chicory drinks so this thing is wonderful! The little things on the right? Poached egg holders. Everyone in this house eats poached eggs almost every day. yuck!! But I do think the egg holders are kind of cute.



The pic on the left is the washer AND the dryer. Perhaps small apartments in the big cities in the States have these, but I've never used one before. However, the pic in the center is demonstrating how one flat mate actually dries his clothes; draped around the house. As you may know, I hate drying in a dryer, so I'm very happy that draping clothes around the house to dry is completely acceptable. The pic on the right is in the shower room. (The toilet is in one room. the bathtub is in a different room.) I wish you could really see how many cobwebs are on these lights. It's not AS spooky as this picture looks, but the style of light coupled with the cobwebs is kind of Silver Dollar City haunted hous'ish'.



I would put up a picture of my room, but it's messy (typical) and small, which doesn't help the messy factor. But it's no smaller than any standard size room in Boston and I have seen smaller. It's pink with purple and white curtains and has a lovely picture of a Valentine type heart, which I love despite the fact that most people assume that I don't like girly and flowery things...

Gut Feelings

When I started planning on doing my PhD in the UK I made a spreadsheet ('cause I like doing that) that ranked my top choice schools. The criteria were UK ranking, world ranking, accreditation, followed by location, cost of living, and so forth. I had about ten schools on the list. There were four schools that meet all the criteria that I needed, and they were at the very top of the list, a pack at the bottom that were fallback plans and then there was the school that I'm currently attending, UofG. It was nestled somewhere in the middle of the pack. I honestly couldn't tell you how it even made it on the list, let alone into the middle of the rankings.

The plan was to start school in fall 2011. In Sept of 2010, when I knew that I really, really, really wanted to start in the winter term at the beginning of 2011, my list got cut to three schools. Not many schools had a winter start date. Suddenly my list consisted of one school from the top four of my list, school A, one school that I hadn't considered but took winter students, and UofG. Still holding it's own in the middle of the pack.

Getting my degree from an AASCB school is very important for finding teaching jobs back in the US and so I was very focused on school A. I contacted several professors, worked really hard on my proposal, but somewhere in it, I got the feeling that it wasn't the school I wanted to go to. I sent off two proposals and applications right before heading to my Zurich trip. I knew before I even left that regardless of accreditation I really wanted to go to UofG.

Today I met a fellow PhD student who is from Toronto. She just transferred to UofG in January. From, wait for it, school A! The AASCB school that I felt I needed to go to, but didn't feel good about. She faces some of the same accreditation issues that I do and this is also why she chose school A. She said that despite it's very high ranking and accreditation, the business school is horrible. Professors are miserable and leaving left and right and there is no guidance for doctoral students and many quit the program.

How completely bizarre is that? I love to plan and organize and make my spreadsheets, but after all the intellectual thinking is done I sit back and listen to what my gut tells me. (well, it's a bit more spiritual than just my gut...) It always leads me to the right path. (unfortunately, sometimes the "right" path is also the painful path. The D.C. years are a testament to that.)

Sometimes I really like my gut.

(I hadn't planned on a post today and don't have any new photo's, but what's a post without a photo? I thought I'd share an oldie but a goody from my 2009 trip to Disney World. :) )

Traffic

As a pedestrian, when I move to a new city it takes me a few weeks to figure out the flow of traffic and traffic lights. Which red lights stay red longer, which intersection gets a green arrow first, which small streets are safer to jay walk, etc. That adjustment has taken a little longer here because I have to stop and think about what side of the street the car will be coming from. And there are one way streets and traffic rotary's and strange intersections that even the drivers don't seem to know how to maneuver. I basically look like an owl when I'm preparing to cross the road. I swivel my head in all directions just to make sure the coast is clear. (And when I have the right of way I always like to make contact with the driver. Even though I understand that cars travel on the opposite side of the road, and drivers drive on the right side of the car, I have ingrained instincts to look at the left of the car for the driver. And the driver's not there!)

I first learned to drive in Boston, having to deal with rush hour traffic going through Harvard Square. This intersection below reminds me of that chaos just on a smaller scale. The first picture is as I'm walking to class at FCH and then the second picture is coming back from FCH. This is where I saw an accident last week. I know it doesn't seem difficult in this pics, but there are six different traffic patterns that happens here. It's kind of like when you put together those little race tracks that have those multi-line connectors so you can make figure 8 tracks.



One of the first things I noticed when I moved here was how noisy the traffic is. You expect traffic noise a big city. Everyone talks about how much American's drive and Europeans walk everywhere and Cheltenham is a small condensed town so you don't really think there will be much driving. But there is. And it's really noisy. Maybe it's that the little toy cars here are noisier than American cars? or maybe it's on big streets where there is consistent traffic there is a dull hum and you don't notice a car zipping around the corner?

These are photo's of the small little cars here. Even "big" cars like Audi and Mercedes and other luxury cars are very small. I wish I could have gotten a photo of me standing next to the Jeep in the photo on the left. It's like a little toy jeep. And you can see that most parking is done on lots in front of houses. The pic on the right is a row of small cars.



As for traffic on the sidewalk and the grocery store? I still haven't figured it out. Stairs and escalators follow the same driving pattern of walking/driving on the left, instead of the right, but the grocery store seems to be a free-for-all.