First real post

Hello all, I am now coming to you live from the UK. We got internet about a week or two ago, and things are finally settling down enough that I can think about posting, albeit at 10pm my time. First off terri, my partner, and I love it here. While there are the pro's and con's we think the pro's currently outweigh the con's. Some of the pluses, there are sidewalk's, honest to goodness sidewalks that people can walk on. Despite being about ten miles from London, there is greenery everywhere, tree's and gardens, nature paths all very refreshing to be able to see while walking. Some things are a little more expensive however, once we can start making some British money and stop having to convert it will not be so bad. the country despite having a reputation from being conservative, is actually in some aspects far more progressive (more to come later on this topic).

We are really enjoying ourselves here and our daughter now says she thinks she would like to stay here to live.

We saw Igor two weekends ago, while it was an somewhat enjoyable waste of time, I believe it is a movie incorrectly advertised to kids (a main character is a suicidal rabbit who attempts to continually find ways to kill himself) when most of the humor is slightly more adult than the Shrek movie's. Though the movie was not bad there were a number of trailers for movie that I believe we would have preferred to have been wathcing. Overall I give the movie a C. The cinema however, was very nice with real prices comparable to the US (a movie is expensive anywhere), the popcorn was salty (they do not have butter at the cinema) but tasted better than most and the nachos come with not only cheese and peppers but salsa.

Last week my daughter had what they call here half term. It is a week long break in the middle of the school term. We were not expecting until about a week prior and we ended up lounging around the house most of the time, especially since terri was busy in workshops and meeting Mon-Wed. By Wed night my daughter, Bodhi, was so bored she was nearly ready to pop out of her skin. So at more or less the last minute we decided to go to the aquarium in London. This would be me and my daughters first time in London and our first time taking the train. We were excited to say the least.The train ride was relatively short and uneventful but we are enjoying not driving and being able to see things.

London, we were also somewhat unaware that the aquarium is located smack dab in one of the main tourist spots of London. The London Eye (or Millenium Wheel), Big Ben ( not all that big), and the houses of Parliament very close-by, along with several museums the only saving grace I beleive from making it total pandemonium was the fact that it wasn't a bigger holiday. The line to get into the aquarium was about an hour long. Plenty of time to realize that you are hungry and one of the little food stands is just perfect. We had a small bag of fresh from the fryer donuts with a light sprinkling of sugar, tey were probably the best donuts we have ever had. The lady behind us was very nice and gave a an extra 2 for 1 coupon that you get to use when you take the train into London, saving us a decent bit of money. The aquarium definitely highlighted the fact that england crams a whole lot of stuff into tight quarters. Small hallways combined with, likely, a higher than average foot traffic made for some tight quarters and the desire to unfortunatly move a little more quickly. All being said it still had some great displays and a vast variety of sea-life to appreciate. The gift shop (also tight) was quite impressive with the array of choices (more London themed than aquarium) and quite fair prices on most of the gifts, terri got several, Bodhi laid claim to a stuffed orca and I acquired a change purse (a necessity in this country). back outside we could see the preparations for halloween, which is oddly not as big a deal here as in the States being that it originated here. The London Eye is impressive and I can not say as I would like to go on it, one it spins very slowly, which while understandable, if you decide shortly after going up (after waiting in a very long line) that you do not like it you are stuck for quite a while. I took quite a few pictures on the trip, all of which were uploaded on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

That will be it for now, I am getting kind of sleepy. I will have plenty more to write when the time (and computer) is available. Next time I will probably speak about my daughters first time seeing snow in her life, my trials and tribulations in searching for a job and hopefully even a review of another movie (hopefully the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace) or maybe a DVD (Incredible Hulk or Iron Man).

Thank you for reading, cheers

Peace... One Love, Chris