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London and Ipswich
So we've finally arrived in the much maligned (mostly by us) Ipswich - and we love it! But we're getting ahead of ourselves...
London was as frenetic as all the guide books describe. We encountered the worst
of it when we went for a bit of retail therapy at the summer sales
(hey, we really did need new clothes ...) on Oxford Street on the
same afternoon that they closed Regent Street so they could drive
a F1 car down the road. Half a million fans crowded into the area
which goes to show you that F1 is certainly not dead, and that London
really is insanely crowded! The Underground was filled to capacity
and they actually had to close Oxford Circus station as no more people
could fit on the platforms, nor get in or out of the exits. Yep, very
busy, very exciting and very noisy!
After five nights in London, we left the wonderful Claire, Benno & Co. (thanks
again guys) and caught the train up to Ipswich, Suffolk. We stayed
in a guesthouse for the first three nights and then had the most amazing
run of luck. We had thought that we'd used up all our good luck beaurocracy
points in London after queuing for only(!) 30 minutes to pick up our
bankcards and accounts - leaving behind a queue of at least two hours
in length - but no, we were wrong. Fortunately, we managed to get
a flat in only 3 days (OK there were just two to choose from), moving
in on the Saturday after we arrived, and Kate go a job with the Reed
Temp Agency after being in town for only 2 days. Yep, we love Ipswich!
(Email us for our new address / phone number details.)
Our flat is basically furnished: bed, couch, table, chairs etc., but we had to
go out and buy all the other basics, like towels, cutlery, crockery,
and so on. We've made good use of the two big discount shops in town,
'Thing Me Bobs' and 'Wilkinson'. We have an internet connection, we
have a washing machine and we have coat hangers! But sadly no television,
which may eventually drive Kate insane. We are heading off this weekend
to buy speakers so the flat isn't quite so quiet; the radios in our
mobile phones really don't have great sound quality! And The Sims
has had a very good run all week - Kate's been playing that pretty
obsessively. The only major flaw is the fact that the bathroom is
carpeted and the shower head hook is at waist height, which is sort-of
OK as it's on an extendable hose (i.e. you can pick it up) but there
isn't a shower curtain, so you run a major risk of soaking the carpet
(apparently this is very English). Hmmm, they really don't get the
concept of showers here...
We've joined the local library, which has 56 branches in Suffolk. It's a great
library, quite large and with lots of good books. Kate's also swam
at the local pool where unfortunately lots of people swam as well
so her dream of having the pool all to herself and looking like Ian
Thorpe (in the eyes of the Ipswich public) have turned out to be completely
unfounded. They actually have a wave pool, so we're thinking of getting
a boogie board and showing them how it's done. We found Vegemite in
the local Sainsbury yesterday, plus Australian wine is huge here,
so we don't feel that far, culinary speaking, from home.
Our jobs are going pretty well. Andrew's started at BT, a 40 minute bus ride out
of town. He has to queue to get on the bus each day which he's finding
a bit odd but, let's face it, very English. There's 3,500 staff on
site but no milk or teaspoons in the kitchen, and in fact there's
no tea, coffee or sugar either. He's looking into joining the Tea
Club who keep their milk in a locked room (no joke). But the project's
looking interesting, if only he can get a decent computer to work
on. Kate's just finished her first assignment, a week at Allianz Marine
and Aviation, who insure cargo and ships. She spent the week picking
the brains of her colleagues, getting all the insider knowledge on
Ipswich! And walking all over town looking for various things like
UK to the-rest-of-the-world phone line adaptors.
And finally Andrew had a great birthday, thank you to everyone who called, send
cards (big thanks to Claire, Benno, Aden and Michelle for collecting
all the mail), sent emails and SMS's. Hope you're all well, we miss
you!
- 16 July 2004
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Andrew's birthday dinner |
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Updated 27 September 2004
© Copyright K&A Scott
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