the aftermath
Apr. 17th, 2004 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miz_annelieseFirst of all, I'm home safe. I returned to glorious Cincinnati April 9, yippee. Now, for the rest of the details on the trip...
The 2nd to last weekend I went to Stratford, as I mention in a previous entry. The last weekend I was there, I went to Bath (2 hour bus ride).
Now, as far as history is concerned, I enjoyed Bath a lot more. The ancient Roman Baths are the main attraction, and the shape and layout of the Baths were kept as closely as possible. There's a fancy audio tour that you can take at your leisure, the admission was reasonable, and they don't keep a very close eye on who leans over to touch the water. You can see everything, although you're not permitted to actually get close to the water in the Sacred Spring. Also, you get a chance to see that the Romans had some damn fine engineers (see "hypocaust pilae").
You can spend 2 hours in the Baths, easily. There's tons to learn.
Unfortunately, the rest of Bath was rather boring. Every Brit that I talked to about where I was going was excited and told me how much they loved Bath, whereas they were all rather unenthusiastic about Stratford... but out of the 2, Stratford had much more that I was interested in seeing and doing. Bath has Jane Austen's house and the Museum of Costume, neither of which struck a chord with me. I was interested in Microworld, but unfortunately couldn't find it. (It doesn't help that the entire time I was in England, I couldn't follow a map to save my life. Every time I took a turn, it ALWAYS turned out to be in the wrong direction. *sigh*)
I WANNA GO BACK TO ENGLAND. I loved it there. It's pricey as hell, but it's just beautiful. Getting to London and flying out was incredible... my driver and I managed to hit a few different weather systems, and everything was just budding and green and looked so crisp. (side note : I can't even tell you how bummed I am I'm missing summer in England. When I left, everything was budding, just getting ready to flower, and I know it has to be spectacular.)
Then I was stuck on a plane for 8 hours, and I didn't get the window seat I was scheduled to have. (On the plus side, I was at least in an aisle seat, and the guy next to me was a FINE-looking British man.) And of course N was a half hour late picking me up. My fault, really, I expected customs to take for-freaking-ever, and I warned him about that, so he came a little later. Of course I had NO US coins to make a phone call, my cell was dead, and the pay phones that claimed they'd take credit cards didn't. I was cranky and jetlagged and sweaty and ready to get out of a freakin' airport already. Of course, everything perked right up when he got there, I saw him, and the first thing I thought was "he's cute!" Ain't it funny how your memory can't hold on to faces very well? It was like seeing him for the first time all over again. :)
Anyway, my life has settled back into its old routine now. *sigh* Eventually I'll get over "I WANNA GO BACK TO ENGLAND!" but I think it'll take a little while.
I don't have much to say about work. I did it, I did a lot of it, it was lovely to meet all the people in the UK that I've had names for but not faces or personalities. I met some wonderful people, and went drinking with some of them. (side note : if you can find this beer, Oranjeboom, buy it. I really liked it.) And believe it or not, I miss my fellow programmer a LOT. We got along so well, and he had the ability to make me laugh until I had tears running down my face. I will say that it's a damn good thing we got along, since for the last 2 weeks, we were sitting in a small room with just the 2 of us. Before I left, he gave me a gift of a collection of British coins, since he knew I was enamored with British money, and was of course trying to collect 'em all. So he collected 'em for me and told me to spend my money :) So thoughtful.
This was a great opportunity for growth:
Going to England was the first time I'd really been away from home.
I had to force myself to get to know people, force myself to go out, force myself to go new places. And for the first time, that got easier as time went on. All of the weird anti-social agoraphobic-type fears got pushed to the back of my head, and ignored.
I made a new friend (... I think, I can't speak for my coworker), on my own, and there was absolutely no weird undercurrent of boy/girl sexual-type tension. I have never had a friend of the opposite sex where that didn't happen.
Somehow I tapped into some energy current that was the most mind-blowing, euphoric trip I've ever had. We're talking nearly 2 hours of near-tears euphoria. I had to force my way out of it before my brain exploded. For the last few days I was in England, I could feel it, like I could tap in any time I wanted, and I was almost scared to, for fear of being completely overwhelmed. (Pics from that night are in "Oxford - Last Night" folder in the pictures directory linked below.)
I missed N a lot. I thought a lot about our relationship and what kind of person I am, and some of the things that need to change. It's a step by step process, but I know the things in me I don't like, and I know how to fix them. Sometimes that involves a lot of internal "oh STFU ALREADY", but that seems to be as good a technique as any.
I came back more confident than I've felt in a long time.
I learned how to break oversize, scary things into very small manageable pieces.
It seems odd that 1 overseas trip could do so much to me, but it did. I'm so glad I didn't let fear overrun me, that I didn't choose stagnation.
I'm so glad I had that opportunity.
Pictures are Here! Enjoy!
The 2nd to last weekend I went to Stratford, as I mention in a previous entry. The last weekend I was there, I went to Bath (2 hour bus ride).
Now, as far as history is concerned, I enjoyed Bath a lot more. The ancient Roman Baths are the main attraction, and the shape and layout of the Baths were kept as closely as possible. There's a fancy audio tour that you can take at your leisure, the admission was reasonable, and they don't keep a very close eye on who leans over to touch the water. You can see everything, although you're not permitted to actually get close to the water in the Sacred Spring. Also, you get a chance to see that the Romans had some damn fine engineers (see "hypocaust pilae").
You can spend 2 hours in the Baths, easily. There's tons to learn.
Unfortunately, the rest of Bath was rather boring. Every Brit that I talked to about where I was going was excited and told me how much they loved Bath, whereas they were all rather unenthusiastic about Stratford... but out of the 2, Stratford had much more that I was interested in seeing and doing. Bath has Jane Austen's house and the Museum of Costume, neither of which struck a chord with me. I was interested in Microworld, but unfortunately couldn't find it. (It doesn't help that the entire time I was in England, I couldn't follow a map to save my life. Every time I took a turn, it ALWAYS turned out to be in the wrong direction. *sigh*)
I WANNA GO BACK TO ENGLAND. I loved it there. It's pricey as hell, but it's just beautiful. Getting to London and flying out was incredible... my driver and I managed to hit a few different weather systems, and everything was just budding and green and looked so crisp. (side note : I can't even tell you how bummed I am I'm missing summer in England. When I left, everything was budding, just getting ready to flower, and I know it has to be spectacular.)
Then I was stuck on a plane for 8 hours, and I didn't get the window seat I was scheduled to have. (On the plus side, I was at least in an aisle seat, and the guy next to me was a FINE-looking British man.) And of course N was a half hour late picking me up. My fault, really, I expected customs to take for-freaking-ever, and I warned him about that, so he came a little later. Of course I had NO US coins to make a phone call, my cell was dead, and the pay phones that claimed they'd take credit cards didn't. I was cranky and jetlagged and sweaty and ready to get out of a freakin' airport already. Of course, everything perked right up when he got there, I saw him, and the first thing I thought was "he's cute!" Ain't it funny how your memory can't hold on to faces very well? It was like seeing him for the first time all over again. :)
Anyway, my life has settled back into its old routine now. *sigh* Eventually I'll get over "I WANNA GO BACK TO ENGLAND!" but I think it'll take a little while.
I don't have much to say about work. I did it, I did a lot of it, it was lovely to meet all the people in the UK that I've had names for but not faces or personalities. I met some wonderful people, and went drinking with some of them. (side note : if you can find this beer, Oranjeboom, buy it. I really liked it.) And believe it or not, I miss my fellow programmer a LOT. We got along so well, and he had the ability to make me laugh until I had tears running down my face. I will say that it's a damn good thing we got along, since for the last 2 weeks, we were sitting in a small room with just the 2 of us. Before I left, he gave me a gift of a collection of British coins, since he knew I was enamored with British money, and was of course trying to collect 'em all. So he collected 'em for me and told me to spend my money :) So thoughtful.
This was a great opportunity for growth:
Going to England was the first time I'd really been away from home.
I had to force myself to get to know people, force myself to go out, force myself to go new places. And for the first time, that got easier as time went on. All of the weird anti-social agoraphobic-type fears got pushed to the back of my head, and ignored.
I made a new friend (... I think, I can't speak for my coworker), on my own, and there was absolutely no weird undercurrent of boy/girl sexual-type tension. I have never had a friend of the opposite sex where that didn't happen.
Somehow I tapped into some energy current that was the most mind-blowing, euphoric trip I've ever had. We're talking nearly 2 hours of near-tears euphoria. I had to force my way out of it before my brain exploded. For the last few days I was in England, I could feel it, like I could tap in any time I wanted, and I was almost scared to, for fear of being completely overwhelmed. (Pics from that night are in "Oxford - Last Night" folder in the pictures directory linked below.)
I missed N a lot. I thought a lot about our relationship and what kind of person I am, and some of the things that need to change. It's a step by step process, but I know the things in me I don't like, and I know how to fix them. Sometimes that involves a lot of internal "oh STFU ALREADY", but that seems to be as good a technique as any.
I came back more confident than I've felt in a long time.
I learned how to break oversize, scary things into very small manageable pieces.
It seems odd that 1 overseas trip could do so much to me, but it did. I'm so glad I didn't let fear overrun me, that I didn't choose stagnation.
I'm so glad I had that opportunity.
Pictures are Here! Enjoy!
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-17 09:05 pm (UTC)Now about those pictures... um. I saw you. And you look a LOT like a cousin of mine, except for the nose piercing. And the glasses. It frightened me.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-18 06:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-19 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-19 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-18 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-19 03:46 pm (UTC)It no doubt is darker, I haven't re-dyed it for a while.. you're seeing something closer to my natural hair color, I guess :)