I killed a slug that was crawling on my living room floor last night.

England has quite a problem with huge index-finger-sized slugs.

I poured salt on it so by osmosis, it would suffocate.

I cried as I watched it wriggle around in agony.

It was very unpleasant.

Worst moment yet in the UK. It can only go up from here ;)

Where I live

Here is the local pub. We come daily.



The view on the street on a gorgeous cloudy day...



Saturday market...



Jane Austen stayed here (there you go, Lan!)...



Downtown centre...




Well there you have it. Started my first day of training at school today: that was interesting. More on that in a bit. Love you.

Spring Vale North: the Home

You asked for it...now you get to see 9 Spring Vale North.

We'll start with the best part...the ENORMOUS bathroom. Beats Korea, non?

hahaahaaha....



My room...bookshelf and HUGE closet :)



My bedroom window and bed...sort of...




View up the street (towards town, our house is behind me)...



Front 'o the house...



View down the street (our house is on the left)...




Tiny, efficient kitchen...




Large front window...



The working (gas) fireplace...




Did you know that Dartford is home to Mick Jagger AND the Dartford Warbler? That's right...it's awesome.

Movie Recommendation

A lot of attention coming Anne Hathaway's way for her role in "Love and Other Drugs". Looks a bit cheesy and a bit delicious. Because you know how I feel about cheese.

New Movie

"127 Hours" is winding down the London Film Festival. Going to have to check it out in October.

Take a peek :)

New York City: Day Three

Day Three started at Cartier. I mean, is there a better place to start?

Great building. Sorry about the sideways pictures...I don't think the comp knows what to do with vertical pictures. I love this thing. Oh side note: all the teachers at Wilmington, Yours Truly included, are getting MacBooks for the year. To take home and use and blog on ;) and use and HAVE AROUND for general use. Nice-uh. So there, To-She-Ba haters.



Drop into St. Patrick's Church (in a strapless dress...what a cow)...



Street shot. I then got hit by this biker. Wicked.



Love love love this picture of a museum patron. Oh, we went to the MoMA this day...stunning.



They were exhibiting this amazing display about the Vietnam war. I love the multi-media art.



I also love the old standard: Matisse.



Radio City Music Hall.



...followed by a pop into Magnolia Bakery. It was wicked. They had a Carrie Cupcake (which, of course, we couldn't resist) and a devilish Red Velvet that we picked up too.



Enjoying on the subway (we even made THAT possible)...



...and peering on remnants of the Carrie...



Love this display of Helvitica font. Isn't pop culture remarkable?



Le Trois on le metro (I'm getting ready for a mini-holiday in Paris, can you tell?)...



Then we popped on the...





...for free! We saw the NYC skyline and The Statue...it was pretty wicked. And a lovely day outside to boot...who could ask for anything more?



...that was a strange sight though. On the pier was written, "AT THE SAME MOMENT". Any thoughts on what that means?

Les Filles...



C'est moi!



Laura, demonstrating her favourite cooling off pose...



As close as I could get to the Statue of Liberty...



There we are!




I love this shot. It's so Sex and the City...the Waldorf Astoria and the Chrysler Building at dusk.

Ah yes, then we subway-ed it over to Brooklyn. It was hot under that ground. REALLY hot. Alicia was laughing at me hard because I was sweating as much as I was. It was pretty embarrassing. But soon after, we were cooled off by the air con, and off to visit Anat. Here's the courthouse...

..which we then followed up with an amazing dinner at Noodle Pudding. Though the policeman at the Staten Island Ferry told us it was far too touristy, we quite liked it and the friendly staff who loaded us up on free desserts (after three bottles of wine). Nice.

Winding up the night...

Reminiscing about law school days with "the egg"...

...our host...

...Yours Truly...

...oh the laughs that followed were rich.

What a great end to a great night...

Thursday was our last day...I'll get around to posting about it in its entirety.

Have a great day!

Taking a Break

I'm going to take a quick break from the NYC blogging to fill you in on my new life in England. Yes folks, I'm in England. Finally. The summer was SO rewarding, so amazing (as you'll see in post after post...the To-She-Ba is pretty darn slow and blogging in a pub sort of sucks), and just flew by. But in retrospect, it was time to move on. And so here I am, living in Dartford, just southwest of London. Here's how it went down...

I arrived at Gatwick (south of London) after an uneventful flight with Air Transat. My luggage cost as much as my plane ticket, since I was 40 kilos over the weight allowance, but I made it there with everything I need (mom doesn't need to send the winter clothes here this time around...you're welcome Mother Hen). I slept the ENTIRE way, save the moments when I stopped to eat and drink. Not once did I stop to pee: sleep was paramount. A kind woman from my recruiter was waiting for me at the airport and, after helping me lug the 70 kilos of luggage onto the train, we were off to see the recruiter. Now THAT was a worthless trip, being that I only had to provide a copy of my visa and my police check. But following my opening of a bank account and tiny tour of Clapham Junction, I was back on a train to Dartford.

Dartford is lovely. It is a quaint town with loads of people my age (who were more than likely born here and never moved). There is a pub on every single corner, and the food is delicious. I haven't eaten much since I've gotten here because I was so nervous about accomodation. Ryan and his girlfriend Ang moved into a place, but had to confirm that I could sign on as a third party. Apparently the landlady wasn't too thrilled about the idea. Finally after nearly two full days here, the two of them joined Jocelyn (another new teacher friend of mine) at the pub and announced that we were roomies! It was thrilling. And you should see this place: it's two stories (a full house), with a huge bathroom (no exaggeration...compared to Korea, it's Versailles), a washing machine, a full dining room and living room, as well as a ... wait for it...backyard. What?! Yes. A backyard. I loves it.

So we're all set now. I have done most of the brutal administrative work and am now just shopping for house stuff. We have yet to set up the internet at home, so we're here at the pub. I've met all the teachers at the school and for the most part, they're pretty solid. They're older than the teenage crowd back in Korea (sorry, guys...but really), so I'm sure we have a little more in common. Plus, we're teaching our subject areas, so I'm sure ther will be a bit more planning (and subsequential stress) than I found in The East. Sigh. A real job...now I know how it feels ;)

They have tea here. I know that's a no brainer, but after a year missing it like MAD, I'm thrilled to see it everywhere. And they take it like I do: with milk. Ahhh...happy now.

Oh, the fridge is a beer fridge...hilarious. I can't wait to fill that up with three days worth of vegetables!

One more thing...Alicia passed her last course and will graduate from university with a B.Sc.N (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) in the fall. I am SO proud of her :) Congratulations, Friend. Touch boobs.

More to come...pics yet to be taken.

Much love.

New York City: Day Two

Annnnd we're here. Hopped on a train from Greenwich to Grand Central and we were hitting the big city. Harlem, what?!



Coffee spilled, sunglasses nearly broke, but we were happy as clams.

I think I might buy some Starbucks shares, given the amount we drank this week.

I might sound like the penultimate tourist, but this was EXACTLY like the movies. Swoon...

And the trinkets! Oh how I love taking pics of trinkets :)

And the Whoopie Goldburg? Nice.

"Can I take your picture?"

"Sure!"

Times Square...off to get tix for Broadway. Sigh.

Oh, loved this sign.

Me. In the subway.

Us. In the subway.

Alright...here is the crowd at TKTS...the ultimate place for cheap...sigh...Broadway tix.

What I wanted to see (because of Matt Weaver and Glee)...

What Laura wanted to see...

Laura getting her way...

Translation: the seats for Promises Promises were far worse than Le Cage aux Folles, and the price wasn't much different.

Actual translation: poor me. At least we got to see Kelsey Grammar!!! "Tossed salads and scrambled eggs...quite stylish."

Alright, what would a post be if not full of kids? I found this one on Broadway after the famed one liner from the photo store guy. Let me tell that story first...

I walked into a camera store on Broadway near TKTS. I asked for a memory card, about 2 gigs is all I needed, or so I thought (wound up overusing the 8 gig stick I ended up buying over the course of the next two weeks...yikes! What IS a gig anyway? I still don't know). The gentleman giggled when I balked at the price: $299.99 on sale for $199.99. I'm serious. He told the guy at the cash register, "It's $49.99."

I stared, open-mouthed at this man. Was he joking?

I replied, "Are you serious? That card is worth $12."

"I believe you, sweetheart," he coyly retorted. "Welcome to Broadway."

Nice-uh.

Anyway, we continued on to the Duane Reade drugstore for, as it turned out, more than water, and lunched just outside on the closed-down portion of the street where fashion was being displayed. I love the city. And I found this kid. I eventually carried his damn chair for him because I'm a sucker, but god was he cute struggling a bit with it...

And I need to note that this pic was taken with Laura's supreme camera. though my new blue one is swell, it does not hold a card to her mega-beaut.

Loving lunching on Broadway...

BFF's loving each OTHER on Broadway...

And then we hit up the Empire State Building. After asking a man at the door if this was actually the Empire State Building and then being asked out on a date, we headed up the 86 floors in a few short minutes. It was breathtaking.

Nice shot, Laur ;)

Laura's failed attempt to get us all in one shot...

The Man Walking By's successful attempt....

I still just LOVE Asian kids...

South end of the city. Gorge.

Um, east side? Not really sure. It was a hazy day, as you can see, but boy was it remarkable up there :)

Ah yes, that flag...

Have I posted this one already? I don't know...oh no...this is the one she calls, "Laura's Boobs"

"But you can't leave New York. You're the CHRYSLER Building!" --Carrie Bradshaw

The Yellow Cabs...

And then, we hit up Broadway. Thanks for the camo dress, Laura ;) LOVES it!

On our walk to the show...

Magnifique...

Le Cage aux Folles...

The Girls are THRILLED at this point. Me? I was too once I saw Kelsey Grammar, I must admit!

Alicia, loving life after the show...

Laura and I at the local pub, loving it just as much ;)

And then we went for a drink at Upstairs, the bar above the Kimberly Hotel on 50th Street. It was 12:45 and the place closed at 1, but we were told to head up. When we arrived, we were told we could have one drink, ONE DRINK at THE BAR, and then were showed TO the bar. Um, we know where the bar is. We got our drink, then promptly headed outside to enjoy the namesake of the bar: the view upstairs. Duh. Ten seconds later, we were told they were closing and that we had to leave. We were thrilled. Oh well, it was fun nonetheless to spend 15 dollars for a drink and then be rejected ;)

We finished the damn drinks.

Some of us seemed more finished than others...

...and some even more so twenty seconds later...

I love you both SO much.