Wordless Wednesday ~ 46: Happy Birthday Dad!

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My Dad is 65 today and like me, he has a terrible sense of humour.  This is him pretending to be a shop mannequin. 

Which Camera?

The time has come to buy a new camera but I keep procrastinating and delaying because there are just so many different models to choose from.  I’m also a bit frustrated at the moment because no matter how much my photography has improved over the past two years, the one area that has simply not improved is my concert photography.

Obojeni Program at Exit Festival 2010 by Exit Festival

Quite simply, I want to take photos like this one.  Now December1975 gave me some excellent technical advice but one thing is for sure, I need a camera with better image stabilisation and better zoom than my current camera.  I’m looking for what is known as a ‘bridge’ camera as I am not quite ready for a DSLR.  I definitely want a viewfinder but appreciate an LCD screen and I’d like the ability to put my own penlight batteries in.  Video is not really a concern for me.  This is my current shortlist:

Fujifilm FinePix S2800 HD Digital Camera 14MP 18x Zoom 3.0 inch LCD Screen £199
Pentax X90 Digital Camera 12MP 26x Optical Zoom  2.7 inch LCD screen £215
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS Digital Camera 12.1MP 20x Optical Zoom 2.5 inch LCD screen £274
Nikon P100 Digital Camera 10.3MP 26x Optical Zoom  3.0 inch LCD screen £277

 

I guess what I am looking for from you, dear reader, is some advice.  Do you have any experience with any of these cameras? Are there any you would steer clear of or anything I should beware of? 

Any advice would be absolutely appreciated and I hope you don’t mind if I ask you lots of questions in return.

Normal Programming Will Resume Shortly

It has been three whirlwind weeks in which my in-laws and friend Patrick visited from South Africa and we all went up to Scotland for a week in the middle of that.  Patrick left last week and my in-laws left last night and I look and feel as glum as Molly in the photo above.  The good news, dear blogging friends, is that normal programming will resume shortly on Emm in London as I have so much still to share with you about my travels to Serbia, Isle of Wight and now Scotland.  I am starting studying again next Monday so my actual outings will be limited somewhat until I go to South Africa in December but I am sure I’ll find something to keep us all occupied!

By the way, my dear dog was not being deprived or tortured, honest! Stephen had just gone out to the shops which always makes her interminably glum and sad until he comes back home.  You’ll be pleased to know that she couldn’t care less when I leave home; don’t I feel special!

Sony Preview Screening: “Eat Pray Love”

Last night I went along to Sony Pictures in the West End to watch a preview screening of Julia Roberts’ new film Eat, Pray, Love.  The film is being released on 24 September 2010 and it was fun to see it so nice and early!  We were fed pizza on arrival and then lead into one of Sony’s special viewing theatres and it was all quite posh.  The film was followed by a discussion panel consisting of a travel blogger, yoga teacher, food blogger and dating blogger.

I’ll be sure to upload my review over at Addicted to Media but the film certainly got me thinking.  It is hard to judge a film like Eat, Pray, Love because it is akin to judging another woman’s very personal travel experience.  Eat, Pray, Love is a true story based on the journey of journalist and writer Liz Gilbert.  Liz was paid a handsome advance by her publisher that enabled her to make her year-long journey but there is no doubt that she was spiritually bankrupt and suffering the effects of her divorce when she embarked on her trip.  In short – she needed to go and find herself.

I follow a lot of travel writers and bloggers on Twitter and there are certainly many serial travellers out there.  There are couples who are taking an adult gap year or career break, young adventurers just out of school or university who are touring the world for a year or two and, of course, there are professional travel writers or perpetual travellers who have managed to monetise their blogs.

It all seems so glamorous and exciting but I’m also relieved that it is not me.  Quite simply, I love my life.  It can be frustrating and hard and disappointing even but I travel not to escape or to find myself but to experience more of the world and to drink in other cultures and countries.  As I mentioned earlier, it is not a judgement at all but just a realisation that I wouldn’t want to perpetually travel the world.  I like having a job and my husband and my life and that is what makes my travel experiences so important to me. 

Having said all of that though, I think in some ways I have done exactly what Liz Gilbert did.  Being an expat can be monumentally alienating, bewildering and lonely at times.  I came from a country with nine month summers to one with five months of bitter winter and I’m generally fluey for four of them.  Perhaps importantly, I battled the winter blues and the residual effects of traumatic experiences that I had in my home country.  Running this blog has been my own little journey of self-discovery.  Friends often remark to me that I seem to ‘do so much’ but that has always been the purpose of this blog.  Being an eternal tourist, seeing the quirky things in every day life and showing my readers the world through my eyes is my way of reminding myself that I am alive and it has been the most life-affirming, inspiring and, yes, therapeutic processes I have ever undertaken,  Thank you all for being part of that journey!

Um, *cough*, I’d be interested in knowing if Eat, Pray, Love has generated similar epiphanies in other bloggers / travellers / expats.  It is certainly not the best film I’ve ever seen, based as it was on a priv-lit book but it sure got me thinking!  Here is the trailer for the film:

 

 

(Oh and in order to avoid constantly repeating myself, I’m not going to apologise again for being behind on comments and commenting.  I mean, I am sorry but I just don’t see life slowing down in the next seven days so I’ll try get back on the wagon again next week)

This was the point at which…

… I seriously began to doubt that I’d get home tonight.  (Or why snow turns me into Mrs Scroogey MacGrinch).

This was taken at 4:30pm this afternoon.  I guess I shouldn’t complain, I got home at 6pm.  It usually takes me 15 minutes to walk from the train station but I was slipping and sliding all over the place and it took me 30 minutes!  All told, from the time I left work to the time I got home, it took two hours!

I spent most of last week sick in bed and was actually happy to be back at work today.  I’d even like to go in tomorrow so I hope the weather obliges!  Thank goodness it is Winter Solstice tonight and the days will be getting that much longer from tomorrow.

My brother is out of hospital and safe and sound back at home.  (He was hospitalised for ketoacidosis, a complication of diabetes, last Tuesday).  He is very weak though and can’t eat properly yet.  We came very, very close to losing him and it was the most frightening experience of my life.   I felt all the more powerless because I wasn’t allowed in the hospital because of my cold!! 

Anyway, I do hope hope to get back into some schedule of blogging as I am leave next week.  I have a couple more New York posts which I hope to get done by Christmas and then I have quite a few London posts lined up which should take us right into the new year.  Of course, there is the small matter of our central heating still being broken which is what caused my cold in the first place so we’ll see how much I get done aside from snuggling up in bed with a good book!  We live in hope that the central heating will be fixed by Christmas.

Halloween Haircut Horror!

I know Halloween is already a distant memory for some but I just had to tell the world of the horrifying experience I had on Saturday!  We got up bright and early and went to our usual restaurant in Dartford for a full English breakfast.  May I take this opportunity to present exhibit A, evidence of my very long hair that morning.

 
Emm with hair // Yummy breakfast // Mister Emm looking gorgeous

We go to the Wetherspoons in Spital Street, Dartford and I usually get a traditional breakfast for £2.69 and Stephen gets a large breakfast for £3.89.  It is so good that we go every single Saturday morning!  Anyway, back to Halloween… after breakfast, we went to the salon next door, Raw.

 

In retrospect, I should have realised something was up the minute I walked into the salon. 

I wasn't even perturbed when a witch came to pick Stephen up for his haircut!

It was around the time that I realised that The Devil was going to be doing my hair that  realised something was seriously not right.

I took one last look at Stephen stuck away in the corner with Liewe Heksie and I sat in the chair and resigned myself to my fate.

 

First, Her Devilness measured my hair to maximise the devastating effects of her actions, then she heartlessly chopped off my ponytail and held up her prize for all to see.

With an evil muah-ha-ha-ha, she put the final touches on her evil plan.

As you can see, I was devastated by the results.

With one last look at the hellish Alice in Wonderland, I finally made my escape!

The haunted Raw Salon looked so normal from the outside!

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I hope you liked my little Halloween story!  The real tale is that I went to cut off my pony tail so that I could donate it to Banbury Postiche who make natural hair wigs for chemotherapy patients (amongst other uses).  I knew that Raw were also dressing up and raising money for charity that day and thought it would be a fantastic photo opportunity.  As first time clients, Stephen and I were each given a 30% discount which certainly helped towards the cost.  We needed a minimum of six inches of hair and we managed just over ten inches.  It was an absolutely amazing experience to finally cut it off as I have been trying for so long to grow it long enough.  Just in case my post was confusing, let me just say I was really happy with the haircut and this was the best salon I have ever been to!  They were so friendly and accommodating and I loved the massaging chairs in the hair washing room.

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I’ve decided to also raise money for the NACCPO* and am asking people to sponsor me per inch of hair donated.

"The National Alliance of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisations (NACCPO) is made up of parent run organisations that have common aims of working together to support children and young adults with cancer" - NACCPO

There is no minimum donation and every little bit helps.  Remember to include your blog address in your message so that I can thank you and show your blog some link love!  The money donated doesn’t come anywhere near me and goes straight to the charity via JustGiving.  JustGiving give the full donation amount to the charity and make their money from Gift Aid which is the money made on tax breaks on donations from British residents.

Donating money is not the only way to help me.  You can also Stumble or Digg this article using the “share” button below or you can link to the post on Twitter or Facebook.  I don’t usually ask for so much attention but this is for a good cause!!!

I'd just like to express my thanks that my Dad has been clear of cancer for two years and that my Auntie Barbara has a good prognosis. We lost my step-Auntie Lorraine to this year after a long battle against lung cancer.

Where I Work: Autumn arrives

If I had to pick out my absolute worst habit, I would have to say that it is neglecting to take lunch breaks.  I get into work around 9am and work straight through until 5pm before running off to catch the train.  I’m terrible!  The last time I took a lunch break was in August and before that I think it was May when I had lunch at Joes!   

One of the biggest differences between England and South Africa is that we have four seasons here.  In Johannesburg, we had 9 months of scorching hot summer and 12 long weeks of ice cold nights and dry, hot days (that is winter!)  All Jo’burgers complain bitterly about the winter and we take for granted the fact that there are more dry, warm, sunny days then the whole of the English summer!

So, combining my rare lunch break and noticing the seasonal changes, I thought I’d post some of the photos I’ve taken on my Nokia N70 over the past 6 months.  All of these photos are taken in the recently renamed St George’s Churchyard Gardens in SE1.  You can read a bit more about the history of the gardens here.

Spring / early summer

This was taken on the 1st of May this year.  Spring was in full bloom and all the beautiful shades of green were starting to emerge.  I love that heady, balmy early summer feeling in England.  We didn’t get that in Jo’burg – it was freezing one day and then summer arrived the next. 

Late Summer

This was my third straight summer in England and in my opinion, it has been the warmest, nicest summer so far.  The first summer in 2007 was alternatively freezing and boiling (as in freezing all the time except when I was on crowded trains) and last year was pretty miserable.

This photo was taken on the 18th of August.  I’d managed to tear myself away from the office and made it about twenty minutes before running back inside!  (I’m shaking my head ruefully right now).

My building is the ivy covered building in the background.  A year after I first posted about the gardens, we are still waiting for Southwark Council to cut back the ivy!!!

Autumn

Taken today.  The leaves are turning orange, red and brown and falling to the ground and autumn is definitely here!  Despite the fact that it is nearly the end of October, I was sitting there today with a sleeveless shirt and a lightweight mac on! 

I managed to sit for a whole half an hour in the gardens today.  I’m reading a really good book (Marked) and I simply had to read as much as I could!

Winter

It has been a long and glorious summer and hopefully I’ll have enough sunny memories to last me through the winter.  I got really bad winter blues the past two years (last year it was exacerbated by having flu for two months) so I am coming out fighting this year!!  Every time I feel blue I can look back on these pictures and start planning my trip to Europe next summer. 

Next Summer

We were planning a road trip around Italy but now I am toying with driving from Dartford (in England), taking a ferry to France and then driving to Portugal.  Sheila from A Postcard a Day posted some gorgeous postcards from Portugal lately and I follow an awesome Portuguese photo blog Photo PT.  Going to Italy is still one of my biggest dreams but going to Portugal next year might just work better.  And the biggest reason for going to Portugal?  I could get to meet one of my best blogging friends Blue Kermit.

Moving update and London Fashion Week

Well, the move took place with less bother than I had anticipated but we still have to give our old house a big spit and polish before we hand it over next week. When you are renting, it is never just enough to hand it over in the condition in which you received it. You have to really shine the place up and make a virtual show house of it if you hope to get your deposit back! We finished the upstairs last weekend and we had such a feeling of accomplishment when we finished on Saturday night! We were just in time to relax and catch up on X Factor from the week previous before watching the current X Factor episode. I was a big X Factor fan before they changed the format this year - there is no way I would have waited a week before watching it had it been last year!

Our Sky was only installed on Saturday morning which was the reason for the delay in television viewing and we received our telephone line on Monday morning. I'd advertise my home telephone number on this public blog only I hate talking on the telephone! I do it all day at work so spending my personal time on the phone is not my idea of fun. Oh, and there's that whole world of internet stalking that I'd like to avoid. (Sorry, not having internet access at home has started to make my brain go soft).

The great news is that our router arrived today and we will go live on Friday so normal programming should resume soon. A big thank you goes out to O2 Broadband who rushed our order in on Monday after we discovered that our previous provider, Be Broadband do not supply our area in Dartford. Be Broadband have absolutely super service and lightning fast internet speeds so I would absolutely recommend them. I was really sad when they confirmed that they could not supply our area but am happy to go with O2 as I am really satisfied with them being my mobile phone provider and they give three months free broadband. So smiles all round then!

In the meantime, I'm still trying to catch up with blogs and comments which is not easy with no home internet access! I do tend to spend my days working as unlikely as that might seem! If you visit the side of my blog, you'll see my Twitter feed. I often post links to other fantastic travel or photography blogs and websites so feel free to follow me. I follow all non-spammy, real people but do tend to shy away from people who post a hundred times a day!

Luella - London Fashion Week 2010 [source]

I've chatted about the fabulous Evening Standard reader offers and discount card before and this special was too good not to share. Get two for one tickets to events at the London Fashion Week by visiting the Evening Standard This Is London website.

It is the 25th anniversary this year and many top fashion houses have returned to London this year to celebrate so I’d really recommend going!

Bits and Bobs

Hi everybody.  I don’t often make off-topic posts but I been wanting to say hi for a little while now and to share a couple of things.  Don’t worry – I’ll be back soon with a post on one of my most memorable and exciting experiences in New York!

Christmas Plans

I've just booked our Christmas stay at the Hawkwell House Hotel in Oxford.  That is the wonderful cosy hotel we stayed in last year while we were on our Road Trip around England. As you can see from the image below, I didn’t get a chance to take my own photo of the hotel and that is just not good enough for a budding photographer such as myself!

 
Picture courtesy of HawkwellHouse.co.uk

So, the plan is to spend Christmas there and take the time to sit by that gorgeous fire and sip some hot chocolate and generally have a cosy, happy Christmas.  And to take some of my own photos of course.  We usually spend Christmas in Liverpool with my Dad but unfortunately have to stay near London this year as Stephen is on call.

Blogging friends

This blog has grown so much in such a short time.  When Emm in London was featured as a Blog of Note, my subscribers increased from 80 to over 750 in one week.  It has been crazy trying to keep up with that!  As you may have noticed, I respond to each and every comment on my blog (eventually) and I always visit commenter’s blogs to learn more about them.  But Google Friend Connect isn’t really user friendly and I’m struggling to wade through this buggy application to find the blogs of everyone now following me.

Let me just say that I appreciate everyone who reads, follows, subscribes and comments on this blog.  Thank you – you absolutely make it a pleasure to blog; I don’t take it for granted and I am humbled that people would take the time.  If you are following and have wondered why I haven’t visited your blog or noticed you then I do apologise.  If you do take the time to comment and introduce yourself then it will make it so much easier for me!  So don’t be shy!

Spam

Having said that, like most bloggers out there today, I do delete spam comments on my blog.  If you are unsure what spam is, then you can visit this excellent post.  Don’t let the article scare you away from commenting though; basically, spam is when you comment on someone’s blog and don’t really read what they say at all but leave a link in the body saying “visit my blog!” or “read my blog post!”.  It’s not really a nice thing to do and it’s a little rude.  I’m more likely to give people the benefit of the doubt but often have to delete spam comments from obvious spammers. 

Comment Form

There are pros and cons to using the comment form that I use.  The pro is that if you log in with your name and URL (blog address) you’ll get a link straight to your blog.  The con is that it is also buggy and it often gives you a nasty error message.  If you get that error message, just try press “post comment” again and it should eventually work.  Like I said, it’s just buggy.

Links

In the past, I’ve always had my links open in a new window but recently I have been told that this is a bad practice and that the links get caught in people’s pop up blockers.  I use a tabbed browser and open all my links in another tab and carry on reading the original page, so I thought other people would do that too.  What do you think?  Do you prefer links to open in a new window / tab or do you prefer to click on a link and immediately go to that page?  I’ve turned it off for this post now but await your feedback!

Moving House (again)

I only moved to the UK in July 2007 and moved into our first rental in September 2007.  After a year, the owner decided to sell and we had to move.  This year again the exact same thing has happened and we have to move again!  It is crazy and I wish we had a little stability.  The good news is that we hope to be able to get on to the property market in a year, the bad news is I have to do my least favourite thing on earth – move. 

So, this is happening next week.  My posts might be a little patchy as I unfortunately don’t have a library of ready-made and scheduled posts waiting for me!!  Bad blogger!  Please bear with me over the next couple of weeks and I’ll be back with regular posts after that. 

The very good news is that I am moving to Dartford which is a lovely old town on the very outskirts of London.  Actually, I think it is officially outside of London.  Hopefully, I’ll get to do more adventuring and touring around Dartford than I managed to do around Sidcup.

That’s all I have to say today.  Like I said, I don’t often make posts like this but I did just wanted to touch base with people and say hi and thank you and don’t be shy but try not to spam. 

The Expat Curse: Saying goodbye

There are a couple of curses in the expat experience.  From browsing expat blogs this weekend, I’ve seen mention of never fitting in to one’s adopted homeland; finally settling into a new life just to have to move again and not being able to gain employment at the level previously achieved.

This weekend I’ve experienced personal heartbreak and the worst expat curse of all: having one’s loved ones move back home.  People often emigrate to new shores in groups and it’s never going to work out for everyone.  There will always come a time when some of the group go back.

So for their last weekend in England, Sara, Donovan and Keira spent the weekend at my house and I followed them around as they wrapped things up.

Guildford Cathedral [taken on my Nokia N70]

We went through to Guildford Cathedral yesterday.  Guildford Cathedral reminded us of The Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa.  They both have the same really ugly architecture on the outside but at least the cathedral is reasonably pretty on the inside.  We went there because Donovan was performing with the joint Guildford Choral Society and Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra’s production of Verdi’s  Requiem.  They had a four-hour practice yesterday afternoon and I was fortunate enough to sit through an hour of rehearsal.  It was majestic!

Inside Guildford Cathedral [taken on my Nokia N70]

    

Keira enjoyed watching her daddy perform but she didn’t like the loud drums!  Her daddy has always been a good singer and attended the Drakensberg Boys Choir.  I uploaded a short video of the practice to YouTube.

We decided to save Keira’s nerves and ears and we went through to Guildford Town Centre so that Sara could go to the bank.

Abbot's Hospital [taken on my Nokia N70]

It really is a picturesque little town and I enjoyed taking some photos from the roof top of a parking garage while Sara and Keira went to the bank.  I definitely think we’ll go back there one morning and hopefully visit Godalming too.

A view up Guildford High Street (showing Guild Hall ) and Guildford Castle [taken on my Nokia N70]

We then went and finished packing up the house and handed the keys to the estate agent.

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Today was a little more serious.  I woke up and immediately wished I hadn’t.  It took me a while before I felt like facing everyone and then I had to rush back upstairs as I started crying.

It wasn’t properly explained to Keira what was going on but she picked up on all the tension and she looked as sad as I felt.

Stephen took this photo of me watching Keira and I was pretty miserable!  Actually, all I could think was “do NOT cry in front of the three-year-old”.  Anyway, as they were taking three massive suitcases, there was no room for me in the car.  They left around 1pm and by now they will be in the air.  I’m very sad.

Exams results

I passed all three exams with credit and am now the proud holder of a National General Certificate in Health and Safety.  "Credit" is not quite a distinction but it is a convincing pass.  [insert massive sigh of relief and big grin here]

Interview with Emm

I don't often stray off topic here at Emm in London but I saw Ivanhoe's interview over at her blog and thought that it sounded like a great idea.

Without further ado, here are my answers to the questions that Ivanhoe gave to me:

1. What/who do you miss the most from South Africa?

I miss my Mum as she is still there.  Hopefully she'll move over here in the next three months.  I also miss my best friend Heather and my friend Patrick who we used to spend the most time going to movies and hanging out with. 

I also miss the landscapes and beauty of South Africa although a England in summer is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

2. How did you end up in London?

The major reason was that my husband needed to move to a country where his field is taken seriously.  He is a health and safety manager but companies in South Africa often break the law if they can get away with it and certainly don't take the field of health and safety seriously.  As a whole, people in South Africa are not as acquiescent as they are overseas and there are high crime rates too - another reason that we moved over here.

3. What things do you enjoy doing on the weekends?

After studying last autumn and having the in-laws over in December, I am currently enjoying just relaxing in my free time.  I watch lots of television, read books, watch films, listen to music and then blog all about it over at my media blog.  This year I have a couple of projects that I will start putting into place in the next week: I'm learning Italian with my friend Cristina in Portugal; making Valentine's cards; learning HTML and XHTML; and doing lots and lots of exercise.  The biggest thing I like to do is to tour around the countryside taking photos and blogging about it here but I do tend to do that less in winter than in summer!

4. If you won a round trip ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go & why?

My absolute dream is to go to New York City.  I have been obsessed with new York for a long time and have a huge picture of the Manhattan skyline hanging in my sitting room. I decided that as with so many other of my dreams in the past, 2009 was the year and so I am going in June along with Heather and my co-worker Marilyn.  Cannot wait. 

To answer the question though, if I won a ticket right now I'd go somewhere tropical like the islands in the Pacific Ocean.  Or maybe I'd go on a grand tour of Thailand.  That's only because I am craving sunshine!

5. What is the first thing you do when you get home from work?

Make myself a nice cup of tea and enjoy five minutes alone before my husband and brother arrive home.

Now if you'd like to be interviewed:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." 
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Older holiday pictures

I've been considering for some time putting up some pictures from before I began this blog.  Mostly, I have loads of honeymoon pictures looking for a good home and we visited Dubai in 2005 and took some awesome pictures there.  Well, what better time to start than now, when I am just so sick!

I've also wanted to share a bit about South Africa too and how beautiful it is.  Here are pictures from our last holiday in South Africa before we emigrated.  I seem to remember that definitely being one of our wetter summers!

Hiatus

"In the interests of health and safety"... how often do you hear those words these days? Do you understand why you hear those words? Do you know the case history behind the seriously unsafe actions or omissions that companies have committed which resulted in injury or even death to their employees or members of the public? Well I do. More to the point, I'm writing my two exams on the subject on Friday and so thought it only polite to warn that in the interests of health and safety, this blog will be on hiatus until at least the weekend. Don't think I've forsaken you - it will be a short and not entirely sweet break from my adventures. Think of it as the calm before my road trip around UK storm. :0)

Aspirations

I've made a decision. When I finish studying this course, I am going to reward myself by learning some basic photography. I might possibly buy a new camera if mine turns out to be of lesser quality but I honestly think the problem is me, not the camera. I've taken some amazing shots before with that camera.

Talking of studies, I think I was too sick last weekend to mention that I got 76% on my mock exam. It turns out I am quite the Health and Safety geek which is fabulous considering I married Enviro Man.

I took the picture above in the summer of 2007. I had just arrived here and I took the District Line to Ealing Broadway. I think. Getting forgetful in my old age - that's why I need to type everything out. It's like Emm's Illustrated Guide for Use in Advanced Years. Anyway, I love trains and the Underground and this is one of my favourite photos that I have taken.

About me

I've been tagged by Funky Doodle Donkey to take part in this meme.

It has taken me about 10 days to respond to the tag, so we shall have to see how I go about writing up weird (as opposed to mundane) facts about myself and I'm still undecided as to whether I will tag other people. [In answer to your next question, yes. I do tend to get very tetchy and cranky when I am studying].

1. My name is Amanda or Mandy for short. I spent 34 years of my life refusing to let people call me Amanda and then on a whim, decided to start calling myself Amanda when I came to the UK. The biggest reason for this is that I couldn't stand having to spell 'Mandy' all the time. In contrast, I have only had to spell 'Amanda' once in 15 months. My colleagues think this is hilarious and call me 'Mandy' from time to time to see if I will respond. I do, I always do - with a smile.
2. My middle name is Serena and I love that it is spelled the same way as Serena Williams and Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl. My Mum named me after her mother Sarine, as is the Sephardi tradition but she imagined a flowery, dreamy little girl and thus spelled it in the fashion of 'serene'. She got an outrageous tearaway instead but whenever I do one of those numerology-type quizzes, they always depict 'Serena' as a ruthless, ambitious, materialistic person.
3. I used to be very much that type of person. I was a workaholic and I hated Fridays because it signaled the end of my work week. Of course, I soon discovered that I could go into work on Saturdays and Sundays and this made Fridays seem more bearable. I used to speed everywhere too, easily hitting speeds of 80mph on suburban roads. Thankfully, my Dad's lessons of 'you're never in too much of a hurry to make it alive to your destination' began to seep into my life and soon all areas of my life were saturated by that lesson. I work overtime maybe one or two days a month now and that is usually as much a result of me playing on the Internet at work as it is month end commitments and deadlines.
4. I am absolutely mad about music and I have 14,000 songs on my iPod. Stephen once flew me to the UK to see a Pixies concert. Well, the story goes that I received an email from a friend telling me that Pixies were to play a couple of live shows in London. A quick check on the Internet showed that the dates were sold out already - they had sold out on 15 minutes. I went and sat in the lounge and sulked and then I said, "Oh FFS, next they'll tell me that Cranes are playing that week too". Now, Cranes are my Favourite Band in the World Ever. I had lived and breathed every day in the hope that I might one day see Cranes in concert. The only reason I even said something as strange as that was that I knew that it would never happen. Cranes hadn't bought out an albums in ages and they certainly weren't touring. Or so I thought. I walked back to my study and the very next email was from Cranes Fan Forum announcing UK tour dates within one week of the Pixies concert. Stephen must have seen the look on my face then (because no one knows how to have a temper tantrum like a 31-year-old woman). He scuttled off to the computer and came back and said, "if you can get tickets to the show, I will buy your plane ticket". (Yes, I know - we are married and pool finances. But it's the thought that counts). The rest is, as they say, history. My best friend Heather and I got tickets on eBay and we zooted off to London in June 2004 to see Pixies and Cranes. And in 14 days time, I'll be seeing Cranes again in Hoxton. Something else I never thought would happen. Strangely enough, my music is so important to me that I rarely blog about it on my media blog. I just feel frustrated that I can't adequately express my love for music and the bands I like.
5. I have very many interests and certainly like to be in awe of life at every moment. I just like to live with passion. Apart from music, I like everything media related: books, film, television, theatre, comedy and art. I like my husband and my pets. I have lots of friends and tend to stay in touch with people but in the past years I have sought the comfort of my home above socialising and going out. It might be more accurate to say I have become a hermit actually!
6. I'm South African. Well, I was born in South Africa and my family moved to Liverpool, England when I was 18 months old. We stayed in England until I was nine, except for about 9 months spent in Nigeria where my Dad was on contract. Then we moved back to South Africa and I absolutely hated it. At nine years old I had a broad scouse accent and I just didn't get South African kids. I came from a world where we played paper chase through the streets of Rainhill and we stayed out until 8pm or later in summer riding around the neighbourhood or climbing trees in the hospital grounds. South Africa, even in 1982, was an insular world of ten-foot high fences surrounding well to do homes in sprawling, leafy neighbourhoods. Kids didn't play in the street and you visited people's home by invitation and prior arrangement only. People drive everywhere in South Africa and that sense of community where the lady at the sweet shop knows your name was gone. In 25 years in South Africa the one thing I never, ever got used to was searing heat on Christmas Day.
7. I moved back to England on 03 July 2007. I was very, very happy at the cold Christmas last year and I loved the bright lights that I have come to associate with that time of year. I love that it is dark when I walk to work in the mornings and that it is dark again in the evenings. Winter I can deal with - if I have a good coat and ear-warmers. A rainy half-excuse for a summer is less appealing to me. I feel like I have come home, I really do. I feel alive for the first time in years and for a long time I had nothing but nightmares to remind me of South Africa. This is the reason I started this blog because whilst I feel at home, I still feel like an immigrant or a tourist. And I want to remember the wonderful sights that I see in this place. In the future, we might move somewhere warm like Australia or Dubai. Or, I might give into Stephen's desires and get a house within walking distance of Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. But for now I am happy to be in London and I am aware every single day that I live and work in this wonderful city.

I am loathe to tag anyone in case everyone finds that they are too busy! Well, I'll tag here but not contact via email - how is that? No pressure then. :0)
Just A Plane Ride Away
Martin
Phoenix
Ivanhoe
Thomas
Bas
CK