Dreams And Delusions

February was mostly spent in preparation to return to the US… Though I had began to make friends here in England, it was coming on time to return and clean up the details of my adventure… We had girls night out for Emma with her friends Staci, Jacquie, and Rachel, for her birthday… What fun to have them all about, we went to several clubs in Durham and then, to get the traditional greasy food before getting a cab back to the little house… I also had a chance to get to know Joan, another friend met through A Place To Be… Janet and Joan and I went out walking, and for a quiet evening in, I really enjoyed getting to know them… Emma also got a new job at a hospital that was close to her home, she was very excited to be working in the hospital she had trained in… So by the time I would be leaving for the US, Emma would stay with Shelly for a month and then transfer to her new hospital only a few minutes from her home… I would be going back to see my kids, family, and my friends…

I was living in Ludworth, Durham… Though I would start to be staying a few nights in Murton with Shelly, allowing me a chance to get grounded back to me… the last few months had been very difficult for me, it was an entirely new experience to be on my own… I had come from being there for everyone, to not knowing how to be there for myself… I had been living the extreme of rarely seeing or visiting with anyone, a very shocking place to find oneself after having had lots of people always around… Thankfully through staying with Shelly and seeing Emma a few nights a week, I was able to get some clarity and light back into my world… Janet and I had began doing quite a bit of work together and really shifting the energy for each of us… Whew!!! Now Breathe…

In December last year, I was still living in County Durham, and doing what I could to keep from crying everyday… I had the amazing opportunity to go to Nottingham, England… I traveled there by bus, and stayed with a lovely ladySarah and her housemate Helen… Sarah met me at the bus station and took me back to her flat where she offered me her room to stay in… She invited me to her rugby game the next day, where I met her friend Jonathan, he was soooo nice and we chatted and watched the game… From there we went back to her flat to get ready for the Christmas party they were throwing… I met lots of her friends that night, her friend Mark, and we had an addition of Ola from Poland (who was also couch surfing like me)… It was a great party and fell a few nights before my birthday, they were so sweet and dedicated a bit of the party to me :)…. The next day we all Sarah, Jonathan, Mark, Ola and I went to the Sherwood forest to see the 1000 year old oak tree… It was so much fun, I couldn’t have asked for better company… I got to make them all dinner and the next day, before I traveled back to County Durham…
This would be my first Christmas on my own, I have to say it was a bit sad…

Though just before Christmas I had a great time meeting new people, and just after I had the opportunity to go to A Place To Be, a week of circles, this turned out to be very auspicious for me… I met Alan, who is wonderful with his knowledge of England and the local area (as well as very crafty with a pun)… I met Janet, Joan, and Shelly… All of which would be incredibly important to my adjustment here in England…

Now to welcome in 2012 before it has all slipped away…

By the time this month had passed last year I had moved into a little semi-detached house in Ludworth, Durham, in the UK… The house was cute once I had finished painting and furnishing it… I had already had one housemate, a man that had clearly misunderstood the purpose of house share, and I had been incredibly lucky in my next housemate… Her name is Emma and to this day I absolutely adore this beautiful girl, she made a very difficult time in my life so much more sunny… We became fast friends and laughed through the next few months… I also started another friendship in the end of that month, his name is Paul… He is my ally in coffee, in a country filled with tea drinkers… I had not mastered the open fire heat of this little country house, though I had began to figure out how to shop for one… and how many things I bought for others that I did not truly like…

This hotel is very beautiful, it has wonderful artwork throughout, on the walls and ceilings… I went down for breakfast; I can only say I was completely in awe of how beautiful it was… Looking out the windows, there is this beautiful park, with gorgeous landscaping and statues… There are herds of deer throughout the grounds… It was like waking up in a Jane Austin novel… I couldn’t have created a better scene…The adorable house keeper sing while they work… The people are incredibly nice… I stayed at this hotel for a week, until my house sit was available… How lucky am I??? If you ever get a chance to stay there, Do it…

I met with the current house sitters and the owner of the house in the market square today… We met up at a wonderful little fish and chips place, called Belles… The food and company were great… The only thing I had a bit of issue with is the ethics of a place that serves fish as a main dish, with a huge aquarium beside the kitchen??? Isn’t that just a tad bit cruel??? Hmmm???

It is too bad the current house sitters are leaving, just as I am arriving… I think we could be great friends… The house needs quite a lot of work, it will keep me busy for a couple weeks for sure…

Today I leave London for Durham… There was a gentleman at the elevator that stopped me to tell me I was beautiful, a moment later his wife came up to join him *awkward giggle*…  I got a shuttle back to the airport and from there a car… They had a bit of trouble finding me an automatic, and kept asking if I could drive a manual??? I assured them that should they want this vehicle back in one piece it was in their best interest to give me both an automatic and a GPS…  lol… You would think that they would get that I had not driven on the wrong side of the road as of yet and having directions as well as an easy driving system would be best all around… England has not seen me drive; they should take my word for it… I got a car after a bit of a search, and a portable sat/nav… The lovely young man who helped me book my car, asked me for my autograph, my very first autograph!!! How cute is that??? He said he will keep until my book comes out and then he will put it in it, I told him that I hope he brings the book to me and I will sign it for him…

I am sitting in the car trying to find all the buttons, dials, and so on, when one of the gentleman from inside knocks on the window… I cringed thinking this is the moment where they tell me you took too long figuring the car out and clearly you do not know how to drive in England, please give the car back and catch a bus…  Not really he asked if everything was ok, and would I mind going out with him sometime??? It seems that, I am considered quite attractive in this here city… It took about nine hours to drive from London to Durham… The hotel I had picked out was nowhere to be found, I put the address in the GPS, and I searched for a half hour to find it through the area it had taken me to… I called several hotels, almost all of them completely booked when I finally found one… Whitworth Hall in Spennymoor, I drove in the dark, through what seemed to be a forest… I arrived about eleven at night and got settled into my room…

I found Starbucks easily and close by, and was online in an instant… There was a note telling me I had been accepted to move into the house in Durham… I went across London to get my exchange done, and met a gentleman who decided to follow and assist me in getting back across London to the Starbucks, he joined me for coffee… After a bit of assistance from home, I was able to get sorted what had started out rather dreadfully… I got into a hotel, and got some sleep and a shower…  I had planned to stay a week in London; I stayed just two days instead…

I have landed in London without issue… I dragged, pushed, and shoved my luggage through the tube, to arrive at the newly refurbished hostel *one eyebrow raised*…  My roommates were quite nice to visit with; Paul from Poland is also moving to England, and Theodore from Sweden is here to visit for the music (my daughters would have loved him, very cute and same music tastes, and with an accent)…

Today we went to Oktoberfest twice… The first in the early afternoon, we shared a humungous beer in the sun… We stopped and had food and drinks again in the village, lots of people having fun laughing and chatting, in the very warm sunny weather… Later in the evening we went back to see the festivities, the air was a bit drunken, it was neat to see all the rides and lights… Tomorrow is the day we fly out, and I am off on my adventures in England…

Today we drove up to Munich from Berghausen… We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with a lovely couple; I met through a friend in Portland… They took us around the village in Munich, we stopped and had drinks at a terrace restaurant, and then went to a cute little Italian place a little ways away… Tomorrow we will attend the Opening of Oktoberfest, How exciting???