summer!

It's been much too long... and I know I promised a post on my new flat, but thought I'd catch up on the last few months first... since I don't have any good pictures of the house yet... Maybe later this week if it's sunny...

So, in late May I went to Austria. It was only a few days - and I was there for work, but did actually have a little time to wander around Graz a bit.

The city centre is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. The architecture varies greatly and some of the buildings date back to the 1300's.

This is the 'Mur island' in the middle of the Mur River which runs through the city. Kind of weird how some of the city is so modern and other parts are so ancient.

Since I was there to cover the England v Japan friendly ahead of the World Cup, we had to travel into the mountains to their training camp... It was really beautiful and reminiscent of Switzerland.

From the resort hotel where the team were staying.

The game was pretty rubbish - I don't even remember the score!

In June I got to go to Wembley Stadium for the first time - and to see Chelsea play Portsmmouth in the FA Cup Final... of course, Chelsea won!

Wembley Stadium, before the match.

After we won!

I know people are always saying I have a really cool job, and well, I do. I try to play it down a lot, but seriously, professional football, to awesome music festivals to the Prime Minister's house... We (I) cover it all. And this year, I got to go to the Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park again... where Pearl Jam were playing! And while I didn't get an interview with them, but at least I got to see them! (sort of)

Yes, that is Eddie Vedder!

There he is!

And then I got to spend some time with my very good friend from university - Maria! We hadn't seen each other in about three or four years and she happened to be in London for a couple of weeks on an NYU exchange program.

Maria and me in Brixton

In July, Tom and I celebrated his birthday by going to Maze Grill, one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants in London. It was probably the best meal I've ever had in a restaurant!

Happy birthday, my love!

mmm... soft shell crab for a starter.

The best calamari ever!

We both ordered steak... what else would we have gotten?!?

The waiter came around before we ordered and showed us the various cuts of meat and explained the difference and where they all come from. I got the Hereford 21 day grass fed fillet - for a mere £28! and Tom got the same but in rib eye. Then we ordered chips, salad and onion rings for the sides. The meat came with roasted garlic and a sprig of fresh herbs.

So, I've been busy... which is one reason for the lack of posting... Coming up - all about our new home - which is awesome! I promise not to make you wait too long!

2009 photo-retro

2009 has been a year of ups and downs - as are most years - here's a photo retrospective of my year... something on the decade to come some time in January...

Snow... there was lots of snow this year - starting in January, loads of it in February and then again in December...

February saw flowers arrive at the office for me! First time I've ever had that happen!

February also saw my first professional football match - Liverpool vs Real Madrid - in Madrid, Spain.

While there I managed to take in some of the sights... including this art exhibit in the 'crystal palace'.

...and the cow parade that was all over the city...

In March I went on holiday with my love, Tom, to Edinburgh... this is on the way up to Arthur's Seat.

A view of the city with the castle in the distance...

Tom and I at Edinburgh Castle

Tom and I on the Royal Yacht Britannia

In May I happened upon a fun fair in Hampstead Heath with a few friends after we went there for a picnic

In June I went on a weekend away with my love to Brighton - went to the pier and rode the rides...

We also went on an afternoon fishing trip where a nice man took this fab photo of us!

In August we went to Thorpe Park where we rode the (better than Brighton) rides

We had an amazing day!

In August I celebrated yet another birthday with great friends!

In October I went to Ukraine for my second professional football match - England vs Ukraine World Cup Qualifier - this is St Michael's Cathedral in Kiev - see previous post for more on that...

And finally I celebrated Christmas afternoon with my love and his family in North London.

By evening I had a fever of 102.5F, was told I had swine flu and spent the last week of the year in bed. Now here is New Year's Eve and I'm still not well enough to go to work - or go out :( So it'll be a night in with the telly... Here's to a great year gone and a better one to come!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

update, Ukraine, update, Ukraine, update....

I know, I promised to write more... well, this is more! I'm still getting back into the swing of it... and it's not as if I don't mean to write, I just don't find the time... Or rather, I'm going to blame it on that.

So, last time I was excited about going to Ukraine. It was definitely an experience. The following is partially from the document I had to write for the insurance company for work... I've added quite a bit though...

"We landed on flight BD 851 from London Heathrow to Kiev International at about 3:30 PM on Thursday, October 8th. The football match we were covering was on Saturday, on the other side of the country in a city called Dnipropetrovsk.

After passing through passport control (which took ages) we proceeded to the luggage pick up where we found that one of our bags – the oversize one carrying our tripod and monopod – was missing. We had had to bring this bag to a special drop off point at Heathrow. While we were looking for it another passenger told me that she was also missing her oversize luggage from the same flight.

My colleague (let's call him Joe) made the claim at the lost luggage counter as he had checked in the bag. The woman at the counter told us it would be delivered to us in Dnipropetrovsk as that was our final destination. She also told us to call the next morning to find out where the luggage was and when it would arrive.

I proceeded to customs where we had to have our carnet (an official document listing the equipment we would bring in and out of the country- cameras, lights, cables, etc...) signed before entering the country. When the customs agent asked if we had all of the equipment listed I told her about the missing tripod.

Over a period of about three hours it was conveyed that we would not be allowed to enter the country with our equipment if any one piece of it was missing. We tried to reason that it was the airline that lost our luggage and would be delivering it to us, but that was not accepted by them. Even after showing them the proof that we claimed for lost luggage.

After another two and half hours of trying to haggle with them to let us bring our cameras with us, we were forced to leave the rest of our equipment in a locked room in the customs department at the airport.

At this point we had met at Heathrow at 6:30 in the morning, flown to Kiev, stood in the queue for passport control for an hour and a half, and then sat and argued in customs for about five hours... we were tired, no exhausted. Keep in mind, there is no food or water in customs and at no point were we offered any or a way of getting any.

We finally got to our hotel at 10:30 PM (Kiev time, so 8:30 PM London time)...

Joe and I missed our 7 AM train to Dnipropetrovsk as we couldn’t leave Kiev without our camera kits. I was disappointed about this part more than anything. The trains there are like the old fashioned ones, with individual compartments, like the kind in old spy movies... I was looking forward to that. Oh well.

BMI couldn’t tell us where the luggage was when we called in the morning, but we were assured by someone that it would be on that day’s flight from London arriving around 2:30 PM. We called the lost luggage number given to us at 2:30 PM to see if they knew whether it was on that flight or not and they told me to ring back in an hour. I called again at 3:30 PM and was told, again, to call back in an hour. I called back again at 5 PM (giving them an extra 30 minutes) and no one answered. I called again for the next 15 minutes and no one answered, so Joe and I headed to the airport because we knew there had to be someone there and either way we were going to get our equipment.

We had spent the majority of the day in negotiations with the British Embassy and customs trying to figure out a way for us to get our camera kits if the tripod didn't arrive. We had to prvide copies of loads of documents, as well as a letter written, in Ukrainian, to customs. I have to say the Embassy was amazing with all of their help. They translated everything that needed translating and sent it all to the appropriate people.

We arrived at the airport at 7 PM on Friday evening, and after some delay, and without any assistance, managed to get the tripod and monopod (which had arrived on the 2:30 flight) returned to us. We then had to spend another two hours in customs to retrieve the rest of our equipment.

While we were in customs, we were supposed to be at a press conference and England training photo call in Dnipropetrovsk; we missed them because of our missing luggage. So that was more than half of our job that we couldn't do.

The office, back in London, arranged for us to stay in our hotel another night, though we had to change rooms, and booked us on a flight for the next (Saturday) morning's 11 AM flight to Dnipropetrovsk.

The only good that came of the lost luggage was that I actually got to spend about two hours wandering around Kiev.

Independence Square, Kiev

St Michael's Cathedral, Kiev

To buy beer you choose by looking in the window and then order it from the shopkeeper who is behind glass...

A street like any other, Kiev

Life in Kiev

So on Saturday morning we went to the airport, three hours early, only to find out that check-in only started an hour and a half before boarding. (Another 3 hours racked up in Kiev airport!) We got to Dnipro fine, checked into our hotel, ate some lunch, had a nap and headed to the stadium for the match.

Lenin Statue, Lenin Square, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

Karl Marx Ave, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

It was definitely an interesting game. England had already made it to the World Cup, but Ukraine had to win or they wouldn't make it to the next round. Well, they did score, but only because England scored on itself.

Early in the match the Ukrainian fans decided it would be a good idea to throw flares onto the pitch and the English goalie, setting the pitch on fire...

ooh! What's going on over there?

See the firemen?

It was interesting to say the least.

I could write a whole novella about the whole trip, but I'll just say that the food was the same in every (and I mean every) restaurant, the people weren't very friendly, and there wasn't anything particularly interesting to see... It just seemed like the whole country was suffering from a really bad communist hangover.

While I am glad I got to have the experience, and I probably wouldn't change it, but I also wouldn't wish it on anyone...

***
Coming up... the really important stuff about life in london, work, love and, of course, the weather... stay tuned!

waegooks vs hangooks

i did something this weekend that i can pretty much say i've never done before. i played soccer - or as many of my friends would call it - football. i played in high school, during gym class, but have never (even imagined) playing it for fun!

saturday night a bunch of foreigners were going to play against the gimhae men's league team. i was going to go and watch, but my wonderful friend, kim, convinced me to play. she was playing, she assured me, and there would be other girls too. so i agreed, thinking it would be a fun and different way to get some exercise. i'm hooked.

the pitch. we rented it for three hours. 7-10 PM.

before we started playing one of the guys came up to me and said "do you even know how to play?" my reply was "kick the ball into the other teams goal and don't touch the ball with your hands." i'm still not familiar with the intricate rules of the game (if there are any) but i think i could be good at it with some practice.

we also made some new friends - from busan, and from france. yes, that's right, france. we met a bunch of guys who are in korea on internships with korean air... it was strange for me to speak french with them, what, with my funny accent and all!! but it was nice to speak it for a bit and to realize how bad it's gotten... i'll need a brush up with all of my french friends when i get home!

who's playing first? not me...! later on you couldn't have torn me off the field!

even though you can't see my face i swear that's me on the right! a little down time... (bill and kim on the left)

we lost every game we played, but that's ok... i was just there for fun and the korean team practices together regularly, so they're really in tune with each other.

team photo - photo d'equipe - the waegooks

after we played 16 of us went for dinner together - all sweaty and smelly - i'm sure the koreans at the restaurant appreciated that! but it was yummy and gave us a chance to talk more with our new french friends.

francois, bruno, mathieu, and arnaud... teddy is not in the picture... sorry!

waegooks eatin' bokumbap (spicy fried rice with chicken)

there's a women's team here in gimhae who play together every saturday and you can bet that i'll be there next week, and the week after, and every week that i'm in korea. anyone back home know of any women's leagues around town??? like i said, i'm hooked.