Good news re THESIS

I know I know... I promised I would stop blog-hogging but I just can't help myself on this one occasion. I just received notification that my thesis has been passed by both markers with no changes requested!! YAY!! Once I have submitted hard-bound copies (thanks in advance dad) I will be eligible to graduate. Anyways, best be off to crack the champagne :)

Ang.

Settling in

Hi guys,

The move to our new abode went well. We're really happy with the apartment and also with the area. It is a really pretty suburb and has loads of facilities. Everything we could possibly need (well nearly everything) is within walking distance from our house.

We've still been on the prowl for jobs. Col went for another interview yesterday which he felt went well. He hadn't realised though how far away it was though and had to travel for two hours to get there! So unless they offer him a really good incentive, he's thinking he won't pursue that job. He has an interview for a different job on Tuesday. I have an interview this coming week with an agency that appoints teaching assistants and special needs assistants. I'm hopeful that something will come of it. I think it would be a good medium for me in that it would provide an opportunity to use my psychology skills (well, more than in a call centre!!) and would allow me to build up my skills in working with kids, but would not involve nearly as much responsibility as going for a psych position (which I think is a good thing for me at this point in time).

Sorry I've been hogging the blog-writing... I'll make sure Col writes the next entry! And we know we've been saying this for ages.. but we WILL post some more photos soon.

Love to everyone,
Ang and Col xo.

Easter update

Hi guys,

Hope you all had a great easter. We went away to a little cottage in Norfolk for a few days with Col's cousin, her partner and two of their friends. It was an excellent few days. On Saturday we went for a lovely long cycle through the countryside. On the way explored some ruins and a cemetry with graves dating back to the 1600s and several gorgeous old churches, and then stopped at a traditional old English pub for an ale. Yesterday T (Col's cousin) cooked the most amazing lamb roast for lunch, then last night we stayed up late playing Articulate (quite an amusing board game, particularly when penaltly shots of whisky were involved!!). Dad - yes I have received your emails, thank you :)
Will write again soon and will post some more photos.

Take care,
Love Ang and Col xxxooo.

HELLO HARROW!!

We moved into a sharehouse in Acton on Monday which we had organised over the internet from Thailand (a big no no!). Yes... well the area is not really very desireable, located somewhere between a prison, an industrial estate and a railway interchange. The ad did not mention that we would be sharing this house with seven others (and with only one bathroom!). Fortunately though the lease was very flexible and we were only required to give one weeks notice (which we did promptly).

We have been looking around at other areas to see where we would like to live for the next few months. We found a studio apartment in a cute little suburb called Harrow on the north west outskirts of London. It's a tiny little apartment, but its modern and clean and in a great location. We put a deposit down and plan to move in next Thursday!

Col had another job interview today for an IT position with the Royal Horticultural Society and felt it went really well. He should hear back next week. I have found a few interesting positions which I have applied for but haven't got any interviews lined up as yet. When we move to our new place I will probably look locally for a temporary job.

Today checked out Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Didn't spot queenie but saw the changing of the guards. In the National Gallery we looked mostly at collections from the 1400's and 1500's which were absolutely amazing to see. Also walked through St James Park which was gorgeous.

We are going away to the 'countryside' for the easter weekend with Col's cousin and her partner. Hope you guys at home all have a happy easter!

Will be in touch again soon :)

Alright....perhaps we spoke too soon.

Ok Ok. It has now rained a little, and it is rather miserable when it does. Perhaps they're not that whingy after all.
We caught up with cousin T (my cousin from South Africa who lives here) and chris (her partner) last night - they cooked us a lovely roast at their apartment in Fullham. It was great to catch up, and to get some tips from some locals. We'll be catching up again soon I'm sure.
We also moved into our new room this morning - the house and the area are not as nice as we'd hoped, but we can now relax and look for something better and get a better idea of the different areas around London.
Anyway, gotta run. Hope everyone is well.
Col and Ang.

Whinging Poms!

Hey Everyone!
We have been in london about 5 days now, and still having rather a jolly old time. We have, however come to the conclusion these English are a bunch of whinging Poms. We were told that the food in london was horrible: we have however found a large array of great continental bakeries, patisseries and restaurants with rather good food. We expected this to be horribly expensive: even once you convert to Aussie dollars much of it turns out to be what you might pay at home, or pretty close. A good indian curry is around £5.50, where you might pay $13 at home. We were also told that it was always rainy and miserable: but it hasn't rained once! And even Ang (who feels the cold very easily) hasn't found it cold. So all in all, the Poms are whingers and this place isnt as bad as they make it out to be. (But time may tell??)

We went for our first proper bit of sight seeing around london town yesterday, so below are some pics. On this little journey we visited London Bridge (which I confused with the tower bridge, and is most uninteresting), the tower of london, the tower bridge, the Tate Modern art gallery, St Pauls Cathedral, and Shakespear's Globe theatre. These were all amazing to see. There is still much more to explore.

We have been on the job hunt - I have a few interviews lined up for this week, so we'll see how it goes. Can't expect to get the first job, and there seems to be enough around that we wont starve before we find something. Ang has found some good options too - so we'll see what happens in the next week.

Hope everyone is doing well - sorry our emails are less frequent here until we have our own internet - it adds up a bit using internet cafes here, and our internet budget has been going towards job searching!
Hope to hear from you all soon!
Col and Ang.

HELLO LONDON!

Hi everyone!

We arrived in London yesterday morning and somehow managed to lug all of our many bags on the tube to get to Clapham which is where we are staying for the first five days. Spent our first day just checking out Clapham and also catching a few Zs. Overall impression so far - we LOVE it!! Everything looks so quaint and old. We feel very excited about doing much more exploring. We are quite surprised that things don't seem very expensive as was expected. Col was very excited to find that he could buy a pack of four beers from the supermarket for 88p.

One highlight so far has been enjoying some authentic French baguettes and yummy cheeses. It is pretty cold but not at all unbearable. We bought some really warm jackets in Thailand that seem to be doing the trick. Once you get inside any building its really warm, so layering is really the key.

We are off to explore the centre of London a little today and will also begin the process of job-searching. Funnily enough, from the job adds I have seen so far it looks as though the pay is better for typist / receptionist jobs than assistant psychologist jobs!! Col is going to contact some of the recruitment agencies that he had been emailing from Oz. We've drawn up a bit of a budget though and worked out that we could probably survive here for a month without working if we had to.

We'll post some London photos next time. Thanks for your replies guys - its great to hear from you. We are terribly sorry to be making you all so jealous! Will write again soon :)

Lots of love,
Travelbugs.