Escape to the Seaside

Combine temperatures in the upper 80's, absolutely no air conditioning (in our flat, at work, on the buses, on the tubes), and a shoe-box sized flat, and the result is some sweltering sleepless nights, lots of sweating, and difficulty getting dressed professionally for work. Yup, we're in the thick of a HOT London summer. So, this past weekend we escaped the big, hot city (and more specifically, our boiling flat), and headed for Worthing & Brighton, on the southern coast of England.

After a quick 80-minute train ride from London, Friday evening after work, we arrived in Worthing, a quiet, small seaside town with a charming city centre, vast stretches of unpopulated pebble beaches, simple beach-side cafes, and excellent restaurants. We stayed for both nights in Worthing at a lovely B&B, about 2 blocks from the beach, and a 10-minute walk from the centre of town. After feasting on excellent Mediterranean food Friday evening, we woke up Saturday morning and took the bus into Brighton. A rather popular tourist destination, Brighton has a bit of an East Coast beach town feel - pebble beaches, salty sea breezes, wooden piers, all types of fresh seafood for sale, tarot card and palm readers, and of course, the typical beach boardwalk - shops, restaurants, candy stands, art exhibits, and lots of people! We found Brighton to be most suitable for shopping, people-watching, and absorbing the boardwalk atmosphere, a bit reminiscent of the movie "Big."

We returned to Worthing on Saturday evening, to get dressed up, go out to a nice dinner, and celebrate Bryan's new job! We had a relaxing drink at a cafe on the end of the Worthing Pier, sauntered across the street to a quaint Italian restaurant, and enjoyed a delicious 3-course Italian meal on an outdoor patio, with an unobstructed view of the beach. Over a celebratory bottle of wine, we had an opportunity to slow down and relax - time without the television (think World Cup!), without talks of jobs (Brandina's job being so busy at the moment, Bryan in the midst of the new job learning curve), and time without computers (and the never-ending online to-do list).

A few pics from our escape...

Busy & Vibrant Brighton

Quiet & Quaint Worthing

Hope you are all enjoying your summer, wherever you are! Cheers!
-B&B

"I'm going to go away on vacation, I'm going to try to get away from the phone, away from scripts. I think it's important to sit back and think about what you want." - Parker Stevenson

It's A Numbers Game

8 months

67 jobs applied to

31 different applications

33 different cover letters

9 interviews

4 power point presentations

3 volunteerships

4 weeks at Burberry customer service

1 day at Debenhams department store

10 days at Cliftons Nursery

4 days at residential gardening jobs

Lots of perseverance....

They say good things come to those who wait. Well after eight months of patiently waiting, I believe the "good" piece of that puzzle has finally come to fruition. I am proud to say that not only have I found a job, but I think it's an amazing fit!

As some of you know, before we moved to London I immersed myself in the sustainable food sector (i.e. improving access to healthy, local food), so I was hoping to land a job somewhere within that field, across the pond. My background and experience in project management and community engagement were strong, but I soon realized from interview feedback that I was going to need to strengthen my knowledge of the UK's sustainable food stakeholders. So I quickly took the initiative to start volunteering at a number of organizations.

The first stop was at Spitalfields City Farm - London has many city farms, literally within the city of London. They are genuine farms with a range of animals including horses, goats, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, rabbits, etc as well as land for food growing. They are mainly used for educational purposes though, so none of the animals are slaughtered, however the produce, dairy, and eggs are often sold at local farmers markets and restaurants, or given to schools and the community. At Spitalfields, I had the opportunity to learn more about growing food as well as some of the key players in the sustainable food industry, while also reigniting my passion for working with youth. I'm also now part of their committee to build a community eco-building. The next volunteer stop was at the high school where Brandina works. A few blocks from the school is a community garden, where I continued to learn more about growing food. The last stop on the volunteer train was at an organization called Sustain - one of the most prominent players in the UK's sustainable food sector. Even though this was unpaid, candidates were interviewed for the position, so it was more like a volunteership. I often felt like Will Smith (playing Chris Gardner) from The Pursuit of Happiness, since it was fairly intense. This was an amazing opportunity, as I was part of a campaign called Capital Growth, with the goal to develop 2,012 food growing sites by the end of 2012. I was highly involved with the project, assisting with planning and marketing, coordinating food growing training sessions, conducting site visits, and helping coordinate events, including a recent one headlined by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Every day at Sustain I felt the energy and enthusiasm radiate from the staff and their campaigns. Not only did I continue to learn more about the players in London's sustainable food sector, but my passion and knowledge blossomed regarding the vast amount of issues within food justice, such as: problems with genetically-modified crops, organic and locally produced food, obesity and other health-related issues, food sovereignty (the principle that nations should be allowed to decide on their own agricultural policies), school lunch reform, food safety regulation, urban agriculture, community gardens, and access to healthy food. The more I learned, the more I decided that I didn't want to settle for something not food related. So while I was still endlessly applying for jobs, I was also doing some temp work a few days a week - to help sustain us here, and also so Brandina wouldn't vote me off the Island. I had stints with Burberry's customer service department, in the stock room at Debenhams department store, gardening for a high end nursery called Cliftons in posh areas such us Hampstead where celebrities such as Jude Law, Russel Crowe, and Gwyneth Paltrow live, and gardening at private gardens down the street from world leaders, including the current residence of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

While those were some great, albeit interesting experiences into some of the working worlds other sectors, I was more then happy to accept a position at Freightliners City Farm in Islington, London! I'll be coordinating a program for at-risk youth, between the ages of 16-19, from a population known as NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) - essentially youth who have fallen through the cracks for one reason or another. With support from my co-workers, I'll be providing them with alternative education opportunities including food growing, cooking (using our farm cafe!), animal care, and carpentry - with the goal to guide them into further education or employment. I'm uber excited, as it is a fantastic combination of my passion for sustainable foods and my background and experience in project management, community engagement, social work, and youth development!

First Day of Work

Day 1 Update - After arriving at 9am, we used a massive heap of keys to open all of the doors of the farm including the kitchen, cafe, bathrooms, offices, classrooms, and animal pens. I then helped teach a class of 5 - 6 year olds how to make bread. Next, I cleaned and stocked the produce that was delivered today for the cafe. After a late lunch in the park down the street, I started to go through the contract and current status of the project I'm coordinating to begin planning and strategizing. This is going to be a fun experience......

“Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” ~Charles F. Kettering

- Bryan

P.S. I want to give a special thanks to Brandina for supporting me in more ways than one in the past eight months...thanks Sunshine...I love you.

Toast to the Kiwis!

London is truly an international hub - from the students, to the travelers, to the working world, people from all corners of the world call London home. We've found the diversity of this city to be one of its many strengths - whether you're sitting on the tube, having a drink in a pub, or chatting in the staff lounge at work, the accents and cultures are abundant. Last weekend, we went to the Toast New Zealand festival here in London, with our Kiwi friends Ben & Louise. Similar to opening day at a race track, Toast is defined by polo matches, live music, wine tasting, and celebrating all things New Zealand. A few photos from the day....

Sadly, when it comes to meeting and making friends here, this city seems to lend itself to what can only be described as time-sensitive friendships, dictated by the length of your visa and the time you have left in London. As we mentioned in our last blog, we met an Australian couple in San Sebastian last month, and furthered our friendship over sushi this weekend (and finally had some decent sushi in this city!). Sadly, we will be going to their farewell dinner at the end of July, as they've lived in London for over a year now, and have decided to head home. Similarly, Ben and Louise plan to leave in December, so hopefully we will be able to squeeze in a few more adventures with them before they leave. It's been such a unique, wonderful experience to meet complete strangers in a new city, who share our hunger for travel and our thirst for something different - we feel so fortunate to call them friends. Plus, by the end of it all, we should have a small, lovely handful of friends around the world to visit someday :).

-B&B

"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen." ~Rod McKuen

El Paraíso

...Sittin' in the mornin' sun

I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time...

- Otis Redding

Quite different from all of the trips we have taken so far, our recent 3-night, 4-day jaunt to San Sebastian, Spain was nothing short of complete relaxation - lounging on the beach (with partly-cloudy, partly-sunny weather), drinking cheap Spanish wine, and eating tapas, or pinchos, as they are called in San Sebastian. We were accompanied by Kris, Bryan's good friend from high school, and his girlfriend, Laura, who were visiting London for work and play, and decided to join us in Spain. During our stay, we stumbled upon a wine & food festival in Old Town, had dinner at a Cider House (with an Australian couple from our hostel), lounged about on our hostel balcony with a view of the Cathedral, ate home-cooked Spanish breakfasts each morning, and took a tram to the top of Mount Igledo, for a gorgeous view of the bay.

San Sebastian is truly divine - difficult, in fact, to put into words. Here are a few that come to mind...Cultured. Romantic. Quaint. Stunning. Relaxed. Nostalgic. Lovely, just lovely.

Port of San Sebastian

Walking along Paseo Nuevo

Old Town

La Playa (Beach) Concha

Atop Mount Igledo

Lounging On our Balcony, Enjoying the City Views

-B&B

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." ~Robert Orben

A Prehistoric Feat

After having Brandina's parents in town two weeks ago for Mother's Day weekend, spent eating delicious, diverse food (Spanish tapas, sushi, Fish & Chips, and plenty of pub food to go around), attending West End theatre shows (Les Miserables & We Will Rock You), and bumming around Notting Hill for home and garden decor (finally got an umbrella holder...yippee!), last weekend we took the train out to Salisbury, where John & Elaine picked us up at the train station, for a countryside weekend getaway. We stayed at a quaint, but wonderful Bed & Breakfast for the weekend, complete with horse stables adjacent to the bedroom windows, full traditional English Breakfasts, and stunning views of the blooming countryside. A few pics from our relaxing weekend away....

Stonehenge

On Saturday morning we drove out to Stonehenge, about 10 minutes from our B&B. Everything you hear about Stonehenge is true - it is right next to the freeway and smaller than you probably imagine. That being said, it is still quite fascinating. Though much of the story of Stonehenge is myth, speculation, and fiction, the facts remain true - with the largest stones weighing in at over 5,000 pounds, it really is an engineering feat for its prehistoric day.

The Mustard Fields

Travelling around the English countryside at this time of year allows for spectacular, breathtaking views of blooming mustard fields (and plenty of free range livestock to accompany the stunning backdrop).

Lacock Village

A quick drive up to Lacock Village, home to much of the filming from the Harry Potter movies - essentially a quaint, 13th-century English village with traditional architecture, refreshing nature paths, and blooming signs of spring.

Avebury

A rival to Stonehenge, the Avebury Circle of stones allow for an extra close look - or hug, rather. All John wanted to do was go somewhere that he could "hug the stones."


Thanks Mom & Dad, for a wonderful weekend in London and weekend away! We love you, and miss you already.

-B&B

"Leave no stone unturned." - Euripides

Just a Walk in the Park

With over 3,000 parks and open spaces in the city, walking through London can be quite refreshing. While the weather here in London has been rather unpredictable lately, we have had a wonderful mixture of sun and gray clouds over the past month or so. Two weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to spend an entire Saturday basking in the sunshine at Kensington Gardens (after digging out our still-packed warm weather attire!).

One of the many enjoyable parts of my job at the high school is the amount of walking I do on a weekly basis - while I am based at the high school, I serve 5 primary schools in the local area, and I am able to walk to each of them. The walks range between 5 - 25 minutes, each a combination of residential side streets, larger commercial roads, and sometimes, a short-cut through a local park. On my way to work last week, early one morning, I decided to pause for a moment to capture the signs of spring, smell the flowers, and sip some English breakfast tea....


- Brandina

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." ~Proverb