London update

Hi everyone.

Just thought I should give you all a quick update on how things are for us in London. In a nutshell, really good. I've been working for the past week and a bit at Tower Hamlets Council, and am starting to enjoy it. It's always tough starting somewhere new not knowing much, but I'm starting to get a hold of it and I think I will find it quite interesting. Fiona started her new job on Friday, and really enjoyed it. Sounds like there is a group of young people, whom she gets on really well with, which is great.

We went to Geneva last weekend (see other blog below) and had a superb time. It's not the biggest city in the world, and nor does it have huge numbers of things to do. But it's really nice, and we had a great time. There were so many Brazilians it was hard to believe it was Switzerland!

Having a bit of a quiet weekend this weekend, and hoping to move into our own flat next weekend. Won't say much at this stage, because it's not guaranteed, but will hopefully have some news for you during the week.

Had a good day yesterday. Started the morning getting up early and heading down to the pub to watch the All Blacks play. Now, the walkabout (Aussie if ever there was) isn't usually open at the time, but obviously knew a good thing when they saw it. There was que outside before it opened, and when the game started, it was packed. But have been 70-80 people, and 98% kiwis. Not an overly impressive first half, but I think the changes of Flavell and Kaino made a difference. I think the AB's missed Jerry Collins' presence in a big way, but I'm sure he'll take that out on the Pumas in two weeks. After the footie, Fiona and I went to Borough market for a walk around, before we headed back home to watch England in the World Cup. They melted in the 2nd half, and some poor substitutions meant they were very unimpressive. Still, wins a win, one more than Sweden at the moment! And we finished the night by going to see a show called, "the Blue Man Group." Very impressive. Basically three guys painted faces blue, making noise and colour. Very cleaver, and well worth it. Back to work tomorrow (sigh!) but looking forward to hopefully getting settled in our own place in a week or two.

Geneva or "Rio"?

Hi everyone.

Fiona and I went to Geneva last weekend, with our friends Fiona and Adarsh, Fiona's brother Darren and his girlfriend Kelly. We flew with British Airways, so no chance to sample the budget airlines just yet. One great thing, we were able to check in on-line, meaning we could print out our own boarding passes. And because we only all took back-packs, meant we didn't have to be there hours before the flight! Very handy.

We landed in Geneva and figured out the public transport system, and headed for our hotel. Turns out it wasn't just close to the Stade de Geneva, but actually attached. In fact, you looked out a window in the hall way an you could actually see into the Stadium! (didn't need tickets after all!) Anyway, we headed into Geneva itself, had a bite to eat and visited both the United Nations and the Red Cross museum. Naturally I really enjoyed the UN, the Red Cross too. For my Canadian friends, it was particularly cool to see the room where they signed the Ottawa Convention banning landmines. Enjoyed just hanging out in Geneva, wanding around looking at all the chocolate, Swiss army knives, and clocks in all the tourist stores.

Sunday was match day. We were planning to take a day trip out of Geneva, but decided the trains were a little too much to buy at that stage. So we headed into "Old Geneva" (again, also went the night before) had some nice coffees, lunch etc and then wandered around the lake. All the while, we discovered just how many Brazilians were in town (so we thought) until we got to the stadium. WOW! There were thousands and thousands of Brazilians all packed in outside the stadium, hours before kick-off, and every single one wearing a yellow football shirt (or a bikini!) It was amazing - the drums and trombones were going, singing, chanting - it was really full on. Got into the stadium and were totally blown away. The so-called "NZ zone" was basically all Brazilian, bar a few pockets of kiwis. The beige brigade were in a big group, but after that it was just small groups of kiwis. Fiona and I were in the second row, and had brilliant seats. The first corner of the game, which was NZ's, was about 3 meters from where we sat. All in all, I though NZ were a bit unlucky. They were never going to win but put in a superb performance which kept Brazil scoreless for over 40 minutes. The final score was 0-4, but the last two goals came in the last few minutes, so the score line flattered them. Couldn't help thinking that if Ryan Nelson and/Simon Elliott were playing that it might have been better. But, we did see little old NZ mixing it with the greatest players in the world, and we were there to see it live! :-)

Geneva itself was really nice. Very clean and very tidy. I think we might have struggled without Fiona, whose French is rapidly improving and who was a HUGE asset to have. Am very keen to buy a lot more chocolate next time we are there. All in all and excellent and really enjoyable weekend away. May there be many more!