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Published: February 24th 2006
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Us Eating and Drinking
A meal in a dodgy chain steakhouse called Applebees. Sharon orders buffalo chicken. Hi everybody,
So what have we been up to since Christmas?? well unfortunately our lives in the new world have had to adjust to the daily drudgery of working for me (cal) and a mixture of studying and general housewifery for Sharon… Living off a single income in one of the most expensive cities on America has proven to be a little tougher than we first imagined (Insert violins here).
Chris (Chumley to all who know him) and Mairi-Louise came over to stay for a week around New Year. It was really good to see them and hear a Scottish accent again, well from M-L anyway. We behaved pretty much as you would expect given we had been living the quiet American style social life with lots of sitting in and an occasional beer, and now had two wealthy friends with Scottish habits and went on a bit of food, beer and cocktail frenzy… (see photos)
After a few beers me and Chumley were recounting how great we were at ice skating in the good old days of the magnum ice disco in Irvine.. Unfortunately for me the temps in Boston in January are so low that the main
Us Eating and Drinking again
This time in the cheesecake factory. Sharon orders buffalo chicken salad. I think shes addicted. pond in Boston Common (frog pond) is frozen and used as an ice rink. Next day Chumley and Sharon both took to the frictionless nightmare with no problems…. Me and M-L however were less adept.. M-L had the sense to stick to the sides most of the time within easy grab of the edge.. I however tried to keep up with Chumley and Sharon (honest I’m not competitive) and spent most of the next hour on my arse begging lightning fast 5 year olds to help me up..
On the few occasions we were not eating in the pubs and restaurants we didn’t do too shabbily at eating back at the apartment, enjoying our first taste of New England’s finest lobsters. (see photos)
For the actual New Years eve celebrations we basically went for a wander round Boston. There are hundreds of “first night” events from music and theatre to movies and a huge Mardi Gras style parade.. We stopped off in various pubs to warm up every now and then and watch the parade go past. We tried to take some photos of the parade but the point and push digitals don’t have the flash to get
How you doin?
After serving the third Margharita, the waiter tries to get chumleys number. decent shots.
There were two fire work displays on, and we watched them from the roof of the studio apartment in South Boston (we moved to the new place in mid Dec but had the keys for the studio till the 2nd of Jan). Again the cameras couldn’t get the fire works but worked fine on a bunch of drunk folk standing on a roof in a snow storm..
For the Bells (no actual bells over here though, it’s a big digital clock) we went to Boston Common where they had various ice sculptures which were really impressive and a couple of stages with bands on. After the bells we went to a bar for a couple of beers and some Jagermeister (don’t ask, seemed like a good idea at the time), before heading to the train and home.
After new year, when Chumley and M-L headed back to Scotland, Sharon quickly changed from lady of leisure to job hunter extraordinaire. She had an interview with wallgreens on Jan 26th, who were interviewing lots of foreign pharmacists to see what they needed to do to qualify in the states (how crazy is it that they don’t KNOW
hmmmm, tequila
Jober as a Sudge, honest.. themselves). Unfortunately they were not willing to hire Sharon until she has passed the first exam which isn’t until June. And as it seems this is the general rule for all the pharmacy chains its back to the drawing board.. After Sharon changes to a proper visa (rather than the 3 month waiver she is on just now) she will hopefully be allowed to do non professional work, possibly as a dispenser or pharmacy technician, to help with the finances and give Sharon a little experience of how the practical side of US pharmacy works before her June exam.
In true British fashion I should probably make small talk about the weather, but the problem with that is…. there is nothing small about the weather… The temperature swings about constantly. You can be walking home from work in the brilliant sun and its a nice balmy 15 Celsius. You get out of your bed the next morning and look out the window and its still nice and clear and sunny, so you go out in a thin jacket and nearly die because it's minus 15 Celsius. Most of the time there is no snow or rain to hint at
Ice Skating
I'm Smiling, so this must have been taken BEFORE the skating began. the drop in temperature, but every now and then you get a snow storm. We got 18 and a half inches of snow in one day a couple of weekends ago. (see photos) but unfortunately they are used to it over here so they clear the roads and tram tracks immediately and you don’t get any days off work….damn it.
The only other major social event that we’ve had was burns night.. A few of the folk from the lab came round to our apartment for a traditional haggis, neeps and tatties. Sharon did all the cooking, while I plied everyone with Scottish levels of booze. I waited till everyone had tried the haggis before it told them the ingredients. Surprisingly between the drink and haggis nobody threw up.. Due to weird American laws you’re not allowed to make haggis over here (well not the real way with lungs and stomachs n stuff) so we had to get an imported one through a company in Maine.. What would be a five quid haggis back home cost us 35 dollars… We have also found a shop up in the Harvard area of the city that specializes in imported goods. The
U.K section is hilarious, every other country has fine teas n coffee, chocolate, wines or exotic produce. The UK section has HP sauce, Heinz salad cream, marmite, irn bru, and mcvities rich tea biscuits.
Makes ye proud…
Anyways that’s all for now, hope everyone back home and all you other globe trotters are well.
Happy birthday to Chumley, Long haired Dave, Mairi-Louise, Aileen and Sam. In that order. And Aileen sorry we never sent a pressie for the big three-oh, we’ll make it up with a new England ski holiday at some point..
Callum and Sharon
P.S Sharon will be back in Scotland from Feb 24th for two weeks for everyone wanting to catch up. She will be using her old UK mobile number…
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mikey
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mikey mike mikey
mikey mikey oh diddly oh, for some snow. or to be 20 below. but oh no. it's thirty-0. and i'm sweaty like a lady of negotiable affections in a confessional box.... glad it's going good tho! love, me and the very very hot wife