This past weekend, the clocks went back an hour, signalling the start of grayer days and even darker nights. To be fair, we didn't have much of a summer in yucky old Brrringland anyways. But at least the days were long and I always had my vodka cranberries to cheer me up after yet another day of working with the small town locals (or should that be yokels) that I have to see in the office everyday!
Yesterday, it suddenly got very cold and even snowed in some parts of the country. It is now freezing when I get up at 6am to take Winnie out for her ablutions. I have to bundle up in a down jacket and my breath is frosty when I exhale. On our way to the train station, we see our neighbours busily scrapping ice off their windscreens.
In the mornings, sitting on the loo and showering in our house involves a lot of yowling (at least from me) as bare skin touches freezing plastic and the hot water is switched off. This leads to a 5 - 10 second gap when wet skin is exposed to cold air before I can grab the towel off the rail. Can I just say that this body was built for fun in the sun and not this cr*ppy cold?! I am just not "insulated" like the local yokels to endure these artic conditions.
At work, I sit next to floor-to-glass windows. It can be -2 outside, but when the sun shines, it feels like a greenhouse. I therefore have to dress for winter in the early mornings and evenings, and for Small Island weather in between. Ridiculous.
As you can tell, nothing has changed since my last few blog entries. I still detest this place and most of the people who inhabit it. My boss has even now banned me from saying, "On our Small Island, we do it like this and it is insert: more efficient / better / faster / cheaper / tastier
I don't know if I will ever feel settled here. It is mainly because I see all the things that are wrong that would be simple enough to fix, but the people who can change things, won't for whatever reason. I know that it is my choice to live here, but I hope that my standards never drop so low that I will roll over and accept what I see as incompetent or plain wrong.
Let's say a burglar comes into your house, and robs and attacks you. If in self-defence, you end up hurting him, YOU will be prosecuted by the police/courts! The victim is made to pay while the criminal gets away scot-free. It is totally illogical but epitomizes the mentality of this country. I just don't get it.
I have also turned into a frumpy working housewife after living here for the past eight months. On the Small Island, I used to spend my evenings with good friends, drinking in trendy bars by the river, clothed in sexy numbers and high heels. Now, I have taken up cross-stitching after a hiatus of over 10 years to pass the long and pitch black evenings. The difference between 1995 and now is that I need my reading glasses these days to see the small squares. Note to Stepmum: I will let you know when I have to upgrade to a higher strength pair of reading glasses. Might be sooner rather than later.
I have to find solace somehow or I would go crazier than I already am. Going out for dim sum lunches with friends I have met here is always fun. We are all in the same situation and can enjoy a good moan together. At the end of November, P and I are taking a weekend trip to visit a Christmas market with our friends, New Mum and New Dad.
I am also 'nesting' (no, not in the 'I want to have a child way' (God forbid) but in a 'I am bleeping cold' kind of way). I have been doing up the house as cosily as I can. We have invested in a few new Laura Ashley rugs (on sale, even better!), which had added some much-needed warmth to our previously bare floorboards. You need a comfortable home here because you tend so spend so much time in it. Eating out is so expensive and the lousy weather doesn't lend itself to the al fresco lifestyle.
With the onset of winter on us, there are only dreary months and moaning blog entries in the foreseeable future. Is it summer yet?!
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