Settling in to London

It's taken a lot longer than I expected to settle into London.  After the first whirlwind 3 weeks of travel to the Hague, work, and visitors, I finally started to get my feet underneath me.  I've been focusing on fun things to do when not at work and also on de-stressing activities.  

So far, I've hit a bunch of theatres which is a major dream come true.  It's so tempting when I'm off of work to see something - definitely the biggest drain on my budget.  Best to start listing them out so I don't forget what I've seen...

1.  Pajama Games (Good, powerful female lead - no damsels in distress in this one.  Story line was so-so, but the music was good).

2.  War Horse with the parents - really good!!!  I don't care for animals that much, but this had me caring about all the horses.

3.  Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with the parents - excellent.  Slap stick comedy at its best.

4.  White Christmas - Classic.  You can't mess that up.

5.  Dick Whittington and his cat - Panto.  I don't know the original story they are mocking, but he goes to London to make his fortune and things get strange from there.

6.  Aziz Ansari - Excellent comedy; I miss regular access to Parks and Recreation

7.  Lion King - because you have to.

8.  Forbidden Broadway - really funny show making fun of a lot of other shows I've seen or want to see.  I don't think it did well, because it closed very quickly after it opened, but I thought it was funny.

I've learned a few things since moving over (14 of them for the end of 2014):

1.  Big city living is like nothing I've ever experienced.  Houston is not a big city compared to London - it's like a country village in comparison.  I've been overwhelmed a lot.

2.  I think I like big city living.

3.  Online grocery shopping was created and ordained by God.  In fact, all online shopping was.

4.  Tubes are both the devil and a life savor.  Engineering works are a constant fear and the petri dish is forever providing my immune system with a new challenge.  3 months in London and sick every week (except the one week I spent in the Hague).

5.  Buses are really fun to ride here, but not cool or appreciated by a true local.  They can take forever, but there is something nice about the cheap price and the views of the city.

6.  Oxford Street on a Saturday is an exercise in patience.  One could call it torture as well.

7.  The Thames is the best part of the city, hands down.

8.  Trying new things, like meetup groups, is really easy here because 9 times out of 10 there are 20 other people interested in the same things you are and are new to town.

9.  There is definitely a rat race here and I'm struggling to get in it.

10.  My conversion flat is really great, minus the boiler going out a lot and the door being so small.  Cold showers are just awful and showers at work are not much better.

11.  Running can be therapeutic....things I never thought I'd say. 

12.  Christmas = drinking and lots of it.  My liver needs an alcohol free January.

13.  There are some very cool people in London.  Also, some very strange people.

14.  Football is a religion.  Friendlies can be not so friendly and hilarious to watch the mayhem.

I picked up running over the last 2 months, hit my first 5K about 3 weeks ago.  I've since had a bit of a lull in activity as I've been focused on saying yes to all Christmas parties and drinks, which occur just about every night.  I took some shots of my morning run a few weeks ago along the Thames.  Count that in things I never thought I would say!