Speed Dating

OK, so just to prove that I'm not just sitting in building furniture and writing on this blog, tonight I went speed dating in downtown Boston. The motives weren't primarily romantic, you understand, more just to get out there and meet people in a more efficient and less creepy way than randomly approaching people in bars.

It was moderately successful too. I had eight eight minute "dates". One was an absolute psycho - she didn't want to be there (was dragged along by a friend), wasn't very forthcoming with the conversation, and seemed to be a teensy bit racist. Ah well.

Most of the other seven were reasonable fun though, at least to talk to for eight minutes. I was fortunate in that the English accent and the fact that I've just moved over gives me an immediate head start, and can fill the conversation for at least 6 of the available minutes. Unexpectedly, pretty much everyone seemed to have lived in Massachussetts all their lives - I was expecting Boston to be a little more cosmopolitan than that, though I shouldn't base my judgement on a sample of eight presumably rather desperate ladies. The other thing in my favour seems to be that American men are all idiots. I went for dinner afterwards with two of the girls, and listening to their accounts of their other dates I wonder how men in this country ever manage to find mates.

So I think there are 3 or 4 that I'll try and meet up with again as friends, and one that I'll go for putting down as a second date. She was the one person in the room who wasn't from the area - she was a "military kid" and spent time in Germany, England and all over the US, and she was the only one that I vaguely fancied. In fact, maybe "vaguely" isn't quite enough...

My bed

I've made my bed (from an Ikea flatpack that is):


Now I'm going to lie in it. Mmm, cosy...

Harsh words at the social security office

I had to go to the social security office today to register myself for whatever meagre benefits I may one day be entitled to, and there was a large, particularly draconian notice there that rather caught my eye. It went something like:

WARNING!
IT IS A FEDERAL OFFICE TO KILL, KIDNAP, ASSAULT, THREATEN OR
OTHERWISE INTERFERE WITH A MEMBER OF THE STAFF OF THIS OFFICE.

You'd think most of that would go without saying...

Noisy hotel

The hotel currently in in San Jose is so directly under the local airport's flightpath that they see fit to put earplugs on your bed... Priceless.

Cinammon and leaves

Phew, that was quite a day. I didn't manage to get quite as much done as I wanted, but pretty good nontheless.

The first challenge (and a significant one) was finding a car. "No need to book, it'll be fine", I thought, like a nonce. Turned out that every single rental car in central Boston was booked out for the weekend, and I ended up having to go out to the bloody airport to find one. Even then, it was on the 3rd go that I actually found one. The whole thing was made rather more annoying by the fact that I did my stupid thing of wandering around assuming I'll find something rather than being organised about it. First thing, I looked up the 4 closest rental places on Google, and then walked around each of them, with no result. The thinking was that (it being Sunday) I would be best off getting out there knocking on doors early, but it would have been SO much easier to wait an hour or so and phone round. Doofus.

So, I finally got me a car (and with one of those whizzy satellite navigation things, natch) and headed off to Ikea about an hour outside Boston. My mood soon improved with the beautiful drive. For a start, it was pretty exhilarating just to be driving (it's been a few years) and in another country as well (it was a first time for driving on the right, as well). It was an utterly gorgeous day as well, and my first glimpse of what they call "The Colour" (or "The Color", I suppose...). One hears all kinds of things about the New England fall, but based on today it's incredible. It's not just the colours of teh Massachussetts countryside - vibrant reds, browns, even purples and every shade of green available. There's something especially different about the light though. Granted, today was an absolutely clear day, but everything seemed to be incredibly sharp - it felt like I could see individual leaves as I was flying past the foliage on the freeway. It's just a shame they don't have Guy Fawkes' night, or their autumn would be perfect.

Anyway, back down to earth, and on to Ikea. The Americans don't seem to have taken flat-packed Swedish furniture to their bosoms quite as much as the British have - the store was tucked away with no signposting and wasn't particularly busy given that it's a Sunday of a bank holiday weekend (tomorrow is Columbus Day). In England, you would have taken along some sort or sword to be sure of fighting your way through the crowds. The place had also been Americanised to some extent - the cafe area had the same overwhelming stench of cinammon that airports tend to. Before I came here, my only significant exposure to the stuff was when my Mum put it in an apple pie (which was always a brilliant move - her apple pies were to die for), but Americans go pretty overboard with the stuff.

Anyway, I came away from Ikea with a full car, and my apartment is now fitted out with kitchen stuff, a matress, a bedside table and one of those bendy Ikea chairs. Table, sofa etc will be delivered in due course...

New dawn...

The sun rises on my first day in Boston - the rather groovy view from my hotel:

On the way

OK, here goes. It would be a little remiss of me to not post from the flight over, so here I am. I'm currently pretty much mid-way over the Atlantic, in the lull between films when they show Creature Comforts. I'm hungover, excited, nervous, knackered and daunted all at the same time - it turns out moving to another continent is quite stressful business.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty hard going - I seem to have had endless leaving parties and drinks, and said goodbye to so many friends. What with all the logistics as well, and the fact that I couldn't really organise anything American (as without a social security number and bank account Im' effectively a non-person), it's been very frustrating. Over the next couple of weeks I have to sort out all sorts of things and it all feels a little overwhelming, particularly since I have an enourmous amount going on at work at the moment. For example, this week I'm going to be spending 3 days in Sanf Francisco and one in Charlotte - not exactly ideal for getting settled in and sorting out my life!

But I should stop grumbling - it's probably just the headache talking. This is a very exciting time for me, a fantastic opportunity I've been angilng for for the last year or so and I can't wait to get started. How will I fare trying to start a whole new life in a new country? Will I like America or end up coming back in a year gagging for pint of proper beer and a cricket match? Will I find all my time swallowed up by work, flying around the country in and out of hotels like I'm auditioning for Fight Club? How much am I going to miss London and my friends there?

On the last question, I think quite a bit (London that is). The monosyllabic driver of the cab I took to Heathrow this afternoon unwittingly took me on a tour of some of my favourite places in London. It was an utterly gorgeous autumn day, and we meandered through north London - past the places I've lived in Highbury and through to Camden, round Regents Park (looking absolutely gorgeous), down Marylebone High Street with the yummy retaurants and poncy shops. London is still, I think, the greatest city I know - I only really know western cities, but Paris is too one-dimensional and New York just doesn't quite do it for me (yet). Maybe Barcelona is in the running, I don't know. I feel ready for a change though - I've lived there for 6 years now, and while I should think I'll go back I don't mind a change at all.

So here goes. Watch this space...