Chicken Soup for the Soul

Between seeing old and new friends this weekend I got a really good dose of "comfort food". Thanks to my great friends back home I was already setup with a decent network of people here in the UK before I even came over. The trouble has just been finding the time between business trips and moving house to meet up with them. Friday night I was finally able to get together with Arianne and Bill, introduced to me by Anne who went to Oxford with Arianne. They are both transplants from the US but Arianne has lived in the UK for 20 years and Bill for 10. Arianne is an editor and has worked on everything from cookbooks to sporting books. Bill is the dean of industrial and mechanical design at the university in High Wycombe. Firstly though I do have to share the story of how Arianne and Bill met because it's just so darn cute. Bill had known Arianne's family for quite some time but never met her since she was living in London. He finally met her at a New Year's Eve party thrown by Arianne's sister, but at midnight she turned into a pumpkin and returned back home to London. They emailed and visited for awhile until that summer he turned up and proposed. Less than a year later they were married after only seeing each other in person 6 or 7 times and living in London together.

It turns out, coincidentally, that Bill also works in High Wycombe so they live near my office now. Arianne invited me over for dinner and then to stay with them since it's a bit of a drive back down to London. She made a wonderful chicken risotto with peas and asparagus which was my first home cooked meal in over a month. In the morning I got to meet their two gorgeous kids, Karas and Liam. Liam just smiled and drooled a bit (he's teething) but Karas was able to read a couple story books to me and perform her repertoire of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ABCs. They've got such a comfortable home and I'll definitely be back over for another dinner or pub night.

On Saturday I met up with Eela and Brendan, two American ex-pats from San Francisco (by way of Chicago). Eela works at the same company as my friend Kelly but is located in the London office. Eela and I have met up a few times since I've moved here and she's been fantastic. We're close in age and mindset so we sit together and whinge about how much we miss San Francisco and all the things we don't understand about the UK. Her husband, Brendan, is a shining example of my inability to get away from the 6-degrees of separation from the Silicon Valley. Eela mentioned to me previously that her husband worked at a security software start-up which I figured was different enough from my industry that I would be safe. On my first meeting with Brendan we swapped stories about being ex-pats and how our relative companies were helping us manage through the transition. During the conversation Brendan said something along the lines of, "Well company X doesn't even offer such and such for me." Which I responded with, "You work at company X? Do you know Jane Doe?". Brendan replied, "I just saw her on my last visit to the US a few months ago." Over 5,000 miles away and it's still such a small world.

Anyhow, we had a great afternoon in a place called Borough Market. It's an amazing open-air market near the London Tower Bridge and is similar to the farmers market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, only about 5 times bigger though. They've got everything from fresh organic produce to prepared food stands. Eela and Brendan go there every Saturday when they're in town and I may have to consider joining them, although I wish it wasn't all the way on the other side of town (~30 minute tube ride).

Sunday morning I got a brief but very welcome visit from my friends Lu and Mike. They were traveling through Heathrow on business and were kind enough to extend their layover to hang out with me. I did feel bad that they were both pretty beat up from the flight over and looked as though they could use a hot shower and long night's rest. I met them at the airport since it seemed to be the easiest thing to do so I turned up with a few treats from the local pastry shop to help ease their pain. Good food always makes me feel better so I hope it worked for them too. It was just like old times (I know I've only been away for less than 2 months) so before we knew it 3 hours had passed and it was time for them to get on the next flight. Thanks for the wine Mike! In case any of you were wondering, I do accept belated birthday gifts ;-)

Now I'm off to dinner with my new friend Tonya to discuss our trip to Lisbon (Lisboa) next week. I'll be there for business but am staying over for the weekend when Tonya will be joining me. I don't know anything about Lisbon (Lisboa) but I hope to taste some good port.