Please, Sir, Can I Have a Room??

I have to begin on a on a sad note, I extend my condolences to the Cole family on their loss late last night/this morning. Rest in Peace, Brian. You will be very much missed.

Today's adventure began with my first encounter with a "full English breakfast." It, Victoria may be sad to read, did not include any form of pudding--which made me rather happy, as I wouldn't enjoy throwing up my poached egg all over the nice dining linens. However, this "breakfast" was so generous that, after eating at 8:30 in the morning, my next meal was supper, at 6:30 this evening. The rest of the morning took Joel & I on a flat-viewing expedition around town. The first apartment that we looked at was rather far away, not conveniently located to...anything...and, I doubt, will be our first option. The second flat was in an amazing stone building, a former hotel, and had actual chandeliers in the hallway, "reception room" and the master bedroom. A little exorbant for a first-year teacher's budget, but it is definitely an option. After frantically searching most of the afternoon, we have discovered some more lettings that are available to look at...hopefully very soon. And hopefully they are not very expensive. I will not be sad to say goodbye to living on a student budget.

Tomorrow will hopefully bring a viewing close to the fantastic pub we ate at last night, the Thomas Becket. It's close to the train station, (did I mention close to the pub?), located near a lot of primary schools for Joel and, most importantly, located close to the pub. Also on the agenda is getting mobile phones...I don't think the hotel is going to appreciate all of the letting agencies calling us to book viewings.

Some little cultural things I'm starting to realize I should have looked into before moving here include:
--Tipping in pubs
--Traffic laws
--Ordering in restaurants
--Asking for directions (a woman on the sidewalk this morning apparently thought I was ready to mug her when I asked, "Sorry, could you please tell me where Upper Priory street is?")
I'm sure there's more that this little Canadian is culturally ignorant of, but I'm sure those fun little lessons will be discovered in time.

I love listening to the pouring rain outside my window. Hopefully I don't get sick of it over the next year or so, but I guess we'll see. I'm missing my family & friends back home, but am starting to get excited for the, hopefully great, experience ahead of me. Lots of (mis)adventures to come.