Oh how I miss my family, this weekend especially! It's strange, Thanksgiving has not even been mentioned over here, aside from my Canadian benefit. I was speaking with my roommates tonight about it, and Thanksgiving is not a holiday over here at all - which means I will have to be ready for work on Monday, how much of a rip off is THAT! Maybe I should be coming back to Canada, at least for the holidays!
Aside from the non-celebratory Thanksgiving weekend in the UK, I have had a brilliant start to the weekend! My "adopted" cousins in Wallingford invited me to spend a lovely afternoon with them on Friday in Oxford at a play centre, and later took me to the Arboretum (part of the University of Oxford) - very gorgeous place, with roaming peacocks willing to take any offering of food, especially little boys who share their afternoon snack!
Feeding peacocks at the Arboretum
Thank you Catherine, Gareth, Oscar and Jessica for a fab Friday and Saturday :-)
When I got back this afternoon, my roommates were about to head downtown to check out a few pubs, and invited me to go with them. It was nice to get to know them a little better - Tess and Marcus are from Plymouth and have been living in Oxford for one year and two years, respectively. We went to a pub up by the University of Oxford - just a tiny closet of a pub, but a very traditional place. We had a drink there and continued on to another, strangely by the same name. This pub was having a weekend long Ale Festival. I tried my first REAL Ale...strange it was, I hear its a bit of an acquired taste, but I am up to the challenge! After that, we went to get some food at Pizza Express. Sounds a bit like a Pizza Pizza, but do not be fooled as I was! It was actually a very classy place! Excellent pizza, and we even had dessert (very common in England - to have dessert after a meal - but very strange for me!).
I also had the delight of talking to my family tonight, via skype! I haven't seen them since I left on September 17th (and my sister since Sept 6th), so it was soooo great to see them, and have a chat with all 4 of them (plus my brother's gf) at once!! I miss them very much, and am glad to know they are thinking of me.
I am off to bed - will be sleeping in tomorrow, and not doing much of anything. Will definitely miss having turkey though! Marcus is apparently the cook of the house, and after telling him of the fantastic desserts my mom makes for Thanksgiving, he said he would make an apple pie for me! However, his gf Tess said he is all empty promises when it comes to baking, so I shouldn't hold my breath! Haha - will keep you posted on that!
Happy Thanksgiving to all - I most thankful for my beautiful family and their love and support as I travel and work far away from family celebrations and get togethers...
Much love!
