Charlie update

[Charlie Boy II]

Ok - here're a few photos of my trip so far. I'll leave 'em up for around 24 hours.

EDIT: Gone!

[vashti]

Nice! Thanks for posting. It looks cold there.

[Charlie Boy II]

yes it's unimaginably cold. Today I went walking in this enormous park (I've found London is full of parks, it's one it's great strengths). I ended up walking around this park for maybe two hours. It was wonderful: duck-filled ponds, well-kept grounds and sporting fields, long green hedges, rows of flower beds, fountains, statues, the works. But the weather! It was early afternoon but already the light was fading and this cruel icy wind froze my nose and cheeks numb and kept my hands deep in my jacket.

So miserable were the conditions that in those two hours I saw only four other people. One couple, one dog walker and one foolhardy soul trying to do some soccer training. And this is a park right in the thick of the city. I'm sure that in summer it would have been teeming with people. It was rather eerie, to be surrounded by expanses of impeccably maintained greenery in the centre of a city of six million people and yet to be, for the most part, alone.

[vashti]

I'd freeze to death unless I was wearing a parka... I guess I am used to that California sun. I shiver when it gets below 50 degrees F (10 degrees celsius).

[Charlie Boy II]

I've just come from an Australian summer! But I came to the UK on a rugby tour at about the same time of year around five years ago, so I knew what I was getting myself in for. Playing rugby in these temperatures was truly miserable. Not only do you freeze, but everything hurts more because of the cold. (Do you guys know what rugby is? I know there are some teams scattered around the US).

I actually haven't minded the weather this time. It's so different from home, it really lets you know you're in another part of the world and the winter skies can be very striking. The only thing that irks me is that it gets dark by four in the afternoon.

[vashti]

(Do you guys know what rugby is? ).

Haha! Not really... I think it is somewhat similar to American Football, no? Or maybe I am thinking of LaCrosse? I know there are teams around, but I think they are primarily on the east coast. Where I live, it is pretty much all about basketball.

[Charlie Boy II]

Yeah it's similar to American football excpect the game is free-flowing (not divided into "plays"), there's 15 a side (no offensive and defensive teams), we can only pass the ball backwards, everyone can pass and we don't wear pads or helmets.

[vashti]

Less down time is a good thing, if that's what you mean. But no padding? Ouch.

[DoesntMatter]

Cold at 50F? Haha! I ski until it gets under around -15 or -20F.

Rugby isn't popular in the US but some people do play. If (American) football hadn't caught on earlier, rugby probably would have

[Gigabitch]

But the weather! It was early afternoon but already the light was fading and this cruel icy wind froze my nose and cheeks numb and kept my hands deep in my jacket.

Makes you wonder if people used to commit crimes just so they'd be transported to Australia to escape the miserable weather. I believe my ancestors left Scotland to escape the bad food.

I love the goose pic- that was unexpected.

[Charlie Boy II]

Alright - three months since my last update. I've spent most of my time since then touring Europe. I spent time in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands (Amsterdam), Scotland. Much of it I travelled alone, however I did spend a highly enjoyable three weeks with a beautiful Brazilian girl.

I returned to the UK at the end of February and began building a temporary life in the seaside town of Brighton. A youthful, vibrant place about an hour's train ride south of London. I absolutely love it here. I've set myself up with an apartment, a job, a smattering of friends. That's actually been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my trip so far. Existing somewhere you've got no ties with, no roots, you're here simply because you've taken a fancy to the place. Small town life has taught me a lot about the sort of pressures one is besieged by in a city like Sydney. Some of those pressures I was only aware of on a subconcious level.

My plan now is to stay here for a couple of months till the weather becomes a little kinder. After that I was going to travel to places like Turkey and the Greek Islands but I've had a change of heart. Going there would mean returning to back packers hostels and daily binge drinking and I've had enough of that. Instead I now mean to spend some time with nature. More precisely I plan to spend about two months trekking in the Norweigan mountains. To forget, if only for a little while, what it feels like to live in a city, in a house. To buy your food from the shops and cook your dinner in a fully furnished kitchen. Once I'm home I don't know when I'll have the time for an experience like that again.

I won't bore everyone with the customary superlatives, but this trip has been a hugely productive time for me. I feel like a stronger man with a much greater sense of self.

This trip has also cemented the ties between Kristin and I. We talk and write constantly and I know she's the one I want to be with when I get home. In a lot of ways we're closer than we've ever been.

[vashti]

I really enjoy reading your updates, CB.

Although Norway sounds lovely, I don't know that I would miss going to Turkey. It is such a different cultural experience. Oh well, who's to say you won't do it later on with Kirsten?

How do you communicate with people in the non English-speaking countries? Are you multi-lingual, or do many of them speak English?

BTW - I'd ove to see more pictures if you'd care to post them.

[misombra]

that sounds great charlieboy!

city life is very hard on people.

i want to visit turkey.

[vashti]

Let's hear some more detail about you and Kristen? You sound as if you are standing on more stable ground with her now than you did before...

[Charlie Boy II]

I actually just got off the phone to her a second ago. She was kind of upset. She's finding it really hard and, she's a proud person, so I think at times she resents being in love with a guy who's taken off overseas. For the most part she understands and she's been incredibly supportive. But of course she has times when she asks herself is this worth it? What if it doesn't work out when I get back? And they're fair questions. But by the end of our conversation she was great. I think sometimes she just needs to get that stuff out of her system. If we haven't talked for a while that stuff gets stored up.

A woman's love is a humbling thing. And in a lot of ways I don't understand it. I mean, why is she waiting? I don't deserve it, but goddamn I'm grateful for it.

Best of all - she's going to send me some "special" photos. Giggity, giggity.