Easter Greek Style

Hello My Dears,

Ah, Easter.  That time of year in Greece where all laziness is justified and any excuse given for a party.  Our own Easter, thankfully, was mostly family, which meant that it was a surprisingly casual affair.  That is not the case in the States, where Greek American families tend to outdo each other with food and fashion.  In Greece, the only thing they try to outdo each other with is gunshots.  I swear my dad's village sounded like the St. Valentine's Day Massacre was happening every half hour or so.  Needless to say, I did not much enjoy the over abundance of gunfire.  It sounded just like I imagine DC used to at its height as the murder capital of the world.

If you have seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" then you have some idea of what goes on during the Easter Celebration.  My family did not have lamb on the spit.  We bake ours in an outdoor oven.  It took forever to cook.  In addition to the aforementioned lamb, we also had goat with potatoes, and rabbit stew, AKA Stifado, on offer.  None of which this Greek girl enjoys.  I had to content my self with kalitsounia, a sort of Spinach pie that is actually made with wild mountain greens and cheese round easter time.  I also had plenty of mountain greens with lemon and olive oil so that was alright as well.  It wasn't as if I was starving.  I did get a little adventurous and tried the rabbit stew.  It turned out to be quite good.  The experience was slightly reminiscent of my haggis surprise six weeks ago in Edinburgh. I am not saying that I would search out Stifado as a more than once  year occurance but I may try to make it if the opportunity were to present itself. Anyone want to be a lab rat?

I also attended Church for Easter.  Surprised, are we?  Yes, it shocked the hell out of me as well.  Not an experience that I would care to repeat, but it was interesting to attend the funeral of Christ.  Yes, Virginia, there is a funeral.  The service on Good Friday concluded with the village bearing the casket of Christ through the village, and the priest blessing people's houses.  He didn't get as far as our house as it was a little far for him to walk with his arthritis.  I did not go to church for the midnight mass on Saturday.

Well, that is all for me, folks.

Next up...the Greek Adventure Continues and maybe some job updates.

Cheerio for Now,

Tina

A Disaster in the Making

Good Morning My Dears,

Remember when I said that I would write from sunny, warm Greece?  Well, it isn't.  To clarify, it is sunny, but not particularly warm.  I got here yesterday morning at o'dark thirty and it was rainy and cold.  I left Scotland for this, I thought?  It was rather a rude awakening, or rather more of a rude shock as there was no awakening.  I had not slept all night, you see.  Travel is mine enemy in that respect.

On the bright side of things,  I got my national insurance number in the UK in 2 days, not two weeks.  Thank Goodness for UK efficiency.  In this respect they were like swiss clockmakers.  I also moved into the flat, unpacked (took 30 minutes), and had my internet, cable and phone set up.  I will send my home number out to people in separate emails for those who want to call and chat.  (For those neanderthals that are not on Skype, that is.)

The bright side of things, however, has started to dim rather quickly.  The bulb is flickering dangerously.  You see, I made a really bad decision when I purchased my ticket to Greece.  I chose to stay until the 11th of May, the day after my sister's birthday.  When I booked the ticket, a job that I have since applied for at the Scottish National Gallery, was not yet open.  I applied as soon as it opened but the interview date is 6 May.  Consequently, I spent this morning trying to figure out a cheap way of getting myself back to Edinburgh early for the interview, if I get a call.  I haven't been able to find one, however and if I get a call for an interview, I will lose out on the job.  I am such an idiot.

Part and parcel of the aforementioned idiocy is that I had to spend a lot of money all at once to outfit my apartment.  While my apartment was furnished, it did not come with anything in the kitchen.  So off to Ikea I went.  I spent 130 pounds at Ikea and then went and spent 180 pounds at a catalog shop called Argos.  At Argos, I bought a toaster, a kettle, a TV, and a phone.  A TV, you ask?  Don't you have a Mac, you mutter?  The answer to both those questions is yes.  I can in fact watch TV on my Mac but if I access the TV channels online, I still have to pay that pesky TV licensing fee to the BBC.  So in for a penny, in for 180 pounds.  

Anyhoo, if I am not careful, I will be back in the US in 3 months or so.  I am however enjoying being in the bosom of my family for the easter holiday, and the rest can sort itself out when I get back to the UK.  I am off to sit in the sun.

Next up...Easter Greek Style

Cheerio for now,

Tina

Insurance and Interviews

Good Evening My Dears,

I am both very excited and very disappointed with the week's experiences.  When last I wrote, I was off to get a national insurance number so that I can get paid and get healthcare.  I approached the whole process with  a bit of trepidation as I had been told that I would not get an insurance number as they are difficult for immigrants to get.  I was told that people have been waiting years for them.  Sounds like the Green Card process in the States.  I got to my interview for the national insurance late, as I was in an interview with an agency; that called me a couple of hours before the Insurance interview and asked me to come in right away.  Anyhoo, the agency interview went well and there may be some cool jobs coming up soon.  Will keep you all posted.  The insurance interview was surprisingly painless as well.  I answered some questions and I will have my number in a couple of weeks.

I also had an interview today for a software company called evolution online and the jury is still out as to how it went.  I will let you all know as soon as I have other news.  I will say that I was rather disappointed by the experience.  I can't say much more as I don't want to jinx it, so fingers crossed.

In stellar news, I am moving into my flat tomorrow.  I am so excited to have a room of my own.  I will post pics to facebook at some point over the weekend.

Next up...I will be writing from Sunny warm Greece as I am off to see the family for Easter and my sister Alex's birthday.

Cheerio for now,

Tina

Amsterdam Antics

Hello My Dears,

Sorry for the long silence but you all know that I am not exactly a chatterbox and as I have had nothing major to report there was little point in writing.  After all, I am one of those authors who really hates it when people post stupid, not to mention disgusting details on their blogs or facebook.  Anyhoo, enough with the rant.

Since my last post, I have been chasing down agencies which have promised to present me to their clients as a candidate, but for an industry that hits the ground running their followup leaves a lot to be desired.  I have been told that companies really are keen on speaking with me but then nothing.  Nada. Zip. Zilch.

What's a girl to do?  I decided to keep a promise to myself that I made sometime last year and that was to see two new places each year.  To that end, I decided to keep a promise to a friend and go visit them in Amsterdam.  I left on Wednesday  April 6 in the evening and got back late SaturdayApril 9 lateish.

I really like Amsterdam.  It is quite the cool town and fairly easy to navigate.  Except that they suffer from a public transportation system that doesn't like money.  Or maybe it is ING they don't like.  We were trying to get me a bus pass and it took 3 tries before we could.  Then the 72 hour card that we bought expired after like 24.  The thing with Amsterdam buses is that you need to swipe the pass on entry AND Exit.   Ok class, repeat after me, the word for that is redundant.  First they tried to claim that I didn't swipe the card on the way out of one of the buses.  Not so.  Next they tried to claim that we took one of the other bus companies that serves Amsterdam.  We didn't.   So after a day of explaining the issue every time we got on a bus or tram we went to the office and and paid to have it sorted.

Amsterdam is not all that big and easier to navigate than Edinburgh.  Having said that, I found myself in the suprizing position of being uncomfortable with right sided driving after a month in the UK.  Weird.  Also, mine host was oblivious to oncoming traffic and so would cross the street whether we had the light or not.  Picture me trying to dodge buses, trams, and bicycles.  Not funny.

Now a word about bicycles.  That word is YIKES.  Bicycles in Amsterdam is like sheep in New Zealand.  There are 1 million people in Amsterdam and surroundings, there are 2 million bicycles.  It is insane.  Amsterdam is enough like Edinburgh in that the first sunny warm day everybody is in the park or wearing summer clothes. And riding bikes.  I nearly got run over once.

We took a canal cruise and went to visit another friend.  I am rather ashamed to say it but I got a teensy bit tipsy (read falling down drunk, literally). Vodka is not my friend.  I did discover a love of tulips, and you all know about my love of cheese.  Amsterdam has a daily farmer's market that has both.  It inspired me to come home to Edinburgh and look up our farmer's market.

We walked enough that I was in pain quite a lot of the time.  What, you exclaim?  How is this possible, you ask?  Yes, it shocked the hell out of me as well.  I rediscovered my hamstrings and the fact that I am not 12 anymore.  Why didn't one of you tell me that I am not a kid?  Rude awakening, that.  On my last night in Amsterdam, we went to dinner with a friend of my sister's to a very impressive italian restaurant and then for drinks.  NOT Vodka.  On Saturday we just sat and enjoyed the glorious weather in the park.

I got home late as my flight was delayed.  Go KLM!   I spent a very peaceful Sunday enjoying weather that was in the 70's in Scotland.  I actually broke out the summer clothes.

Next up: an interview with an agency for a job and the national insurance for a number so I can get healthcare, as well as possibly moving into my flat. (Fingers crossed please.)

Cheerio for now,

Tina