Snowy Arrival

After 20 hours in transit, I landed at Heathrow airport amidst 4 inches of snowfall and wintery mix. We were delayed in landing because the ground crews were trying to keep up with the first snow of the year: in April! Fortunately my flight was one of the first in, because I would later hear that other flights were cancelled due to congestion.

I made my way out to Woking Station where my college friend Miranda picked me up. We relaxed at their home in Godalming (what an old English name, eh?). Then we went to a Principia Club function in Weybridge featuring the CEO and interim president of the College and Headmaster of its k-12 School. The school's been through a rough period, so this was kind of a clean slate PR stop to let everyone know that things are on the up and up. Of course when 4:00 came around, we had tea and cakes. Yum yum, but I didn't get some because many people were keen on talking to the random Yank who showed up. I found it interesting too that I would be in town from California for such a local meeting.

We retired home for a light dinner of French cheeses, Marmite (first time, conservatively spread on buttered toast = palatable), Pate, and tea. Miranda's mother is in town from her home in the French department of Dordogne. She showed me pictures of her country cottage where she lived for 10 years without electricity or running water, by choice! Now it's done up with wiring and a swimming pool to boot!

I showed pictures of my family and places where I've lived, as well as the obsolete British Pounds I'm carrying around from my girlfriend's 1997 stay in Sheffield and my mother and aunt's 1965 European Tour. The 1965 1-Pound notes evoked colorful stories from Miranda's mum about how much that could buy back in the day: a tank of gas, a Christmas extra gift, compared to now when it won't even buy a Liter of gasoline (yes, Americans we complain about gas approaching $4/gallon; over here it is already over $8. Get over it and get efficient!)

After 3pm I started nodding off. Now it's 10:30 and I'm tuckered out. An early day tomorrow where I'm going to Bank of England to exchange the old 10 Pound note, many have told me to keep the 1-Pound notes for their potential worth 40 more years in holding. Stay tuned for pictures.