Two things I love here.
Trains. 
And the Lanes. Tiny, narrow walkways through Brighton filled with shops. Easy to transport yourself to a time when all the streets in England looked like this. (I mean, in my mind they did). So many old, shiny things to catch the eye. Jon found my engagement/wedding ring in one of these shops.
The best part of moving further south will be the views on the coast. I never get tired of them. Growing up in a land-locked place, the idea of living by a large body of water (even a cold one…with no sand beaches, just rocks) was not very likely. And now look! Water! A pier! Etcetera!
Always so much to see…isn’t this shop creepy? It reminds me of something that would have been on “Are you afraid of the dark?” when I was a kid. I’d bet money that terrible/creepy things are in there. Yep.
Oh, and I came across this wall and couldn’t resist. Camouflage!
I hope everyone’s week is off to a good start. Mine will be the same ol’ same ol, so I hope it goes quickly.
A successful Saturday of house hunting called for a few beers for restorative purposes. It was good. We were tired, and in bed by 11. Such is life. 
Jobs I’ve been offered so far in the three weeks that I’ve lived here:
-Driving around to universities to sell textbooks (or something like that, I can’t drive so I didn’t take it)
-A teaching job in Abu Dhabi
-Another teaching job in Abu Dhabi
-A job writing essays and papers for rich kids in India (amoral, and also offered like, $30 for 2500 word essays to which I replied with a big ol’ professional middle finger)
Jobs I have applied for:
-countless
Needless to say, I am still unemployed. I did, however, lock down a job doing volunteer work with a seemingly interesting charity in the area, which is nice and will at the very least keep my mind off my unemployed-ness and perhaps fill me up slightly with a sense of purpose. And/or turn into a full time position (fingers crossed).
Tomorrow we are looking at FIVE -count ‘em, five-flats. It will be a busy, crazy day, but hopefully after this we can really narrow it down and start making things happen. While I don’t love the idea of buying a house, I know that in the long-term having this house (which will actually be Jon’s parents’ house) will help us when we eventually want to have a family home. It’s strange though, very very strange. We will be landlords at some point, which creeps me out. These life things are things that I never thought of. I mean, I didn’t grow up in a house owned by my parents, and the idea of being a young couple and owning our own place is a bit overwhelming-and that’s when all the bougie logic chimes in that tells me that financially, this is all a good idea for us, and far better than renting. I seem to be the only one out of Jon and his family that is not gung ho. But ah well-maybe I should take the hint and jump on board and be thankful to have become part of a family that does these kinds of thing. Or…well…I guess I already am on board. And that’s where five flat viewings tomorrow comes in!
I am making pancakes in the morning. Last night I made my mom’s recipe for chicken and dumplings (with some of my own tweaks, like chives in the dumplings and leeks in the stew), last week I made spinach wraps one day, kimchi jijae another, and it was all very delicious. Cooking seems to be my respite these days. Hours of applying for jobs is easily forgotten when I make the family a meal once a week, or cook up something for Jon and I when he gets home. I think that’s what I will like the most when it’s just the two of us, whether or not I ever find a job. (God willing I find one).
Charlene Soraia-Wherever You Will Go
James Vincent McMorrow-Higher Love
Funnily enough, both of those are currently in commercials (cough cough *adverts*) on UK television-the first for Twinings tea and the second for Lovefilm, which is the British version of Netflix (but actual Netflix just showed up here last week and blows lovefilm out of the water, so we’ll see how long they last). However, these songs are exquisitely beautiful, and I can’t stop listening to either of them. Well done, English tv.
This reminds me of an issue that I bring up with Jon very often-there seems to be a weird lack of copyright law that exists here as concerns music on tv. Case in point, any show on the BBC can use any song it likes (this is my understanding, I could be wrong) under the public service blanket license. So when they start running commercials for the new season of say, 90210 (why that comes on here is a another question for another time) they just pick whatever hot song is on the radio now. It’s really weird to hear, for example, Rihanna, singing about S&M as the background noise for some random show with antiques being sold, or people looking at new houses to buy. It seems that the songs chosen don’t really fit, most of the time, but they’re popular and the BBC can use them, so they do. I may end up looking into this some more.
Anyway! Just for fun, here’s one more cover, and one of my favorites. Bon Iver singing some old Bonnie Raitt.
Lover of many things, and blogger of some of those things. Also a recent grad student and current "Master". And in love with a pretty smokin' Englishman. I take lots of pictures, but sometimes I just ramble.
