March 9, 2008

Adventures of Scatterboy

I'm tracking my co-worker Jay through his month of adventures as a designer in Scotland. Deja vu. He's funnier and child-free so his blog posts of his "working holiday" should be much more exciting than mine.

Turns out Jay has a cool project called Future Me which is a book now too.

I'm trying to be Adult Jana and not cry that I didn't get to go back to Scotland. Darn re-org.

Posted by jana at 6:13 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2006

Mini Moos...the post travel post

I've been back in Seattle for almost 3 weeks now but it seems longer than that. Maybe because I'm a blogger no one seems to ask me much about my trip. Next time I travel you will all have to wait until I get back to read my travel journal!

I've come to realize that travelling changes your life in little ways, not the big ways. For instance, mini moos. A few years back I recall a meeting with a British co-worker in the kitchenette at work. Being American and having a high tolerance for pre-packaged food with extended shelf life I didn't think much about pouring a little packaged creamer into my coffee. British co-worker was appalled. He said in the UK the fridge would be full of milk for the workers. I always wondered if that was true. Fast forward a few years and my own trip to Scotland finds me with a fridge full of fresh milk. Full size cartons too! No "non-dairy" labels anywhere! Now I too am ruined from adding mini-moos to my beverages.

Anyway....if I could take this year and make it the template for my years to come, I would. I never thought I’d be combining the words motherhood with adventure, but I have to say that the last 12 months have been some of the most adventurous of my 35 years. Previously when I would travel I would just skim the surface of a place to visit. With kids in tow I realized that travel would need to be more soaking up a place instead of blowing through it. A big thanks to my kids for making me slow down and enjoying places even more.

A few people have asked me, “what next?” and I jokingly say, “hopefully not just weekend trips to Canada.” But seriously, I’ll take what I can get. Canada, or even just Tacoma, here I come.

To tell the truth, I never thought I'd spend 3 months in Amsterdam or 6 weeks in Scotland. One trip seemed to seed another. I'm hoping these little seeds of adventure will keep planting themselves!

Signing off from this rambling -- at least I've avoided paying the bills for 10 minutes. If bill paying gets me too depressed I will post a kindergarten follow up post!

Posted by jana at 9:09 PM

September 4, 2006

The journey home

Beep. Right after I set both of my alarms for 2:45am I got a text message on my phone. It was 11pm. It was Bob texting that he'd managed to damage two rental cars now. I couldn't let that one wait the 36 hours before I was back online so I called him. "What happened?!!" He was okay but shaken after driving the very pedestrian Royal Mile. OHMYGOD. Bob said, "You are right Jana. I'm endangering lives by driving in Edinburgh." He was okay, but rental car #2 was damaged in the same place as rental car #1.

I hung up and went to sleep. Three and a half hours later I woke up and did the mad scramble for the airport. 3:15am the car was supposed to arrive to take us to the airport. 3:25 no car. There was one car idling out front but I thought that couldn't possibly be the car to take us to the airport. It was one of those compact euro cars. Finally the driver got out and asked if we were going to the airport. I said, "yes." I started hauling out our luggage and he said, "how many of you are going? Are those all of your bags?" Yes. He said, "No way. Impossible." Eek. He ended up taking Gro to the airport with the luggage and then coming back for the rest of us. I guess Karsten had wanted to go on the first trip because after the cab left without him he yelled at me, "Mommy, you're crushing my heart into smitherens!" 45 minutes later we made it to the airport with no time to spare, but we did make it.

The story of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde was inspired by a real life character from Edinburgh. I think my kids were inspired by the story as well. By day, well behaved. At 3am evil twins. They kicked the chairs in front of them. Screamed. Hit each other. This was only 3 hours in to the 20 hour journey. I was fearing for my sanity and the others on the plane. I hauled out my laptop and started a DVD. Minutes later it went into hibernation mode but by then we were landing and on to leg two of the trip.

We had a 5 hour layover at Schipol. I love that airport but I was reminded that there are some Dutch oddities out there. We bought the kids some happy meals at McDonalds with some spare Euros I had found around our flat. I ordered a water. The water came in a cup with a lid and straw. I picked the cup up and it was hot! I took it back and asked for cold water. The woman said, "we don't have cold water." I would have just asked for ice but remembered Holland is a country without ice. Nevermind. I'd drink hot water. After the kids finished their happy meals I put the straw in my water and took a big suck. Ack! My mouth was scalded! Nevermind, hydration is overrated....

The positive thing about Schipol is it is loaded with great things to do. I tried to find the cool play area I'd found last time I was there. I never did relocate it, but I found 3 other great play areas instead. Right before boarding the plane I bought a big jug of water. I had read that you can bring bottles of water for babies but you have to taste it in front of security. This is what I did for Britta's bottle of milk before boarding in Edinburgh. No. You can't bring bottles of water on the plane. I had to ditch it. Yeah, so much for hydration.

We settled on the plane. Britta sat behind Karsten so when she kicked the seats it was only him she was bothering. Karsten had a private tv screen so he had no need to kick or scream. All was well. My eyes started getting sleepy. I shut them just for a second. Then a few seconds longer. Britta was coloring with markers and very happy. I cracked my eyes open. She was stamping herself with marker. Oh good, she was happy. I closed my eyes again. Eventually my eyes opened again. The nice Dutch guy sitting next to Britta said, "She's morphed into the Incredible Hulk." Her whole body was covered. I was more happy that I'd had a few moments of sleep.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, thank goodness. We made it home 10 hours later and I took a 2 hour nap. My parents came over and made dinner. The kids went to bed and slept until 6 or 7am. I was expecting pancakes at 3am again so I was quite happy.

Posted by jana at 8:12 PM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2006

Wrapping things up

Last night Bob, Todd, Nick and I had our own International Office Hours. The ratio of Americans to Scots was pretty good once all of our Scottish co-workers joined us for drinks at a pub in New Town.

Now is the mad dash to wrap things up so I can catch the most hellish flight home. Expectations of the next 36 hours being pleasant are low.

My new hire finally starts today. So much for working at a high tech company. There was a moment yesterday where it looked like I may be extending my stay but the cost of changing everyone's flight was too expensive for such a short amount of time.

Looking forward to: 11 year anniversary with hubby the day after I return; my working appliances; the beach; special Seattle friends and family; and hopefully better weather. Amazing that I would associate Seattle with better weather!

See you all soon!

Posted by jana at 1:23 AM | Comments (2)

August 30, 2006

Last in weekend Scotland recap

Greg hasn’t a kilt, family tartan, bagpipes or a Scottish accent but still he claims to be a native. Since he seems to know the difference between a brae and a munro and can describe in detail 200 year chunks of Scottish history at a time, I’m going to believe him. Greg is one of my co-workers and has endeared himself to me by taking the family and me (and Quincy) on some excursions around Scotland. I’ve secretly (or now not so secretly) nicknamed him BFS (Best Friend in Scotland) for his efforts. I've gotten to see parts of Scotland I wouldn't have been able to see unless I'd hired/rented a car and endangered lives* to see the sites he's taken us to see in his car.

Sunday we visited Deep Sea World Aquarium in the Kingdom of Fife, then visited the beautiful coastal town of North Berwick (pronounced Barrick). The kids once again chowed down on a dinner of “chippies” while we sat on a wall near the beach. Andy will be jealous to see all the kite boarders and windsurfers when he sees my photos. Erik and my dad will be jealous to learn we played golf though, even if it was only slightly more complicated than a putt putt course. My guess is it was a 1-par course although I made it more of a 5 par course. Karsten tried playing golf too but then he realized he was having more fun pretending to be Clark Kent than playing golf.

On Monday our personal tour guide took us on an “off the beaten path” tour of Scotland. The best thing that happened on Monday is that instead of Karsten morphing into Clark Kent he morphed into a nice, quiet Peter Rabbit after we visited a Beatrix Potter exhibit in Birnham. Birnham is also famous for its part in Macbeth. “Toil toil boil and trouble…” was all I could remember from 10th grade Macbeth studies, but now little animals in quaint outfits will stand out in my memory even more. I couldn’t resist buying the Tale of Tom Kitten and other Beatrix Potter paraphernalia in the gift shop.

Next we visited what is claimed to be the most beautiful and ancient Christian site in Scotland, Dunkeld Cathedral. The Cathedral also has its own museum attached to it. I don’t think any churches in Seattle have any museum attached so I was quite intrigued to muddle through centuries and centuries of history. The cathedral is located next to a beautiful river Tay and some cathedral ruins. Greg said that was the area he’d want to retire in and I can see why.

We ended the day our last stop at the Drummond Castle Gardens. It was the perfect place for the kids to run around and me to imagine how luxurious it would be to live in a place with such impressive gardens. My little 2x5 garden strip at home hardly compares.

This lack of internet connection is cramping my blogging style! I’m having to make super long posts instead of my quick bites and all the effort is taxing my brain! I know next year when I’m sitting at home re-reading this I will be glad I made the effort, so I will force myself to continue on.

Trudging through my memory all the way back to Friday I’m recalling shopping behind Waverly station. I had a pang of homesickness when of all things I heard a flaming lips song playing in one of the stores. I never thought I’d associate the Flaming Lips with home but the last time I heard that song Andy had it playing on the ipod at home. Gro took the kids back home for the naps and I spent about 3 hours poking into little boutiques and finding my way home. I didn’t buy anything though! Now I’m panicking because I don’t have any shopping time left and hardly bought gifts for anyone – or even myself.

Saturday we met with Terry and his family again. Terry’s son Danny is Karsten’s own BFS. Danny is six, friendly and very worldly. He spent his first two years of life in Poland, the next four in the US and now he’s making Edinburgh his home. We took the kids to a Scottish ceilidh… well, as close to a ceilidh you can get to without whisky. Afterwards the kids still needed some running around so we hung out on the park near the Parliament building. Karsten went in the pond and got so wet I had to take Britta’s long johns/tights off and put them on to Karsten to wear around Edinburgh. He looked like a metrosexual ninja but that didn’t stop him from running the entire Royal Mile and down to the appliance department at the John Lewis store. We checked out some appliances with Terry and Madga then hit Pizza Hut of all places to end the day. We felt like it was a bit of an American cop out but the kids ate so much that any guilt we felt for not doing better to gastronomically branch out was overruled.

___________________________
* Bob has done damage to the hired/rented car in the one day he's been driving in the UK. I got an email from Ivan asking if he was okay and yes, he's okay. Everyone else should be okay if he just stays off the road! I've offered to loan Bob my red nail polish to cover up some of the scratches he's put in the car but he said it is the wrong shade.

Posted by jana at 12:57 AM | Comments (1)

August 24, 2006

Creepy cool art

If you haven't heard of the sculptural artist Ron Mueck it is time to add him to your cultural radar. Creepy, cool and amazing.

I also had a chance to go through The Real Mary King's Close last night. The tour attempts to bring back life to the 17th century of cramped Edinburgh life. I learned where the term middle class comes from and the tour left me with the feeling of being happy to be born in Seattle in the 20th century.

Posted by jana at 9:02 AM | Comments (1)

Kids on art

Scene: the kids, Bestemor and I are in the national gallery. Me, wheeling Britta past a haystack painting by Claude Monet and her yelling “that way!” I wheel her into the next salon. Oh, a Gainsbourgh! Britta rocks her stroller back and forth, “let’s go!” So I experience the national gallery on speed, but hey, Edinburgh is a huge hub for international art that I never knew about and at least I’m glimpsing a little bit of it.

In the next salon Bestemor and I switched kids. I showed Karsten a Rembrandt self portrait. “Karsten, Rembrandt was the most famous Dutch master.” Karsten says, “Dutch Master?” like I’ve finally said something interesting. It clicks, I know what he’s thinking, “Jedi Master.” Whatever it takes to make art more interesting to a 5 year old!

We saw a sign advertising the Van Gogh exhibit. Karsten had been there yesterday with Bestemor so he said, “there’s the tree picture we saw yesterday.” Bestemor and I were happy to know the gallery hopping is sinking in.

Before we left the gallery Bestemor suggested I run upstairs and view the small collection of renaissance triptychs. Karsten wanted to come with me mainly because the stairs looked fun to climb, but when we got to the top he was fascinated with the religious themed works. Paintings of a bloody Christ just coming off the cross, an empty tomb, angels, John the Baptist, etc. Suddenly all of those nice Sunday School stories seemed much more fascinating and real to him. I explained how the nails were driven into Christ's hands so he could be nailed to the cross. Grisly yes, but accurate.

Posted by jana at 4:56 AM

August 22, 2006

Quincy is off

Quincy is on her way to the airport to fly back to Seattle. It was fun having a "flat mate" and I'll miss her. I think Bob will be arriving in a few days though so I'll just replace one p13n friend with another. Andy said the kids will think they go abroad and that's where Bob is since they've never seen him in America.

Last weekend was packed full of lots of exploration. On Friday Quincy, the kids and I got a tour of the Secret Scotland Nuclear Bunker and a trip to St. Andrews courtsey of Greg, our private local tour guide. The bunker is a kitschy cold war relic that was fascinating to see and there wasn't much to worry about the kids and damaging anything. We watched films on how to outfit your home in case of nuclear fall out.

Next we did some sand castle building on the North Sea shores of St. Andrews. I'm sure my brother will be appalled to read I didn't even hit a bucket of balls at the golf mecca of the world. We threw in stops for ice cream and fish and chips and the kids had a great day.

The next day Bestemor gave me a hall pass to roam Edinburgh. Quincy, Greg and I went shopping at one of my favorite euro stores, Zara. I told Quincy I wanted to buy a pair of jeans. She thought she'd buy some jeans too but then we realized the reason I like the store so much is because all the jeans are actually long enough for me -- meaning all jeans were at least six inches too long for Quincy. She did find a cute short sleeved shirt to buy.

We stopped for lunch and then wandered the Royal Mile. We stopped in at the St. Giles Cathedral and admired some quite pagan looking coat of arms. Next we popped into the People's Story Museum and learned about the past decades of life and various jobs of the locals. We ended the day at the doorstep of the Scottish Parliament and discussed the uniqueness of the building.

Sunday the kids, Bestemor and I did more of our own exploring. We visited the Museum of Childhood where I could barely drag Britta away from the doll house! I think I know what she'll be getting for Christmas this year. Afterwards we started wandering down to the bus so we could make it home for Britta's nap but we were lucky and she fell asleep in her stroller so we were able to wheel her around the Toulouse Lautrec show was going on. What a great show! We also got to see the works of an amazing photographer, Albert Watson.

My kids are getting so cultured! Bestemor has been taking them to museum after museum. Yesterday they got stuck in the elevator of the Museum of Modern art. They had to push the alarm button until they were rescued. It was great excitement for Karsten when he got to jump about 3 feet from the ground into a security guard's arms. So far though I don't think anything tops the swimming catfish they've seen in the Royal Museum's entryway.

This weekend will be my last in Edinburgh. The time is going so quickly. I think I've become addicted to this tourist life. Maybe I can become more of a tourist in my own city and try and continue this lifestyle in some small way.

Posted by jana at 4:27 AM

August 17, 2006

Flipping the switch

I hired someone yesterday and just as I was mid through my presentation on how this place works my laptop went into hibernation mode. I checked: UK cord with proper voltage. Plugged in to proper outlet. Ah, but I didn't flip the switch! My nice demeanor went bye bye as I ranted, "You should just be able to plug something in and have it work! And what is up with the water here? Hot and cold on two separate taps! How can you get warm water?!" And then I checked myself. Me, nice, soft-spoken American. New hire: nice, local designer. I pulled myself together, flipped plug on, re-booted my laptop and continued my presentation. Sorry fellow Americans, I'm trying my best to be a good representative but I might be failing.

Today I'm giving a design presentation to developers. Tomorrow we're going to see St. Andrews. Air Bear, I'll take a picture for you and wish you were here.

Posted by jana at 1:23 AM | Comments (1)

August 16, 2006

Republicans, stay home

Note to non-Americans: if you go on and on and on about America and how much you hate the Bush administration even after I complain too, I'm eventually going to take it personally.

Quincy, Greg and I went out to a great EIFF film called White Palms last night about Communist Hungarian gymnasts. Afterwards we hit a few pubs and met some drunken Brits wanting to bend my ear about their feelings on America. At one point I jokingly said I'd voted for Bush but sarcasm from a stranger was lost. If Quincy and Greg hadn't been there to verify that I was joking I may not be able to type this blog post today. To be fair, the evening ended well with the group exchanging mobile numbers so we could meet up for fringe shows. (Suspicious ploy to lure American into more public bashing? Possible.)

All in all, my experience with the Scots has been a welcoming camaraderie, almost like long lost cousins meeting for the first time and complaining about our respective leaders (Bush and Blair bashing) and comparing cultural idiosyncrasies. Boot versus trunk? Trolley versus cart? And I must say that in the few months I’ve spent abroad this year this was the worst case of American bashing I’ve encountered. I think I expected even more of it.

Here I am taking a quick break at work to post all of this. Sleep was hard to come by last night. Karsten woke up at 5am to eat half a pizza and 2 pancakes at 6:30am! If he is taller than me by the time we arrive home I won’t be surprised.

In other news, the kids and I went to the Camera Obscura gallery yesterday. The kids loved all the optical puzzles and I loved admiring the skyline via telescopes. It was a great alternative view to the city. Bestemor explored Edinburgh by foot and found bulk bags of peanuts and raisins at bargain prices. Kudos to Bestemor, our international bargain shopper.

Posted by jana at 1:36 AM | Comments (4)

August 14, 2006

More photos posted

I posted photos here and Andy posted some here.

New photos are public until we return.

Posted by jana at 5:37 AM

Changing of the guard

My mom and Andy left Edinburgh and a few days later Bestemor arrived for the second shift of kid duty for the days I go to work. Between Bestemor and Britta, we are in good hands. The other day at the dinner table Karsten asked, "can someone get me some milk please?" Britta hopped out of her chair, ran into the kitchen and opened the mini fridge and brought the big jug of milk out to Karsten. She’s looking out for Babu.

In the day and half Bestemor has been here she’s fixed the washing machine (found that some of the water valves weren’t all the way on and we weren’t running the spin cycle correctly, etc), rearranged the furniture in almost every room, and made some gourmet meals. All this while jet lagged. Impressive, but really I'm sure if you know my mother-in-law you wouldn't be surprised.

My mom had to fly home on the day that terrorist were plotting to blow up UK transatlantic flights mid-air. Andy had left a day early for a day in Amsterdam so he’d already gotten out of the UK, but my poor mom couldn’t even bring her book on the flight or any carry-ons. She even had to take off her bracelet and ditch her camera. Andy said as the flight pulled into Seattle the passengers had to discard any liquids. I had a brief thought before I went to sleep that night that thank goodness nothing happened to that flight because my life would be pretty crappy if those two people were missing from it.

Anyway, I’m not going to dwell on the negatives that didn’t even happen….We’ve been so busy that finally on Saturday we just hung out in our flat waiting for Bestemor to arrive. I had to take care of the mundane things like cleaning the bathrooms. I had a few days as a single mom in a foreign country but it worked out fine. I dragged the kids out to a fun part of town to have dinner with some people from work. Russell and Kim had just arrived from Romania (sans luggage due to the UK terror issue) so we joined them for a late dinner. The kids and I caught a cab home so that was fun for them.

Quincy has been staying with us for the last few days too. We’ve been checking out more museums and the botanical gardens again while she explored the major tourist spots.

Sunday we were back on track though. We met up with Terry, Magda, their kids and their Polish friends and went to Fringe Sunday at the Meadows. It is like the Edinburgh version of Bumbershoot. We caught a super scary version of the kids’ play of Hansel and Gretel (mom is getting rid of the kids so she can have more food for herself) and saw some dancing acts that re-enacted late night drinking. The Meadows is a little like the Seattle Center in that there are some rides so Karsten and I went on the roller coaster together. I let him pick one more ride so he opted for the Fun House.

Quincy spent the weekend running around with Nick and friends. She's been plotting her UK exit strategy but it hasn't been going well. She thought she'd take a boat to Northern Ireland until I told her I'd heard the IRA had blown up a bomb and the routes to Dublin were closed. Now it looks like she'll make Edinburgh her home for another week, which will be fun for me. She came to work with me today to use the wi-fi. She's horrified that I could be staying at a place without any internet connection. She did find some free wi-fi at Andy's former office: the bus stop.

The kids have provided me with non-stop entertainment. Karsten wanted to know how he got into my belly so he could be born. I defaulted to the cop-out answer, "God planted a seed." Later he asked me if God sent him as a seed in a spaceship into my belly. Ah ha, we'd just watched the original Superman last week on Andy's laptop and I can see where he's getting his ideas. He tried to run as fast a bus yesterday but it didn't work. I told him I'd draw him a picture of how he got into my belly but he's forgotten for now though. I'm hoping he won't remember for another 5 years!

Britta is talking more and more in full sentences. She'll run into the other room and say, "I'll be right back!" I've heard her say to Babu, "That's not nice." She's also the master of onomatopoeia. I see a future in Shakespearian study -- or at least future blogger for her. Cats are "meows", swings and slides are "wees" and babies crying are "baby whah." I love learning her secret language.

Posted by jana at 5:04 AM

August 7, 2006

As promised, my weekend review

"...and then they were beheaded!" This is a partial quote from the kid's brochure for Stirling Castle. I've lost the leaflet so I can't recall the exact context but I know that the line applies to at least half of the monarchy and a good portion of anyone of any historical notoriety in this country. Stirling Castle may be beautifully recreated to re-inact the settings of old castle life but let me tell you, this is no Disneyland. It made me realize that American history is far less romantic and the stories are more about the winners than the tragedy of the losers. I like how Scotland unites in its underdog status to England.

Anyway, I enjoyed Stirling Castle even better than Edinburgh Castle probably because it was also used as a palace for Mary de Guise and James IV (?) so it was a bit more luxurious and less tourtists than Edinburgh Castle.

Friday we walked to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Karsten and Britta played at the park outside the entrance gate before we went in. Of course Karsten and Andy made friends and Britta and I tagged along. Our new Scottish friends took us to a beautiful waterfall area inside the gardens where Karsten and the other five year old boy found a weeping willow tree growing over rocks that provided some natural tunnels. Much fun for a couple of five year olds! After the kids were exhausted we took the bus back to our flat and had dinner.

My mom offered to put the kids to bed that night so Andy and I decided to take advantage of the festival. Becca, if the Three Mo Tenors come to Seattle we're going. During the performance I was reminded of the quote, "Good friends, good food, good music are the secrets of a good life." Listening to these talented guys sing made me vow to see more live music performances and stop listening to so much NPR on the radio! Must incorporate more music into my life. Andy should be happy to read this.

From the show we walked down Rose street, a cute little street crowded with pubs. We found a pub called The Bad Ass and decided that despite the name we'd go in. Andy order the haggis and from behind us we heard someone with an accent other than American say, "brave man." We got to talking to this Irish man and he told us the Irish don't eat haggis. The haggis showed up and I got out the camera to document Andy's first bite. Not bad, he decided. Then it was my turn. I closed my eyes and opened my mouth for the fork. Not bad... but not good enough for me to want to order more. I'll stick to the vegetarian haggis please.

Next we walked up the castle road and down through some streets to find where Reggie Watts, supercomedian was playing. We'd just caught (barely) Reggie at Erik Benson's birthday party in Seattle so it seemed funny to see him in Edinburgh but Andy insisted we support the former local talent. We spotted Reggie's new wave 'fro in the entrance way so we stopped by to say hi and wish him luck for the festival. His show was packed and everyone seemed to enjoy the show. I was worried we wouldn't get to hear him sing but he incorporated some dirty songs into his act.

Saturday we met up with Terry, one of my new co-workers and his family. He also has an extroverted son looking for company. The day worked out perfectly. We met next to the Scots Monument and kids ran around while the parents came up with a game plan. We finally got tickets to see the Jim Henson puppet improv at 3pm. We had plenty of time before the show so we walked to the Royal Museum and saw Dolly, the first cloned sheep! Dolly is dead and stuffed and in the museum behind some glass. In fact there were tons of dead, stuffed animals in the museum. Andy and I decided it may even be better than a zoo because you could really get up close to see the dead animals better than real ones in cages.

Britta had a great time running around and calling everything a moo or a whooo whooo.

I'd seen that there was a robot wing to the museum so we headed there next. Fortunately for me there was an Arts and Crafts room on the way that completely fascinated me. I wanted to read about all these every day objects and the story of how they came to be. My favorite room was almost empty aside from a few people zooming past to see the robots. Why are robots more fascinating than a beautifully painted ceramic tile? I don't get it, but I think I was alone in my thinking. The robot room had some interesting things for the kids but at the end of the day when I asked Karsten what he liked best about the musuem he said the fish pond in the entry way.

We watched the coolest clock ever chime 2pm (it took about 10 minutes) and then began our walk to the puppet show. The puppet show was cool because we got to see how puppet shows are filmed for t.v. Andy swears there has never been a good puppet show but this one met his approval.

I'm not even done typing about our weekend, if you can believe it! I will type more later (if anyone has even read this far I will be impressed.)

Posted by jana at 4:46 AM | Comments (4)

August 2, 2006

Where am I?

If I look outside my window I see rain. If I look around the office I see software developers in company t-shirts and gortex jackets hanging off their chairs. Am I home or Edinburgh?

Readers: I will be off line until next week so don't worry that I have been kidnapped by Scottish bandidos. The best way to reach us in case of emergency is Andy's crackberry until otherwise noted.

Plans for the next few days include, checking out the Edinburgh festival, visiting a co-worker in Linthgow and for tomorrow, a trip to Sterling castle via train. I promise to post more reviews and photos next week.

In other news,
- I'm developing an unhealthy addiction to Scottish shortbread, tea with milk and sugar, and Google maps.
-Yesterday Karsten said, "buggy" instead of stroller. It's always the kids who are best able to transition into new surroundings. Now if only I could get Britta to say "nappie" instead of "poo poo."
- The kids are finally sleeping all night. Yay.
- UK CVs (resumes) indicate if the person can drive a manual transmition car.
- Quincy's coming to visit!
- Recent discovery. It is okay to say "bathroom" instead of "loo" when speaking with an American accent. Seems like cheating.

Posted by jana at 8:32 AM | Comments (1)

August 1, 2006

Exploring Edinburgh

Jet lag has been tough on the kids. The only good thing to come out of the kids waking up at 4:30 am was the ability to make it to Edinburgh Castle by 8:30, a whole hour before it opened. Andy and Britta waited in line to buy tickets while my mom, Karsten and I visited the weaving factory. When the castle finally opened we were able to join in a small tour group to learn about the centuries of castle history. We spent almost fours hours exploring all the dark nooks and crannies -- although we breezed by the crown jewels a little faster than I would have preferred. Karsten was too busy searching out the dungeons carved into the side of the extinct volcano to be interested in jewelry. The leisurely tour came to an abrupt end when I heard a "thunk" and saw Karsten's head land on the stone walkway from trying to use a chain as a swing. We hopped the bus back to our flat and checked his pupils for signs of a concussion.

Later that night Andy and I snuck out for a Saturday night in Edinburgh. The first stop was at a pub called the Malt Shovel for some whiskey. I ordered mine with hot chocolate, most likely offending the pub staff. Afterward We made our way up to the top of the hill and past the castle. I saw a sign that said "Mercat tours", a company I recognized from my guidebook. I told Andy I wanted to check the place out. He didn't know what it was but assumed it must be a popular pub because of all the people trying to get in. As we approached the moving group I recognized two of the women from our castle tour earlier that day. The women were just closing the door and said, "are you on this tour too?" We said, "no." She said, "you are now." the door shut behind me and the only thing ahead of us was a candle-lit path into a damp dungeon. We had landed on the Ghost Tour. I wondered if this was something I would have opted to go on had I been given the choice. It was too late. We learned about all the paranormal activity from the dead "purrr" (poor) residents who used to live there. Finally at the end of the tour the guide said, "for those of you with the red ticket proceed on to the tavern. For the white ticket holders your tour is done." I thought we were busted for sure but we were able to sneak out unnoticed. Our female partners in crime didn't give us a way. I was disappointed they had bought the red tickets because they seemed like they would have been up for some pub crawling.

Andy and I found another pub with some acoustic guitar and tried more whiskey. We took the long way home so we could explore more of the city. We ran across at least 5 "stag" or "hen" parties where every member of the party dressed alike. We saw the outfits on various groups: matching pink cowboy hats, feather halos, 11 female Elvis'.

Sunday we did the ultimate kid-friendly tourism: a double decker bus tour around the city. We hopped off at Holy rood Palace, the Queen's official residence when she visits Edinburgh. The ladies headed to the palace and the boys opted for a ride in the time machine at the Mother Earth exhibit across the street. Both groups were equally pleased.

I know why Britta was the only two year old on the palace tour. It is easier to leave toddler's with a babysitter! I cajoled her as far as King Charles II bedroom where she decided to cross the ropes and sit on the rug Charles had commissioned centuries ago. Instead of freaking out the guards by charging the roped off area I had to finesse her out of there by letting her think it was her idea to leave.

Next we made our way into the great hall where portraits of 96 Scottish kings zigzagged the walls. Here she decided "poo poo me" and took out the changing mat and a diaper (nappy). Then she took off her pants and shoes. (The story definitely gets more scandalous when telling it to a Scot where the word "pants" sounds too close to "panties.") I picked her up and took her into the room where Mary Queen of Scots relics are in enclosed cases. The darkness and cabinets were my ally and I was able to get her dressed again.

We jumped back on the tour bus and finished the tour. We left the stroller ("buggy") on the bus so Andy had to go back to the station today to pick it up.

And finally, this morning we tried to drug the kids in desperation. When Karsten woke up at 1:30am Andy gave him a half a tablet of Dramamine. When I got up to go to work this morning Karsten told me, "Daddy gave me some candy that made me feel funny." He puked a few times but by the time I got home from work he was back to his old self. Of course this got us thinking that maybe he did have a concussion... We used Andy's crackberry to play Google MD and determined it was probably the Dramamine that caused the vomiting.

In other news, Britta's black eye is almost healed up. Today's color: purplish-yellow. Andy said she hit her eye on our wrought iron bed frame at home just before leaving for the airport. My poor kids should be wearing helmets.

We're having fun on my "working holiday." If anyone else needs a traveling designer let me know!

Posted by jana at 12:39 AM | Comments (1)

July 27, 2006

The Gateway Haggis

I convinced some of the guys in the office to take me out in Edinburgh last night and there I had my first bite of haggis. The funny thing was we were in a vegetarian restaurant. Whatever I was eating was not bad, and most definitely not a sheep stomach. However this introductory bite of haggis has now made trying the real haggis not seem like it will be such a big deal. We'll see! I did manage three months in Amsterdam without trying the weed.

My flat is fantastic but the odd thing is I'm living "unplugged." No tv, telephone, internet connection, radio or alarm clock. I'm having to make do with reading The DaVinci Code as my only form of entertainment. Fortunately the family arrives in just a few hours and the odd quietness will be a thing of the past. I'm so excited to see them. My mom emailed me that she is bringing homemade cookies too. Yay! It turns out coming over early was a good Mama Bear thing to do. There were a few snafus with getting the water and refrigerator working properly and finding a "travel cot" for Britta.

Edinburgh lives up to the hype of a beautiful old city. Two nights ago I meandered the streets trying to make sure not to miss any of the ancient granduer that would peak out between buildings. A castle here, a castle there, or what I would mistake for a castle is actually a boy's school. When the family arrives I plan on piling everyone on a bus to waverly station and guidebook in hand. Pretty cool that I will get to show the kids this city. Not every city is like B-Town.

Work is going well. It is sort of like being the new person except I've worked at the corporate office for 5 years so everything is familiar just a new location and new people. Yesterday Matt announced my arrival to the entire office and after that I was almost popular for about 20 minutes. Everyone was interested in sharing with me the things NOT to say in Scotland, the foremost being "fanny." Must remember that.

Posted by jana at 1:03 AM | Comments (4)

July 24, 2006

Copenhagen with Q

Weary traveler, that's what I am. I've been up since 4:30am to catch a flight to Manchester England and the tolls of international travel have finally hit.

Flying into Manchester seemed like a nice rural part of Englad but that does not mean I'm not in one of the highest security airports I've ever travelled (next to Heathrow). Upon landing I was escorted through the back tunnels of the airport to yet another security check for my American passport. I was delayed because one of the immigration officials was being warned to look for a woman traveling on her daughter's passport and trying to get someone else in the country with her passport. Finally I was led back through the tunnels to my gate for a two hour wait. I decided to get a lunch but that meant another security check and having to say cheese for a security camera.

To keep my heart from aching from being away from my kids I've been trying to avoid all the tow headed kids, but the whole Danish country is full of them! I took the longer security line at the airport so I wouldn't have to stand behind the tow-headed boy in the Star Wars shirt. I couldn't look at the little girl with the crazy hair in the row over from me in the plane. I was thinking about my own crazy haired little girl and missing her arms slink around my neck to play with my hair when she wakes up in the morning. To comfort myself I reminded myself that her arms would be slinking around daddy's neck and I envisioned my little Daddy's girl happy to have Daddy all to herself. I hope they're all having fun - and missing me of course. I sure am missing them.

Quincy and I had fun in Copenhagen. We were on the move from the moment I arrived. We visited one of the palaces, a sculputre museum and a Danish pottery flea market my mother-in-law would have died for on the first day I was there. Some of the Dutch words I'd learned in Amsterdam helped in deciphering the menus and Quincy was able to safely continue her vegetarian diet.

The second day we got our danish pastries and then wandered through Tivoli Gardens. We found our way over to Christianahaven, the "free area" of Copenhagen where the radicals reside. I couldn't take too many photos there because in plain English were signs reading "no photo." Signs saying "say no to hard drugs" were all over the place but clearly drugs of the herbal nature were a part of their society. I wanted to learn more about this little hippyville but I guess I'll have to read up on it later.

We ended the night with a canal cruise around Copenhagen, probably my favorite thing we did in Copenhagen. The city is an interesting cross between Amsterdam influenced canal homes and scandinavian culture I saw in Oslo. Each country I go to seems to give me a better understanding of the world.

In the next hour I should be in Edinburgh for my next adventure to begin! Hopefully I can sneak a nap in!
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I'm here! The Edinburgh office is in some ways nicer than mine at the corporate headquarters. Here I actually have a window seat and the kitchen has one of those fancy pod espresso makers.

My taxi driver to the office was more difficult to understand than the pakistani-dane taxi driver in Copenhagen but so far everyone in the office has been understandable. I'm trying to keep my comments to "you drive on the left side of the road" instead of telling them "you drive on the WRONG side of the road here".

I just read Andy's blog and am up to date on the family now. Junk food and sleep deprivation...oh my.

Posted by jana at 6:44 AM | Comments (1)

July 21, 2006

Back in A'dam

Here I am typing at Schipol since there is an internet terminal right next to my gate to board to Copehagen. Score. I can smell smoke from the Heineken pub and all the sounds, sights and smells are coming back to me. It is all I can do from hoping on a train to Centraal Station and renting myself a bike. Three people have spoken to me in Dutch so my new pumas must cut the euro dress code. One woman asked me about a "washa." I said, "wash?" "watch" "water". She said, "you don't speak english?" I still don't know what she was asking me or in what language.

Now I'm remembering why everyone here is so thin. To get to the bathroom I had to walk and walk and walk. There was an escalator down to the bathroom but not one back up. Since I have the heaviest carry on in the whole wide world I tried to take one of the only "lifts" in the Netherlands back up. It didn't work. I had to haul carry on and world's largest purse up some steep stairs.

The flight over was fine. My attempt to deprive myself of sleep the night before was probably a bad idea. I was lucky enough to have an empty seat to my left but I was afraid if I really got comfortable I would have ended up cuddling with the guy on my right. I tried some unusual perpendicular sleeping positions but now I just have a sore back. The guy to my right turned out to be very interesting. He's an American living in Norway with his 4 kids. He has lived abroad the last 18 years on 3 different continents and now he's considering moving to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Time to sign off! More from wherever I land.

Posted by jana at 11:47 PM | Comments (1)

July 20, 2006

Off to Copenhagen

My next post will be after a weekend in Copenhagen with Quincy. She is already there scoping out the situation. From her email, "Our hotel street is kinda like Belltown. Loud up until... 11:30 or so... seems like a good neighborhood though. Soo many bicycles!"

Today I had to go to the store to buy comfortable shoes for all the walking I plan on doing this weekend. What a waste! So many cute shoes with peek-a-boo toes and wedges were teasing me to buy them, but no, I had to spend my money on athletic-like shoes. Next thing I know I'll be buying a sweat suit and headband too.

I've been preparing the kids for the time without mom. Karsten said to me, "you're going to break my heart." Great, as if I don't have enough mom guilt as it is. We've been having conversations about Scotland too. He asked me if they have pizza there. I said, "I don't know. What do you think they eat in Scotland?" He said, "boiled stomachs." All this he learned from Scooby Doo!

Ok, time to finish packing. I'm trying to push myself to stay up really super late and then get up really super early so I can be nice and tired for the plane. I hope it works.

Posted by jana at 10:18 PM | Comments (2)

July 14, 2006

Mac Scooby Dooby Doo!

Today I bought my ticket to Scotland and coincidentally Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster DVD showed up in my mail box. Did you know there have been over 2000 Nessie sightings over 500 years (according to Velma)? I learned a lot from the Scooby Doo episode and the Mystery Gang hasn't even solved the mystery yet.

I'm starting to worry about being away from the kids for so long before they come over too. I've never been away from them for more than a night so it may feel like a piece of me is missing. At the time I conceived the idea of leaving first Andy had been traipsing the world over and it only seemed appropriate that he knows what it is like to be a single parent too.

My plan is to get some video conferencing going so I can still read them a story or something and feel like I'm part of their lives for the nights we're apart. Hopefully I can get it set up before I leave.

Posted by jana at 9:38 PM