Sunday, 10.23.2016 - 12:17 pm.
My brother and SIL #1 arrived the past weekend. On Friday, really. Andrew and I went to Manchester Airport to pick them up, and had the entire weekend to enjoy together. The details are not important here, but being with them was wonderful. The four of us walked around the city, went to the Peak District, ate so much delicious food, laughed a lot.
My brother and SIL #1 took to Scotland on Monday. They took a train to Glasgow where they rented a car and braved the challenged of driving on the other side of the road, and of the car itself. They returned to England on Friday night, and I joined them yesterday for a quick trip around London. I've finally gone to London!
The sightseeing was not enjoyable. A human tide barely left us any room to breathe, from Buckingham Palace to the Big Ben and the Parliament. We couldn't take pictures, or get in souvenir shops, or even stop walking to do some literal sightseeing. It was madness. I didn't think it would be like that, and I'm wondering if it's always like that. It can't be. Andrew didn't come with me to join my brother and sister-in-law, due to budget issues but also, I think, he just wanted to stay home and rest, and not make a rushed visit to the capital. At first I resented that, but being in the middle of the human tide, I thanked heavens he wasn't there with us. I get really annoyed, of course, but he gets just...angry and desperate, and gets a pulsing headache. It's like he's not biologically suited for that kind of thing.
Besides the human tide,though, I enjoyed the trip very much. I didn't have any expectations about London (as Andrew and I can go some other day), I went just to be with my brother and SIL for some more time before they fly back home tomorrow, and that goal was accomplished. I hadn't seen them in over a year and a half, and who knows when I'll see them again. I want to go visit them in the US next year, but I have no idea when I'll be able to make that trip. I'm very fortunate that we've always had great relationships in my nuclear family, so I know getting together is to laugh, have a good time, and eat exquisitely when possible.
It was also my first trip alone in the UK. I hadn't taken a train by myself here, and while that doesn't sound like much, it was a good exercise in independence. Usually Andrew and I go everywhere together, and I was getting too comfortable with that. I was nervous about going alone to London and taking the tube there to get near my brother and SIL. I was scared I'd get lost or miss the train. It didn't happen. Everything was on schedule and I learned a few things about moving around in the city. But above all, there is nothing like having a window seat on the train, with no one on the seat next to you, and writing, or reading, or simply putting on your headphones and getting lost in thought as a very green world goes by the window.
Besides that, news: I'm the new secretary of the postgraduate psych society. I didn't quite want to be and still right now I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do, but "it looks good on my CV", and that's me finally getting involved in something here.
Now, I'll wrap this up. Andrew is going to dye my hair red in a few minutes! Just the tips, to see how that goes. I've been wanting to dye my hair since forever, but I was always scared of ruining it, on top of it already being unruly and messy. A hairdresser dyed a few locks in my early 20s but I was too scared to bleach it first and the red came right off the first time I washed it, and ended up blonde. Here, you see all hair colors in all ages in all occupations, so now appears to be a great time to try it out.