Arrived in Birmingham

Next email - 4 Feb 2005

I have arrived safely in Birmingham. It is not as cold as expected or as it has been! Only around 7 degrees rather than 0. :)

I arrived on Wednesday and thought i had to start work on Thursday. As it happens they weren't expecting me in at work until Friday afternoon (today, now) to pick up my laptop and get acquainted with the software etc.

So yesterday I spent the whole day (just about) in bed where it was nice and warm. I have been sneezing a lot but hopefully it is just to do with aclimatising rather than getting sick.My sister's wedding went extraordinarily well and it's hard to believe it was only 6 days ago. It was a very long day but very wonderful.

Sunday the festivities continued with Monday morning everyone rushing to pack as my relatives and family left for Hong Kong/Taiwan at 2pm and my brother back to Sydney at 3pm. Which left me about 2 hours to pack for Birmingham before my flight that night. :) So it's been a little hectic. :)

We had a brief stopover in Dubai which was lovely. Their winter is 27 degrees celcius with night time about 15. Very interesting culture and place to visit. Wish I had more time it was really incredible and would recommend anyone to visit. Felt very safe although we were mostly the only westerners around wherever we went.

I had a nice introduction to Birmingham when we arrived. Hopped onto the train to New street station (central train station) from the airport went to clean the lens on my glasses and they snapped in two. I believe it is the weather that caused it as they are made of titanium which are apparently unbreakable. So when Jo (friend from BDO Birmingham office) greeted me at New street I was wearing half a pair of glasses and squinting rather badly. :) I was able to secure a new set of glasses/spectacles that afternoon fortunately. I am going for the unbreakable type again as they did last 18 months (longest any spectacles have). However it has cost me a small fortune to do so! :)

The separate hot and cold water tap system is difficult to get used to but the place we are staying is comfortable and Dan and Jo (our housemates who work at BDO too) are lovely and have made us feel welcome.

All in all, all is well. Not much else to report! :)