Christmas observations

This was my first Christmas abroad.

I've snipped the address info because it's now out of date.

Greetings from Elizabeth,

It's a quiet week at CARE UK - the international crises  haven't gone away, but they seem less urgent, as we take turns
slipping away to do a spot of shopping or drinks with the coworkers. The restaurants and pubs are full!

My major, mixed-blessing news: I didn't get an interview for the permanent job as press officer at CARE.

I was expecting to do so, so I'm a mite disappointed,  particularly since I got no preference as an internal  candidate, and extending my contract was never considered as  an option (everywhere else I've worked on contract this was common practice).

This means I either have to rustle up another position w/in CARE, or find another job entirely.

Certainly, there are lots of writing jobs in London, both media/marketing/charity/press jobs and tech writing. Flinging myself on the specialist temp agencies will probably yield something. But my first choice would be to stay with CARE. This was the organisation
I moved to be with, and the one I'd stay with given the choice.

Though I'm working 23 and 24 Dec, I'm looking forward to a few days off between christmas and New year. I'll be spending
Christmas proper very quietly with my friend Robert (my ideal Christmas is a quiet day of reading, long walks and watching
the Queen's address).

We're then both invited to 'Christmas dinner' on the 26th with all the fixings with Thomas and Siban, the Australian couple who
housed me in September. The gents are the expert cooks, so hopefully Siban and I get to sit back and chug eggnogg.

Robert's idea of good Christmas is lots of food and drink, interrupted only by vigourous board games, so hopefully we'll
both get what we want from the holiday.

After Christmas I'm spending 3 days in Newcastle with my Dad's extended family. Apparently contacting the relatives in early
December was leaving my planning 'terribly late'(!).

Santa came early this year, in the form of a generous money order from home, so he funded my purchase of a used sewing
machine. I found one that is the same model as my friend Iudith's middleaged Singer  (complete with cheesy 60's decoration) for
a reasonable price. I've missed my Pfaff and sewing table terribly here!

I also found heavy lined velveteen curtains for my bedroom window. Normally I'd be ogling them for garb, but for a change, I actually want to hang them. Together with a layer of plastic over the single glazing, they help keep some of the heat in my room. It's still awfully chilly in the flat, but it's an improvement.

Last week, I went skating with some coworkers at Somerset House, a large stately home and gallery off the Strand. Their fountain is filled in for winter, much like Toronto City Hall. They charge £9.50 for an hour's skating(!), that includes heavy-duty hockey skate rental. The ice rink was small, and the ice was soft, like Ottawa's canal in late March, because it still isn't consistently below zero here, no matter how much people complain.

Denise (the other Canadian in the office) and I managed to look like experts on this little patch, surrouned with a large crowd of wobbling and weaving adult non-skaters. It was quite a laugh! I passed on the rediculously priced mulled wine in the cafe, and made my own pot of mulled when I got home.

This weekend, Thomas and I are headed to the last day of racing at Ascot. I've never been to the races before, and John is a
closet horse person (can't afford a horse, but rides at every opportunity). It's not cheap (train plus ticket is around £25-30), and that doesn't count any bets! but I want to see what Dick Francis writes about so passionately.
Reminder of addresses, etc <sssssnip>:

Enjoy the snow and wintry weather, and be sure to love your kitties at home. I still miss mine dreadfully. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elizabeth