10 things I will miss...

I just finished my last broadcast from London. It was a little weird coming in this morning thinking that this was the last time I would take the train into the Bedfont Studios. Even though I have been blogging so much about going back home, I really am going to miss working here. I thought that since I made a list of the 10 things that I missed about home, I should make a list of the 10 things I will miss about London --provided I can think of 10 things ;)

#10
Being able to walk to my gym.

#9
The ease of public transportation – It is so easy to get around without a car.

#8
Meeting new people

#7
Getting blown off a cliff by the strong COLD wind in Dover!!! That one is for Marcus! =)

#6
My Boxing class at my gym…it is the best workout and a great way to release your frustrations from the day! But it wasn’t the same after Anna moved back to Finland! She was the best sparing partner.

#5
Paris Hilton’s new TV show – My British Best Friend (it is really bad…but I am hooked!) And I won’t see who wins! And another show I will miss is Come Dine with Me…it is a great show where 5 strangers get together every night of the week for a dinner party at eachother’s house. Then they rate each other’s hosting a cooking skills and the winner gets 1000 pounds. I think they should make a US version..it is Great!

#4
Going down to Piccadilly Circus to window shop…Only when my wallet doesn’t get stolen!

#3
The variety of Gluten free food they have in the grocery stores. I was amazed at the variety of options they have here for people with food allergies. Made it really easy for me! The Pita Bread is the best.

#2
Working on creative projects at work. It has been wonderful to have a variety of projects and being able to travel to parts of Europe for video shoots.

And the #1 Thing I will miss….

Can you guess…my Colleagues at Work. They have all been absolutely wonderful and I am going to miss them all very much.

So that is what I will miss about London!

...but now to my excitment about coming home! 2 MORE DAYS!

I am all packed and ready to go. I drop my keys off tomorrow and then Thursday I will be on a plane and arrive in SF at 12:30pm....just in time for all the rain! Will I ever get away from the rain! I know we need it in California...but I need a break from it ;)

See you all Soon!

Last week in London

This is my last week in London and I have a couple fun things planned…so hopefully it will go by fast.

My co-workers got me a ticket to see Billy Eliot tomorrow as a going away present, since I wasn’t able to see it a couple weeks ago. Di got a ticket too, so I don’t have to go alone. They constantly amaze me with their generosity. The whole team, especially Dawn and Di have done so much for me during my stay here. They have really made me feel like a part of the team and I am going to miss them all so much. When I first decided to come over here I was worried about how they would feel about me coming from the US. They have truly been wonderful and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with. I know that I will keep in touch with several of them outside of work.

On Sunday my friend Sangeeta and I are going to go to Hampton Court and then to Oxford. We went out to dinner together last night and she was asking me if there was anything that I wanted to do when I came over that I wasn’t able to do. I told her I had made a list when I first got here and I had done most of what was on the list. She asked what was on your list that you didn’t do…I said Hampton Court and Oxford…so she said, well Sunday we are going to go out and see it then. It will be fun…just hoping the weather isn’t too bad. We have been hit really hard this week. But I am not complaining…I rather have it happen this week and get it over with, so that I don’t have to worry about my flight next week!

I just have 2 more days at work. Wednesday I am taking the day off to check out of my flat and return the keys. Then I am going to a hotel for the night. Then Thursday is the DAY!!! I will be on a plane back home…FOR GOOD!!!

See you soon!

Snow Day

It has been so cold here the past couple days. Yesterday when I was out it started to snow. Evidently in continued throughout the night and I woke up to 6 inches of snow! There was no mistaking it for ice this time!!!!

This is my front patio:

From my bedroom window:


This is the worst snow storm London has had in the past 18 years! Everything is shut down, the tube, the trains, planes, the roads....So it is a Snow day in most parts of England. Dawn called this morning and said that everyone is working from home today, so I am going to snuggle up in my Duvet and try to stay warm! The high for today is suppose to be -3C! Don't think I will be going out today! :)

Well, 11 more days and I will be on my way home. :)

I will see you all very soon!

Love Ya!

Bad start to my weekend...

On Saturday, I had planned to spend the day in Central London and go see Billy Eliot. Unfortunately luck wouldn’t have it! I got to Picadilily Circus around 10am and bought a ticket for the 2:30pm show. Then I went to a jewelry store to look at a ring that Michael had found on-line. After that, I decided to go to a Starbucks for a little bit before heading over to the theater. I sat at Starbucks for about an hour and then I went to the theater. When I got to the theatre, I went to get my ticket out of my wallet and realized that my wallet was gone. I ran back to Starbucks hoping that I had left it on the counter, or that someone had turned it in, but no one had. It appears that while I was sitting in Starbucks someone sat behind me and pulled my wallet out of my purse. I rushed home to cancel all of my cards. I had made copied of all of my cards when I came over here, so I knew exactly what was taken. I found out that my corporate and personal American Express cards were tried at an ATM, but the access was denied. My Wells Fargo ATM was denied as well, but they were able to use my Wells Fargo Credit Card, and managed to rack up $3000 worth of stuff at a Men’s clothing store. I was able to cancel all of my cards and I put a Fraud Alert on my credit, so that if anyone tries to open up a line of credit in my name, they have to contact me directly for approval. My Social Security number and drivers license were in there as well, so I am so worried about my identity being stolen. The only good thing is that my passport was not in my wallet, so I still have some form of identification. So I had no access to any money for the rest of the weekend. I was able to go to my UK bank here this morning and cash a check so I now have some cash until all my replacement cards arrive.



Yesterday, my co-worker, Marcus and his Girlfriend Linda took me out. They paid for everything, which was so nice of them. I had called Marcus on Saturday and told him that I didn’t think I would be able to make it due to what had happened. But he insisted that I go and that they would pay my way. So we went to Canterbury to see the Canterbury Cathedral. It was awful weather yesterday, cold, windy and raining, but the Cathedral was gorgeous. We then drove down to Dover to go to the Dover Castle and see the White cliffs of Dover. But they had closed the Castle for the day due to the high winds. We are still wondering why a castle would be closed because of winds..but that is England for you! So we went to the cliffs…It was amazing…absolutely beautiful. It was funny, because the wind was really strong at the top of the cliff, it felt like you were going to get blown over. We were all bundled up freezing our butts off, but it was a lot of fun. We walked along the coast for a while and then went to a local pub for dinner. I had my first proper Sunday roast. It was so good! Then we headed back home. It was a nice way to end a not so great weekend!

2 ½ more weeks and I will be home. I am going to start my packing this week and ship some stuff home. I’m so excited! Can’t wait to be home!



Love You all,





Cantebury Cathedral













Dover Castle - That we weren't able to go into =(




The White Cliffs of Dover




Linda, Me and Marcus on the cliffs - trying not to get blown over!




Me acting silly!



Me down at the beach

The Coast of England - France is about 20 miles from where we were - just accross from the English Channel - On a clear day you are suppose to be able to see France.

What I have been doing in London

Hi All,

I thought I would download a video that I produced here at Cisco, so you can see what I do way out here in London. This is the Video that we shot in Paris and London before Christmas. Cisco had shadowing days in the Paris and Bedfont Lakes offices, where young girls where able to spend the day with Cisco Employees. The video was produced to encourage young girls to enter into the Technology field and it will be posted to the EU website.

The video quality isn't the best, because I had to export out a smaller file to be able to post it, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Been a while...

A little over 3 weeks and I will be back at home. These last 6 weeks seem like they have lasted longer than my entire stay here. I am so excited to come home it is making it tough being here. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved the experience and I am so glad that I had this opportunity. But the excitement of being back at home is in full force now!! =)

Tonight we say good bye to Bush and Hello to Barak!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! I am so excited…it is about time we have a change. I know that this is huge in the US, but I was taken back by how excited the UK is about this. It has been the number 1 story on the news, and there are going to be late night parties all over the city tonight. I am disappointed because I wanted to try to go to one, but with the time difference it is going to be really late here. And unfortunately I have an early morning taping tomorrow, so I don’t want to be out late. So I will be watching it on BBC from my flat! It has been interesting to see the coverage from here. It is a refreshing feeling to see how positive the world is reacting to his election. It has almost felt like the rest of the world has been laughing at us for the past 8 years…now they are starting to respect us. I saw an interview with a British citizen this morning, and he said that he hoped that the UK would follow in the footsteps of the US in breaking the racial and class barriers. He said that Barak does not only bring hope to Americans, he also brings hope to the world. A big day in History today. And when my kids ask me where I was….I have to say…in the UK!!!! At least I was able to be home to Vote!

It goes without saying….but I miss you all so much. I am looking forward to seeing you all very shortly.

LOVE YOU!

Lisa

Snow in London

Michael left on Monday morning =( When we left my flat to go to the airport I opened door and everything was covered in snow. I asked Michael if it was just Ice or if it was actually Snow....he told me that I have lived in California for too long. It snowed over night and continued off and on throughout the day. It was so beautiful with the snow on the ground, but it melted fast and today it was just cold again. If it is going to be cold...atlease we could have some more snow!!!

Here is Michael at the bus stop trying to keep warm...He was ready to get out of the cold and go back home. I wanted him to say a couple more weeks ;)

UPDATE:

So it is official now...I booked my flight to come back home for February 12th. So I will be back in the bay in just over 5 weeks. I can't believe I am finally coming to the end of my stay here. It would be nice if I had another visitor come out here...it would make the time go by even faster!!! ;) Erica....Gina...Becca....any takers!!!! :) Too bad it costs so much to fly out here!

I love you all so much and I can't wait to see you all.

Talk to you soon!