Update to the Present!

Hello Friends and Family,

I figured it was past time for me to contribute a little update to our site, and so... without further adieu...

I was talking to my buddy from back home, and he asked me if it was starting to sink in -- that I had moved from Seattle, and was living in Europe. And for the first time, I was able to answer "yes" - I'm starting to get used to the idea, and it is truly fantastic. I definitely miss quite a few things about Seattle - the inherent natural beauty of the land, friends, family, and just "home." However, it is impossible to escape the fact that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Nicole and I have to pinch ourselves every now and again to remind us that it is real. As I go into detail of how great it is, remember friends and family that we miss you all tons, and really hope you can make the trip over to visit!!

So, how to begin - moving into a place where we know we'll be settled for more than a few months is an awesome feeling. I counted up the number of places I'd stayed in the past 3 months - and it totals 6! That is a lot of moving around... (thanks again to those who let me crash!). We're living in a great neighborhood, lined with classic white London townhouse-type buildings, and within walking distance of french bakeries, coffee shops, multiple pubs, tube stations, Notting Hill's Portobello Market (see picture above), and last-but-not-least, Hyde Park. The non-car centered lifestyle is really refreshing, and the Underground is incredibly effective. You can literally get across town in 25 minutes, for less than 2 "quid" (pounds) - way better than fighting traffic yourself, or taking a cab for somewhere near 30-50 pounds.

One aspect of London/Europe that is still a bit surprising to me, is how long things take to process - nearly everything takes probably 3-4 times as long as they would in the States. Everything from broadband internet, tv, phone, and - especially, the job search process. It is really fortunate that my career is in a profession which is universally needed, even in an economic downturn. I've been told by nearly every recruiting firm with which I'm registered, that had I come to the UK last year - 20 job spec's would've been thrown my way nearly every day - and I could have had my choice of the pot. The effect of the world economic recession is exacerbated in London, because of the large percentage of financial service firms making up the economic output. We all know how those are doing these days... 'bout as great as a snowball in h... Anyway - the point is, instead of 20 job spec's a day, I get probably 2-3 sent my way, which has been enough to keep me busy. I've already had 10+ interviews/second-level interviews with various firms, and I have a few promising roles in late stages of the process that I'm excited about. I'll keep you all updated as to how those turn out.

Once we have the job situation nailed down - we're going to start planning our travelling lives for the next year at least. We have a list of hopeful destinations about a mile long - so it will be exciting to see how many of them we're able to hit during our time over here. We've also picked out quite a few places in the UK, and London itself, that we want to make sure to explore - we'll keep you posted on our travels. Next up we're looking at making a weekend trip to Paris, or hopefully Bordeaux for wine tasting.

Another curious difference between the US and UK - is the number of men wearing suits on a daily basis. You were lucky in Seattle to see one guy wearing a suit in a day, and usually he either worked at PACCAR, or in the Nordstrom shoe department. Over here - the (read: Pin Striped) suit is standard. You're almost hard pressed to find a guy wearing "business casual." It is kind of cool, actually - I've enjoyed joining the suited masses on the tube for my interviews. We'll see how long that lasts, once its a requirement and not a novelty... haha.

Welp, enough from me for now - better save some for another day. Miss y'all, feel free to email us with updates!

Cheers,
Matt