The Pit of Pat

So it’s official, I’ve finished work, I have my ticket and I’m counting down the days. On May 15th I take a flight to Hamilton, and then from Hamilton to London (Stansted) to begin the next stage of my life just outside of Cambridge, England. I’ll be enrolling in their Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic studies undergraduate program, and - hehehe, actually that part is admittedly false. I don’t have the spare £-age to enroll, but I will be a stone’s throw away and hope to make use of Cambridge and surrounding area as a home base for further travels throughout Europe and an extensive exploration of the British Isles.

My cohort in this adventure (from here on referred to as m’colleague) is Andrea, who’s headed to the area to begin a life as a false idol worshiped by a group of horse-obsessed members of the SS. I wish I was joking. She’s quite eagerly awaited over there to do Mac support in a region that is known for its horse breeding, racing and general horsing about. The company sounds absolutely <kiwi>awesome</kiwi>, aside from its regrettable choice of initials, and they are doing absolutely everything it seems to help facilitate our travel there. I say our, when really I am the least of their concern and for awhile I was quite worried I’d have to sleep in the pantry. Luckily they found a very nice flat for us to call home and it should be more than cozy enough for two escaped colonials.

Expect great things from our combined grey matter when we get settled in. I’m thinking a Podcast is a must, and definitely some online photo exhibits. I’m taking over a tiny audio production and creative writing studio with me, so I hope to be able to keep stimulated when I’m not hiking through Scottish Munros or the foreboding peaks of Snowdonia. Ooh, I’m setting a mood.

The big goals are exploration (Theo), getting fit (Rudy) and writing (you see). In the exploration category, a definitive splash into the ocean of Celtic history, research and reading, talking to locals (and attempting to decipher their accents) and getting a feel for the land and its stories. In the getting fit part of things, walk, walk, walk. Hopefully I’ll be picking up a cheap bike for getting around Cambridge, but mostly it’ll be hiking, climbing and some caving to boot. The other part of it is eating healthy, which given that we’re headed to a land infamous for its local cuisine, will be my fun time challenge. I’m looking to cook plenty, try out a variety of ethnic recipes and may even have a slice of the online pie to discuss what dishes worked and what made Andrea call for take-out.

As for the writing, I’m not sure what direction that will take. I could write for a few years on the creativity that New Zealand and Tasmania inspired alone, but through a strict regiment of mental exercise and typing push-ups I hope to pump up my scrawny, undeveloped technical ability into something that could stand up to having sand kicked in its face. I absolutely know that my adventures in the land of my ancestors and the proximity to a tangible link to the fascinating Celtic culture will strongly influence my direction, and I’m glad for it.

How long will I be gone? I’m not sure, really - I have about 20 months on my visa, of which I can work for a maximum of one year. Obviously it’s always better on holiday, so I’m going to try and get as much done before I’m broke as humanly possible. Then maybe brush up on my Mac skills and apply for a temp job with Andrea’s incredibly kind employers?

Speaking of Macs, I’ll be leaving the PC life behind - I’m taking my Powerbook G3 with me to serve as my main computer. That and a rather embarrassing pile of controllers and cables which correspond to my DS Lite, my PSP and my PS2. Andrea’s Wii will be getting the UK treatment and I’ll bring along some games. I’m hoping to find a good deal on a little synth I can take over to terrify the nearby horses with, but we’ll see how that works out.

So there’s the big update - been sitting on this awhile, but with employers Googling their employees more and more it was something I wanted them to hear first from me, as opposed to spying it on Facebook. I’d be happy to receive travel advice, answer any and all questions or trade recipes so please, keep in touch!

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 9:23 am and is filed under England. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.