Glad to be Home From Austin

I returned from Austin four days ago now and I feel I've only just recovered some sense of normality. I'm really glad I did the event but it was incredibly hard work and I felt like I earned every single penny. Working 12-15 hour days in a windowless, wood-panelled room mainly by myself and only eating when someone bought me food, I was so busy that it took me hours to eat that food and I didn't stop all day. It was completely exhausting.

When I finished work I would call a taxi and hope one turned up as not one knew where the University was even after I gave them the address (in fact not one taxi driver knew the way to anywhere I ever asked him to go in 2 weeks). I would then give them directions every step of the way and fume when they asked how much change I wanted back) I would then occasionally flick through 40 channels of banality before I crashed out so I could get up at 6.30 to do it all again. Thank God the hotel served Illy coffee cos I would have gone postal otherwise.

I did get 2 days out of the 18 to explore and I can tell you that I wasn't impressed with Austin much. Like most US cities it was sprawling and I think people generally drove to the mall to do their shopping. Nearly every place sold food in some way (takeout, fast food, restaurant, 7-11) and most of the food I had was horrible. Nearly everything had fake cheese on it and lost weight when I was there as I could barely look at some of it. I was offered deep-fried ice cream one evening ("hey, it comes with cream on the side!"). Those poor people didn't have a chance - you would have to have a will of steel to live there!

It was a complete culture-shock for me actually. The ineptitude of the US team was staggering but they whooped, high-fived and congratulated themselves when they did anything remotely resembling competence. The red tape we had to navigate so that nobody got sued was jaw-dropping. The taxi driver at the airport refused to lift our suitcases because he didn't have any medical insurance and the competitors had to sign waivers for 100 things before they could do anything. It was most odd. 

We did find a few gems on the faculty though. People we hadn't even known about suddenly appeared and went over and above board to save the day. They were amazing and, whilst the rest were completely out of their depth running an international event of that size, without these gems, the event would have failed in my opinion. They were completely undervalued and underused at the university and were thrilled to get to get to use some skills for once. 

There were a few good moments though. The people were at least friendly, the weather was nice most of the time, I had a laugh buying my cowboy hat and watching people dancing to live music, the margaritas were amazing (they free-pour over there!), the Four Seasons was obviously fantastic and my bed was like a huge marshmallow with clouds for pillows, I liked seeing squirrels clambering everywhere and the buses were cheap.

I'm truly glad I had the experience, and I'd do the next one in London if asked, but I didn't really like Austin much. From being made to stand in a booth with my hands behind my head and then fingerprinted and photographed like a criminal at customs, to the ineptitude and greed of the taxi drivers, half and half, and the lardy food, I'm glad to see the back of it to be honest. I'd still like to see some more of America, but Texas wasn't for me I'm afraid - maybe I'm more European than I realised.

My home for 2 weeks

I'm back to work tomorrow and, having made some big changes to my business just before the event, I'm looking forward to seeing how that pans out. Spring also seems to have finally arrived in Blighty and next week is predicted to be fine and sunny which is something to look forward to. I'm very happy to be back to my cats, Italian coffee pot, TiVo, the cinema and my darling seaside town though.

PS: to my American blogger friends, please don't take this post as a criticism of you. I've only been to two places in the US and am just saying how I personally found the experience. We have plenty to moan about here and, if you'd love to come and visit, I would be delighted to show you around and see what you hate too! 

Weird Things About Austin So Far

Well I've been in Austin three full days and I've already noticed some really odd things about the place:

• Half and Half - it's an abomination and wrong on so many levels. I was told "we have 10 different kinds of milk" in the Wholefoods store and they still didn't know what I meant by a normal white coffee with full fat milk or just with regular full fat cream. The food in the 'health' store was not particularly healthy when you read the label, and they had help-yourself breakfast buffets that looked like seven shades of E.coli were residing on it.
• The food and people come in sizes large, massive and wow. It's nearly impossible to get a mini tub of ice cream or a pint of milk but I can buy most things in a size that is larger than my head if I so wish.

Massive Yoghurts, milks & some 'real' food

• They have super sucky toilets and no hand dryers. All the toilets in Austin are like airplane ones that suck away really fast rather than flush. Plus I've not seen one Dyson airdryer or any other hand dryer since I arrived - they're all paper towels here.
• Petrol is a third of the price it is in the UK. The equivalent of 50p a litre in fact (it's around £1.30-£1.40 in the UK). Which I guess is why people drive everywhere.
• They have little TVs in the back of taxis. They are not interesting to watch - the same as the TV in my hotel room.
• The food is pretty full-on. I already feel larded out and am craving something that isn't fried, full of sugar, covered in weird stuff, or an odd mix of lots of things I'm not used to seeing on the same plate. 
• The price you see isn't the price you pay. They have state taxes or something which means that you have no idea how much money to get out of your purse and feel that you're being conned and the cashier is just randomly deciding on a figure.
• The service is very good in restaurants - they check back on you around 600 times whilst you're eating but once you have ordered or refused dessert the bill is bought immediately even if you haven't asked for it. There are no 2-3 hour leisurely meals like on the continent here.
• They say flaaaaaarn and not flan - it's mesmerising.
• They also 'reach out' to people quite a lot here instead of just contacting them.
• The coffee is very different to European coffee... and I love my US readers so that's all I'm saying on that one.

I know it does sound like a huge complaint but I'm British and that's what we do. Austin is not a place I would want to live but I have bought a cowboy hat which I'm refusing to take off.

The competition hasn't kicked off yet but the US team we're working with are pretty incompetent and every day is a bit of a struggle. Some of the people are fantastic but others are woefully unprepared for the task at hand. This is not because they're American of course, but because they're just not very good at their jobs.

I shall of course give you more info about my stay when I get more time - I'm here for 18 days altogether and I move to the Four Seasons on Thursday (L'occitane products in the bathroom!). I miss my cats A LOT but I don't miss the crappy English weather. I half expect the UK to have blown away by the time I get back actually.

Tickedy-Boo And Nearly Off to Austin

I'm going to the 'UT and Hippies' bit

Apart from not updating my blog much lately, I actually feel right as rain again. I definitely wasn't myself for a few weeks but, now I've made those changes and let the family news sink in, I feel completely back to my old self - which is a relief.

After blurting out all my fears in my secret personal blog (the one where I say things that I might tell my best friend but sometimes even not then - the one where I just let it all out) I found myself writing at the end of the post "have a little faith in yourself". I was surprised to find myself typing that actually as I hadn't realised it was what I needed. I decided to take my own advice (cos it's always so good) and I feel fine now.

I leave for Austin next Saturday (15th ) and have a packing list as long as my arm. Apparently the weather can change on a dime and go from 40 to 70 overnight - PLUS they're having snow right now so God only knows what weather to expect. I'm taking a load of layers but you can be sure that the one thing I fail to pack will be the one thing I need of course. Which is why I'm just taking everything.

I'm there for 18 days which is the longest I've ever been away from home on a trip - I've never even been on a 2-week holiday. Luckily I'm staying at a pretty swanky hotel which takes the edge off a bit but, if I'm honest, I love going away but I love coming home even more. I'm not one of those people who doesn't unpack for ages either - the dirty washing is in the machine, everything else is put away and my suitcase is stashed within half an hour of walking in the door. The thought of leaving my crap everywhere makes me shudder actually.

Although I know I'll be working like a sod, I'll be sure to take some photos of Austin so you can see what the place is like. I hear it's a little Democratic island in a Republican sea but I don't really know what to expect. I plan on having some barbecue ribs and possibly a steak or two but other than that I have no major expectations of my trip except to make sure that the event I'm working on runs to plan. I'm sightly wary of Texas as I've never seen a gun, am pro-abortion, don't believe in God and would laugh if anyone said the word Fanny - so hopefully I'll come home without any head wounds.

You never know though, maybe I'll meet a cowboy and end up lassoing steers on a cattle-herding ranch in chaps and a white Stetson whilst spending evenings line-dancing and entering spitting competitions... Stranger things have happened.

Vegas - Like Purgatory?

View from my hotel room

Well Vegas is pretty mental. Before you come you think of it as being this bold, colourful, exciting place where everyone is having fun, fun, fun but in reality it's a 24 hour money-making machine that's essentially all fur coat and no knickers!

It's almost like the situation where everyone tries desperately to have fun at New Year but you know it's all a bit of an effort. In fact, hardly anyone looks like they're enjoying themselves playing poker or slot machines - they sit and stare with dead, empty eyes for hour after hour and they all look really sad. 

There's music everywhere - even in the street. There's always really loud cheesy pop songs blasting out of every building or plaza or some chick telling you to come visit this show or eat in that restaurant. It is full on here. There's also lots of people riding around in mobility scooters who look like they have nothing wrong with them.

It's a mixed bag to be honest. Half of me looks at things and is enthralled and the other half is quite appalled. In The Venetian there are Gondoliers rowing about on water under fake painted dusky skies... on the second floor. How weird is that. The fake Trevi Fountain is fun unless you've been to the real Trevi Fountain. I sound a bit jaded about the place and I have had some fun wandering around taking billions of photos, but it's like being in a dream. This place is not any kind of recognisable reality.

Everyone is out for a buck here; if you have no money, or once you have tipped someone for doing their job, you are history. They have absolutely no interest in you apart from what you can give them. On the plus side though, it's very clean and my hotel room at The Mirage is lovely. The maids even tidy up your toiletries in the bathroom which I found quite unnerving at first - I'm pretty tidy & I line things up so they barely had to touch a thing really.

I do miss BBF a lot. I thought I'd be too busy to miss him but that has not been the case. Turns out it's weird being in a holiday destination without anyone you know! I like my own company but I miss normality, decent coffee and having something to do.

Yesterday I discovered Victoria's Secret though. We don't have one in the UK but their bra's are amazing. When I tried on the bra I ended up buying, I let out an involuntary sigh it was so comfortable. It is like a dream to wear. And strangely a size smaller than the one I was measured for and bought in M&S last week. The 2 I bought are not racy (nude and black) but they are without a doubt the comfiest ones I've ever owned... ever.

I fly back tomorrow which will be strange. I leave Vegas at half 4 on a Wednesday afternoon and arrive back in the UK at 11am Thursday! The flight is 9 hours and I have a driving lesson in the afternoon. I definitely need a nap before I attempt to navigate the streets of Brighton in a Toyota Yaris! 

Another great thing that happened (apart from Victoria's Secret) was that I met up with the formidable Wolynski. I have been following and commenting on her brilliant blogs for around 3 years and a couple of days ago she came to the hotel and we had coffee out by the pool. She is a right character and was a joy to be around even if it was only for a couple of hours. How she manages to live here is incredible to me, but I've only seen the touristy strip part of Vegas and not the 'real' bit though.

Anyway, that is Vegas so far. I arrived on Saturday and go home tomorrow; I have yet to talk shop with my potential future employer and I'm sitting around waiting to be summoned. I have no idea why I'm here, what my purpose is, or what is expected of me. I'm in the dark and a bit lost to be honest. We shall see what happens but at the moment it's all a bit unsettling.

Yes You Did!!!

Today is a very exciting memorable day here in England; a lot of Britons sat up all night hoping and praying that America wouldn't let us down again; that they would vote for a man that looks like he would 'do the right thing' a man who appears to have integrity, honour and wants to do what is right for his country and (more importantly for us) for the World as a whole.

4 years ago we held our head in our hands and looked on in disbelief as a man who couldn't even string a sensible sentence together was voted the leader of the free World; we failed to understand why Americans would do such a thing and our disappointment and incredulity was overwhelming.

Here in Europe, we look upon America as being both the land of hope and dreams - a place most of us would like to visit (but definitely not live) as well as being the biggest bully in the playground; the World's uninvited police, who force their will upon other countries with little thought of the repercussions - America is not always particularly well liked shall we say.

Today all that changed; I leaped out of bed this morning both excited and fearful of the results - part of me just couldn't believe that such a thing could be possible, that America wouldn't be able to bring itself to do the right thing and that Britain would be forced to bear the knock-on effects of another Republican term of office... But no! America voted with it's feet and voted the right man for the job; and I am not ashamed to say that I shed a tear - Thank you America!!!