Trista's Summer in Europe

So this past weekend (+Monday) was a holiday here as well, it's called "Bank Holiday" and really celebrates nothing, it's simply a day off, so I had a four day weekend to try and keep myself entertained. It was wonderful and sunny and actually didn't rain one bit. I spent a lot of time outside, went to the Farmer's market, and a little French market that was in town this weekend, and explored the upper left side (that's where it is on the map anyway) of town where the Royal Crescent and Botanical Gardens are. Also there were some fireworks on Friday night to kick off the International Music Festival that is in town... it was my pretend fourth of July. So these are some of the photos from my weekend :)

I have now been here for about a week and a half and despite a very rough first weekend I am now on my feet and trying to make the most of my time here. I am grateful to the people who I work with because they have really opened their arms to me and have been really wonderful. On Monday night I went to a concert with some people from work, then on Wednesday I was invited to a co-workers home for dinner, and last night several of us went bar hopping after work. As far as my work goes I have two big projects lined up that I have begun brainstorming for and will hopefully begin further production of them next week. They are quite big projects and I am really excited about them and seeing how they turn out and learning a lot from that. As they begin to work themselves out I will say more about them.
Just to say more about my work life in general, it’s a work environment unlike any most will experience. We have a four-day work week, it’s very flexible, and very fun. Everyone knows that everybody else will get accomplished what they need to and no one needs to punch in/ out or look over your shoulder to see if work is getting done (when you’re actually browsing twitter or Facebook) because it just gets done and you enjoy your work. It’s amusing that we have important meetings on beanbags in the “living room” and play music all day, but its wonderful and everyone is happy.
I am happy too. Bath is lovely and I have done quite a bit of exploring (although I still have many points of interest still to explore). Last weekend I went to Stonehenge and to Lacock Village. Stonehenge is a funny trip to take because it’s very anti-climatic- it’s really just a bunch of old rocks and you can’t touch them or anything… but amazing nonetheless and well worth the trip to have seen them in real life. Lacock Village is one of many, very very old villages that still stand in the UK today, but it’s like you’ve stepped back in time. The village is tiny, you can see the whole thing really in about half an hour, but it’s sort of isolated and maintains its heritage and charm despite hundreds of years gone by. Today I visited the Roman Baths, which is the main point of interest here that people travel from all over to see, and I could see why. They are beautiful and so much of the Baths are still well preserved even though they were build in the first century A.D. Although it costs money to enter and walk around I plan to visit again before I leave Bath.
I am also looking forward to moving into my own room in a student apartment next weekend. It’s a quaint, enchanting little house where six students currently live. Some of them will remain while I’m there so I can also hopefully make some friends. The room is on the first floor looking out on the street and garden and the living room and kitchen (like most typical townhouses here) are mostly all glass windows that open up into the back garden. I am looking forward to having a stable living space as well as being able to cook and store my own food instead of eating out and only eating food I can store without a fridge.
Ah, well it is a holiday here on Monday as well so many are going away for the “bank holiday” so I am trying to keep myself busy for what for me is a four day weekend. But all is well and I have high hopes for the coming weeks as we at work prepare for the Future of Web Apps UK Tour and I get myself more thoroughly settled in.

So far all is well. I have arrived safely and nearly caught up on sleep. I have a long unplanned weekend ahead of me to rest and wander. My first day was a bit overwhelming and I was exhausted from all the traveling. My arrival to Bath itself was very intimidating, although I had my map with walking directions from the bus station to my hostel the streets here are confusing and vaguely signed. I had planned to just hail a taxi from the station because I couldn't possibly walk with all my luggage- however, getting a taxi here is difficult and I did indeed walk all the way with my luggage in the rain- I bet it was hilarious to watch.

I of course was greeted with gloomy, gray skies and the rain continues, thus lesson #1 is learned over the course of my two days: always carry an umbrella because you never quite know when it will rain!

Yesterday after my time at Carsonified I ventured out to find the B&B that was promoting a flat for rent. I, of course, got utterly lost, as I have almost every time I try to get anywhere around here. Even with my map and walking directions, I am lost and wandering... somehow I always manage to get where I need to be, it just takes me a little longer. Luckily yesterday I really had the time to get lost and although I don't enjoy being lost, I really didn't mind so much wandering around and just looking around. It is a very cute city, actually there is some debate over whether it really should be called a city, because it is really pretty small. Despite it's small size I haven't been all over yet and plan to do that this weekend.

My second lesson, was how to shop at a Catalog store... which I thought was quite bizarre, but was actually kind of enjoyable. Basically you go to a little counter where there are these enormous catalogs (of everything you would really ever need) and you write down the little code to what you want on a little sheet of paper then you take the paper to customer counter and the sales people type in your order, you pay, and they give you an order number. You then take your receipt and sit in a little waiting queue and your order comes down a conveyor belt and another sales person calls your number and gives you the items you ordered. It was very efficient.

Everyone here has been incredibly helpful and friendly, it's been really nice encountering these helpful people as I wander and struggle to find what I need, the Carsonified crew has been especially wonderful, as I knew they would be, and I feel much more relieved today that everything will be just fine as I start this adventure.

That is all for now, although there are many things to say, I am still working everything out and getting myself settled in and as that continues I will post other news in a few days as well as some photos that I plan to take on my adventure tomorrow.