Since last time I wrote, Rob and I have moved away from England. And Thank GOD. Us Australian's are not designed to deal with a near constant drizzle that seems to be the deal in Britain.
Anyway, we've moved now, back the Czech Republic, which is the third time for each of us living here. The choice was made and implemented in about two and a half weeks, which has to be some kind of crazy record. It involved a lot of detachment about belongings and a lot of donations to the charity shop, a lot of cleaning and a lot of last minute jettisoning at the airport due to mis-judged weight of bags. And then 12 hours of travel. Bleh.
However, what I actually want to talk about is this: We're coming up to our one year anniversary of marriage tomorrow. Fate has conspired to put us back in the country where we got married, which is kind of nostalgic. And time has just flown by, one year has gone by faster than either of us expected.
That's not to say that it's been easy - I doubt that learning to live with a new person ever is - for one thing, you discover the nutty habits that the other person has (Bert puts back empty containers in the fridge and pantry, I talk and shout in my sleep). But beyond that shallow stuff, there's a deeper level to what changes. You stop functioning as a single person. Choices are almost entirely shared, and you learn how to consult in front of people with a well chosen look.
It's difficult to properly explain how things change. It's been a good year. A year in which we've moved house twice, country once, and struggled through bureaucracy the whole way, since the UK is under the collective impression that marrying outside your country is bad.
I think that we've been lucky in that the problems that we've faced have not come from within the marriage, and so consequently have strengthened it. The most important thing that I've really realized is that no matter how pissed you are, you turn to the other person for support. That's what they're there for.
All I can hope for really is that this next year will contain less outside challenges.
When I find the camera in the boxes, I intend to post some photos of the town. Till then, later days.
Tuesday 6 April 2010
Wednesday 13 January 2010
It has been far too long...
So, it has been a long long long time since this has been updated. Despite the best of intentions, other, more video-gamey pursuits seem to have interfered in the progress of this blog. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is amazing by the way. I pre-ordered it, and so received these gems as a free gift:
It's certainly one of the better games I've played recently. Bert seems to be enjoying it too, but is a little frustrated with me - I've hit the wall that I inevitably hit with Zelda games, where you know exactly how to solve the puzzle, but it's too damn hard! So I'm stuck on one of the temples, and I'm spending far too much time earning treasure in a mini-game. Hoo-rah.
Other recent game playing of possible interest:
Scribblenauts: Whimsical, but the controls were heinous enough for me to trade it in. Bowser's Story: I'm about a quarter or so in, and it. is. wonderful. Hilarious and well thought out. Worth a look for sure.
Sims 3/Sims 3 World Adventures: DON'T LOOK AT ME! DON'T LOOK AT MY SHAME! It's every bit as appealing as the other Sims installments have been, and every bit as overpriced. Annoying the living daylights out of me at the moment, since the new expansion is so buggy that I feel like I've payed 30 quid to beta test the damn thing.
House of the Dead - Overkill: Great little zombie shooter for the Wii. Feels like you're playing through a Tarantino film, but it is about as far from "family friendly" as you can get - swearing, sex references and gory violence make this firmly in the adult fare camp.
And, as always, the staple of our communal gaming - Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction: Now we're up to Hell difficultly level, and obsessing more than ever over item drops. I can recognize the sound of a ring drop from twenty paces.
Remember: The couple that games together, stays together.
So, in non-gaming news, Bert and I have moved to Bath. It's been great, much nicer than the fist fights and imminent knifings of Carlisle. The Baha'i community is bigger here, and I've been elected to the LSA, since they had a space. We seem to be settling in well, and have managed to set up a Ruhi Book 4 that takes place at our flat every month.
My sister came to visit over the Christmas break (and spent most of her time glued to my laptop, getting her fill of "The Sims 3") so we took her around to Stonehenge and other such historical sites. Stonehenge, is, I'm sure, magical and lovely if you weren't embittered by spending something like 20 quid a head to go and stand in the freezing cold with about two hundred other tourists who are also cold, but more vocal and obnoxious about this fact than you'd care for. All our photos of the trip have the same glazed over "I'm so goddamn cold" look emblazoned on our faces, but here's one anyway:
And on that note, I leave you with a well intentioned promise to actually update this thing.
It's certainly one of the better games I've played recently. Bert seems to be enjoying it too, but is a little frustrated with me - I've hit the wall that I inevitably hit with Zelda games, where you know exactly how to solve the puzzle, but it's too damn hard! So I'm stuck on one of the temples, and I'm spending far too much time earning treasure in a mini-game. Hoo-rah.
Other recent game playing of possible interest:
Scribblenauts: Whimsical, but the controls were heinous enough for me to trade it in. Bowser's Story: I'm about a quarter or so in, and it. is. wonderful. Hilarious and well thought out. Worth a look for sure.
Sims 3/Sims 3 World Adventures: DON'T LOOK AT ME! DON'T LOOK AT MY SHAME! It's every bit as appealing as the other Sims installments have been, and every bit as overpriced. Annoying the living daylights out of me at the moment, since the new expansion is so buggy that I feel like I've payed 30 quid to beta test the damn thing.
House of the Dead - Overkill: Great little zombie shooter for the Wii. Feels like you're playing through a Tarantino film, but it is about as far from "family friendly" as you can get - swearing, sex references and gory violence make this firmly in the adult fare camp.
And, as always, the staple of our communal gaming - Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction: Now we're up to Hell difficultly level, and obsessing more than ever over item drops. I can recognize the sound of a ring drop from twenty paces.
Remember: The couple that games together, stays together.
So, in non-gaming news, Bert and I have moved to Bath. It's been great, much nicer than the fist fights and imminent knifings of Carlisle. The Baha'i community is bigger here, and I've been elected to the LSA, since they had a space. We seem to be settling in well, and have managed to set up a Ruhi Book 4 that takes place at our flat every month.
My sister came to visit over the Christmas break (and spent most of her time glued to my laptop, getting her fill of "The Sims 3") so we took her around to Stonehenge and other such historical sites. Stonehenge, is, I'm sure, magical and lovely if you weren't embittered by spending something like 20 quid a head to go and stand in the freezing cold with about two hundred other tourists who are also cold, but more vocal and obnoxious about this fact than you'd care for. All our photos of the trip have the same glazed over "I'm so goddamn cold" look emblazoned on our faces, but here's one anyway:
And on that note, I leave you with a well intentioned promise to actually update this thing.
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