Fountain Friends

I’ve written before about my love of pens and fountain pens in particular. Well, I’ve been using my Parker pen exclusively for a while now, since I love how it feels in my hand. However, the other day I was cleaning around the Yellow House and came upon my other favorite fountain pen, my Levenger. I haven’t been using it for a long while. The Levenger is at the top of the photo and the Parker is the one below.

Here’s the story of my reunion with an old friend. When I put my Levenger aside a good while back, it needed cleaning, therefore it got put aside for what I thought would be a day. Well, life intervened and that day got lost in the shuffle as I prepared to change gears and countries at that point. My Levenger got packed away in its case…got carried across the Atlantic Ocean with me…and it’s been living in its case since I moved here to England over three and a half years ago :-) It’s had a long nap. It got lost in the shuffle with my transatlantic move. It’s a strange life sometimes…I feel like I’m still unpacking sometimes :-)

So I let out a squeal when I laid my eyes upon its simple little case. I know this may sound corny, but it was like seeing an old friend after this long time. It’s funny how the little things from home can just make your day when you live a life like mine :-) I love the adventure of living here, but as I’m only human, I get homesick sometimes too. Finding my pen was like a tiny snapshot of who I was before I came here. I’m still me…the same sense of humor, etc., and that'll never change, but a lot has happened to me since I closed that pen case those years ago. And like any other person, my experiences have shaped me and it's revealing to take stock sometimes. So it was cool to have a think backwards. It’s intriguing how certain objects or certain songs can take you back so much. Life's an interesting trip :-)

I had to do a thorough cleaning on my Levenger, and now it’s back in action. Long live both of my fountain pens! Now I’ve got to go and see what else I can find! :-)

Just a Bit Blah

I’ve just been feeling kind of blah about everything lately. I can’t decide if I’m homesick or just burnt out…maybe it’s a bit of both. I’ve been falling behind with my blogging, because I haven’t known what to write really. I just don’t want you all to think that I’m abandoning things here. I’m not…I’m just a bit out of synch at the moment, but I’ll be okay. I appreciate those of you who visit me here, so just know, I’m giving my blogging another try today. (smile) Wish me luck ;-)

The Obamas in London

So I’ve been searching my mind for what to write about…anything that will get me out of the mini doldrums I’ve been in lately. In that vein of reviving myself, I immediately thought of one thing that’s brighten things for me this past week…the President and First Lady visiting London for the summit.

It was nice to see them when they arrived and to know that they were in the same country as me for a time. Once I saw them coming down the steps of Air Force One, I started to smile. It was like reminders of home came down those stairs with them. Sometimes I feel so detached from home here, so I was more excited than I thought I would be. I have of course never met the Obamas, but it almost felt like family was coming to visit. I hope that that doesn’t sound crazy, but that’s how it felt. (smile) As an expat, you sometimes find yourself clinging onto anything or anyone from home just to stay afloat when the outsider feeling hits. So I guess this is why it made me so happy to see them.

The coverage was generally positive. I wasn’t looking for endless perfect stories about them, because they aren’t perfect, nobody is. I was just looking for home and they represented that to me. I know that there was that whole story about the First Lady touching the Queen, but from the reports I’ve read, the word from Buckingham Palace is that it was no big deal to the Queen. And some even report that the Queen reached out first. But at the end of the day, as long as the Queen didn’t mind, the media should just leave it alone. And apparently the Queen asked the First Lady to keep in touch now that they’ve met, so I think that closes that case. (smile)

As I mentioned, the coverage was pretty fair overall. The First Lady charmed her way around London. She visited cancer patients and they were touched by her caring way and down to earth manner. She dished out hugs and just watching her made me proud that this lady represents our country to the world.

I did think it was interesting on the second day when the First Lady spent the day with the other G20 wives and the Prime Minister’s wife, Mrs. Brown. One report that I read that morning went on about the First Lady’s outfit that day and they did the same about Mrs. Brown. Why do women have to be judged by what they wear first no matter what they are doing???? Anyway, this reporter tore into both of them…this person hated Mrs. Obama’s blue skirt and argyle cardigan and Mrs. Brown’s fitted dress, but who cares (rolling my eyes). I love fashion as much as the next person, but enough already with the snarky analysis every day. By the way, I thought they both looked fine that day. (smile)

That day was probably my favorite day of watching Mrs. Obama. She kept her own schedule whilst the President tended to his work. She spent a good bit of time with Mrs. Brown and the other wives, but on the day when this annoying reporter raked her and Mrs. Brown over the coals because of their clothes, I thought Mrs. Obama came into her own on the world stage. She did a visit to a girls’ school in London as I’m sure many of you have read about. This touched my heart.

Mrs. Obama gave a talk to these girls, just as I’ve seen her do back home and it was a moment when I realized that borders are irrelevant when you talk from the heart. She had an emotional change in her voice as she told those girls that she understands the humble beginnings that some of them have had because that is where she started in life. She told them that education is the key to getting where they want to go and that the world needs more strong women like them in the making. It just warmed my heart. I kept thinking, if only I had heard those words when I was their age…who knows ????(smile) I was just so happy for those girls. They were so excited to see her and she passed out loads of hugs again. There were some waves of nonsense in the papers about her hugging, but the people that she hugged didn’t mind, and one young girl afterwards met her mom outside the school and they showed her screeching to her that she’d had a hug from Mrs. Obama. So I just say to the haters…back off. LOL. Those hugs were for those girls…our future women. (smile) Sometimes you just need a hug…I wish I had one right now. (smile)

This moment at the school touched me most of all, because Mrs. Obama could have saved all of that inspiration for our young people back home, but she didn’t and I love that. She shared her story with these girls and reached out for that common denominator, and left behind nationality, and inspired those girls who will always carry that experience with them. I was SO proud of our First Lady that day. (smile)

My other favorite moment of this visit came from the President. He was walking into 10 Downing Street with the Prime Minister and along the way he greeted the policeman standing at the door and shook his hand. I just loved that. I love it when people are decent to each other, no matter who we are.

The Obamas left London on Friday and I hated to see them go, but I’m glad that they came here and brought such a good vibe with them. Quite indirectly, they helped this expat touch base with the folks from home. (smile) I needed that.

Acupuncture

Today I went to my acupuncture appointment. I usually go to this appointment on Saturday, but I had something else to do this past Saturday. Anyway, I went today and it was good as it usually is. The acupuncture shop is a tiny little storefront of a place within an enclosed shopping centre. Before I went there to be treated, I had passed by the shop countless times and had barely noticed it. I would always see Karen, the lady who runs the shop, sitting on a stool at the counter and reading a book. Her many herbs and remedies surrounded her on the eight foot high shelves. There didn’t seem to be that much activity going on back then. Or maybe I was just not passing by at the right time.

Anyway, I have to rewind a bit here. I was in a car accident at the end of 2006 and my hip was injured. Since then I have been going back and forth everywhere getting treatments. So that has been my life for over a year now and finally I am doing a lot better. I had a check-up the other day and I have come along nearly back to where I was before the accident. Although sometimes I get so frustrated at the slow progress of things, I only have to really think back to how it was in the beginning when I could barely walk. It was hard to think that I was only in my late 30s and I was seemingly falling apart. Every part of me hurt. So I try to look at things with a bit better perspective now and I see how really far I have come.

Okay, so anyway, on to how I was brought into the world of acupuncture. I wasn’t seeking out acupuncture at the time as I was seeking more Western treatments at that point. My husband and I happened to be in town picking up a few things. We passed by the acupuncture shop for like the hundredth time and this time we stopped to look at the signs they had in the window. There were various signs listing different ailments and what different herbs could do for you. Karen, the owner, saw us reading at the window and she came outside to greet us with a few leaflets in her hands. She asked me what ailments I was suffering with and I said, “So how long do you have for me to list them?” We laughed. To make a long story a bit shorter, I ended up being assessed that day and had my first treatment.

When I had my first treatment, this was during those days when I was in pain most of the time. I figured that I didn’t have a thing to lose in trying it. So I struggled onto the table. I have ALWAYS hated needles, but I was as near to desperate at this point as I have ever been in life. I have to admit, I did feel the needle for a tiny millisecond. But then I just chilled out and it didn’t feel anything like there were in fact 50 needles all over my body. A piece of cake it was. They put a heat lamp over my back and then turned out the lights and left me in this tiny little room face down with my body, I am certain, looking like a pin cushion. And I will tell you, that was the most relaxed I had felt in a long, long time. I don’t know when I fell asleep, but all I remember is the acupuncturist and Karen coming back into the room and waking me up. I was kind of embarrassed at the time, but now I laugh about the fact that they caught me fast asleep and slobbering a tiny bit. :-)) It was hilarious. Anyway, I tried to play it off by acting like I had an itch and wiped it away.

So after that first session, I was hooked. I have been going to have the treatments when the budget allows here and there over the last few months. And I must say that it has helped me. I can’t say how this will work for anyone else, but I do believe that the treatments have definitely taken the edge off of my pains.

Another treat of having the acupuncture is the good vibe of the shop. Like I said before, it is a little shop with loads of herbs stacked on the shelves. And the two treatment rooms are tiny, but it has such a good feeling. Karen is the owner. Karen is not her given name though. She is originally from China, and has adopted this Westernized name since she has been in England. She says that it helps her feel like she can fit in more with a name like that. I however, think it is kind of sad that she feels the need to fit in by changing her name. But I always try to respect what others decide to do. I don’t know her whole story so who am I to judge. She is so sweet. She speaks very good English, but I am always enthralled when I hear her speak in her native language to the acupuncturist who doesn’t speak English so well yet. They are both very kind ladies and they have been a comfort to me in many ways. Karen loves to talk and I love asking her about where she comes from. I guess we connect as one expat to another. When I have come in sometimes feeling homesick, she has understood and can relate. I think sometimes that we find what we need just when we need it in life. When I first went there to get treatments, I really needed physical help, but also I think that it was good for both of us to connect with another person far away from her home too. So in the end we help each other.