I like to breathe

Huzzah! I'm now exhaling and inhaling with ease.
It rained here for the first time since we arrived. It had been bright and sunny all week until today. I don't mind today's weather; I'll take the infamous London rain and health over sunshine and blocked air passages any day.
Now that I can see and breath clearly, here are some great things about living in London:
1) Our neighborhood rocks! It's full of ancient buildings with clean coats of paint. The sidewalks are cobble-stoned and mossy, but the streets and signs are kempt. There are tall trees everywhere. Like in most of Europe, the modern and the antique blend instead of clashing. I'm pretty sure this is an affluent part of London.
2) Plenty of things to do and learn. When I visited Europe a few years ago, it's most striking feature was how similar it was to home. I was expecting a complete foreign experience when I crossed continents, like the one I had when I went to Ecuador. Here, it's like a bizzaro U.S. Life exists very similarly on the surface, but with different symbols and name brands and phrases. Instead of Walgreens, it's Boots. It's not Juicy Juice, it's Ribena. "Eat in or take away?" replaces "For here or to go?." But now that we're living here indefinitely, we're sure to learn beyond the obvious and get into the culture.
3) Looks like this will be good for both of our careers. So we already know that Marty's career will benefit from this move, but while perusing the job listings today hope for my own career is revived. There are loads of listings for someone like me, plus tons of learning institutions if I want to get a master's. We'll see what happens.
4) We've already been invited to a party. I was a bit worried about finding some friends here, but luckily it seems my worrying was for nothing. Dave and Mendy, a former UIC student and her new husband, are having a birthday party on Saturday and we're invited. Awesome! I can't wait to meet other Londoners.
5) Travel to other countries is cheap from here. Marty and I want to get our bearings here before we go anywhere else, but I've already been drooling at some of the travel adverts posted here. A 5-night stay in Cape Town, including roundtrip airfare, hotel, and some meals, for £130! Can you imagine?

So while I sorely miss our friends and family at home (We were at I-bar in spirit last night), I think we'll be ok here for a while. The internet helps, doesn't it? Kudos to Caleb for contributing to the cause with his new blog: The Ape Rages.