Saturday Night Hayfever

We just overcome another busy period. (Translation, as I am convinced, is one of the most time-absorbing tasks!) Anyway, it is over now and we have four days to enjoy pure blue sky and warming sunshine! The only problem for me is the extremely high-level of pollen count. I take my allergy pills regularly, once a day at 8am, but sometimes even they can't help, making me take a shower twice a day to get rid of the tiny particules inside my hair.

The last few days were spent by dealing with our home PC, which was seriously infected by a spyware. It was like a malicious cancer. We could not delete it as it duplicated itself and within two days we would be unable to switch on our PC as the virus assigned itself as the administrator of the computer! I spent hours on the phone, talking to DELL Customer Services. Whatever we tried, we failed to retrieve our data and all we were left to do was to reboot the PC. After our last conversation, Sevi and I somehow found a way to be able to see our files and we copied them to a memory stick part by part, so we could save all our photos and word documents, including my doctoral files, etc. (Though the latter had many more back-ups...) Then we re-formatted the computer, downloaded everything again, and bought a brand-new Norton 360 2.0 software to protect it from any cyber-attacks. The virus (maxpaynowti.exe) that infected our PC had a Spanish origin, travelling to the UK just within a week, and London is one of the most vulnerable network centres concerning cyber-malice.

Apart from that, we are still waiting for a date to move in to our new flat. I feel like a caged migrant bird with the urge to fly. I simply want to pack things, decorate our rooms... I even have a DIY guidebook and am very determined to deal with any sort of problems!

I started reading fictions again. That is a challenge for me, really! For years, my excuse was lack of time due to academic commitments and I seldom finish a book I start if it is not a page turner. The last book I could finish was "A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian" by Marina Lewycka. Then I tried hard to develop an interest in Vikram Seth's highly-recommended, yet to-me-disappointing "An Equal Music" and left it unfinished. Now I began to read Umberto Eco's debut work, The Name of the Rose and it is getting more and more interesting!

But, old interests hardly die out. At the age of almost 31, I still find myself looking meditatingly (or blankly, if you like) at my world atlas, journeying from place to place. The new weird thing about it is that whenever I look at a particular location for a long time, I go there in my night-dream. Last time it was Toledo in Spain. I don't know if the real Spanish town looks like what I dreamt, though... A sort of Clementine syndrome, I guess, though mine is not as adventurous as hers.

Delayed: "Autumnal vistas"

I found an unpublished post of mine while persuing the list - unpublished probably because I thought I would write more about our Hungarian trip, but I must have then simply abandoned it due to lack of time. At least there are some pictures to share and some great times to recall.

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We have recently had our annual short break - this time to Hungary (as Turkey trips no longer give me the feeling of a good rest). We visited Budapest and nearby towns of Gödöllö (Empress Sisi's summer town) and Esztergom (Canterbury of Hungary - the religious centre of the country thirty mile northwest of Budapest, and of course, the place we know from our history books - Estergon). Lots of things to say, of course. But what fascinated me - apart from the architectural beauties -was the magnificent autumnal vistas. No need the mention how well the Danube beautifies the cities it splits up. Below are some of my favourite pictures:



Erszebet (Elisabeth) Park in Gödöllö



Fishermen's Bastion in Buda Old Town



Sunset on Maria Theresa Bridge (the official border between Hungary and Slovakia) with a background view of Esztergom Basilica and Castle



The Danube embankment with a background view of the Parliament on the Pest side





Enchantment of the colours... Just a couple of pictures to represent the beautiful trees of Margaret Island of the Danube



Ducks swmming in a pond in Budapest, whose surface is fogged due to warm spa water



View of the Danube at night (from the castle)

A year's plan

It is simply unbelievable. We always hope for some leisure time, or somewhat normal pace of life, but something pops up! I know that it is what one should create for himself, but when I look back to the previous year, it is spent mainly by enjoyable, yet rather frequent long- and short-term visits by our relatives, families, friends, etc. and we really did not have intervals in between. Following our week-long trip to Budapest last autumn, I then isolated myself from everything to focus on writing my dissertation. And it was just a couple of weeks before the deadline that we were told about the result of our shared-ownership property application. Currently, we have a translation job which will occupy a whole fortnight. What next? Moving in to the new flat. Followed by my doctoral defence. Then the summer will be spent by revising my dissertation. In the meantime, I will start sending job applications and find a proper job by the end of this year, hopefully.

Well, is it comforting or slightly boring to know how to spend the rest of the year? The matter is that we have to wait, and wait, and wait for something to happen or finish and it sounds longer than usual when you know in advance what is next. Uncertainties create gray clusters in your life and you always yearn for the sunshine and since you know that it will show up eventually, it makes you even more impatient to wait for it. Mother says they are enjoying spring to the bits. Well, divide the temperatures by two or even three, and forget the sunshine, add some frequent showers, that is the good old British weather. :-]

From Prague to Bratislava

Well, OK, this is not what I intended about the continuity of my posts, but academic commitments had to be immediately replaced by much-neglected domestic ones. We are about to complete our house buying and it is hard to describe how puzzling every step of it - reading the legal documents in English as well as comprehending the government's new stamp duty land tax policy, etc. The preliminary report that our solicitor prepared is thicker than the draft version of my dissertation! I think that is enough to explain the scope of the work being done. It is a huge thing here, property business, that is, which makes you pay thousands of pounds to a number of third parties who are dealing with the much-complicated procedures. Anyway, we are almost there. The only thing we want to know is the date for completion!

Meanwhile, having conquered the shopping malls in the city centre area, we started to have additional trips to farther districts of London. The big furniture stores are located in Croydon, and we spent our whole weekend visiting them one by one. And actually, we purchased a whole bedroom suit, bearing the series name "Prague". Timewise, it is tricky to make such bulky purchases here as the usual delivery period is eight weeks after you order! So, we hope we will have moved to the flat within that period, otherwise it will turn out to be another headache.

Secondly, we are still waiting to be allowed to see the actual looking of our flat. Therefore we are unsure about the measurements of the rooms and it won't happen until the last week before the completion. Sevi and I made countless drawings by ourselves relying on the small, yet more or less accurate floor plan in the brochure, and allocated the furniture modules in the two bedrooms accordingly, which led us to discover, for instance, that we need a wardrobe with sliding doors due to lack of space. Then we realised that the suit we fancy has a slightly longer height than the standards, and we could not be sure if it would fit in our new flat. Our solution was awkward, but practical: We went to the site, picked one of our to-be-neighbours in another block (that was already completed) who was having a fag in the balcony and she kindly invited us to her flat to measure the ceiling height as well as the door width. The latter is also a big issue especially for sofas and sofa-beds as some products require wider doors for delivery.

Anyway, that is what we have been doing so far, not interesting for many. At least we did not miss Easter sales, buying what we wanted on the very last day. Besides, this sales thing sounds never ending, they always find a reason to offer another one.

In the meantime, I at last returned to the choir rehearsals. Missed singing a lot! We have a few concerts ahead, including a trip to Slovakia. The concert will be in a small town nearby Bratislava, but our hotel will be in the capital. Sevi will join me as well, and we decided to arrive there a few days earlier just to enjoy the city. After our trips to Vienna and Budapest, this completes the triangle. Prague has to wait for another year, except for the furnitures. :-P

On again, off again

OK, this is it. I have to put a stop to this internet procrastination. No news-reading, no facebooking, no sleeping. I have a week left to submit my dissertation and the material at hand is like joke! This should be my last post until April. Will write again soon, hopefully as a free man!

Eight months later

It seems my blog is sadly deserted by me. It's been almost eight months since my last post, and other than 'facebooking' I still have no time to collect my mind and write a few sensible things. The only mental break was the trip to Budapest where I felt myself again. Thesis-wise, I am left just a couple of weeks ahead before my ultimate deadline. The pressure kills me. In the meantime (cherry on top, it doesn't rain, it pours, choose whichever idiom you like, but) after a successful application thanks to Sevi's efforts, we are in the middle of purchasing a new flat in Greenwich through shared ownership, a government-backed scheme for first-time buyers. A loooong to-do list!

Heavy clouds, and more rain!

I am very unwilling to see my blog being updated on monthly basis. Well, actually it reflects my general mood. I am somehow unable to catch up with things nowadays. O God, what happened my neatly-written to-do lists? I am not happy with my Sibelius writings, it is going rather too slow than I intended. There are other things to finish, such as my Turkey report for the choir, which should have been done weeks before. My cousin will arrive this Saturday for language course, so I need to tidy up my belongings. Moreover, weatherwise, we are having the worst summer of the last fifty years - the inaugural Sun is yet to appear. And, due to our visa expiry date, we had to postpone our intended bargain trip to Tuscany this October, and the Italian Embassy advises for a six-week-notice appointment for application. (By the way, it is pouring down again!) We were planning to stay in Pisa and Florence, and have day out trips to Siena and Lucca - the latter is Puccini's hometown. Anyway, a spring trip would be more reasonable. Perhaps, Budapest could be a nice substitute. (Now, before choosing destination, I first check the relevant embassy's visa page! The Hungarian one seems to be easy-going.)

Last few weeks were busy as usual. Last Saturday, together with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and James and Jeanne Galway as the soloists, we accompanied Andrea Bocelli for his O2 concert. Although the programme consisted of overwhelmingly popular pieces, it was still very enjoyable. (At least, leaving my prejudices aside, I must admit that his voice is very impressive and strong, and his live performance was faultless.) This Wednesday, we will sing in an award ceremony. After that, only one concert is left, the one at Rochester Castle. Then, our busiest summer is over.

This year, we also had the chance to go to Wimbledon, and even managed to find a ticket to Court No. 1 to see the last fourty minutes of Andy Roddick's play. The rain had a few attempts to start, actually it managed to stop the games twice, but it is an inseparable part of the tradition. Lazy, crazy, rainy days of sum-mer...

These are a few of my favourite things

I have been rather busy lately (as if I were otherwise!) Today, I rescheduled my writing plan, and faced with the bitter fact that time is scarcer than I thought, and I have to be very precise regarding my submissions. The definitive deadline is 21 January of next year. Well, I am not trying to raise my stress level, but a bit of adrenaline would even be helpful I suppose.

Apart from writing my dissertation, the choir has been keeping me very busy nowadays. Actually, we are having our most hectic summer this year. We had a recording session for the commemorative events marking the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War. The actual concert to be broadcast live on BBC will take place this Sunday at the Horse Guards Parade. Last Sunday, we sang at the Royal Festival Hall, reopening with a non-stop 48-hour musical weekend. We first performed in our ten-minute slot at noon and then all the choirs joined together to form a massive 1300-strong voices for an early-evening performance of the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the new English lyrics. In a couple weeks, we shall take stage for the reopening of the Millenium Dome, the notorious white elephant of London, which was at last refurbished and renamed as O2 Arena after its sponsor. There are more concerts to come… In the meantime, my cousin Özlem will be visiting us for a whole summer, during which she will attend a language course. After having Sevi’s cousin, Bora for an extended stay, I can say that we are quite experienced. So, more family commitments waiting for us.

We are trying our best to enjoy the cultural activities on offer. Here is a ‘Price and Prejudice’ episode: The last couple weeks saw our first theatre experience here in London – with Edward Albee’s play, The Lady from Dubuque. I admit that I have prejudice against theatre, I cannot help but desperately need music while watching a performance. (Perhaps that is why I like opera.) After I while, I usually find myself humming instead of paying attention to the words. This time, Maggie Smith’s presence lured us as we wanted to see one of our favourite Dames live on stage. A confession: I was hesitant before the performance if I would understand every conversation word by word (Again, perhaps that is why I prefer opera. He he!), but then it was extra nice to see that I no longer need to press the 888 subtitles to be on the safe side. Moreover, Haymarket Theatre offers discount tickets for the students available on the day of performance. What I had to do was to go there in the morning and purchase a couple of tickets. By this, they give you the opportunity to afford the 50-pound tickets (the first twelve rows) for just 20 pounds! So, no need to mention that our seats were fantastic! This week, they start a new play, starring David Suchet, renowned as Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective, Hercules Poirot. He will be making his appearance as Cardinal Benelli in a Vatican thriller, The Last Confession. I won’t miss it!

Well, being busy does not prevent us from playing an easy-yet-addictive online game, Travian. (Unpredictably enough, Sevi has a game monster hidden deep inside her heart and mind you once it is triggered!)

Referring back to the title of this post, time to conclude with a TVC that puts smile on our face every time we see. Cheers!

Migrating pink wild ducks

Finally back from Turkey. As every other recent vacations of us, it was short, flying speedily in a hectic schedule. Mostly Izmir-based, we visited almost all relatives; and if you mean to do that, you are left with no spare time. As a married couple, I think that will be the general format for a while at least until people get used to the idea. Besides, whenever we go, there will always be someone who gave birth, who was engaged, or married, etc. No complaints anyway. After spending some time also in Balikesir, we went to Beylikdüzü for a couple of days, which is seemingly part of Istanbul, yet ‘far’ from being so. (Pun intended). Neither Sevi nor I could manage to meet with any of our friends, having had to postpone it to our September trip. (The reason for this second trip is about the change of my visa type due to marital status.) Well, we only hope to spend more time in Istanbul.

In the meantime, I ruined my holiday by not being able to finish my dissertation plan before our arrival. So I had to write it while in Balikesir, and it was gnawing my mind until it was all done. (Lesson #1: Never mix holiday and work.) My annual assessment meeting has had to be postponed until May 15th since I was late to submit my chapters and the schedules of my assessors could not allow a day before our trip. Thus, it was the subtle source of stress. (Lesson #2: Never postpone things as they have the potential to ruin your plans.) Combined with such elements of stress, I ate a lot throughout the whole stay, like a goldfish with no sense of fullness and unavoidably put some unwanted weight. (Lesson #3: Stop when you realize you eat more than you talk.)

As soon as we return, a busy week welcomed us. However, the highlight was Tuesday as I had my assessment meeting which went much better than I expected. To my surprise, before it started (slightly later than it was scheduled), my supervisor had an hour’s chat with me about my future career plans, talking about a possible academic career, and encouraging me for some part-time teaching experiences. Well, honestly, I have never felt that I would be skilled enough to pursue an academic career. The post-doc opportunities are very competitive and hard to obtain, but now I think why not giving a try. Anyway, this will need further discussions, but after an agonising six-month period, I am now convinced that I will be able to finish my degree, which feels good indeed.

In the meantime, I was assigned a free-lance task – reading a fiction which has quite a few Sibelian elements in it and checking whether the musical descriptions sound reasonable. Since the book is yet to be published, I cannot release the name of the book, nor that of the author, but reading it seems to be fun. I am also beginning to write the fourth chapter of my dissertation, and the choir’s concert schedule is very busy as well. There are also some administrative stuff waiting – I have to write a report for my meetings with the festival committees, so no time to stop and relax.

Below is a shot from a trip to Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, with my cousin-in-law Bora, which I like a lot. There was no plaque to read the flower’s name and no staff was available to ask, but I tend to call it ‘migrating pink wild ducks’ (though some of them seem to go towards the wrong direction!)

 

Just a quick note...

...to say that I am off to have our early summer vacation in a couple of hours. Will try to check my blog, but it seems to be occasionally. Sevi was doing the dawn shift. I was trying to print my material hastily (academic dawn shift). What a last couple of days it was! Now our parents say they are preparing a busy schedule for us. No!!! I need a break. Will it be a holiday in any sense? Especially when I am yet to finish revising my dissertation plan?!