A Little Tinkering...

Well peeps it's been a cosy, curled-up-indoors kind of Sunday here at Gidday HQ. I've done chores (well, some), read a little, sorted some pics I took in London yesterday, had a chat with Mum and carried out a little virtual redecorating. Yes, in the spirit of trying out new stuff and beginning a shiny new chapter, I have been tinkering away to give Gidday From The UK a bit of a lift. 

This year is about new horizons for me, whatever they turn out to be, so I wanted a 'eyes up', skyward theme. But I also like the relaxed feel of Gidday - a bit like I've invited you over for a cuppa and a chat - and didn't want to morph into something that just wasn't...well, me. So I've decided to use a picture of my very own street in Fabulous Finchley as the backdrop to all things Gidday.

Taken from the footpath right outside my front door

The last year has also seen me out and about a bit and I'm quite chuffed about this new notoriety. And I wanted to acknowledge the generosity of my fellow adventurers in the blogosphere for saying nice stuff about Gidday and for some especially brave souls, letting me loose on their patch to witter on about stuff.  So I've added a new page, Going Walkabout.

Gidday has played host to some Special Guests this year too. I love the variety it brings to the Gidday journey and so am putting this out there now - if you'd like me to write a guest post for you on...erm...something, I am completely up for it.

Speaking of putting stuff out there, I told you yesterday about another new page, Mind The Gap! designed to capture all that's sublime and ridiculous about charting one's course through the Queen's English in Blighty. Please feel free to contribute your stories - the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned (and thanks to Michelloui for her LOL tale of #expatfail on yesterday's post).

The Book Nook (previously the 50 Book Challenge until I got to 50) will remain at large and in the last few months has featured the scribblings of two of you, Charlie Wade with The Bailout (No. 51) and Jack Scott with Perking The Pansies: Jack and Liam Move To Turkey (No. 57).

No doubt there's more to come and not just from Jack and Charlie. You (well some of you anyway) seem to like my mini-reviews so I'll keep 'em coming for 2012.

As for the rest, we'll see what transpires as the year progresses. I already anticipate much travelling and a fair amount of fossicking in old London Town so some new themes may emerge on this front. In addition, the new Gidday HQ offers many opportunities not available in my previous super-small abode. I can see a few soirees of the outdoor variety taking place on the sizeable patio/in the grassy bit of the garden (which may or may not overshadow any future baking exploits). And let's not forget that Gidday HQ is guest-ready - Mum will be here in just 37 sleeps.

And speaking of Mum, she's is a stickler for manners that one - I may never meet HRH but Mum is comforted by the fact I at least know how to behave well. So thank you for all your reading, laughing, scoffing, following and commenting. Let me assure you every one of your comments is eagerly opened as I make my daily commute to and from work. This is the place where I put little old me on the page - whatever that may be at the time - and being cheered, supported and surprised by your feedback can really transform an often lacklustre commute.

That's it for now so I hope you enjoy Gidday From The UK's new duds. I look forward to more exciting travels through the blogosphere with you and if you are ever actually in London and fancy a face-to-face with an irreverent Aussie sheila, just let me know.

If Language Be The Food Of Love...

Eureka!

It means I have found it.

The El Dorado, the essence of life, the I Ching, the holy grail...

It's a funny thing isn't it, that when you start exploring a particular topic, the floodgates open and suddenly, you are awash. Where previously you could find or you knew very little, in an instant a whole deluge of opportunities to broaden a particular horizon appear.
 
Those of you who have been following along for a little while now will know my fascination for the trials and tribulations of the translation kind here in my adopted homeland. The nonsensical expressions of the natives, the faux pas of my own making, the idiosyncracies of place names and the general labour of love that is communicating with the locals.

Source: pinterest

And let me put this in context. I come from a land Down Under where women glow, men chunder and pretty much the only language spoken is English. As do the locals - speak English I mean...although there are about half a million Australians in the UK...but I digress.

And my I Ching? It is quite simply the definitive Anglo-EU Translation Guide. Shared with me (wry smile for free) with my over-the-partition German work colleague.

Some were familiar from my Boden Bonanza back in May 2011.  But there were others that were new - and enlightening. 'You must come for dinner soon' does not constitute an invitation from a Brit (but may from any of the other nationalities in my sphere). 'I only have a few minor comments' is not a well done/pat on the back but is rather likely to precede a complete re-working of...well, everything you were working on.

Needless to say I spent much of my first few years in Blighty hungry and over-worked.

There's been a spike of visits and page views over my last post, where I introduced you to Jack Scott from Perking the Pansies (reciprocal back-scratching at its best, I say). Jack has set up a very useful Expat Glossary on his site to help the immigrant ingenue in fair Anatolia navigate the colourful, lotus-eating-expat populous. Inspired by this charitable act, I have decided to create a glossary of my own, Mind The Gap! to help those fresh-off-the-boat to chart a safe course through the nuances of the indigenous vernacular here in the UK.

As the disclaimer says, Mind The Gap! represents the views and experiences of the author and whoever else she can earbash at the time. All idioms, ideas and idiosyncracies have been pinched without prejudice...and without apology.

In the spirit of community, sharing our experiences to enrich others and supporting our expat brothers-and-sisters-in-arms (aka blah blah blah), if you're prepared to be earbashed and pinched without prejudice, let me know if you've got any personal pearlers to add.

Source: pinterest

You never know. This could mark the beginning of a quiet revolution...

Turkish Delight...

Not a week has passed in this magnificent new year and already Gidday from the UK is bringing you delight from around the globe - Turkish Delight that is.

Jack Scott is a fellow expat - an Englishman in Turkey (Bodrum in fact) - and he's written a book. His blog, Perking the Pansies is his catalogue of daily thoughts on the world of two gay men in foreign land - in turns thought-provoking and funny, always witty and honest. 

And now there's the book...

This is not just a collection of blog posts. Rather Jack weaves the tale of the dichotomous life of an expat with poignancy and humour. The wondering where you belong, what 'life' to build and how to bridge the gap between life BE (Before Expat) and the unfamiliar 'now' remains as relevant to me now as eight years ago when I arrived in the UK and I look forward to finding out what happens next for Jack and Liam.

So without further ado, I am proud to present Gidday's first guest for 2012, Jack Scott.

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Gidday from Turkey

Here on Gidday from the UK you’ll read about an Aussie girl’s life in Blighty and beyond, her thirst for reading and her need to scratch those itchy travelling feet. Her writing is eloquent, varied, fun and informative. I’ve always got along with Antipodeans. We share similar cultural roots and laugh at the same things, but our cousins Down Under aren’t afflicted with the same level of debilitating cynicism that stalks many Brits these days. I find this refreshing. To my eternal shame, I’ve never been to Oz. My partner, Liam, has. He loved it and wanted to stay. Forever. He even considered re-training as a hairdresser to gain enough points to emigrate (crimpers were in short supply at the time, apparently). From civil servant to coiffeur would have made a dramatic career change. He thought better of it when he realised it was a gay cliché too far. That was before he met me, of course.

When Gidday writes about London, it’s like a magical trip down memory lane for me. I enjoy our current lives as a wanton Lotus Eaters here in Turkey, but London Town is my home town and it’s where my heart is. I love Turkey but I’m in love with London. This ‘here and there’ tension is one of the recurring themes of my new book, Perking the Pansies, Jack and Liam move to Turkey. Were we insane to sell up, chuck in the jobs and move lock, stock and barrel to a Muslim country? Well, we’re still here but it’s been a rocky road. When I was recently asked to sum up our time in Turkey, I struggled to paraphrase the complexity of our experiences and emotions: ‘misery and joy, bigotry and enlightenment, betrayal and loyalty, friendship, love, earthquakes, birth, adoption and a senseless murder.’ Life in the Smoke was never this eventful. You couldn’t make it up.

Thank you so much to Gidday for featuring Perking the Pansies on the Book Nook list. I’m in elevated company. If you like what you see, the book is available on paperback and Kindle at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
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ps...If you want to see what I thought, pop over to The Book Nook and check out No. 57. Alternatively, if you are looking for a veritable pantheon of praise, I and many others have spread the word on Amazon so you can click here for that.

Your 2012 Five A Day - January

One of the things I like to do to start each year is choose a calender to go on the side of my fridge. It helps me to keep relatively organised, provides a sense of anticipation for upcoming events (like Mum will be here in 46 sleeps) and offers a 'mark' for the new chapter each new year brings, no matter how much I 'bah humbug' about resolutions and the like.

Anyway I had not managed to do this last year and so ventured out on New Year's Day to the local Martin's to find the perfect addition to the Gidday HQ Frigidaire. Something unexpected, a little quirky and potentially irreverent.

I was home ten minutes later, grinning and barely through the door before my new purchase was whipped out of its plastic wrapping.

Ladies and gents, I give you your rebellious Five A Day for 2012...Violent Veg!

Source: http://www.viciousveg.com/



So in the spirit of keeping the family up to date with my mental (and I use the word loosely) state about the year ahead, I took a pic of 'January' and uploaded on Facebook...

Caption: Colin knew he was in a rough pub when he noticed the pea on the floor

...to which the even more irreverent, anti-small-green-veg-etarian Lil Chicky, responded:

Now how is she going to get her five a day if she keeps tossing her greens away?

And so the year begins...