Comings and Goings

Last Saturday night we drove into London to go to the going-away party of Inessa, a friend of ours. Driving into London itself wasn't too bad, until we got to a junction called Shepherd's Bush Green; at which point, the 10 remaining minutes of our journey took 40. Who could know that Saturday traffic at 6pm could be so heavy? Obviously not country bumpkins like ourselves. Actually, according to the radio traffic report, we hit the only traffic jam in town.

Anyways, we made it eventually to the party. We were the first ones there, as Inessa had said we were welcome to come early as we might have to leave early. We ended up not being the first ones to leave, which impressed me with our and Lena's staying power. Lena again wore her party dress, which 6 weeks after its first outing. I wore a 3/4 length skirt which camouflaged me well with the others at the party. G had said when I bought the skirt, "Now you are becoming British". I didn't know what he meant and he explained that British girls seem to wear that style of skirt a lot. I didn't realise it until I was at the party as saw that he was right, well more than the half the women there were wearing just past knee to 3/4 length skirts. I don't ever recall being at a party in Munich and being able to pick out one specific fashion item that encompassed the majority of the women there. Whether that is because I didn't notice, people (esp expats) in Germany have more individuality or because they don't know the latest styles and therefore don't dress so similarly I couldn't say. I mean, there certainly are fashion trends in Germany, but having the same style and length skirt worn by so many at one occasion is something I would now associate with Brits, no one else. I'll keep paying attention and see if there is more "uniform" dressing to be seen.

The party was fun and it was nice to get out to an event where there was more to talk about than parenting and babies. Not that there's anything wrong with those events, but it's good to be reminded that there's more to life than that.

As I said at the start, it was a going-away party for Inessa. The hostess is moving to Munich to live with her fiance, Brian. Brian is a good friend of ours from Munich which is how we know Inessa. It's a bit of a shame that she is moving, as they were two of the few people we knew here. Brian came over to visit regularly but having Inessa with him in Munich will obviously stop that. Despite them deserting us in our attempt to overtake the island with c'lonials, we wish them the best of luck in Munich. All the best for the forthcoming nuptials too!


It will be interesting to see what cultural differences Inessa notices doing the opposite move to us. Getting used to the differences moving from Britain to Germany should keep her busy for a while. ;-)