Eish! London 21 - 22 June

Saturday, 20 June
Starting the day on a happy note: James was born to my friend Val and her husband in New Zealand; weighing 7 Pounds and 11 ounces. Yay!

Royal Ascot Heath Enclosure ticket £7.00 including VAT
What a mission to get there! I arrived at the train station with my picnic goodies; all set to buy a ticket for the train trip, only to walk into the busiest, most classily dressed Paddington Station I have ever seen! Queues and queues and queues of people buying tickets. Ascot and the Queen are clearly far more popular than I realised. {Note: If you are heading to a major event outside of London, prebook your tickets online and collect them before the actual day!} I got into a queue and managed to buy a ticket just in time to rush off to the train, with the lady behind me chasing me because I’d only taken one of the three tickets I needed to. Thank the Lord that she was behind me with her friend. {Note: When buying a return ticket at a machine, make sure you take the outbound ticket, the inbound ticket and the receipt ticket; ready for the conductor to check.} I was also blessed enough to find a seat next to an older worldly-wise lady in a packed train. Some people had to stand in their glam outfits for over an hour. Opposite the two of us were two Australian girls who were very excited to be going to the races to get drunk.

The lady next to me seemed to be in her late 50s, early 60s. She told me her inspiring life story: When she was young her life seemed to be following a ‘normal’ get married, have children pattern, until she found herself in dire circumstances, divorced and needing to make money and start her life all over again. She started her own real estate business with nothing but a loan, a small High Street office, a desk and a wobbly chair. She said she worked all hours to assist her clients amidst their busy schedules, and it took years to build up the business which she eventually sold off very successfully. She did it all on her own through some seriously trying circumstances, and now in the late years of life she travels the world to attend major music festivals. She knew all the latest bands and everything about music festivals. She had ticked most of them off her list and, because over the years she had become friendly with the organisers, they now called her with the festival ‘low downs’. It was something I would never have put together, a posh, well spoken, wealthy older lady dressed in lavender with rock music festivals. I was fascinatedly captivated for the whole train journey. She was wise, content and happy with where she was and who she was. We chatted about politics and England compared with South Africa and the history that she remembered. As Joanna Lumley (from Absolutely Fabulous fame) was supporting the Burkhas in their court case to become British Citizens after fighting for England in the war (which they eventually won), this lady in lavender gave me her opinion on the matter. She said that you can’t expect a nation to fight for your country and give their lives for your country if you aren’t then willing to let them be included in the freedom and ‘winnings’ of the fight. If people are giving their lives for a country, then they should be allowed to be a part of the country that they fought for. Hers was afresh perspective and one that made sense to me. As the train arrived at Ascot I was sad to say good-bye to such a grand dame and pleased that in a short, yet touching moment in time I had met someone who inspired me to keep on persevering and chasing my goals.

Wow! The limousines! Oh my word! Fields full of limousines on the inside of the race track. Even the porta-potties were incredibly upper class in green and gold with carpets on the inside. Nix and I put down the picnic basket and enjoyed all the buzzing excitement around us. I’ve been to a major horse racing event in South Africa (The Durban July) and in Dubai (The Gold Cup) and now Ascot {√ Tick}. The vibe at all three, even though they are continents apart, is exactly the same: Betting, drinks, sunshine, snacks, picnics, grand-stand, fancy clothes, gorgeous hats and thousands of merry people. You can’t help but get excited and revel in the contagious atmosphere of it all.

I put bets on: Shakespearean and Road to Love, among others, but I thought those two were too significant to my story not to bet on. They didn’t let me down and I came out with some small, yet personally invigorating, winnings. I took lots of photos, I even managed to get one of the queen waving at me, and one of my sister’s high school heart throb: Michael Owen. They came passed us in their horse drawn carriages before they went up to the Royal Box. Of the international horse-racing events I’ve been to, this one was the shortest from 2pm – 5pm, as I recall. Traffic was mayhem and we took our merry selves back to Reading for a quiet night in as neither of us were in the mood for drunken debauchery.

Monday, 22 June
Today’s Scheme was in Harrow. The bus scenario was set up in the hall with the tube one outside in a real trailer complete with TV, mock train tracks and a working camera at the help point. I was thrilled to be working with Anna again and the two of us had a ball. We decided to put a different spin on things again and, instead of only taking one scenario each, we took our groups through both so that nothing was repeated and we could test the learners’ memories. It worked perfectly and we managed to get through way more information than we had before. There’s nothing like a fun productive day at the office.

In South Africa my Mom and sister were still meeting at my Mom’s for Monday night’s Grey’s Anatomy and like clock work I got my phone call today. I love hearing from them and having a weekly routine helps to curb any homesickness, because I know that I only need to hang on for a few days until Monday and then I can chat all I like. Granted, it isn’t quite the big bear hugs I’m used to, but with God’s help you can only do the best that you can do. An interesting part of the conversation tonight was when my Mom told me that my sister Candice was going to Hong Kong with her boyfriend in September, he had an international conference there, and she would be on her own during the days. How cool would it be to fly over and meet her there? I had money coming in from my work with the TC, so I may be I would be able to do it.

The idea took hold and after a chat with Candice we decided it would be a great idea. I had to check flight prices and school holidays, and wait for enough funds to be in my account, but it would be awesome to see her again and visit the east at the same time! She emailed me the details of their hotel and the dates they were travelling. I started to get very excited. “I’m going to Hong Kong to see my sister for a week, just because I can…” I’ve always wanted to do something over the top extravagant and this was the perfect opportunity. Done deal! {√ Tick}

I hope you have had your own awesome moment today, and recognise one everyday.