I've arrived!

We are in Bradford! Munich is but a distant memory.

What can I say, Bradford is different to anywhere I've ever lived, and yet is amazingly similar to Dunedin. Being an industrial city it is quite uniform in it's look and is a bit grubby. We were warned when we first drove in to the city that the inner city is quite a mess thanks to the recession. There were big plans to develop the city centre and a lot of work was started but the recession put paid to all of that.

The city is fairly hilly which I like. It makes me feel as if I'm not too far away from Wellington. Our flat overlooks a nice big green park which has thus far provided some great people watching. Yesterday there was a man singing some amazing African music as he walked around the park.

The smells around our neighbourhood are fantastic and have induced much jealousy from Flo and I. There is a restaurant around the corner from our flat called 'Mumtaz' which catered Imran Khan and Jemima Goldsomethings wedding. The food was flown to the wedding. Our landlord, who is also our neighbour, owns a Balti restaurant close to the Uni so you can imagine the smells coming out of his house. As I type, Flo is in the kitchen attempting to emulate the food we are smelling. So far, so good.

I met with Dick Hazelhurst, the coordinator for the Rotary Fellows, for lunch today at the Uni. It's a great University which again, reminds me of the Otago campus on a smaller scale. Flo and I popped our heads into the Peace Studies department. It had a great buzz to it. I can't wait to get stuck into the course. I have been warned that the first 6 weeks are crazy busy so if no-one hears from me until mid-November, don't be too worried. There are plenty of Rotary and school commitments to fulfil including a link weekend in Liecestershire (spelling?), meet and greet meetings, the Rotary District Conference and the Peace Fellows seminar. Yikes!

With that in mind, I am off to London for the weekend to catch up with friends and prepare for the weeks ahead. Flo has a Northern Oseopath meeting and course on Saturday so the poor guy is going to rattle around the flat by himself. He has plenty of study to do so he won't be too lonely I hope.

Right I must go and check on the progress in the kitchen.