Before Leaving London...

It all started with an email from Stephen in the middle of a grey and dark November afternoon..." How do you fancy moving to California?".

From: s.w.wood.88@cantab.net
Subject: Fancy moving to California?
Date: 24 November 2006 15:17:05 GMT
To: laurencepons@yahoo.fr

Lolo,

Edmund just asked me how would I fancy carrying out support at Amgen South of San Francisco for a year, starting from end of Feb. They need to decide whether they have to recruit someone specially to do this, so are
asking people in case they'd like to do it.

I'm not serious about this, but I thought the idea might bring a smile to
your lips...

Love you,
Stephen

What on earth am I going to do in California? I am in the middle of looking for a job, we have been living in London for more than nine years. Our life is here... But San Francisco!! How I fell in love with it four years ago!
Well it turns out to be Thousand Oaks near Los Angeles...rather different.
Now two months later we have said yes and there is so much to do, so much to learn, so much we don't know about life in Thousand Oaks. I suppose that's why we decided to say yes, we fancied a challenge!
I have dowloaded Google Earth : http://earth.google.com/ and zoomed in very closely to 21 Gwendolen Avenue and saw the House where we live. And then if I type Thousand Oaks I fly over the Atlantic and the American continent in five seconds with a slight virtigo...Oh! all these little zebras indicate the amount of sismic activity in teh area. It turns ou Thousand Oaks is situated in the San Andreas fault! We'll try an dforget about that.

Last few weeks in London. Things and places acquire this special taste when you know it is not going to last and I like that. A bit nostalgic for what you leave behind but also teaches you not to take anything for granted. We went to see a few more exhibitions: Cezanne in Britain and Velazquez at the National Gallery, a couple more walks.

Version française: Avant de quitter Londres
Tout a commencé avec un email de Stephen intitulé: Fancy moving to California?
Mais qu'est-ce que je pouvais bien aller faire en Californie à ce moment-là? Ridicule, vraiment. Je cherche du boulot, nous habitons a Londres depuis plus de neuf ans. Notre vie est ici: les amis, la chorale, le boulot, le yoga, ...Mais après trois semaines non-stop de grisaille intense sur le ciel de Londres, la prespective de partir sous des cieux plus cléments me parait bien séduisante, et rien de tel qu'un nouveau défi à relever!
Deux mois plus tard, nous avons dit oui, et il y a beaucoup à faire, essayer de comprendre, par le biais d'Internet, la vie à Thousand Oaks.
J'ai téléchargé Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/ sur mon Mac et j'ai eu le vertige en voyageant de Gwendolen Avenue à Thousand Oaks. Tous les petits eclairs sur et autour de Thousand Oaks indiquent les seismes dans la région. Aie! Thousand Oaks est situé sur la faille de San Andreas, on va essayer de ne pas trop y penser.

Encore quelques semaines à Londres. Les choses et les lieux prennent ce gout particulier de ce qu'on va quitter; un peu de nostalgie mais aussi apprendre à apprécier un peu plus ce et ceux qui nous entourent. Encore quelques expos: Cezanne in Britain and Velazquez à la National Gallery, et une ou deux marches de plus.