Lots to catch-up on in the last month, but I’ll start by belatedly celebrating this blog’s 21st birthday back on 27th April. (“You want photos for your blog?” asked my guide back in Chongqing. “That’s very old school! I haven’t heard that word in a long time.”)
Legally speaking, 21 is much less of a big deal than it used to be, but it turns out that there are still some rights which accrue at this age, at least in the UK. These include driving a bus, getting paid the full minimum wage, obtaining a helicopter licence and applying to adopt a child – although based on the experience of friends who have adopted, there’s no chance you’d still be 21 by the end of the process. Still, happy birthday blog, and I hope there’s still at least one other blog left in the 21+ clubs and bars for you!
We hosted Andrew, Bonnie and my mum for lunch the weekend after we got back, waxing lyrical about Chinese trains until they thought we’d joined the CCP. The weekend after, as part of the May bank holiday, I took a significantly slower train up to Edinburgh to join Randi in Scotland. Thanks as always to Katie and James for being such amazing hosts and for introducing us to Jet Lag, a YouTube series in the Amazing Race \ Race Across The World genre which I’ve known about for ages (I watch plenty of videos on their other channels!) but had never given a chance. Together we blitzed through one of their European games of tag, which was excellent, and since then Randi and I have started working through the rest.
Having all caught up with Doctor Who we also watched that week’s episode together, which provoked some mixed reactions! I think it’s fair to say that this season hasn’t felt as consistent as last year’s (which I thought was phenomenal from episode 3 onwards) although there have still been plenty of strong points, including the opening episode and the unexpected sequel to Midnight. But we also really enjoyed last night’s The Interstellar Song Contest, which (a) contained some very special moments, and (b) was a pleasant dose of Eurovision given that, for logistical reasons, we ended up skipping the main event this year.
Where was I? Oh, yes, Scotland – and on Saturday, Katie’s childhood-inspired tea party for Kirsty and Roger, complete with some very legit egg mayo sandwiches. The next day, Randi and I took the train up to Kirkcaldy to see Lea and Abi, without even realising the coincidence that two of our mums were – at that very moment – hiking through Peru together. I won’t claim that Kirkcaldy felt as adventurous as that, but we had a really lovely time at Lea and Abi’s house before walking along the riverfront\seafront together (this is a matter of some dispute), getting to see their studio space and learning about doocots. Thank you both for hosting us!
It wouldn’t be a trip to Edinburgh without a breakfast at La’Telve in Morningside, although I don’t seem to have actually mentioned this before during the first 21 years of this blog, so now I’m officially putting that right and asking you to backfill every previous post about Edinburgh in your head. Suitably filled with tatty scones, haggis and a legitimately really good breakfast burrito, we rolled back down to London on the still-not-as-fast-as-China train on bank holiday Monday.
The next weekend was equally busy, starting with a Saturday matinee of Cockfosters with Steven and Sadie. I was really looking forward to seeing this, especially given that Tash had recommended it during a previous run but the dates just hadn’t worked out. Essentially, it’s a wacky romantic comedy about finding love on the Piccadilly line, with a very fast-paced sketch show aesthetic as different side characters get on and off the (beautifully realistic!) Tube carriage set. A particular highlight was the North/East/South/West London rap battle, for which it felt like South London came off rather well. But it was all a lot of fun, as were drinks afterwards together at the Mercato Metropolitano.
And talking of South London: on Sunday we enjoyed a brunch feast with new South London converts Tess and Hugo at their new (and nearby!) flat, together with fleeting North London visitors Carolyn and Maria. Welcome to the neighbourhood, guys!
The next section feels more surreal to write, but on Tuesday I officially became German.
As with so many other families, Brexit prompted my mother’s generation to investigate whether there was a path to reacquiring European citizenship. For us, this was indeed possible due to the fact that my grandfather was German – leaving as a child to escape Nazi persecution of Jews – and the German government has long had a special legal process in place to restore citizenship rights to those who lost it during this period.
Until Brexit this never felt particularly relevant, but on Tuesday, Tash and I became the last in our immediate family to naturalise at a special ceremony at the German Ambassador’s residence. I’m hugely grateful to all of the embassy staff who were so diligent and thoughtful in helping us through the process.
Other than getting into the right airport queue, I have no way of knowing whether this will impact my own life very much… who’s to say? But given the uncertainties of the world, it felt like the right thing to keep this in the family, especially since – once the chain is broken – citizenship is often completely impossible for future generations to reclaim. Plus, I got to enjoy a delicious currywurst and half-pint of Adlerkönig at Stein’s afterwards with Tash and Cormac 🙂 🇩🇪
Finally – Beth and Stu are back in London! They arrived last week in time for Randi’s birthday on Saturday, which we celebrated with a return trip to Oxleas Woods and the celebrated Oxleas Woods Café. It’s great to see them back during this sunny weather, and they’ve already been on a successful Golders Green quest to fill our home with challah, babka and rugelach.
Editorial note: Yes, this blog title has been carefully formulated to be as boring and unappetising as possible. It’s a skill, available on request.
