2005 Country of Living: England

It has been a very productive year. I have been catching up on the arts by attending a number of concerts and movies. It is quite different than my life in Africa.

The year began difficultly with my living in a B & B in London (see a bit of a note about that here) for about a month. During this time I was looking for a job going through many thousands of job descriptions daily (yes, really). Eventually I was offered a job with APR Smartlogik Ltd in Cambridge (which is about 45 minutes by train north of London).

After finding the job I very quickly was able to find an apartment (flat) and got settled. Did I mention during this time that mother was visiting?

Not a lot of travel, but did do a bit…

• January - Continued my visit to Canada (recuperating after my Gambia experience) including a ski trip with my mother to Banff.
• July/August - Scotland - I visited the World Science Fiction convention in Glasgow but also took the opportunity to visit friends in Shetland and the festival in Edinburgh. See my Journal of this trip.
• October - Blackpool - Mother visited in October when we were able to visit Liverpool, Blackpool and Scarborough.
• December - Canada - I returned to Canada for only a week over Christmas then returned on Boxing day.

There were a number of interesting events throughout the year that I attended, including:

• 29th - London (Royal Albert Hall) - Dralion - Cirque du Soleil (Music/Dance)

• 7th - London (Odeon) - House of the Flying Daggers (Movie)
• 25th - London - Baaba Maal (Talk)

• 5th - London (St. Martin-in-the-Fields) - Mozart and Handel - Belmont Ensemble of London (Concert)
• 12th - London - Robots (Movie)
• 28th - London (The Palace Theatre) - The Woman in White (Musical)

• 2nd - London (Apollo) - A Life in the Theatre - Patrick Stewart/Joshua Jackson (Play)
• 28th - Cambridge - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Movie)

• 5th - Cambridge - Jesus Christ Superstar (Musical)
• 20th - London (Odeon Leicester Square) - Star Wars Episode 3 (Movie)

• 18th - London (Coliseum) - Cosi Fan Tutte (Opera)

• 9th - Cambridge - Batman Begins (Movie)
• 16th - Cambridge - War of the Worlds (Movie)
• 17th - London (Royal Albert Hall) - BBC Proms - Purcell: The Fairy Queen (Semi-Opera)
• 29th - London (Royal Albert Hall) - BBC Proms - Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Prokofiev (Concert)

• 23rd - London (Royal Albert Hall) - BBC Proms - Julius Caesar (Opera)
• 27th - Cambridge - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Movie)

• 10th - London (Hyde Park) - BBC Proms: Proms in the Park (Concert)
• 19th - Cambridge - SPECIAL PREVIEW: Serenity (Movie)
• 24th - Cambridge - Howl's Moving Castle (Movie)
• 25th - Cambridge (King's College Chapel) - Cambridge Cantata (Concert)

• 2nd - London (Royal Albert Hall) - All Rise by Wynton Marsalis - London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (Concert)
• 6th - Cambridge (West Road Concert Hall) - Baroque Triples - Academy of Ancient Music (Concert)
• 9th - Cambridge - Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Movie)
• 15th - Cambridge - Society for Popular Astronomy (talk on Saturn pictures from Cassini)
• 15th - Cambridge - Night Watch (Movie)
• 26th - London (Price of Wales Theatre) - Mamma Mia! (Musical)

• 3rd - London (Royal Albert Hall) - Best of Broadway - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Concert)
• 5th - Cambridge - Ghost in the Shell 2 (Movie)
• 18th - London (Barbican Hall) - Salif Keita and Richard Bona (African Music)
• 23rd/26th - Cambridge - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Movie)
• 29th - Cambridge (ADC) - Footlights Pantomime: Spartacus (Pantomime)

• 3rd - London (Earls Court) - The Festive BBC Good Food Show (Trade Show)
• 10th - London (Royal Albert Hall) - Rutter's Christmas - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Concert)

Well, the next year does not pose any large surprises. I am hoping to continue working to pay off some of my debts I incurred when away in Africa (and also catch-up on my retirement contributions). The summer holds a possible trip to Northern Scotland (again) but in the nearer term I am off skiing with my mother in France in March.

Visit here for my review of 2004.