My final day at de-construct was the day we departed for our company weekend in Krakow. It is funny because I don’t really feel like I have left in some ways. I guess it will sink in once I start my new life in USA. Krakow is a really beautiful little city, but I have to confess I only saw about two squares and five streets! The rest of the time we were in bars and clubs consuming an awful lot of booze. Oh well, not much changes really does it? The picture you see was from Saturday night when we all went for a company meal. Once everyone was nicely toasted, the burnt cork was produced and everyone got a ‘tache. Some of the guys had real ones, but that is another story. Take a look here.

I had an extremely fun day on Saturday, all the guys came down to London to see me off in the only way possible: a pub crawl through London. Sorry to all those people who wanted a quiet drink, I think we ruined that for you! But hey, it was the first time in six years the whole gang had been in the same place. Will miss you guys, see you in Boston!

I received my L-1B visa and passport today. It is actually quite understated - I expected holograms and all kinds of cool things on it.

Fantastic news - yesterday I went to the US Embassy here in London to have my L1-B visa interview. It was a rainy morning and apart from the initial queues at security I was in and out pretty quickly.

The first part was actually getting through the barriers to gain access to the embassy, which involved a short wait and then an airport style metal detector and an x-ray for my posessions. Once I walked around the huge building, I went into the visa side entrance and was given a ticket - #228. The waiting room was fairly large, with a lot of bored people sitting around, staring vacantly at four large plasma screens with ticket numbers flashing on them. After five minutes of staring at this also, I was instructed by a recorded american voice to one of the windows. The british guy checked all my forms, and I had my fingerprints scanned. I then was told to sit down again and wait for my interview.

I only had another short wait of five minutes before I was called to another window, this time down the corridor to the right of where I was sitting. The american guy which greeted me was pretty cheerful, and seemed like he was excited to be in London. He asked me a couple of questions about my job and then said, “Ok so your visa is approved.”

I thanked him, and as I walked back down the corridor a great relief was lifted from my shoulders. After lot of waiting and about six months of planning all culminating into one five minute interview - it almost seemed weird.

I gave my address details to the SMS couriers, and am now awaiting the delivery of my passport, they said about five working days. I have just over two weeks left in the UK, it is incredible how time flies.

I took a ride home from one of my new work colleagues, Darryl. He lives in Plymouth, right across from the coast, and Plymouth rock. It is a picturesque bay, as are many in Massachussetts. Brit and I later went for a Lobster roll at a cool joint called The Cabby Shack, right on the water.

I have to say, Plymouth rock is dissapointing. A small boulder surrounded by columns and displayed low down in a hole. It isn’t even in the original place. The Mayflower was impressive though, a definite symbol of those sea-faring times of discovery.