Originally Written Feb. 7th
Last weekend, the girls and I decided to go on the first of (hopefully) many trips! Nicole and Nathalie did all the planning, and for less then 50 quid, we took the Megabus two hours north, and stayed in one of the cleanest and most comfortable hostels I've seen since I've been there.
Here is the highlight reel from my weekend in Oxford with Jac, Nathalie, and Nicole :-)
Here are more photos if you'd like to see more.
-E
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Quiet Day in the Country
Originally written January 23
Sometimes a girl needs a break from the big city to go see the country. One of the most common things that Brits have told me is that London is not England. Its like people talking about New York, and assuming you're talking about the City. There are so many other parts to the country, and deserve exploration. With that in mind, earlier this week, I went online, looked up places that weren't too far, and decided to take a little trip.
Saturday night I had a city night. My friends and I had talked about getting together, but everyone ended up being too wiped out, but I had spent about 45 minutes curling my hair (more cuz I was bored then anything else) and decided I would take myself out. I took the Picadilly Line into Leicester Square, and was trying to decide what I wanted to do. When it came down to it, I wanted to spend time with people, so first I looked for theatre tickets, but as it was 7:30, I was a little late. Instead, I bought myself a slice of pizza from a vendor, and went to the sold out show of Slumdog Millionaire. This was a great movie, but it also showed all the poverty in India. I understand its a big cultural influence, and there are aspects that are beautiful about it. But it still made me sad to see children bathing in the same water that cows defecate in, and so much prejudice. If anything, it makes me want to work harder to learn and understand about other cultures. I feel very lucky that I am experiencing that in this time in my life, even if its still a 'Western style' culture.
Sunday morning, I got up early and headed to the train station at Waterloo. I took a 35 minute long train out of London to Woking. From there, a REALLY overpriced cab took me to the RHS Gardens to see the Butterfly Exhibit. Basically, this is the Royal Horticultural Society's garden that is open year round. During January and February, they have one of their tropic greenhouses filled with hundreds of butterflies from a farm in South America. They all fly around you and even land on you. The rest of the gardens are beautiful, and I got a great day with lots of sun. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the day:
Ok, so Blogspot will only let me load so many pictures, but I have a ton more. Please take a look at them here and here. They are so amazing. The day was just about me walking around in the peace and quiet, surrounded by all this natural beauty. It made me homesick, but was so refreshing. Everyone should do this for themselves. For my first spontaneous, relatively cheap trip, it was perfect.
Love,
Em
Sometimes a girl needs a break from the big city to go see the country. One of the most common things that Brits have told me is that London is not England. Its like people talking about New York, and assuming you're talking about the City. There are so many other parts to the country, and deserve exploration. With that in mind, earlier this week, I went online, looked up places that weren't too far, and decided to take a little trip.
Saturday night I had a city night. My friends and I had talked about getting together, but everyone ended up being too wiped out, but I had spent about 45 minutes curling my hair (more cuz I was bored then anything else) and decided I would take myself out. I took the Picadilly Line into Leicester Square, and was trying to decide what I wanted to do. When it came down to it, I wanted to spend time with people, so first I looked for theatre tickets, but as it was 7:30, I was a little late. Instead, I bought myself a slice of pizza from a vendor, and went to the sold out show of Slumdog Millionaire. This was a great movie, but it also showed all the poverty in India. I understand its a big cultural influence, and there are aspects that are beautiful about it. But it still made me sad to see children bathing in the same water that cows defecate in, and so much prejudice. If anything, it makes me want to work harder to learn and understand about other cultures. I feel very lucky that I am experiencing that in this time in my life, even if its still a 'Western style' culture.
Sunday morning, I got up early and headed to the train station at Waterloo. I took a 35 minute long train out of London to Woking. From there, a REALLY overpriced cab took me to the RHS Gardens to see the Butterfly Exhibit. Basically, this is the Royal Horticultural Society's garden that is open year round. During January and February, they have one of their tropic greenhouses filled with hundreds of butterflies from a farm in South America. They all fly around you and even land on you. The rest of the gardens are beautiful, and I got a great day with lots of sun. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the day:
Ok, so Blogspot will only let me load so many pictures, but I have a ton more. Please take a look at them here and here. They are so amazing. The day was just about me walking around in the peace and quiet, surrounded by all this natural beauty. It made me homesick, but was so refreshing. Everyone should do this for themselves. For my first spontaneous, relatively cheap trip, it was perfect.
Love,
Em
Clubbin' at KoKo
Originally written January 13
Ahh, London nightlife. Its pretty sweet.
This past weekend, I think I did all my girly-girl friends and relatives proud. I got a hot new style haircut (parted on the side, choppy bangs across forehead, kind of punk rock layers – I think he actually made my hair thinner, but that’s cool) I wish I had taken a picture right off the bat – I think I tried, but I was rushing to get ready.
Random picture interjection: I am trying to take as many as I can whenever I go out and about, or even if its just a nice day. However, when I’m getting into the swing of things, I tend to forget about taking pictures and just want to enjoy the moments as they come. New Year’s Resolution: Live in the moment, and be content with it. So, sorry for the lack of pictures, but you are all creative people, I think you can work it out.
Anywho, so I went after work on Friday to SoHo to get my hair cut. It was fantastic. This really nice Spanish guy did it, and when I came in and told him I needed something new, he totally got me. He took a nice long time to shampoo and condition my hair, gave me a killer neck rub, then sat me in the chair and made me feel really great about this new look. I gave him a tip (they don’t really do that here, so he was hyped) and I got European cheek kisses and instructions to come back in 6 weeks for a bang trim. I went home, did the whole smokey eyed red lip thing, and headed off to Camden Town.
Camden is a really cool part of London. Its hip and goth and cool and chill all rolled together. You can see any type of people here, but the more outrageous the better. There are a lot of Goths, but also people that wear pearls with pink hair, or Doc Martins, or Chucks. The bars are all trying to show each other up with music and random drink combos (tho the smoothie/tonic/mixed drink I had was AMAZING). I was going to Camden to meet Jac to go to Hollie’s birthday party at the Fifty Five Bar & Lounge. Hollie is the girl that we met in our first week who showed us around London. We got to the bar, and she was already Drunkie McDrunk, but had a lot of friends there. The bar was hot – the bartenders were showing off like they were in Coyote Ugly, the music was good, and there were a lot of interesting people. I ended up talking to this guy Scott for 20 minutes. He was from the States, but here for break from studying in Germany. I told him some good places to go. He was so sweet—before he and his friends left, he came over and gave me a hug. Too cute. We sat with Hollie’s friends, had a few drinks; Chris showed up about a half hour after us, and we got to talk for a while while guys were hitting on Jac. It was a good time—I really like him, and it’s nice that Jac found someone so great.
So we left early-ish, because we were all going out the next night as well. There is this club called KoKo; it is a nightclub in an old theater where they ripped all the seats out, and you just party everywhere. ButtonDown Disco was spinning, and they play all kinds of stuff, but specialize in British pop/indie rock. The plan was to meet up around 9ish, and get into the club before 10 so we wouldn’t have to pay the cover charge. Saturday morning, I slept in, got up, and realized I have no idea what the hell to wear to a London nightclub. I then did the next shockingly girly thing, and took myself shopping.
They do a lot of huge sales here after Christmas, so I knew I had options. I decided to stick with Oxford Street. I knew it was going to be a zoo, which I hate, but I had to go to the Apple store to get new headphones anyway, and I knew there were at least 2 Evans (plus size fashion store) within a 15 minute walk of each other. To make a long story short, I found out that I kind of actually like shopping, but I think it had a lot to do because I was alone. I felt less pressure and was able to make decisions without worrying too much. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have a friend there to chat with, or give opinions, but it was nice to just go with my own flow. I ended up getting 2 different tops: one with pink sparkle straps, then it was off the shoulder with this ruffle sleeve thing, and a black top that was really loose and flowy, but came in a band around my hips and slits in the sleeves. I’ve sure you’ll see pictures of both. I also got a cool long chunky necklace, a small black bag so I’m not loosing Bambi everywhere, and some hair clips. All and all, I was pretty stoked.
I went back to my place to get ready, and got a call from Nicole and Nathalie seeing if I wanted to come to their place for dinner before going to the club. It sounded great, so I stopped at Tesco to get a bottle of wine, and headed over. I ended up having to take the bus from Notting Hill, and for some reason I was the only one on it. I asked the driver if he was going to the stop I wanted, and he said yes. Then he starts driving like a maniac, skipping stops and all this, and always looking back at me and winking and smiling. I’m just sitting there with my headphones in, and waiting til I see my stop. About 15 minutes later, we cross the river. That is REALLY not good as the girls live in the same neighborhood as me. I went to ask the guy why he’d blown past my stop, and he said ‘Oh! I thought you didn’t get off because you wanted to stay on the bus with me *sleazy wink*’. Chya, got outta there right quick, I’m tellin’ you. At this point, it was too late to go to dinner, so I took the tube and met up with Jac, her flatmates, and some friends of Chris’s. We went to this pub across from the club for a few drinks before heading in. Luckily the que wasn't too long, nor was the coat check, so we were able to grab some drinks and go right into dance mode.
View of the dance floor from the balcony
Some of Chris' London friends
Not my fav. picture, but the only one I got of me all night--Jac is sadden by this
KoKo was amazing. It had good areas to sit and then to dance, and others just to hang out and watch everyone. I was really into the music, and it was great to just dance with a big group of people. Everyone looked London hot, and we were there until the club closed at 4am. Then it was off to the night bus, grabbed a bottle of water and some crispes at the Tesco, and home in bed right when the sun was thinking to come up. Definitely going to have to be done again.
Love,
Em
Ahh, London nightlife. Its pretty sweet.
This past weekend, I think I did all my girly-girl friends and relatives proud. I got a hot new style haircut (parted on the side, choppy bangs across forehead, kind of punk rock layers – I think he actually made my hair thinner, but that’s cool) I wish I had taken a picture right off the bat – I think I tried, but I was rushing to get ready.
Random picture interjection: I am trying to take as many as I can whenever I go out and about, or even if its just a nice day. However, when I’m getting into the swing of things, I tend to forget about taking pictures and just want to enjoy the moments as they come. New Year’s Resolution: Live in the moment, and be content with it. So, sorry for the lack of pictures, but you are all creative people, I think you can work it out.
Anywho, so I went after work on Friday to SoHo to get my hair cut. It was fantastic. This really nice Spanish guy did it, and when I came in and told him I needed something new, he totally got me. He took a nice long time to shampoo and condition my hair, gave me a killer neck rub, then sat me in the chair and made me feel really great about this new look. I gave him a tip (they don’t really do that here, so he was hyped) and I got European cheek kisses and instructions to come back in 6 weeks for a bang trim. I went home, did the whole smokey eyed red lip thing, and headed off to Camden Town.
Camden is a really cool part of London. Its hip and goth and cool and chill all rolled together. You can see any type of people here, but the more outrageous the better. There are a lot of Goths, but also people that wear pearls with pink hair, or Doc Martins, or Chucks. The bars are all trying to show each other up with music and random drink combos (tho the smoothie/tonic/mixed drink I had was AMAZING). I was going to Camden to meet Jac to go to Hollie’s birthday party at the Fifty Five Bar & Lounge. Hollie is the girl that we met in our first week who showed us around London. We got to the bar, and she was already Drunkie McDrunk, but had a lot of friends there. The bar was hot – the bartenders were showing off like they were in Coyote Ugly, the music was good, and there were a lot of interesting people. I ended up talking to this guy Scott for 20 minutes. He was from the States, but here for break from studying in Germany. I told him some good places to go. He was so sweet—before he and his friends left, he came over and gave me a hug. Too cute. We sat with Hollie’s friends, had a few drinks; Chris showed up about a half hour after us, and we got to talk for a while while guys were hitting on Jac. It was a good time—I really like him, and it’s nice that Jac found someone so great.
So we left early-ish, because we were all going out the next night as well. There is this club called KoKo; it is a nightclub in an old theater where they ripped all the seats out, and you just party everywhere. ButtonDown Disco was spinning, and they play all kinds of stuff, but specialize in British pop/indie rock. The plan was to meet up around 9ish, and get into the club before 10 so we wouldn’t have to pay the cover charge. Saturday morning, I slept in, got up, and realized I have no idea what the hell to wear to a London nightclub. I then did the next shockingly girly thing, and took myself shopping.
They do a lot of huge sales here after Christmas, so I knew I had options. I decided to stick with Oxford Street. I knew it was going to be a zoo, which I hate, but I had to go to the Apple store to get new headphones anyway, and I knew there were at least 2 Evans (plus size fashion store) within a 15 minute walk of each other. To make a long story short, I found out that I kind of actually like shopping, but I think it had a lot to do because I was alone. I felt less pressure and was able to make decisions without worrying too much. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have a friend there to chat with, or give opinions, but it was nice to just go with my own flow. I ended up getting 2 different tops: one with pink sparkle straps, then it was off the shoulder with this ruffle sleeve thing, and a black top that was really loose and flowy, but came in a band around my hips and slits in the sleeves. I’ve sure you’ll see pictures of both. I also got a cool long chunky necklace, a small black bag so I’m not loosing Bambi everywhere, and some hair clips. All and all, I was pretty stoked.
I went back to my place to get ready, and got a call from Nicole and Nathalie seeing if I wanted to come to their place for dinner before going to the club. It sounded great, so I stopped at Tesco to get a bottle of wine, and headed over. I ended up having to take the bus from Notting Hill, and for some reason I was the only one on it. I asked the driver if he was going to the stop I wanted, and he said yes. Then he starts driving like a maniac, skipping stops and all this, and always looking back at me and winking and smiling. I’m just sitting there with my headphones in, and waiting til I see my stop. About 15 minutes later, we cross the river. That is REALLY not good as the girls live in the same neighborhood as me. I went to ask the guy why he’d blown past my stop, and he said ‘Oh! I thought you didn’t get off because you wanted to stay on the bus with me *sleazy wink*’. Chya, got outta there right quick, I’m tellin’ you. At this point, it was too late to go to dinner, so I took the tube and met up with Jac, her flatmates, and some friends of Chris’s. We went to this pub across from the club for a few drinks before heading in. Luckily the que wasn't too long, nor was the coat check, so we were able to grab some drinks and go right into dance mode.
View of the dance floor from the balcony
Some of Chris' London friends
Not my fav. picture, but the only one I got of me all night--Jac is sadden by this
KoKo was amazing. It had good areas to sit and then to dance, and others just to hang out and watch everyone. I was really into the music, and it was great to just dance with a big group of people. Everyone looked London hot, and we were there until the club closed at 4am. Then it was off to the night bus, grabbed a bottle of water and some crispes at the Tesco, and home in bed right when the sun was thinking to come up. Definitely going to have to be done again.
Love,
Em
My Very Own Studio....I think it was the mudroom...
Originally written January 7th.
So I started out in a posh neighborhood in a nice hostel. Then I moved to the sticks into a kinda crappy hostel. That kind of crappy hostel became home, with friends who became family, and all those old problems most people my age encounter in their first place: bad water, limited space, millions of roommates so you can afford the rent, not the most comfortable bed, etc, etc. But now, I’ve upgraded to the best of both worlds. I’m living in one of the richest neighborhoods in all of London, but living in a small humble room to keep my humility. Or something.
I’ve officially moved into my new place in Kensington. When I told the only true Londoner I know – aka Jac’s boyfriend Chris – this, his response was ‘You lucky sod.’ Apparently, this is the neighborhood to be in. Chris said it was where all the rich kids lived and went to school, and he dreamed of living there when he grew up and made millions. It is really beautiful. If you want to Google Earth it, I’m in postcode SW7 4JZ, about a five minute walk from Glouster Road tube station. The buildings are these old white ones with columns and old brick churches. One of the selling points for me were the gardens. I have access to one of the private gardens in the center of my block. Go watch Notting Hill, and see the garden that Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant climb into when they play ‘When You Say Nothing At All’. That’s what my garden is like—down to the towering trees and the gazebo. It has lined paths all around it, and is always lush and green due to the gardeners who come 3 times a week. It blocks out all the light in the area, enough so that you can even see the stars on those rarely clear England nights. I love it so much. Within a 10 minute walk are other smaller public gardens, and Hyde Park. Notting Hill is a 10 minute tube ride, and the center of the city is maybe 15 minutes. Sure as hell beats the 45 it was taking me to get into town from Hendon Central.
As for the place itself, it’s a good thing I grew up living in small spaces. My room use to be the mudroom for the flat. No lie. It has a door that goes out into an alleyway where people use to come in after being in the garden. It has a sink, and where the shower is I think was the area to wash off their Wellington boats. The shelves that hold my clothes are the right size for shoe racks, and my closet is….well, fine for me, but Breanne would cry ;-). I had to shove, but I got my luggage under the bed, and cut out some pictures and such. The girl before me left gold and pink curtains, and the duvet and pillowcases that I got from my landlord are pink, orange, and yellow. Oh, and the walls are yellow. All in all, it’s pretty cozy and comfortable. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have guests, since my bed is my bed, couch, and kitchen table, but we could make it work. Honestly, for those who have seen my little room at home, it’s about that size. With a sink, closet, and shower. Yea. Grammy is scared of my heater due to the fact that its really a pipe being supported on old VHS tapes. But it does the job alright. I leave it on all day, so the room stays comfortable.
Right now, there is one girl living in the room next to me, and that’s about it. There are 3 double rooms, then a single room way in the back behind my landlord’s ‘office’ (which is really the full size kitchen that use to be used when it was all one flat). My landlord turned all of the rooms into studios, so its like we have mini-flats in this big one. The girl next to me is moving out on Tuesday, so it’ll be just me. Oh, and Matt and his wife aka my landlords. He owns a bunch of properties like this, and he and his wife just move from place to place where there are empty rooms. This is kind of weird since Matt doesn’t sleep. Seriously. He told me he sleeps maybe 3 hours a night. They aren’t loud or anything, but its still weird to see the light on all night.
The neighborhood is nice. Jac and I went to one of the pubs and had Sunday roast this week. There is a laundry matte, a huge Sainsbury’s (grocery store), a 24 hour Tesco, some cafes, a bank, a post office, and the Tube all within a 5 minute walk from my flat. The nice thing is that the buildings are so huge that all of this is in a noisier part of the area, but you turn on to my street and you can’t hear a sound. I’m going out late with Jac next week, so we’ll see how far the night bus is *note: its maybe 10 minutes walk. In very well lit and monitored areas*. I feel doubly safe because the dorms for Ithaca and Boston University’s study abroad programs are on my block, as well as 3 hotels with security cameras.
I’ve only been there a few days, and I’m LOVING being unpacked and settled, but I miss my hostelmates. I miss walking into my room, dropping my stuff, then going into the hang out room and being greeted with calls and kisses. I miss talking to Todd while we’re making dinner, or bantering with Andy, or talking with Jason or Darren or Mathason while we’re all just relaxing, or chilling with the girls while Harry and Stephen dance around to some random YouTube video. We’re all on facebook, and I’ve heard from a few of them, but it was hard to say goodbye. I hope I get to see them again. I’ll make sure I do.
London Backpackers: Have you heard the word? ;-)
Xo
Emica
So I started out in a posh neighborhood in a nice hostel. Then I moved to the sticks into a kinda crappy hostel. That kind of crappy hostel became home, with friends who became family, and all those old problems most people my age encounter in their first place: bad water, limited space, millions of roommates so you can afford the rent, not the most comfortable bed, etc, etc. But now, I’ve upgraded to the best of both worlds. I’m living in one of the richest neighborhoods in all of London, but living in a small humble room to keep my humility. Or something.
I’ve officially moved into my new place in Kensington. When I told the only true Londoner I know – aka Jac’s boyfriend Chris – this, his response was ‘You lucky sod.’ Apparently, this is the neighborhood to be in. Chris said it was where all the rich kids lived and went to school, and he dreamed of living there when he grew up and made millions. It is really beautiful. If you want to Google Earth it, I’m in postcode SW7 4JZ, about a five minute walk from Glouster Road tube station. The buildings are these old white ones with columns and old brick churches. One of the selling points for me were the gardens. I have access to one of the private gardens in the center of my block. Go watch Notting Hill, and see the garden that Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant climb into when they play ‘When You Say Nothing At All’. That’s what my garden is like—down to the towering trees and the gazebo. It has lined paths all around it, and is always lush and green due to the gardeners who come 3 times a week. It blocks out all the light in the area, enough so that you can even see the stars on those rarely clear England nights. I love it so much. Within a 10 minute walk are other smaller public gardens, and Hyde Park. Notting Hill is a 10 minute tube ride, and the center of the city is maybe 15 minutes. Sure as hell beats the 45 it was taking me to get into town from Hendon Central.
As for the place itself, it’s a good thing I grew up living in small spaces. My room use to be the mudroom for the flat. No lie. It has a door that goes out into an alleyway where people use to come in after being in the garden. It has a sink, and where the shower is I think was the area to wash off their Wellington boats. The shelves that hold my clothes are the right size for shoe racks, and my closet is….well, fine for me, but Breanne would cry ;-). I had to shove, but I got my luggage under the bed, and cut out some pictures and such. The girl before me left gold and pink curtains, and the duvet and pillowcases that I got from my landlord are pink, orange, and yellow. Oh, and the walls are yellow. All in all, it’s pretty cozy and comfortable. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have guests, since my bed is my bed, couch, and kitchen table, but we could make it work. Honestly, for those who have seen my little room at home, it’s about that size. With a sink, closet, and shower. Yea. Grammy is scared of my heater due to the fact that its really a pipe being supported on old VHS tapes. But it does the job alright. I leave it on all day, so the room stays comfortable.
Right now, there is one girl living in the room next to me, and that’s about it. There are 3 double rooms, then a single room way in the back behind my landlord’s ‘office’ (which is really the full size kitchen that use to be used when it was all one flat). My landlord turned all of the rooms into studios, so its like we have mini-flats in this big one. The girl next to me is moving out on Tuesday, so it’ll be just me. Oh, and Matt and his wife aka my landlords. He owns a bunch of properties like this, and he and his wife just move from place to place where there are empty rooms. This is kind of weird since Matt doesn’t sleep. Seriously. He told me he sleeps maybe 3 hours a night. They aren’t loud or anything, but its still weird to see the light on all night.
The neighborhood is nice. Jac and I went to one of the pubs and had Sunday roast this week. There is a laundry matte, a huge Sainsbury’s (grocery store), a 24 hour Tesco, some cafes, a bank, a post office, and the Tube all within a 5 minute walk from my flat. The nice thing is that the buildings are so huge that all of this is in a noisier part of the area, but you turn on to my street and you can’t hear a sound. I’m going out late with Jac next week, so we’ll see how far the night bus is *note: its maybe 10 minutes walk. In very well lit and monitored areas*. I feel doubly safe because the dorms for Ithaca and Boston University’s study abroad programs are on my block, as well as 3 hotels with security cameras.
I’ve only been there a few days, and I’m LOVING being unpacked and settled, but I miss my hostelmates. I miss walking into my room, dropping my stuff, then going into the hang out room and being greeted with calls and kisses. I miss talking to Todd while we’re making dinner, or bantering with Andy, or talking with Jason or Darren or Mathason while we’re all just relaxing, or chilling with the girls while Harry and Stephen dance around to some random YouTube video. We’re all on facebook, and I’ve heard from a few of them, but it was hard to say goodbye. I hope I get to see them again. I’ll make sure I do.
London Backpackers: Have you heard the word? ;-)
Xo
Emica
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Happy Belated New Years
New Years resolution: remember to update more ;-)
Ahhh, 2009. I feel like you’re going to be a hellova year.
The week building up to New Years and the week after prove this to me.
So I was working up until New Years Eve. At the time, I was trying to decide whether I wanted to join the millions of throngs of people out in the city, or hang back at the hostel. I decided the most important thing was to be with my friends. My boss was really great and let me out early. I had been working the week alone as everyone was out on vacation, but I feel really comfortable in my job. Maybe not very challenged, but this is a means to an end, aka money for travelling, more then the career move. I swung by Bunac to pick up some mail, and then made my way to the hostel (thanks again for the Christmas cookies, Brushaka!! They were amazing!)
I got back fairly early, and took a nap for a while. When I got up, I met up with the guys and went down to the shops to stock up. We went back to the hostel, and all broke into food and drinks. The difference tonight was really interesting: People were drinking a lot, but no one was being crazy. It was more about people talking, and listening, and sharing. The hostel was fairly busy, but only the regulars were staying in, at least for a while. I talked with Jason, Todd, Darren and Steven, and they let me in on something. They think I’m clairvoyant. One night, when I was a little less then sober, I started grabbing people’s hands and reading palms. I do know how to read them, but never really thought anything of it. Its more like reading the person, and knowing the lore behind what bumps and lines stand for. But the more people I read, the more they were blown away by how much I got right. I scared the crap out of Jason because I told him he was going to have a kid in his twenties, and that it would be a girl. Apparently, he got a girl pregnant before he left New Zealand; 2 days after I read his palm, she called to say she had found out it was a girl. Andrew said I made him cry—he just didn’t think anyone could see what I saw. So now, whenever someone new comes in, especially girls, they guys bring her straight to me. I usually don’t know anything other then their names when their hands are thrust out to me. But I’ve blown them away; I knew about a bad relationship a girl was getting out of, that another had a sister die of breast cancer, and other random stuff that I have no idea where it came from. I mean, I'm good at reading people, but this is just random.
So after my chat with the guys about my Powers That Be, I decided that I would take a night off from that, and try to not creep anyone out. Most of the crew was going down to Trafalgar Square to watch the fireworks, then to the Walkabout in Shepard's Bush to dance. I wasn't feeling the going out vibe--I just knew that I'd get mixed in with the crowd, lose my friends, and have to fight to get home. More importantly, two of my favorite people, Heather and Todd, where sticking around, so I stayed with them. It was really nice when everyone was taking off: we'd all become like family, so there were a lot of hugs, kisses, and Happy New Years exchanged. Afterwards, Heather, Todd, myself, and these two really nice French girls sat around and talked. There were family stories shared, life stories, death stories, home stories. I love those kind of talks. And yes, when midnight hit, I may have been wrapped up in some smoochies with a fantastically skilled kisser and Aussie (think about the only people left there, and I think you can figure out who ;-))The night kind of slowed down after that. I went to bed around 2am, and got to hear everyone else trickle in until sun up. New Years day was spent lazing and nibbling food, taking a walk, and doing a lot of thinking.
**A/N: I'm going to go ahead and post this since I have so many others to catch up on. After New Years, I stayed at the hostel for 4 more days, then moved into my new place. My last nights there were great. The guys took me to a pub to play darts, and on my last night there, all 22 of the long termers took me out to dinner and then we came back to drink some more and hang out. The great thing was that for once, we didn't hang out in the TV room but went downstairs and talked all night. Todd got me vodka slushies and Stephen was so happy to have someone who knew how to play Circle of Fire. But more importantly, they were all so sweet saying goodbye. I love these people so much, and miss them dearly. Here are some pictures of my last few nights:
Happy New Year,
Em
Ahhh, 2009. I feel like you’re going to be a hellova year.
The week building up to New Years and the week after prove this to me.
So I was working up until New Years Eve. At the time, I was trying to decide whether I wanted to join the millions of throngs of people out in the city, or hang back at the hostel. I decided the most important thing was to be with my friends. My boss was really great and let me out early. I had been working the week alone as everyone was out on vacation, but I feel really comfortable in my job. Maybe not very challenged, but this is a means to an end, aka money for travelling, more then the career move. I swung by Bunac to pick up some mail, and then made my way to the hostel (thanks again for the Christmas cookies, Brushaka!! They were amazing!)
I got back fairly early, and took a nap for a while. When I got up, I met up with the guys and went down to the shops to stock up. We went back to the hostel, and all broke into food and drinks. The difference tonight was really interesting: People were drinking a lot, but no one was being crazy. It was more about people talking, and listening, and sharing. The hostel was fairly busy, but only the regulars were staying in, at least for a while. I talked with Jason, Todd, Darren and Steven, and they let me in on something. They think I’m clairvoyant. One night, when I was a little less then sober, I started grabbing people’s hands and reading palms. I do know how to read them, but never really thought anything of it. Its more like reading the person, and knowing the lore behind what bumps and lines stand for. But the more people I read, the more they were blown away by how much I got right. I scared the crap out of Jason because I told him he was going to have a kid in his twenties, and that it would be a girl. Apparently, he got a girl pregnant before he left New Zealand; 2 days after I read his palm, she called to say she had found out it was a girl. Andrew said I made him cry—he just didn’t think anyone could see what I saw. So now, whenever someone new comes in, especially girls, they guys bring her straight to me. I usually don’t know anything other then their names when their hands are thrust out to me. But I’ve blown them away; I knew about a bad relationship a girl was getting out of, that another had a sister die of breast cancer, and other random stuff that I have no idea where it came from. I mean, I'm good at reading people, but this is just random.
So after my chat with the guys about my Powers That Be, I decided that I would take a night off from that, and try to not creep anyone out. Most of the crew was going down to Trafalgar Square to watch the fireworks, then to the Walkabout in Shepard's Bush to dance. I wasn't feeling the going out vibe--I just knew that I'd get mixed in with the crowd, lose my friends, and have to fight to get home. More importantly, two of my favorite people, Heather and Todd, where sticking around, so I stayed with them. It was really nice when everyone was taking off: we'd all become like family, so there were a lot of hugs, kisses, and Happy New Years exchanged. Afterwards, Heather, Todd, myself, and these two really nice French girls sat around and talked. There were family stories shared, life stories, death stories, home stories. I love those kind of talks. And yes, when midnight hit, I may have been wrapped up in some smoochies with a fantastically skilled kisser and Aussie (think about the only people left there, and I think you can figure out who ;-))The night kind of slowed down after that. I went to bed around 2am, and got to hear everyone else trickle in until sun up. New Years day was spent lazing and nibbling food, taking a walk, and doing a lot of thinking.
**A/N: I'm going to go ahead and post this since I have so many others to catch up on. After New Years, I stayed at the hostel for 4 more days, then moved into my new place. My last nights there were great. The guys took me to a pub to play darts, and on my last night there, all 22 of the long termers took me out to dinner and then we came back to drink some more and hang out. The great thing was that for once, we didn't hang out in the TV room but went downstairs and talked all night. Todd got me vodka slushies and Stephen was so happy to have someone who knew how to play Circle of Fire. But more importantly, they were all so sweet saying goodbye. I love these people so much, and miss them dearly. Here are some pictures of my last few nights:
Happy New Year,
Em
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A Very London (Hostel) Christmas
“I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.”
~Taylor Caldwell
I knew that Christmas was going to be different from the get go this year. It's the first time away from my family, my friends, and all our traditions. I didn't get any of Mama's candy, Bre and I didn't get to watch The Grinch with Daddy, Michele and I didn't get to make our Christmas cookies then veg out on the couch with half the dough, etc, etc, etc. It was hard also because it was an Andersen Christmas this year (my family went to Grammy and Grandpa's in Connecticut) AND Aunt Kate was home in Maine. But I was pleasantly surprised when I ended up having a very busy and awesome Christmas :)
I worked right up until Christmas Eve day. The night before, Jac and I went to our favorite pub for food, and really got to catch up. We talked about taking more trips, especially since we're both working and I'll be in my own place soon. So, Christmas Eve Day I come into work to find out that all the offices are basically shutting down at noon for the annual hallway Christmas party. I helped them set things up: there were 4 tables of food (cheese, crackers, bread, meats, olives, cookies, cake, etc.) and then 2 of wine, beer, and champagne. Thats right--when the Brits do an office holiday party in the middle of the day, they really do it up. The deal was that everyone came out at noon, had some munchies, downed a few drinks, then snuck out around 2. I ended up leaving at 1:30 after my boss tried to give me a third glass of white wine. I went from the party to Bunac because a Christmas miracle had occurred, and my Christmas present had arrived from my family. Woohoo!!! I picked it up, and was back at the hostel by 4pm.
I got back here, and got a call from Allie Packard. She is this total sweetheart who I met through Aunt Kate. She is an actress, New England, and does some voices on Mr. Men. She had decided to come to London for the holiday, and had just flown in. We chatted for a bit, then decided to meet for dinner in Trafalgar. I took the tube in, and met her under the huge Norwegian Christmas tree:
We walked around the area for a while, then found a nice little Italian place for dinner. Our waiter was a very very flamboyant gay man from Poland. He tapping our shoulders with his fingertips while we were ordering food. We both had wine and sea food, and split a piece of the most amazing cheesecake. From there, we walked down to the Christmas Fair in Leicester Square, and grabbed coffee. We clicked really quick, and she was so funny and friendly. She had no problem making friends, and it was nice to spend some time with someone who reminded me so much of home.
After parting ways with well wishes, I headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. I'm not sure why, but I really wanted to go to Midnight Mass. I heard the service at St. Paul's was amazing due to their choir. I called Nathalie, and she met me there. We were so early, but when we went around the Cathedral (which I have to go back to--it was so beautiful) there was already a line wrapped halfway around the building. We waited for an hour and a half, but it was worth it--we were part of the first hundred people in the door, so we got to sit in the 15th row back, right under the dome:
It was beautiful. There were candles everywhere, and the music was lovely. The service was a Catholic one, which I was a little uncomfortable with, but overall, I'm really happy I went.We sung three of my favorite carols, and it just felt nice to be with people from all over the world and of all faiths. Afterwords, I took a taxi home, and went to bed.
Christmas morning, I actually got up early…ish. A few of the guys were up as well, so we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and puttered around until the others got up for secret santa. While we were doing this, Steven tricked Harry into running out to buy a bunch of breakfast stuff by saying that I had already cooked everything we had, and there was nothing left. 10 minutes, 2 loaves of bread, a liter of milk, a dozen eggs, and a pack of bacon, and I was a French toast machine. They were getting eaten faster then I could make them. Luckily, the boys broke out the goods for champagne breakfast, and made sure to keep my glass full.
Weird tidbit: Aussies and Kiwis eat their French toast cooked in oil, covered in salt and chilli sauce, and without anything like syrup or powdered sugar. So basically, it’s just fried bread. Me and Casey the Canadian were totally grossed out.
Finally, everyone was up and we handed out presents. I was really proud of mine. There is this long running joke in the hostel that I never really got the whole story. For anyone living there for more then a month, the two most common phrases (picked up from a French girl who stayed there a while back) are ‘F*ck my life’ and ‘Oh my Buddha!’. No idea why, its just the way we roll. So I was wandering around the kind of ghetto Elephant and Castle shopping center (think Westbrook) and I found a little Asian cart that had Buddha necklaces. Fairly unisex, and since we had a £5 limit, it worked out great at £4.95. Casey ended up getting it. I got this really pretty little paperweight thing. It’s a piece of cut crystal with a miniature skyline of the Southbank carved in it. (Big Ben, London Eye, etc) I really like it.
After that, everyone kind of drifted around and did their own thing. We watched a movie, had more drinks (Christmas is a HUGE drinking holiday here….) took naps, hung out. I had gotten a package from home that had my stocking on it. I talked to my folks on Skype for a while, then called them back and Mom, Dad, Bre and I all opened our stockings together. We were such dorks—going around in a circle, each opening something and showing it off—just like I was home. It made me really really happy. Best gift: a hamster finger puppet. I love it so friggin’ much!! He is now my travel buddy….still gotta name the little guy….Other then that, got a lot of smelly stuff (because I complained about my room smelling like feet) and just little odds and ends. It was nice to read all the messages from my parents on why they picked each thing.
The rest of the night kind of descended into debauchery, as you can imagine with a hostel full of especially drunk friends who became family. There was food in the afternoon—just cold ham slices, Brie cheese, crackers, mini pizzas, etc. We all drank a lot of champagne and got loopy. There may have been an incident with three streakers…all boys…cute toushies ; -) I took a nap in the late afternoon, then sat up talking with people into the wee hours of the morning. Overall, it was a good Christmas. We were all really happy to be together with people we had become so close to, and weren’t too homesick. For the traditional Boxing Day of shopping and insanity, I stuck with the Andersen family tradition of going to the movies and sneaking around to see more then one. I saw Yes Man with Jim Carry (very similar to Bruce Almighty, funny, but it made me unexpectedly homesick for California) and then Twilight (which I really loved. The scenes were shot so beautifully, I love the soundtrack, and they did a decent job of sticking the original storyline. I agree with Yun—it was a lot funnier they I was expecting). I may have to go back to the theatre and do more day trips like that.
Now New Years...
~Taylor Caldwell
I knew that Christmas was going to be different from the get go this year. It's the first time away from my family, my friends, and all our traditions. I didn't get any of Mama's candy, Bre and I didn't get to watch The Grinch with Daddy, Michele and I didn't get to make our Christmas cookies then veg out on the couch with half the dough, etc, etc, etc. It was hard also because it was an Andersen Christmas this year (my family went to Grammy and Grandpa's in Connecticut) AND Aunt Kate was home in Maine. But I was pleasantly surprised when I ended up having a very busy and awesome Christmas :)
I worked right up until Christmas Eve day. The night before, Jac and I went to our favorite pub for food, and really got to catch up. We talked about taking more trips, especially since we're both working and I'll be in my own place soon. So, Christmas Eve Day I come into work to find out that all the offices are basically shutting down at noon for the annual hallway Christmas party. I helped them set things up: there were 4 tables of food (cheese, crackers, bread, meats, olives, cookies, cake, etc.) and then 2 of wine, beer, and champagne. Thats right--when the Brits do an office holiday party in the middle of the day, they really do it up. The deal was that everyone came out at noon, had some munchies, downed a few drinks, then snuck out around 2. I ended up leaving at 1:30 after my boss tried to give me a third glass of white wine. I went from the party to Bunac because a Christmas miracle had occurred, and my Christmas present had arrived from my family. Woohoo!!! I picked it up, and was back at the hostel by 4pm.
I got back here, and got a call from Allie Packard. She is this total sweetheart who I met through Aunt Kate. She is an actress, New England, and does some voices on Mr. Men. She had decided to come to London for the holiday, and had just flown in. We chatted for a bit, then decided to meet for dinner in Trafalgar. I took the tube in, and met her under the huge Norwegian Christmas tree:
We walked around the area for a while, then found a nice little Italian place for dinner. Our waiter was a very very flamboyant gay man from Poland. He tapping our shoulders with his fingertips while we were ordering food. We both had wine and sea food, and split a piece of the most amazing cheesecake. From there, we walked down to the Christmas Fair in Leicester Square, and grabbed coffee. We clicked really quick, and she was so funny and friendly. She had no problem making friends, and it was nice to spend some time with someone who reminded me so much of home.
After parting ways with well wishes, I headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. I'm not sure why, but I really wanted to go to Midnight Mass. I heard the service at St. Paul's was amazing due to their choir. I called Nathalie, and she met me there. We were so early, but when we went around the Cathedral (which I have to go back to--it was so beautiful) there was already a line wrapped halfway around the building. We waited for an hour and a half, but it was worth it--we were part of the first hundred people in the door, so we got to sit in the 15th row back, right under the dome:
It was beautiful. There were candles everywhere, and the music was lovely. The service was a Catholic one, which I was a little uncomfortable with, but overall, I'm really happy I went.We sung three of my favorite carols, and it just felt nice to be with people from all over the world and of all faiths. Afterwords, I took a taxi home, and went to bed.
Christmas morning, I actually got up early…ish. A few of the guys were up as well, so we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and puttered around until the others got up for secret santa. While we were doing this, Steven tricked Harry into running out to buy a bunch of breakfast stuff by saying that I had already cooked everything we had, and there was nothing left. 10 minutes, 2 loaves of bread, a liter of milk, a dozen eggs, and a pack of bacon, and I was a French toast machine. They were getting eaten faster then I could make them. Luckily, the boys broke out the goods for champagne breakfast, and made sure to keep my glass full.
Weird tidbit: Aussies and Kiwis eat their French toast cooked in oil, covered in salt and chilli sauce, and without anything like syrup or powdered sugar. So basically, it’s just fried bread. Me and Casey the Canadian were totally grossed out.
Finally, everyone was up and we handed out presents. I was really proud of mine. There is this long running joke in the hostel that I never really got the whole story. For anyone living there for more then a month, the two most common phrases (picked up from a French girl who stayed there a while back) are ‘F*ck my life’ and ‘Oh my Buddha!’. No idea why, its just the way we roll. So I was wandering around the kind of ghetto Elephant and Castle shopping center (think Westbrook) and I found a little Asian cart that had Buddha necklaces. Fairly unisex, and since we had a £5 limit, it worked out great at £4.95. Casey ended up getting it. I got this really pretty little paperweight thing. It’s a piece of cut crystal with a miniature skyline of the Southbank carved in it. (Big Ben, London Eye, etc) I really like it.
After that, everyone kind of drifted around and did their own thing. We watched a movie, had more drinks (Christmas is a HUGE drinking holiday here….) took naps, hung out. I had gotten a package from home that had my stocking on it. I talked to my folks on Skype for a while, then called them back and Mom, Dad, Bre and I all opened our stockings together. We were such dorks—going around in a circle, each opening something and showing it off—just like I was home. It made me really really happy. Best gift: a hamster finger puppet. I love it so friggin’ much!! He is now my travel buddy….still gotta name the little guy….Other then that, got a lot of smelly stuff (because I complained about my room smelling like feet) and just little odds and ends. It was nice to read all the messages from my parents on why they picked each thing.
The rest of the night kind of descended into debauchery, as you can imagine with a hostel full of especially drunk friends who became family. There was food in the afternoon—just cold ham slices, Brie cheese, crackers, mini pizzas, etc. We all drank a lot of champagne and got loopy. There may have been an incident with three streakers…all boys…cute toushies ; -) I took a nap in the late afternoon, then sat up talking with people into the wee hours of the morning. Overall, it was a good Christmas. We were all really happy to be together with people we had become so close to, and weren’t too homesick. For the traditional Boxing Day of shopping and insanity, I stuck with the Andersen family tradition of going to the movies and sneaking around to see more then one. I saw Yes Man with Jim Carry (very similar to Bruce Almighty, funny, but it made me unexpectedly homesick for California) and then Twilight (which I really loved. The scenes were shot so beautifully, I love the soundtrack, and they did a decent job of sticking the original storyline. I agree with Yun—it was a lot funnier they I was expecting). I may have to go back to the theatre and do more day trips like that.
Now New Years...
Friday, December 26, 2008
Chocolate, Lace and Beer: My Trip to Bruges, Belgium
I have had my first trip out of the Big City. As I've been talking about for about a month, Bunac organized a trip to Bruges for their annual Christmas market. Somethings I learned on the tour about it: The population of Bruges is about 100,000 people, but the weekend before Christmas, up to 600,000 people from all over the world come into town. Its a big deal. There are a million little shops that sell classic Belgium goods, such as chocolate, lace, beer and handmade gifts. Belgium has 3 official languages, and the official one in Bruges is Flemish, with some French thrown in there for good measure. If you're going to Bruges for a short time, the priorities are either to a) eat, b)drink, c)eat and drink, d) visit religious monuments or e) shop. I got to do a little of everything.
The morning started at a loverly 4:30am. I had to catch the night bus from my hostel to the International Students House to catch the bus at 6am. I get really lucky, and only have to wait about 10 minutes for a bus. I get on, and climb up to the top level, hoping it'll be quieter and I can just listen to my iPod and try not to miss my stop. Well, I get up there, and there is this guy sitting a few rows back. I watch in the window as he slowly moves up a few rows closer to me. Just as I was about to dig out my keys to gouge him if need be, he taps me on the shoulder and says 'excuse me, do you mind if I talk with you?' He looked kind of zonked, so I assumed he just wanted to stay awake. Wayyy off base. First he does a really slow scan of my body while asking where I'm from and all that. Then, he asks if I'm married. I say no, then he says, all slinky, 'Oh, so you're free then.' As every single gal should do on her own when presented with a creeper, I lied. I said I had someone back home who was meeting me in the new year over here. He bought it (barely) then launched into how he wanted to meet girls over Christmas, but not have a commitment. WTF?!!? THEN, he suddenly asks me 'Are you a Christian?' I'm like, no. This leads to a long, complex lecture about how god exists, and why, and don't I want to save my soul by accepting him? I almost slugged the guy. He finally got off, and I was pissed to see that he had made me miss my stop, so I had to walk back. That was my kick off.
Day got a lot better from there. I got to the bus stop, and recognized a few Bunacers who were also on the trip. There were 3 bus loads of us, so we got on the road quick. My tour guide was this really great lady from Toronto who was 6 months pregnant--lotta energy. We drove from London to Dover to catch the ferry. This was uneventful, other then I met the girl who I spent the day with, Elizabeth. We were waiting for the ferry to come in, and she was reading Twilight for the first time. We got to chatting, then hung out with this bunch of other Bunacers I had met at pub meets.
The White Cliffs of Dover
Around the boat to the route we would take to France.
I had slept a little on the drive, so it was easier to stay awake on the ferry. We arrived in France, and got back on our bus to drive from Calais up through Northern France, and into Belgium. Unfortunately, this is not the area that is all vineyards and rolling countryside, but looks kind of like....Idaho, or one of those middle states that start with 'I'. Michele will understand ;-)
We arrived in Bruges around 1ish. We were told to be back on the bus by 5:30 sharp so we could make a 7:45 ferry back to Dover. Then they set us loose. Elizabeth and I branched off from the main stream and went to the Ice Sculpture exhibit. This was amazing. The theme this year was Harry Potter, which I loved all on its own, but also rabbits. Have you ever seen the picture of the giant rabbit on joke sites? The one that people ask is it real or not?:
Yea, this one ;-)
Well, they really exist, and are raised for food like sheep in Belgium. This was proven when we wandered over to the ice bar, and all the ice benches were covered in giant rabbit furs to sit on. So the other them was bunnies:
Harry Potter and Hedwig (the owl)
Hagrid discreetly casting a spell on the ice wall
Me with Bunnies
So we left the Sculpture exhibit, and made our way into the city center. It was pretty warm--maybe in the 50s--and everything is still very green. Bruges is known as the Venice of the North for its canal system, which was beautiful.
We walked into the area around the center of town, and did a little shopping. I went into a lace shop and got a few gifts (which I'm DYING to write about, but I don't want the people getting them to know ;-) ) then we went into this one chocolate shop. The family had been making chocolates for 130 years:
They were amazing. I sampled, then got some to send home. We took our time walking around, and watched this one woman making lace. She was so fast, it was really interesting. We met up with some of the people from Bunac, and went to this pub that served 350 types of beer. I got strawberry for 2.50 euro. It was 3.5% proof, and my new favorite EVER:
We swung into the market, but honestly, it was really a bunch of cheap stuff. The real finds were in the shops that had been around for hundreds of years (no big surprise) By the end of the night, there was time to grab a bratwurst, and a Belgian waffle (with caramel and bananas...*Drools a little at the memeory*) and we had to high tale it to the bus. Got there with 10 minutes to spare, but we ended up sitting there for a while because two stupid girls got lost, and were getting a ride back from some locals. They finally called and said they were just going to get the Eurostar back, and we headed for the ferry. We ended up missing the 7:45, but luckily got the 9pm...it all felt very familiar ;-) The rest of the ride was uneventful, and I got back to the hostel at 1am...just in time to get 5 hours of sleep before work.
It was a really great little get away, and has inspired me to look into other trips--tho if I go out of country again, I will definitely be making it an overnight trip. My next ideas are Edinburgh, Oxford, The New Forest, Nottingham, and the Lake District to stay on a horse farm where you just ride your horse for 3 days. Thats my first choice. Any other ideas?
Love,
Emica
The morning started at a loverly 4:30am. I had to catch the night bus from my hostel to the International Students House to catch the bus at 6am. I get really lucky, and only have to wait about 10 minutes for a bus. I get on, and climb up to the top level, hoping it'll be quieter and I can just listen to my iPod and try not to miss my stop. Well, I get up there, and there is this guy sitting a few rows back. I watch in the window as he slowly moves up a few rows closer to me. Just as I was about to dig out my keys to gouge him if need be, he taps me on the shoulder and says 'excuse me, do you mind if I talk with you?' He looked kind of zonked, so I assumed he just wanted to stay awake. Wayyy off base. First he does a really slow scan of my body while asking where I'm from and all that. Then, he asks if I'm married. I say no, then he says, all slinky, 'Oh, so you're free then.' As every single gal should do on her own when presented with a creeper, I lied. I said I had someone back home who was meeting me in the new year over here. He bought it (barely) then launched into how he wanted to meet girls over Christmas, but not have a commitment. WTF?!!? THEN, he suddenly asks me 'Are you a Christian?' I'm like, no. This leads to a long, complex lecture about how god exists, and why, and don't I want to save my soul by accepting him? I almost slugged the guy. He finally got off, and I was pissed to see that he had made me miss my stop, so I had to walk back. That was my kick off.
Day got a lot better from there. I got to the bus stop, and recognized a few Bunacers who were also on the trip. There were 3 bus loads of us, so we got on the road quick. My tour guide was this really great lady from Toronto who was 6 months pregnant--lotta energy. We drove from London to Dover to catch the ferry. This was uneventful, other then I met the girl who I spent the day with, Elizabeth. We were waiting for the ferry to come in, and she was reading Twilight for the first time. We got to chatting, then hung out with this bunch of other Bunacers I had met at pub meets.
The White Cliffs of Dover
Around the boat to the route we would take to France.
I had slept a little on the drive, so it was easier to stay awake on the ferry. We arrived in France, and got back on our bus to drive from Calais up through Northern France, and into Belgium. Unfortunately, this is not the area that is all vineyards and rolling countryside, but looks kind of like....Idaho, or one of those middle states that start with 'I'. Michele will understand ;-)
We arrived in Bruges around 1ish. We were told to be back on the bus by 5:30 sharp so we could make a 7:45 ferry back to Dover. Then they set us loose. Elizabeth and I branched off from the main stream and went to the Ice Sculpture exhibit. This was amazing. The theme this year was Harry Potter, which I loved all on its own, but also rabbits. Have you ever seen the picture of the giant rabbit on joke sites? The one that people ask is it real or not?:
Yea, this one ;-)Well, they really exist, and are raised for food like sheep in Belgium. This was proven when we wandered over to the ice bar, and all the ice benches were covered in giant rabbit furs to sit on. So the other them was bunnies:
Harry Potter and Hedwig (the owl)
Hagrid discreetly casting a spell on the ice wall
Me with Bunnies
So we left the Sculpture exhibit, and made our way into the city center. It was pretty warm--maybe in the 50s--and everything is still very green. Bruges is known as the Venice of the North for its canal system, which was beautiful.
We walked into the area around the center of town, and did a little shopping. I went into a lace shop and got a few gifts (which I'm DYING to write about, but I don't want the people getting them to know ;-) ) then we went into this one chocolate shop. The family had been making chocolates for 130 years:
They were amazing. I sampled, then got some to send home. We took our time walking around, and watched this one woman making lace. She was so fast, it was really interesting. We met up with some of the people from Bunac, and went to this pub that served 350 types of beer. I got strawberry for 2.50 euro. It was 3.5% proof, and my new favorite EVER:
We swung into the market, but honestly, it was really a bunch of cheap stuff. The real finds were in the shops that had been around for hundreds of years (no big surprise) By the end of the night, there was time to grab a bratwurst, and a Belgian waffle (with caramel and bananas...*Drools a little at the memeory*) and we had to high tale it to the bus. Got there with 10 minutes to spare, but we ended up sitting there for a while because two stupid girls got lost, and were getting a ride back from some locals. They finally called and said they were just going to get the Eurostar back, and we headed for the ferry. We ended up missing the 7:45, but luckily got the 9pm...it all felt very familiar ;-) The rest of the ride was uneventful, and I got back to the hostel at 1am...just in time to get 5 hours of sleep before work.
It was a really great little get away, and has inspired me to look into other trips--tho if I go out of country again, I will definitely be making it an overnight trip. My next ideas are Edinburgh, Oxford, The New Forest, Nottingham, and the Lake District to stay on a horse farm where you just ride your horse for 3 days. Thats my first choice. Any other ideas?
Love,
Emica
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Working Gal
I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens
I love Christmas. I feel like it sounds so phoney to say it’s my favourite time of year, but it really kind of is. I love the cold weather, and all of the twinkle lights, and having moments that show what the season is really all about. This is the season for love, friendship, family, generosity, companionship, and care for peace on earth and goodwill towards your fellow human beings. Even if I am a bit cut off from my family and my home, I’m still bound and determined to have a nice Christmas in London.
It doesn’t hurt that I got a pretty great present to kick it off. That would be, my new job AND a job offer for when I get back to the States!!!
Here is how it all started. Last week, I was sick. Like I am every single winter, with my cold and my coughing and all that crap that tied me to a bed for 3 days straight. Because of this, I couldn’t work for Johanna, and had to cancel a few shifts with Esprit. Needless to say, I was in a pretty low place. Whatever you do in life, make sure you have plenty of money to back you up. I also had an accident with my computer and a very drunk roommate stepping on it and cracking the screen. I am literally going to owe my parents my tax refunds for the next 10-15 years.
But, in a true Christmas miracle, I got a call out of the blue from one of the 6 temp agencies I am registered with, and never heard from. They had a gig in the Accommodations Department of King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It was good until January 31, and had a possibility of being extended further. £10 an hour, and 40 hours a week with paid lunch hours. They needed me to start the next day at 9am, and I took it! I had three days to train with the girl I was taking over for, then I’d be on my own. The job itself is easy. Now, I know I have said in the past that I’ve had easy jobs, but you haven’t heard of easy until now. I share my office with Corrine—everything you’d hope an old bitty from Cockney would be. She’s retiring in March, and doesn’t care if the place burns to the ground. The office itself is in the basement of the hospital, so it’s quiet. We are here for people to find us. We book in on call rooms for doctors, or long/short term accommodation rooms for up to 6 months. In all honesty, we just give them the application, and then fax it to the landlord. Around 2-3pm, I put together the packets that have the keys for the on call rooms, drop them off at the front desk, then am just here til 5. This has let me finish a book, update emails, do remote work for Johanna, and write blog entries like this. ; -) It’s not a matter of lazy—half the rooms we have are being torn down in February, and everywhere else is booked solid. So I’m basically paid to deal with egomaniac god complex sob story doctors who think they deserve to have luxury suite apartments and bitch if they are told there isn’t anything, or that the tiny studios that are the only things available are further then a 5 minute walk. Its working in Residence Life with bigger brats. To add insult to injury, Sodexho runs the cafeteria. But the people are nice and friendly, there are lots of tea breaks, and yesterday I got to spend my afternoon picking music for the holiday party next week and stringing twinkle lights in the hallway.
I love twinkle lights.
For the other part of it, after 2 weeks of phone tag, Johanna and I were able to finally meet up and settle up. I went to her house last night, and ended up staying for 4 hours, leaving with £100, 2 bags of leftovers from her house (she was going back to the States for the holidays today), and a promise that when I get back to the States, I can call her and she will create a job for me in her company to do research on leadership, communication, and teambuilding. She’s the creator and the CEO. She can do that. Until then, she wants me to stay on remotely, and will send me money for my work periodically. On top of that, she and her husband have a beach house in LA (technically Manhattan Beach) that they ‘are more then happy to let you stay in. We don’t use it enough anyway.’ So I may be moving to LA when I get home.
I love the beach.
So life is going pretty well right now. I move into my place on Jan. 4th, have a job that will let me save up for something really good AND pay the bills, I’m spending Christmas with my friends at the hostel (we’re doing a champagne breakfast, Christmas dinner, and a Secret Santa, so it should be fun) and on Skype with my family, and as for New Year’s Eve…guess we’ll have to wait and see!
Oh, and I’m going to Bruges this weekend to the Christmas markets! I need to get out of London for a while, and remember all the wonderful reasons I came here in the first place. Like travel! Here is a website for the markets. They have an entire Snow and Ice Sculpture Garden based on Harry Potter. Can't seem to get away from it here, can I? ;-)
More to come soon,
xo
Em
I love Christmas. I feel like it sounds so phoney to say it’s my favourite time of year, but it really kind of is. I love the cold weather, and all of the twinkle lights, and having moments that show what the season is really all about. This is the season for love, friendship, family, generosity, companionship, and care for peace on earth and goodwill towards your fellow human beings. Even if I am a bit cut off from my family and my home, I’m still bound and determined to have a nice Christmas in London.
It doesn’t hurt that I got a pretty great present to kick it off. That would be, my new job AND a job offer for when I get back to the States!!!
Here is how it all started. Last week, I was sick. Like I am every single winter, with my cold and my coughing and all that crap that tied me to a bed for 3 days straight. Because of this, I couldn’t work for Johanna, and had to cancel a few shifts with Esprit. Needless to say, I was in a pretty low place. Whatever you do in life, make sure you have plenty of money to back you up. I also had an accident with my computer and a very drunk roommate stepping on it and cracking the screen. I am literally going to owe my parents my tax refunds for the next 10-15 years.
But, in a true Christmas miracle, I got a call out of the blue from one of the 6 temp agencies I am registered with, and never heard from. They had a gig in the Accommodations Department of King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It was good until January 31, and had a possibility of being extended further. £10 an hour, and 40 hours a week with paid lunch hours. They needed me to start the next day at 9am, and I took it! I had three days to train with the girl I was taking over for, then I’d be on my own. The job itself is easy. Now, I know I have said in the past that I’ve had easy jobs, but you haven’t heard of easy until now. I share my office with Corrine—everything you’d hope an old bitty from Cockney would be. She’s retiring in March, and doesn’t care if the place burns to the ground. The office itself is in the basement of the hospital, so it’s quiet. We are here for people to find us. We book in on call rooms for doctors, or long/short term accommodation rooms for up to 6 months. In all honesty, we just give them the application, and then fax it to the landlord. Around 2-3pm, I put together the packets that have the keys for the on call rooms, drop them off at the front desk, then am just here til 5. This has let me finish a book, update emails, do remote work for Johanna, and write blog entries like this. ; -) It’s not a matter of lazy—half the rooms we have are being torn down in February, and everywhere else is booked solid. So I’m basically paid to deal with egomaniac god complex sob story doctors who think they deserve to have luxury suite apartments and bitch if they are told there isn’t anything, or that the tiny studios that are the only things available are further then a 5 minute walk. Its working in Residence Life with bigger brats. To add insult to injury, Sodexho runs the cafeteria. But the people are nice and friendly, there are lots of tea breaks, and yesterday I got to spend my afternoon picking music for the holiday party next week and stringing twinkle lights in the hallway.
I love twinkle lights.
For the other part of it, after 2 weeks of phone tag, Johanna and I were able to finally meet up and settle up. I went to her house last night, and ended up staying for 4 hours, leaving with £100, 2 bags of leftovers from her house (she was going back to the States for the holidays today), and a promise that when I get back to the States, I can call her and she will create a job for me in her company to do research on leadership, communication, and teambuilding. She’s the creator and the CEO. She can do that. Until then, she wants me to stay on remotely, and will send me money for my work periodically. On top of that, she and her husband have a beach house in LA (technically Manhattan Beach) that they ‘are more then happy to let you stay in. We don’t use it enough anyway.’ So I may be moving to LA when I get home.
I love the beach.
So life is going pretty well right now. I move into my place on Jan. 4th, have a job that will let me save up for something really good AND pay the bills, I’m spending Christmas with my friends at the hostel (we’re doing a champagne breakfast, Christmas dinner, and a Secret Santa, so it should be fun) and on Skype with my family, and as for New Year’s Eve…guess we’ll have to wait and see!
Oh, and I’m going to Bruges this weekend to the Christmas markets! I need to get out of London for a while, and remember all the wonderful reasons I came here in the first place. Like travel! Here is a website for the markets. They have an entire Snow and Ice Sculpture Garden based on Harry Potter. Can't seem to get away from it here, can I? ;-)
More to come soon,
xo
Em
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
I was talking to my mom last week about going places and doing things on my own. I was talking about how I want to go on the Bunac Christmas trip to Bruges, but how I was a little bummed about going alone. (Now I'm bummed because I don't know if I can go--this cold has held me back from work for a few days, and it's really taking it's toll. But this is a happy blog :)) She said,"Em, I stopped being worried about you being on your own when you went to the Pirates 2 midnight screening in LA alone, and came out of there having made friends with an indie band. (True story: they sat outside in line and played guitar until they let us in. Great guys. We're MySpace friends ;-))
Anywho, in that true spirit, I was looking through some podcasts to load on my iPod, and I came across my MuggleCast one. This is the #1 podcast made about Harry Potter--the best show was when they had JK Rowling herself on for an interview. The great part it, it's all done by 6 fans who are my age, and they started it a few years ago. I went on to their site, and saw that they were going to be at the release party for The Tales of Beedle The Bard. This is JK's latest book having to do with Harry Potter. These are the tales written for wizard and witch children the way Grimm's fairy tales were written for us (Muggles). In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore leaves the original copy of these stories to Hermione to decode, and she is able to use the tales to help Harry find the different Hallows. JK hand wrote and illustrated 7 copies: six were given to the people she felt had been the most involved with the HP series, and a 7th copy was made to sell at auction for her charity The Children's Voice.
This last copy was bought by Amazon for $3.98 million dollars. For serious. It is 157 pages, all hand written and illustrated by the author, and has inserted notes from Albus Dumbledore.
Now that you have the backstory, here is where I fit in. On MuggleCast's homepage, they mentioned they would be flying over from the US to host the midnight release party for the book (the first one in the world, due to the time differences) at Waterstones Piccadilly. Waterstones is a chain bookstore out here, but this particular one is the largest bookstore in Europe. It is built in an old department store building, and is 6 stories tall, with a cafe and bar. Their fiction section alone was about the size of the Borders by the mall in South Portland. I was thinking about getting a ticket (5 pounds, which covered the podcast, refreshments, and a copy of the book.) But they were only selling 450, and I was worried it was sold out. But I called anyway. Luckily, they had 10 tickets left, and I was able to snag one.
Then this whole cold thing hit--hard. I get this every year, but I was to the point of being dizzy and coughing so hard I woke up my roommates. I decided to take the day, spend it in bed, then go to the release. I slept some, but not much, and made my way into the City around 7pm. I got there, got my entry bracelet, and wandered around in bliss. I ended up in the cafe around 9:30 with a large tea, and waited til they opened the doors at 10. I got to the top, and got in line for another cup of tea. It was crowded, but it was pretty evenly split in ages, origins (they did a poll during the podcast, and about 1/3 were American) and fan worship--there were a lot of people in great costumes--one came as Luna with the Gryffindor lion on her head--she won. I was getting my tea when I started chatting to this really nice woman behind me, and we decided to sit together for the podcast. She's here studying from the US, and was so great. She had come to this Waterstones to get her copy of Deathly Hallows last summer when there were over 2,000 people waiting.
We wandered over to the seating area for the show, and it was a pretty decent show. The store had been decorated in one section to look like the Forbidden Forest, and they had people dressed up like Dumbledore and Hagrid. These characters warmed up the crowd before the cast of MuggleCast came on to do the podcast. They had a quiz where they gave out prizes, discussed the book and the new international movie trailer, and then took questions to discuss from the crowd. If you listen to MuggleCast #164, you can hear me asking how they feel about the theme park that is opening at Universal in Florida in 2010.
After the podcast, they had a costume contest, and while Dumbledore was a bit bias towards some Americans who dressed up like the Harpies (there were others who were more dressed up, even the Harpies said this). The winner got the first copy. That was something else I liked: when you paid to get it, you also had the price of the book included, so you just got handed your copy. Here is the video of the release:
After you received your copy, you got a stamp saying it was one of the first released. I took my copy over and got it signed by the cast of MuggleCast. They were the nicest people. Elysa, the only girl, is from Baltimore, and knows people at McDaniel!! Small world. Then Matt and I totally bonded over Wicked, and Andrew and I talked about TV Production classes and blogging. It was exactly the kind of experience I love having, where I can meet people who I just click with because we love the same things.
Cassandra (the woman I'd been hanging with) and I walked back to Leicester Square to the bus stop. Since the Tube stopped running at midnight, and this was now 1:30am, I had to take one of the many night buses that run from midnight to 6am. Luckily, the N5 lets off right in front of my hostel. I got on the double decker, and sat upstairs to try and avoid the drunks. I called my folks to stay awake, and chatted until I lost my voice, and the drunks stumbled upstairs. I got back to the hostel around 2am, and went to bed.
I've been reading one Tale a day (there are 5) and they are each wonderful and something that I will read to my kids the same way I'll read them Grimm's fairy tales, Greek myths, and The Hobbit, just like my parents did for me. I think these are stories that have the potential to really stick with kids--even before they are introduced to Harry Potter.
Love,
Emica
Anywho, in that true spirit, I was looking through some podcasts to load on my iPod, and I came across my MuggleCast one. This is the #1 podcast made about Harry Potter--the best show was when they had JK Rowling herself on for an interview. The great part it, it's all done by 6 fans who are my age, and they started it a few years ago. I went on to their site, and saw that they were going to be at the release party for The Tales of Beedle The Bard. This is JK's latest book having to do with Harry Potter. These are the tales written for wizard and witch children the way Grimm's fairy tales were written for us (Muggles). In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore leaves the original copy of these stories to Hermione to decode, and she is able to use the tales to help Harry find the different Hallows. JK hand wrote and illustrated 7 copies: six were given to the people she felt had been the most involved with the HP series, and a 7th copy was made to sell at auction for her charity The Children's Voice.
This last copy was bought by Amazon for $3.98 million dollars. For serious. It is 157 pages, all hand written and illustrated by the author, and has inserted notes from Albus Dumbledore.Now that you have the backstory, here is where I fit in. On MuggleCast's homepage, they mentioned they would be flying over from the US to host the midnight release party for the book (the first one in the world, due to the time differences) at Waterstones Piccadilly. Waterstones is a chain bookstore out here, but this particular one is the largest bookstore in Europe. It is built in an old department store building, and is 6 stories tall, with a cafe and bar. Their fiction section alone was about the size of the Borders by the mall in South Portland. I was thinking about getting a ticket (5 pounds, which covered the podcast, refreshments, and a copy of the book.) But they were only selling 450, and I was worried it was sold out. But I called anyway. Luckily, they had 10 tickets left, and I was able to snag one.
Then this whole cold thing hit--hard. I get this every year, but I was to the point of being dizzy and coughing so hard I woke up my roommates. I decided to take the day, spend it in bed, then go to the release. I slept some, but not much, and made my way into the City around 7pm. I got there, got my entry bracelet, and wandered around in bliss. I ended up in the cafe around 9:30 with a large tea, and waited til they opened the doors at 10. I got to the top, and got in line for another cup of tea. It was crowded, but it was pretty evenly split in ages, origins (they did a poll during the podcast, and about 1/3 were American) and fan worship--there were a lot of people in great costumes--one came as Luna with the Gryffindor lion on her head--she won. I was getting my tea when I started chatting to this really nice woman behind me, and we decided to sit together for the podcast. She's here studying from the US, and was so great. She had come to this Waterstones to get her copy of Deathly Hallows last summer when there were over 2,000 people waiting.
We wandered over to the seating area for the show, and it was a pretty decent show. The store had been decorated in one section to look like the Forbidden Forest, and they had people dressed up like Dumbledore and Hagrid. These characters warmed up the crowd before the cast of MuggleCast came on to do the podcast. They had a quiz where they gave out prizes, discussed the book and the new international movie trailer, and then took questions to discuss from the crowd. If you listen to MuggleCast #164, you can hear me asking how they feel about the theme park that is opening at Universal in Florida in 2010.
After the podcast, they had a costume contest, and while Dumbledore was a bit bias towards some Americans who dressed up like the Harpies (there were others who were more dressed up, even the Harpies said this). The winner got the first copy. That was something else I liked: when you paid to get it, you also had the price of the book included, so you just got handed your copy. Here is the video of the release:
After you received your copy, you got a stamp saying it was one of the first released. I took my copy over and got it signed by the cast of MuggleCast. They were the nicest people. Elysa, the only girl, is from Baltimore, and knows people at McDaniel!! Small world. Then Matt and I totally bonded over Wicked, and Andrew and I talked about TV Production classes and blogging. It was exactly the kind of experience I love having, where I can meet people who I just click with because we love the same things.
Cassandra (the woman I'd been hanging with) and I walked back to Leicester Square to the bus stop. Since the Tube stopped running at midnight, and this was now 1:30am, I had to take one of the many night buses that run from midnight to 6am. Luckily, the N5 lets off right in front of my hostel. I got on the double decker, and sat upstairs to try and avoid the drunks. I called my folks to stay awake, and chatted until I lost my voice, and the drunks stumbled upstairs. I got back to the hostel around 2am, and went to bed.
I've been reading one Tale a day (there are 5) and they are each wonderful and something that I will read to my kids the same way I'll read them Grimm's fairy tales, Greek myths, and The Hobbit, just like my parents did for me. I think these are stories that have the potential to really stick with kids--even before they are introduced to Harry Potter.
Love,
Emica
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Getting Colder, but Brighter too
Ah, the first few days of December. The air is crisp and cool, there are twinkle lights everywhere, and if you try really hard (and grew up in Maine) you can smell the snow before it even hits the ground. You start doing holiday stuff-Hannah and I spent last night building her little paper tree her mom sent her, had pizza and mini-pies her roommate brought home, and watched a bootleg copy of The Santa Clause online. Good times...it actually really was :)
For me, it means my inevitable holiday cold. I use to think that this only had to do with the stress that comes from finals, moving from school to home, that sort of thing. But apparently, you can still get the plague away from all that kind of stuff. Although I am living in a room with 15 other people…and its still cold season…and I’m kinda stressed…guess all the factors are still there.
Things have been ok. Not fantastic, but not horrible. Courtney’s visit, as I’m sure you saw from the last entry, has been a big highlight of my time here. We had so much fun, and it really showed me how far I’ve come. I know my way around, I budgeted, and I enjoyed a lot of the things offered here that I don’t have at home. I was really sad to see her go, but it also gave me hope. Courtney and I are very (VERY) similar people, but we never got as much time to figure that out when we were at school. We had other sisters, friends, work, etc., but I feel like we really came out of this week with a much stronger bond. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve spent every day with someone in a week, and had no fights, no bad feelings, no frustrations or complications. It was refreshing.
After she left, I started my two new jobs. Now, before we get into that, if I’m not bouncing off the walls, its only because I am fond of security and steady work. These have neither, but I’m ok with it…kind of.
First of all, I started working with the lovely Johanna—this may be the best job I’ve ever had, and the shortest. She has her own company, and lives mostly in the states. Her husband is from Chicago, while she is British, so they also have a beautiful flat in Maida Vale here. Her company—which I may very well apply to full time when I get back—is based out of LA, and designs training programs for different companies. For example, Jo’s latest program is Positive Under Pressure; a professional development training program that she did for Boeing that helps their employees learn how to stay positive under pressure, and manage stress in constructive way. She is currently working on a bigger program for them, and the two areas that I am assisting her on are Gender Roles and the 4 Generations At Work. Here is my favorite part: she is a total movie buff, and was a theatre major at university. I told her about my senior seminar on gender and culture in Disney films, and after looking it over, she is now having me re-write it as a 4 hour seminar!!!!! Its geared to influences and representation of gender roles, and how cultural icons such as the roles in Disney films imprint on us from the very beginning. She wants be to write the entire thing. Ahh!!! My only concern is Disney throwing a hissy fit, but worst comes to worst, she can deal with that in LA (as horrible as that sounds). The other section is on what it is like in the current workplace now that there are 4 generations working in it: The Silent Era, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millenials. The economy is dropping, so all these generations are working at the same time with different ideals and goals. Our program is designed to pinpoint these goals and show how they can be achieved without leaving anyone out. Again, writing the whole thing myself. She is also having me redesign the website, and she says I get her style better then people she’s been working with for 5 years. Here are the main highlights of the gig: I work in her home office from about 11am-anywhere from 4-7pm. She hates mornings. I usually get there, we go over stuff, I work for a few hours, we take a tea break, talk, work a bit more. She knows I have a cold, so she brings me tea in the office, usually with a scone or chocolate biscuit. I think she is happy to have the company more then anything else. At the end of each afternoon, we walk down to the Tube station together, and she pops to the ATM next to it, and hands me cash for the day. That’s right—tax free, paid daily, cold hard in my pocket cash. Its glorious. The downsides are that she can be kind of sporadic in her timing: when I was there yesterday, she told me she was going to Oxford for a few days, and not to come in til Friday. Good, because I really REALLY need to get over this cold, and bad because its two days I’m not working. Tho I did work all weekend….ca va. She also has a hard time focusing. She repeats herself a lot, and totally pulled a Devil Wears Prada the day before last when she actually said, ‘now, where is that piece of paper I had in my hand yesterday that had the thing on it?’. Being brilliantly in sync, I knew exactly what she was talking about ;-) Overall, its fantastic, but it ends when she goes back to the States a week from Monday. And she has family stuff to do this week, which means I can’t work for her every day. The real reason I’m antsy about this is that I can’t tell my other job how available I am.
Now to the other job. I got hired with Esprit, the number one event waiting company in Britain. They work for a million different companies and events, and Christmas is crazy for them. They do holiday parties almost every day, and work everywhere from Wimbledon (did you know you can do parties there?? Like the sky box at Fenway) to private country homes to the Palace (they did the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday party. Apparently Prince Harry is a douche). The funniest story we heard was when they were telling us about their apparel requirements. Its not too bad—I have to go buy a black shirt with ¾ length sleeves and some ‘shiny polishable shoes’—but Sir Elton John hires them a lot to do his private parties, and he’ll only hire the boys. When he does, if you are assigned to serve him at the head table, they are required to wear pink hot pants, a sparkly vest, and a pink boa. No lie. We saw pictures. One of the guys at the training session almost peed himself. Anywho, we had a 5 hour long training on how to set the tables, what to do at the bar, how to serve champagne and what not to say (you can’t say ‘would you like some more?’ because that implies the person is an alcoholic. I’m totally going to screw that up), and how to set and serve at the table. These are high power hard core Brits here: we can only serve over the person’s left shoulder, then pour wine, clear, and refill water on the right hand side; we learned how to properly set the table and how to line things up evenly; and then how to serve and clear in formation and in sync. Like I said, hardcore. But the people seemed really fun and nice, and I loved everyone at the training. I’m working my first gig for them on Saturday, as long as the plague has subsided. After that, they said they have work for me every day—I just have to figure out a clear schedule with Johanna first. If not, I’ll still have almost 2 weeks before Christmas to work for them.
In other news, I am getting a room! Let's call it my Happy New Year's present. I finally found a place that works. It’s more then I wanted to pay, but the deal can’t be beat. I’m going to be living in South Kensington, off of Glouster Road. For those of you who don’t know, this is the upper crust area. There is a hotel 2 buildings down from mine that goes for ₤2,000 a night. My room is in the basement of a building with 6 other girls. We are all Bunac-ers, and all American (kinda bummed about that, but what are ya going to do). The guy who rents the rooms out is Scottish, and has a deal with Bunac. We have access to a private garden (like the one Julia and Hugh climb into in Notting Hill. It’s amazing—think Eden) and are 5 minutes walk from the Tube station, laundry mat, 24 hour Sainsbury’s aka grocery store, plus little shops and cafes. Its 10-15 minutes walk to Hyde Park, my FAVORITE part of London, and is in Zone 1 so very central. As for the money, no deposit and 28 day contracts. I can stay for a month, and if it’s too much, move out. It comes with all bills included, free wi-fi, tv, vcr, linens, utensils, pots, pans, microwave, my own mini fridge/freezer, 2 burner hot plate, kettle, and a lot of storage space. Now, ignoring the mess of the chick who lives there now, for a mere ₤440 a month in a ₤2,000 a night neighborhood, starting Jan. 5th, 2009, here is my room:
Ok, so the shower (in the back right corner, where the bathrobe is) and kitchen (bottom left corner, with the sink under the mirror) are in the room with me, and it’s about the same size as the room I had in college. The closets are on either side of where I'm standing, so it has more storage then it looks...even if it's kind of tight. Who cares? It’s a place to rest my head, store all my stuff, has a window, lets me live in a great area, and is all mine. I’d never be able to get a place without a deposit, and especially now since I’d only be able to sign a lease for a few months. I’m relatively happy about it.
As for everything else, my plan to sublet from my friend for Christmas fell through, so it looks like I’m going to be staying at the hostel. Other then the cost thing, that’s ok. I told my friends here I was moving out next month and they were all really sad. Even AJ the manager was bummed-‘I need someone to keep these yabos in line’ I think was his wording. So here I’ll stay. I’ve been paying on a weekly basis, but I need to figure out my plans soon. Christmas isn’t too bad, but if I’m here for New Years, I need to book asap. I may talk to AJ tomorrow and see if I can pay for New Year’s Eve and Day now, but the rest on a weekly basis. That’s where all my Jo money is going. I did get to set up and decorate the Christmas tree here. I’ll post a picture soon. I was pretty proud of it—for a fake tree, it looks pretty sweet.
I’m going to go take a nap and try not to hack up a lung, but I’ll write more soon. As a treat, since I don’t have to work tomorrow, I’m taking myself out tonight. In true geekdom, but at the same time for the love of, I’m going to the Waterstone Piccadilly bookstore, the largest bookstore in Europe, for the release party of JK Rowling’s Tales of the Beedle Bard. For those out of the loop, this is the book of wizarding myths left to Hermione by Dumbledore in the last Harry Potter book. JK decided to write out the whole book, and have it published. It even includes hand drawings by the author. MuggleCast, the #1 Harry Potter podcast, is hosting the party, so it should be good. I gotta figure out the buses to get back tho.
More to come, I’m sure. I miss you all, and wish I could be with you for one of my favorite times of year.
Love,
Emica
For me, it means my inevitable holiday cold. I use to think that this only had to do with the stress that comes from finals, moving from school to home, that sort of thing. But apparently, you can still get the plague away from all that kind of stuff. Although I am living in a room with 15 other people…and its still cold season…and I’m kinda stressed…guess all the factors are still there.
Things have been ok. Not fantastic, but not horrible. Courtney’s visit, as I’m sure you saw from the last entry, has been a big highlight of my time here. We had so much fun, and it really showed me how far I’ve come. I know my way around, I budgeted, and I enjoyed a lot of the things offered here that I don’t have at home. I was really sad to see her go, but it also gave me hope. Courtney and I are very (VERY) similar people, but we never got as much time to figure that out when we were at school. We had other sisters, friends, work, etc., but I feel like we really came out of this week with a much stronger bond. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve spent every day with someone in a week, and had no fights, no bad feelings, no frustrations or complications. It was refreshing.
After she left, I started my two new jobs. Now, before we get into that, if I’m not bouncing off the walls, its only because I am fond of security and steady work. These have neither, but I’m ok with it…kind of.
First of all, I started working with the lovely Johanna—this may be the best job I’ve ever had, and the shortest. She has her own company, and lives mostly in the states. Her husband is from Chicago, while she is British, so they also have a beautiful flat in Maida Vale here. Her company—which I may very well apply to full time when I get back—is based out of LA, and designs training programs for different companies. For example, Jo’s latest program is Positive Under Pressure; a professional development training program that she did for Boeing that helps their employees learn how to stay positive under pressure, and manage stress in constructive way. She is currently working on a bigger program for them, and the two areas that I am assisting her on are Gender Roles and the 4 Generations At Work. Here is my favorite part: she is a total movie buff, and was a theatre major at university. I told her about my senior seminar on gender and culture in Disney films, and after looking it over, she is now having me re-write it as a 4 hour seminar!!!!! Its geared to influences and representation of gender roles, and how cultural icons such as the roles in Disney films imprint on us from the very beginning. She wants be to write the entire thing. Ahh!!! My only concern is Disney throwing a hissy fit, but worst comes to worst, she can deal with that in LA (as horrible as that sounds). The other section is on what it is like in the current workplace now that there are 4 generations working in it: The Silent Era, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millenials. The economy is dropping, so all these generations are working at the same time with different ideals and goals. Our program is designed to pinpoint these goals and show how they can be achieved without leaving anyone out. Again, writing the whole thing myself. She is also having me redesign the website, and she says I get her style better then people she’s been working with for 5 years. Here are the main highlights of the gig: I work in her home office from about 11am-anywhere from 4-7pm. She hates mornings. I usually get there, we go over stuff, I work for a few hours, we take a tea break, talk, work a bit more. She knows I have a cold, so she brings me tea in the office, usually with a scone or chocolate biscuit. I think she is happy to have the company more then anything else. At the end of each afternoon, we walk down to the Tube station together, and she pops to the ATM next to it, and hands me cash for the day. That’s right—tax free, paid daily, cold hard in my pocket cash. Its glorious. The downsides are that she can be kind of sporadic in her timing: when I was there yesterday, she told me she was going to Oxford for a few days, and not to come in til Friday. Good, because I really REALLY need to get over this cold, and bad because its two days I’m not working. Tho I did work all weekend….ca va. She also has a hard time focusing. She repeats herself a lot, and totally pulled a Devil Wears Prada the day before last when she actually said, ‘now, where is that piece of paper I had in my hand yesterday that had the thing on it?’. Being brilliantly in sync, I knew exactly what she was talking about ;-) Overall, its fantastic, but it ends when she goes back to the States a week from Monday. And she has family stuff to do this week, which means I can’t work for her every day. The real reason I’m antsy about this is that I can’t tell my other job how available I am.
Now to the other job. I got hired with Esprit, the number one event waiting company in Britain. They work for a million different companies and events, and Christmas is crazy for them. They do holiday parties almost every day, and work everywhere from Wimbledon (did you know you can do parties there?? Like the sky box at Fenway) to private country homes to the Palace (they did the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday party. Apparently Prince Harry is a douche). The funniest story we heard was when they were telling us about their apparel requirements. Its not too bad—I have to go buy a black shirt with ¾ length sleeves and some ‘shiny polishable shoes’—but Sir Elton John hires them a lot to do his private parties, and he’ll only hire the boys. When he does, if you are assigned to serve him at the head table, they are required to wear pink hot pants, a sparkly vest, and a pink boa. No lie. We saw pictures. One of the guys at the training session almost peed himself. Anywho, we had a 5 hour long training on how to set the tables, what to do at the bar, how to serve champagne and what not to say (you can’t say ‘would you like some more?’ because that implies the person is an alcoholic. I’m totally going to screw that up), and how to set and serve at the table. These are high power hard core Brits here: we can only serve over the person’s left shoulder, then pour wine, clear, and refill water on the right hand side; we learned how to properly set the table and how to line things up evenly; and then how to serve and clear in formation and in sync. Like I said, hardcore. But the people seemed really fun and nice, and I loved everyone at the training. I’m working my first gig for them on Saturday, as long as the plague has subsided. After that, they said they have work for me every day—I just have to figure out a clear schedule with Johanna first. If not, I’ll still have almost 2 weeks before Christmas to work for them.
In other news, I am getting a room! Let's call it my Happy New Year's present. I finally found a place that works. It’s more then I wanted to pay, but the deal can’t be beat. I’m going to be living in South Kensington, off of Glouster Road. For those of you who don’t know, this is the upper crust area. There is a hotel 2 buildings down from mine that goes for ₤2,000 a night. My room is in the basement of a building with 6 other girls. We are all Bunac-ers, and all American (kinda bummed about that, but what are ya going to do). The guy who rents the rooms out is Scottish, and has a deal with Bunac. We have access to a private garden (like the one Julia and Hugh climb into in Notting Hill. It’s amazing—think Eden) and are 5 minutes walk from the Tube station, laundry mat, 24 hour Sainsbury’s aka grocery store, plus little shops and cafes. Its 10-15 minutes walk to Hyde Park, my FAVORITE part of London, and is in Zone 1 so very central. As for the money, no deposit and 28 day contracts. I can stay for a month, and if it’s too much, move out. It comes with all bills included, free wi-fi, tv, vcr, linens, utensils, pots, pans, microwave, my own mini fridge/freezer, 2 burner hot plate, kettle, and a lot of storage space. Now, ignoring the mess of the chick who lives there now, for a mere ₤440 a month in a ₤2,000 a night neighborhood, starting Jan. 5th, 2009, here is my room:
Ok, so the shower (in the back right corner, where the bathrobe is) and kitchen (bottom left corner, with the sink under the mirror) are in the room with me, and it’s about the same size as the room I had in college. The closets are on either side of where I'm standing, so it has more storage then it looks...even if it's kind of tight. Who cares? It’s a place to rest my head, store all my stuff, has a window, lets me live in a great area, and is all mine. I’d never be able to get a place without a deposit, and especially now since I’d only be able to sign a lease for a few months. I’m relatively happy about it.
As for everything else, my plan to sublet from my friend for Christmas fell through, so it looks like I’m going to be staying at the hostel. Other then the cost thing, that’s ok. I told my friends here I was moving out next month and they were all really sad. Even AJ the manager was bummed-‘I need someone to keep these yabos in line’ I think was his wording. So here I’ll stay. I’ve been paying on a weekly basis, but I need to figure out my plans soon. Christmas isn’t too bad, but if I’m here for New Years, I need to book asap. I may talk to AJ tomorrow and see if I can pay for New Year’s Eve and Day now, but the rest on a weekly basis. That’s where all my Jo money is going. I did get to set up and decorate the Christmas tree here. I’ll post a picture soon. I was pretty proud of it—for a fake tree, it looks pretty sweet.
I’m going to go take a nap and try not to hack up a lung, but I’ll write more soon. As a treat, since I don’t have to work tomorrow, I’m taking myself out tonight. In true geekdom, but at the same time for the love of, I’m going to the Waterstone Piccadilly bookstore, the largest bookstore in Europe, for the release party of JK Rowling’s Tales of the Beedle Bard. For those out of the loop, this is the book of wizarding myths left to Hermione by Dumbledore in the last Harry Potter book. JK decided to write out the whole book, and have it published. It even includes hand drawings by the author. MuggleCast, the #1 Harry Potter podcast, is hosting the party, so it should be good. I gotta figure out the buses to get back tho.
More to come, I’m sure. I miss you all, and wish I could be with you for one of my favorite times of year.
Love,
Emica
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Phi Mu Sisters Take London By Storm
This has been a busy week, but I want to start off with talking about last weekend, and amazing time I had when my sorority sister came from Budapest for a few days. Courtney brings Phi Mu lovin', the sunshine, adventures...and apparently she is my good luck charm. We have had a crazy weekend, and it all started as soon as she stepped off the plane.
I went into Heathrow to pick Courtney up on Weds. afternoon. On the way back, I had to stop at the Bunac office to pick some mail, so we took the double decker bus from King's Cross. After Bunac, we went up to the Sainsbury's in Isling, and got groceries for the next few days. We came back to the hostel, made dinner, and made plans for the next few days. We decided that Thursday would be a tourist day, and it was exactly what I needed. I've been here long enough to know my away around, but hadn't been around places to appreciate them as much as I wanted. Here is a picture catalog of our first day:
We went down to Trafalgar Square, and walked by the fountains. This was Courtney's first exposure to the more well known London.
Being true Phi Mus, we had to have our pictures taken in front of the lions.
We walked down to Big Ben....
And Westminster Abbey.
Then we crossed the bridge to the Queen's Path on the South Bank. We had lunch under one of the bridges and walked back to Charring Cross.
We went back to the hostel to grab some food and decide what to do that night. A few guys were going to see Spamalot, so we decided that sounded cool. But before we went there, I had read that Bond Street was doing it's Christmas lighting. Bond Street is the most expensive street in London, with shops like Cartier, Tiffany's, and Gucci, and is located across from the Ritz. They had the lighting of the Christmas decorations, and we went down.
They were so beautiful. They even had 'snow' : really, it was about a dozen bubble machines, but it looked like the real thing. Every few feet there was a dancing elf, or a string quartet, or carolers. Plus, a lot of shops were giving out free samples, so we each got a chocolate and some marshmallows.
So we hiked back down to the discount booths in Leicester Square. At this point, Courtney was feeling a little shaky about money, and I had already seen the show,so we opted for the ₤15 seats in the Upper Balcony aka the nosebleed section. We got slices of pizza off a vendor, and ate them as we walked down to the theatre.
We got there really early, and went in, thinking we would have to camp out somewhere in the top and rent binoculars or something. The woman looks at our tickets, and says 'The balcony is closed this evening. Head over to the booth, and they will adjust your seating.' We're like crap, where else can they put us. The woman looks at our tickets, checks off a list, and says with a smile 'Just down the stairs, to your left.' Down the stairs? Like to the stalls? Like on the floor?? We go sit in the bar to wait, where we met these two nice guys (our parents' age) who are American, but have been working on planes for the state department in Japan for a few months. One of them goes to church with one of the girls I know from Vagina Monologues!! Small world. Anywho, they open the doors, and we go to find our seats. We are in *Drumroll* 5th row, center. Thats right. 15 quid, and we're in (normally) 75-100 pound seats. GO US!! The show was fantastic, we got sprayed with confetti at the end, and we loved every minute of it. It was nice to see what some of the actors looked like up close, tho I did have 'We're Not Dead Yet' stuck in my head for 3 days.
The next few days were great. We went to the National Portrait Gallery, walked around Oxford Circus, went to Portebella Road Market (got Christmas presents)
and Borough Food Market
(amazing samples), met up with Hannah (the sister I met from Virginia) and went to the Mudlark pub (famous bangers and mash and being the location for the Three Broomsticks in the Harry Potter movies), went out for Sunday roast, walked in Kensington Park and found the Peter Pan statue, and ended the whole thing with a little trip to Platform 9 and 3/4. 
The nicest parts were that we had a good time no matter what we were doing, we got along the whole time, and we got to Skype with a bunch of sisters at home. It was glorious.
Next entry, job updates!! And possibly flat updates...I'll tell you when I get back...
Love,
Emica
I went into Heathrow to pick Courtney up on Weds. afternoon. On the way back, I had to stop at the Bunac office to pick some mail, so we took the double decker bus from King's Cross. After Bunac, we went up to the Sainsbury's in Isling, and got groceries for the next few days. We came back to the hostel, made dinner, and made plans for the next few days. We decided that Thursday would be a tourist day, and it was exactly what I needed. I've been here long enough to know my away around, but hadn't been around places to appreciate them as much as I wanted. Here is a picture catalog of our first day:
We went down to Trafalgar Square, and walked by the fountains. This was Courtney's first exposure to the more well known London.
Being true Phi Mus, we had to have our pictures taken in front of the lions.
We walked down to Big Ben....
And Westminster Abbey.
Then we crossed the bridge to the Queen's Path on the South Bank. We had lunch under one of the bridges and walked back to Charring Cross.
We went back to the hostel to grab some food and decide what to do that night. A few guys were going to see Spamalot, so we decided that sounded cool. But before we went there, I had read that Bond Street was doing it's Christmas lighting. Bond Street is the most expensive street in London, with shops like Cartier, Tiffany's, and Gucci, and is located across from the Ritz. They had the lighting of the Christmas decorations, and we went down.
They were so beautiful. They even had 'snow' : really, it was about a dozen bubble machines, but it looked like the real thing. Every few feet there was a dancing elf, or a string quartet, or carolers. Plus, a lot of shops were giving out free samples, so we each got a chocolate and some marshmallows.
So we hiked back down to the discount booths in Leicester Square. At this point, Courtney was feeling a little shaky about money, and I had already seen the show,so we opted for the ₤15 seats in the Upper Balcony aka the nosebleed section. We got slices of pizza off a vendor, and ate them as we walked down to the theatre.
We got there really early, and went in, thinking we would have to camp out somewhere in the top and rent binoculars or something. The woman looks at our tickets, and says 'The balcony is closed this evening. Head over to the booth, and they will adjust your seating.' We're like crap, where else can they put us. The woman looks at our tickets, checks off a list, and says with a smile 'Just down the stairs, to your left.' Down the stairs? Like to the stalls? Like on the floor?? We go sit in the bar to wait, where we met these two nice guys (our parents' age) who are American, but have been working on planes for the state department in Japan for a few months. One of them goes to church with one of the girls I know from Vagina Monologues!! Small world. Anywho, they open the doors, and we go to find our seats. We are in *Drumroll* 5th row, center. Thats right. 15 quid, and we're in (normally) 75-100 pound seats. GO US!! The show was fantastic, we got sprayed with confetti at the end, and we loved every minute of it. It was nice to see what some of the actors looked like up close, tho I did have 'We're Not Dead Yet' stuck in my head for 3 days.The next few days were great. We went to the National Portrait Gallery, walked around Oxford Circus, went to Portebella Road Market (got Christmas presents)
and Borough Food Market
(amazing samples), met up with Hannah (the sister I met from Virginia) and went to the Mudlark pub (famous bangers and mash and being the location for the Three Broomsticks in the Harry Potter movies), went out for Sunday roast, walked in Kensington Park and found the Peter Pan statue, and ended the whole thing with a little trip to Platform 9 and 3/4. 
The nicest parts were that we had a good time no matter what we were doing, we got along the whole time, and we got to Skype with a bunch of sisters at home. It was glorious.
Next entry, job updates!! And possibly flat updates...I'll tell you when I get back...
Love,
Emica
Monday, November 24, 2008
Work News
So I have updates for this week, and the biggest being, I got job(s)! Kind of...I start one on Thursday as a research assistant for an unmarked period of time, but will probably only be for a few weeks. The other I have a training session/interview for, which is with an event company that sends wait staff, hostesses, etc. to events. Here are the details.
Monday: I have been talking to different sorority sisters online for a few weeks now, and Monday I finally met one! Hannah from Virginia, who come over to the UK for grad school and is doing everything not to leave. She is the cutest thing, and so down to earth. She was wearing sparkles, everywhere, and had this confidence about her I hope for. I met her in her neighborhood, and we walked around for a bit before going to see a movie. We sat and talked about our chapters, international experiences, family. This is why I love Phi Mu-we connected right away. She mentioned that she was also looking for work, but for spare money, she contacted Esprit. They are an event firm that provides hostesses, waitresses, etc. for different parties, events, etc. I had heard of them before, but wasn't sure about hours. Hannah sent me an email address, and I sent in a resume.
Tuesday: So I got up for another day of searching, and I get a call from Suzi at Esprit. We chat for a bit, and she asks me if I can come in next week for a interview/training session. Woohoo-I'm going to be a waitress! It pays 6 pounds an hour, and she said that the hours are up to me--its my availability that determines how much I'm working. With the holiday season coming up, and the fact that I'm in town for the holidays, I could work up to 60 hours a week. That would kill me, but I knew I was going to be working my butt off after being unemployed for almost a month and a half. Besides, it'll be good to be busy.
Weds: I get up, thrilled because Courtney is coming to visit for 6 days! For those of you who don't know, she is one of my sorority sisters from home who is studying at McDaniel's sister campus in Budapest, Hungry. Courtney was one of my Phis when I was Provisional Membership director, and I've always felt like we could be a lot closer if we could just have more time together. We are very similar in our likes, our temperaments, and what we want to experience in life. I was really excited.
I also got an email from Bunac that morning saying there was a woman looking for someone to do research for them. I called her, and about 20 minutes into the conversation, I found myself writing down directions to her house for my first day! To backtrack: I called Bunac and told them I still hadn't found anything. I then sent them a list of all the places I had applied, and what I had been sending them. I got a call later that day from Louise, one of the staff members. She said that for a few days, she was going to email me jobs directly at the same time she posted them as available on the Bunac boards. She was a little worried because people who had weaker resumes then me were getting hired for posts. So she sent me a few emails, and I called this woman because it was the first one I got. Her name is Johanna, and she is the managing director for a company called Potencium. They design team building, training, development, and mentoring programs for companies. She does a lot of these programs in the States, and is based out of UCLA. She lives most of the time in LA, and is only here for a few weeks, but needs someone to do research for a program for Women in the Workplace. She was talking very quickly, but from what she said, I can work from her home, pretty easy hours (11am-6pm) at 8 pounds an hour, 5 days a week. I start work with her on Thursday, so I'll let you know how it goes.
The only reason I'm not jumping out of my skin about these jobs are a)I still haven't started them yet, so I'm still a little up in the air to what I'm doing; b) the research job at least is temporary, but that might be different once I start and know what the hell I'm doing; and c) I'm just frustrated that it has taken me this long, and still all I could get was a 2 week gig, and waitressing. The waitress thing is a side job, so I'm still open to other stuff once I know about the research job, but I dunno...I just want to work, I don't care at what now. I just wish I knew when!!
A job is a job is a job. And it would be really great to be out of the hostel for Christmas. I'll let you know by the end of this week what I've gotten myself into :)
-E
Monday: I have been talking to different sorority sisters online for a few weeks now, and Monday I finally met one! Hannah from Virginia, who come over to the UK for grad school and is doing everything not to leave. She is the cutest thing, and so down to earth. She was wearing sparkles, everywhere, and had this confidence about her I hope for. I met her in her neighborhood, and we walked around for a bit before going to see a movie. We sat and talked about our chapters, international experiences, family. This is why I love Phi Mu-we connected right away. She mentioned that she was also looking for work, but for spare money, she contacted Esprit. They are an event firm that provides hostesses, waitresses, etc. for different parties, events, etc. I had heard of them before, but wasn't sure about hours. Hannah sent me an email address, and I sent in a resume.
Tuesday: So I got up for another day of searching, and I get a call from Suzi at Esprit. We chat for a bit, and she asks me if I can come in next week for a interview/training session. Woohoo-I'm going to be a waitress! It pays 6 pounds an hour, and she said that the hours are up to me--its my availability that determines how much I'm working. With the holiday season coming up, and the fact that I'm in town for the holidays, I could work up to 60 hours a week. That would kill me, but I knew I was going to be working my butt off after being unemployed for almost a month and a half. Besides, it'll be good to be busy.
Weds: I get up, thrilled because Courtney is coming to visit for 6 days! For those of you who don't know, she is one of my sorority sisters from home who is studying at McDaniel's sister campus in Budapest, Hungry. Courtney was one of my Phis when I was Provisional Membership director, and I've always felt like we could be a lot closer if we could just have more time together. We are very similar in our likes, our temperaments, and what we want to experience in life. I was really excited.
I also got an email from Bunac that morning saying there was a woman looking for someone to do research for them. I called her, and about 20 minutes into the conversation, I found myself writing down directions to her house for my first day! To backtrack: I called Bunac and told them I still hadn't found anything. I then sent them a list of all the places I had applied, and what I had been sending them. I got a call later that day from Louise, one of the staff members. She said that for a few days, she was going to email me jobs directly at the same time she posted them as available on the Bunac boards. She was a little worried because people who had weaker resumes then me were getting hired for posts. So she sent me a few emails, and I called this woman because it was the first one I got. Her name is Johanna, and she is the managing director for a company called Potencium. They design team building, training, development, and mentoring programs for companies. She does a lot of these programs in the States, and is based out of UCLA. She lives most of the time in LA, and is only here for a few weeks, but needs someone to do research for a program for Women in the Workplace. She was talking very quickly, but from what she said, I can work from her home, pretty easy hours (11am-6pm) at 8 pounds an hour, 5 days a week. I start work with her on Thursday, so I'll let you know how it goes.
The only reason I'm not jumping out of my skin about these jobs are a)I still haven't started them yet, so I'm still a little up in the air to what I'm doing; b) the research job at least is temporary, but that might be different once I start and know what the hell I'm doing; and c) I'm just frustrated that it has taken me this long, and still all I could get was a 2 week gig, and waitressing. The waitress thing is a side job, so I'm still open to other stuff once I know about the research job, but I dunno...I just want to work, I don't care at what now. I just wish I knew when!!
A job is a job is a job. And it would be really great to be out of the hostel for Christmas. I'll let you know by the end of this week what I've gotten myself into :)
-E
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...
Hi all-
After freaking out about no job, no flat and all that, I kind of had a 'pop!' moment. I was walking down to the tube, and I realized that if I was at home, I'd be doing this same thing. But I'd be home, in this little safety net, doing the same thing and not experiencing anything. And the truth is, despite how stressful the last few weeks have been, I wouldn't given them up for the world. I've proven to myself that I can interact on an international level, and come away pretty strong. I can learn my way around a new city (one of the most confusing cities EVER!!! so many roads lead to no where, and nothing intersects the way you think it will). Despite having to get more money from home, I've handled budgeting pretty well, being aware of living costs. I feel that confidence everone always seemed to see in me. Its because of all this crap that I feel that. I talked to Mom last night, and she had a similar kind of moment where she realized as much as she wants to help me, I'm still doing pretty good all things considered. We both kept cracking up because our mic connection on Skype was bad and all I could hear was 'So I think *Static*' or 'This is a good idea *silence*'
Overall, I'm loosening up. This doesn't mean I'm giving up or anything, but I've resolved to be here, keep looking for a job, all that, but I'm going to stay at the hostel for a bit. At least until I find a job. As much as the bed sucks, the rent isn't bad, I have a kitchen and unlimited movies and wi-fi, and I've made friends here. I've re-packed my bags and done laundry to get organized, and am making plans. Courtney is coming on Weds., so I'm going to take the week off from all the stress and enjoy. I've been sending out CVs all morning, and will check in, and I'll set a general spending limit for the weekend, but I'm going to have some fun.
In general news, after my night of 'pop!', I decided to do a London-y thing--I took myself to a musical. Spamalot to be exact (the one based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail) There are all these stalls around Leister Square that sell cheap tickets. I got front row center balcony (normally a 75-105 pound ticket) for 25. Thats right, 25 quid. I went alone, and had the best time. I laughed so hard (I love the Knights that Say Niet!--if you haven't seen the movie, you totally should. It's excellent) and left in a really good mood. I kind of like doing stuff like that on my own. I can just enjoy it for myself, and not worry about what the person I'm with thinks or if they are bored. For some reason, I do that a lot when I go out. But this was just for me.
On Friday night, I shared a few drinks with some of the girls at the hostel and we all sat around in the kitchen with the guys and talked about life, travel, culture, everything, until 4am. It was so awesome--exactly the kind of experience I was looking for. Saturday night, I went out with Jac, her friend from home Erica, and her boyfriend Chris. We went to this intimate club called Juno in Old Street, and had a really great time. Sunday was kind of a re-coop/laundry/bumming around day.
In Thanksgiving news, I talked to the manager here, and he said if I wanted, I could collect money from people here and make it here. Its doable, but I'd have to get a pre-cooked bird. The mini-stoves aren't big enough. People here got ubber hyped about it, and it might be cool--bringing all nations together to gorge on food. Could be a really nice way to spend the holiday. Tho I proved I was a sucky American: I totally thought it was this week, not next. Its like summer here: time has no meaning since I don't have anything to mark it by. Good and bad thing. Plus, the manager loves to tease. I went down this morning to book in another week, and he said his bet is I'll be here until January 3rd--apparently I'm already down to do vegetables for Christmas. Boob.
I'm going to go plan some activities for Courtney and I. Maybe we'll get out of the city for a day and go to Oxford or something. Check in for Adventures of Phi Mu's Abroad soon!
Love,
Emica
After freaking out about no job, no flat and all that, I kind of had a 'pop!' moment. I was walking down to the tube, and I realized that if I was at home, I'd be doing this same thing. But I'd be home, in this little safety net, doing the same thing and not experiencing anything. And the truth is, despite how stressful the last few weeks have been, I wouldn't given them up for the world. I've proven to myself that I can interact on an international level, and come away pretty strong. I can learn my way around a new city (one of the most confusing cities EVER!!! so many roads lead to no where, and nothing intersects the way you think it will). Despite having to get more money from home, I've handled budgeting pretty well, being aware of living costs. I feel that confidence everone always seemed to see in me. Its because of all this crap that I feel that. I talked to Mom last night, and she had a similar kind of moment where she realized as much as she wants to help me, I'm still doing pretty good all things considered. We both kept cracking up because our mic connection on Skype was bad and all I could hear was 'So I think *Static*' or 'This is a good idea *silence*'
Overall, I'm loosening up. This doesn't mean I'm giving up or anything, but I've resolved to be here, keep looking for a job, all that, but I'm going to stay at the hostel for a bit. At least until I find a job. As much as the bed sucks, the rent isn't bad, I have a kitchen and unlimited movies and wi-fi, and I've made friends here. I've re-packed my bags and done laundry to get organized, and am making plans. Courtney is coming on Weds., so I'm going to take the week off from all the stress and enjoy. I've been sending out CVs all morning, and will check in, and I'll set a general spending limit for the weekend, but I'm going to have some fun.
In general news, after my night of 'pop!', I decided to do a London-y thing--I took myself to a musical. Spamalot to be exact (the one based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail) There are all these stalls around Leister Square that sell cheap tickets. I got front row center balcony (normally a 75-105 pound ticket) for 25. Thats right, 25 quid. I went alone, and had the best time. I laughed so hard (I love the Knights that Say Niet!--if you haven't seen the movie, you totally should. It's excellent) and left in a really good mood. I kind of like doing stuff like that on my own. I can just enjoy it for myself, and not worry about what the person I'm with thinks or if they are bored. For some reason, I do that a lot when I go out. But this was just for me.
On Friday night, I shared a few drinks with some of the girls at the hostel and we all sat around in the kitchen with the guys and talked about life, travel, culture, everything, until 4am. It was so awesome--exactly the kind of experience I was looking for. Saturday night, I went out with Jac, her friend from home Erica, and her boyfriend Chris. We went to this intimate club called Juno in Old Street, and had a really great time. Sunday was kind of a re-coop/laundry/bumming around day.
In Thanksgiving news, I talked to the manager here, and he said if I wanted, I could collect money from people here and make it here. Its doable, but I'd have to get a pre-cooked bird. The mini-stoves aren't big enough. People here got ubber hyped about it, and it might be cool--bringing all nations together to gorge on food. Could be a really nice way to spend the holiday. Tho I proved I was a sucky American: I totally thought it was this week, not next. Its like summer here: time has no meaning since I don't have anything to mark it by. Good and bad thing. Plus, the manager loves to tease. I went down this morning to book in another week, and he said his bet is I'll be here until January 3rd--apparently I'm already down to do vegetables for Christmas. Boob.
I'm going to go plan some activities for Courtney and I. Maybe we'll get out of the city for a day and go to Oxford or something. Check in for Adventures of Phi Mu's Abroad soon!
Love,
Emica
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