On Homesickness

[agincourtgirl]

It seems I only come back to LJ when I am in crisis; I wrote thispost this morning as I have had enough time and experience in London to recognize how out of place I feel most of the time, even though I have lived here for several years now. Just now I got a form rejection email from Oxfam, a place I have been a volunteer at for nearly 5 years -

Comments

[austengirl]

I believe he managed or had another responsible role in an Oxfam shop (whether it was a bookstore or clothing shop, I don't know). He'd been my manager at another company and he is a lovely chap so I don't know where the problems lay.

Re jobs: do you feel strongly that you want to stay in retail/the book trade? Have you applied to any bookstores?

Re locations: my husband's from Cumbria (the depressed ex-industrial part, not the Lake District) and while it is a beautiful region, there are very few jobs and it is a long way from anywhere. People are nice, but can be insular (not that that doesn't happen in lots of areas).

We've ended up in Cambridge, which is really nice--small but a lot going on for its size and of course people from all over the world. It's also the only place we've lived that's been relatively unscathed by the recession--property prices aren't far behind London, unlike most of the rest of the country. If we ever move again, I'd want to go back to Edinburgh or Chorlton, south of Manchester.

Is your husband working? I remember he had some health issues so I wasn't sure if he'd gone back to work.

[agincourtgirl]

I have applied to bookstores but have yet to get an interview - both at Foyles and Waterstones. There are other places that I can apply to but (Daunt Books, mainly) I haven't yet. I've been working with books exclusively for two years and am feeling a bit burnt out by being in retail; I'd love to work in a library, but I'm not sure how to get started there.

My husband is working - it's been about 2 1/2 years since his mini-stroke and he's fine, though working only four days a week. His health is steady, thank goodness.

Since my husband is Scottish he's partial to moving up to Glasgow, he's from there originally (though he grew up in Uddingston and Bothwell).