London
Well, things are going better than expected here.
I arrived late Saturday night and made it to Janet's without incident. On Sunday she took me round the neighbourhoods near my and her house -- she's in Crouch End and I'm quite nearby in Highgate. She took me to Muswill Hill and we found out that my phone needed unlocking before a British SIM card could work in it. She took me grocery shopping, and I got bread, peanut butter, Marmite (very important!), all the fixings for stir-fry including pre-prepared tofu, and some tins of very Turkish-ish food which was actually Greek -- vine leaves, stuffed peppers, hummus, etc -- all for less than £20. Janet also took me walking on Parliament Hill (Hampstead Heath) where I got to see an art installation consisting of a giant chair and table looking quite remarkable spread out on the flat below the hill before a wood of tidy British trees. Then we went to friend of hers' house for tea and a nice chat and then dropped me at my new home. Dear Janet!
The house is lovely. It's a roomy three-bedroom in Highgate, with hardwood floors in the living room and halls, a beautiful, large, tiled kitchen with new hob, and only one other bedroom occupied -- by the owner. Who seems very friendly and keen to please -- all around good guy. When I arrived, my room had a double bed, wardrobe, and two sets of shelves -- and a TV and DVD player. John told me that there was also a spare computer (in the spare room, natch) that I could use to print up my CV if I could just hook it up and hook the printer up to it. Unfortunately, he was rushing out late to work when I dragged myself up Monday morning, and while I did find a laptop in a box in the spare room, it didn't do anything when I plugged it in, so I gave it up, guiltily used his (left on the coffee table downstairs) to check my email, and went off to have my day, printing up CVs at an internet cafe on the way!
Got home that afternoon and left a note before going out for the evening explaining and leaving my rent. When I got back, John ushered me into my room to show that he'd set up the computer AND printer on the one of the shelving units. Not only this, but having noticed that my clothes hadn't all fit in the wardrobe and the remainder were, well, everywhere, he'd pulled in a set of drawers as well!
Not much to complain about. I'm using the laptop, sitting in front of the TV, watching "Love Actually" on the DVD!
So, I went round five -- well, in the end, six -- recruitment agencies on Monday. Hays said, sorry, you haven't got the corporate/company experience for us to help you at all, so go to Brookes Street, which I did, and they took my CV, told me I was looking at temp work, and they'd call me, which they haven't. I then went to King and Tobin, were I got an appointment for 12:30 the next day. Then Maine and Tucker, who simply took my CV without comment. Then Career Design, where I actually met the woman Night told me was nice, and she told me to email her my CV and she'd call me. By the time I got to Tay Associates, the building was being guarded by a very nice man with a list of all the people who could go in. He told me to call them if I want on the list!
Tuesday was, ostensibly, property management, but I got delayed leaving (more on this) and couldn't do Foxton's before my appointment as I'd planned. The appointment itself went amazingly well, though.
I did a typing test to find that I type 84 wpm. This is apparently very fast! Then, while going over my CV, the girl helping me, Rebecca, said she had something in mind already -- a secretarial position in a small office in the same building as the agency! She showed me the job spec and it looked quite good -- similar to the work I did in a summer job once, way back when. The funny part of it was they said they needed a "fast, accurate typist -- at least 55 wpm"! So, they weren't just boosting me when they said I'm fast, LOL.
I got to Foxton's and Chesterton's in the afternoon, then got home to an email from Foxton's, completely unrelated to my trip that day, but related rather to an online application I submitted to them while still in Turkey. The woman said she could see I was based overseas so if I was "considering relocating to London" I should contact her! LOL! I emailed her straightaway.
Anyway, since then I've this morning had a conversation with this woman at Foxton's, who said she'd put my CV through "to the managers" and they'd consider whether to shortlist me for interview; several emails from Rebecca at King and Tobin, including one to ask me if I'd like to be considered for two *more* positions; and a conversation with Rebecca also to arrange an interview for me with the first place -- Cable Partners Europe -- at 11:30 a.m. on Monday! Hurrah!
But I must not rest on my laurels... I should go round some private English schools tomorrow to see about TEFL.
Well, my mobile phone was locked, and I got it unlocked yesterday and today bought my first British SIM card and £10 worth of credit. Then instantly texted Night and Julia. (I also bought an adaptor for my charger so I can charge the phone!)
Julia's staying just outside of London, but she'll be in town Friday, she says.
And I'm going out tomorrow for karaoke with Night and a group of friends... should be fun!
I've had a couple of walks around the strip by Archway tube. There's a natural foodstore there which might be useful, though sadly not much else. I should walk into Highgate village soon and figure out how to get to Crouch End.
Mum and Keith are in the UK... they've just had their honeymoon cruise 'round the Mediterranean and arrived in London on Monday. I've seen them the last two nights, both at Tom and Ruth's for dinner, because they're staying there. They went up to Chester today to stay with Mark and Amanda for a few days, then they'll be arriving back Saturday night, when apparently we're all having dinner at Janet's. And on Sunday a big joint (Tom, Ruth, girls, Mum, Keith, me, Janet) expedition to the National Portrait Gallery has been planned, followed by dinner at Tom and Ruth's again! Busy busy us!
I was really slow getting off on Monday because of having to go to an internet cafe. I got out at Leicester Square and found one, but unfortunately every time I downloaded my CV from my hotmail account, made changes to it, and went to save, the computer I was working on would freeze. This happened on three computers, and then I managed to find an alternate way into it and printed it up -- after about an hour of messing! I was so late by this time that I was really hungry, so I stopped in Covent Garden for a bite to eat before even getting to Hays Personnel... but I still caught up what I wanted to do, and I've since forgiven that internet cafe because a guy there unlocked my phone yesterday for £10 instead of the twenty I had earlier been told it would cost.
The other low point of Monday was after King and Tobin I had a fit of complete stupidity and changed four hundred Euros in a bloody exchange office, just because it had FREE COMMISSION written on a sign outside above some other stuff I (again idiotically) didn't bother to read. I walked in and scrutinised the board, which said it was 1.73 to the Euro. The girl called out "standard rates, ma'am!" I had seen 1.5 something somewhere, I thought, but couldn't completely remember, and in addition, I had for so long been in countries where the Euro was more expensive than the local currency that I had in my head that 1.73 was better than 1.5 whatever-it-was. As soon as the cashier handed over £205.80 in exchange for my four hundred Euros, I exclaimed, "No, actually, I don't want to do this, could you change it back please?" and the girl of course said that no, she couldn't, and, oh yes, the "FREE COMMISSION" applied to sales only. I made a gigantic fuss -- so gigantic I'm embarrassed -- but only a bit, because I'm still so angry -- and actually came back after I'd been to Maine and Tucker and made more of a fuss and even told a few customers that they charge 11% commission (and one of them did in fact go away thanking me!), which made the girl REALLY mad.
I also stupidly phoned the girl's manager from a callbox outside only to be told that I had to speak to "his" manager who wasn't there. I wasted £2.15 at the callbox because it ate a bunch of my money, and gave up. Still stupid and stubborn, I called again the next morning, only to be told, I'm positive, by exactly the same man, that he was the manager, but not only "could" he not reverse the transaction or even refund my commission (which I strongly doubt) but that he didn't see any reason to. I argued with him for an hour, just upsetting myself further. And that was why I was late getting off on Tuesday.
GRRRRRRRR... it won't matter in a year, it won't, in fact, it won't even matter as soon as I get my first paycheque. Forget it, forget it, forget it... *sigh*
Well, that was stupid to end on a bad note. I'll just reiterate that in general everything is going swimmingly. So, yay. Hurrah. Back I go to "Love Actually"!
I arrived late Saturday night and made it to Janet's without incident. On Sunday she took me round the neighbourhoods near my and her house -- she's in Crouch End and I'm quite nearby in Highgate. She took me to Muswill Hill and we found out that my phone needed unlocking before a British SIM card could work in it. She took me grocery shopping, and I got bread, peanut butter, Marmite (very important!), all the fixings for stir-fry including pre-prepared tofu, and some tins of very Turkish-ish food which was actually Greek -- vine leaves, stuffed peppers, hummus, etc -- all for less than £20. Janet also took me walking on Parliament Hill (Hampstead Heath) where I got to see an art installation consisting of a giant chair and table looking quite remarkable spread out on the flat below the hill before a wood of tidy British trees. Then we went to friend of hers' house for tea and a nice chat and then dropped me at my new home. Dear Janet!
The house is lovely. It's a roomy three-bedroom in Highgate, with hardwood floors in the living room and halls, a beautiful, large, tiled kitchen with new hob, and only one other bedroom occupied -- by the owner. Who seems very friendly and keen to please -- all around good guy. When I arrived, my room had a double bed, wardrobe, and two sets of shelves -- and a TV and DVD player. John told me that there was also a spare computer (in the spare room, natch) that I could use to print up my CV if I could just hook it up and hook the printer up to it. Unfortunately, he was rushing out late to work when I dragged myself up Monday morning, and while I did find a laptop in a box in the spare room, it didn't do anything when I plugged it in, so I gave it up, guiltily used his (left on the coffee table downstairs) to check my email, and went off to have my day, printing up CVs at an internet cafe on the way!
Got home that afternoon and left a note before going out for the evening explaining and leaving my rent. When I got back, John ushered me into my room to show that he'd set up the computer AND printer on the one of the shelving units. Not only this, but having noticed that my clothes hadn't all fit in the wardrobe and the remainder were, well, everywhere, he'd pulled in a set of drawers as well!
Not much to complain about. I'm using the laptop, sitting in front of the TV, watching "Love Actually" on the DVD!
So, I went round five -- well, in the end, six -- recruitment agencies on Monday. Hays said, sorry, you haven't got the corporate/company experience for us to help you at all, so go to Brookes Street, which I did, and they took my CV, told me I was looking at temp work, and they'd call me, which they haven't. I then went to King and Tobin, were I got an appointment for 12:30 the next day. Then Maine and Tucker, who simply took my CV without comment. Then Career Design, where I actually met the woman Night told me was nice, and she told me to email her my CV and she'd call me. By the time I got to Tay Associates, the building was being guarded by a very nice man with a list of all the people who could go in. He told me to call them if I want on the list!
Tuesday was, ostensibly, property management, but I got delayed leaving (more on this) and couldn't do Foxton's before my appointment as I'd planned. The appointment itself went amazingly well, though.
I did a typing test to find that I type 84 wpm. This is apparently very fast! Then, while going over my CV, the girl helping me, Rebecca, said she had something in mind already -- a secretarial position in a small office in the same building as the agency! She showed me the job spec and it looked quite good -- similar to the work I did in a summer job once, way back when. The funny part of it was they said they needed a "fast, accurate typist -- at least 55 wpm"! So, they weren't just boosting me when they said I'm fast, LOL.
I got to Foxton's and Chesterton's in the afternoon, then got home to an email from Foxton's, completely unrelated to my trip that day, but related rather to an online application I submitted to them while still in Turkey. The woman said she could see I was based overseas so if I was "considering relocating to London" I should contact her! LOL! I emailed her straightaway.
Anyway, since then I've this morning had a conversation with this woman at Foxton's, who said she'd put my CV through "to the managers" and they'd consider whether to shortlist me for interview; several emails from Rebecca at King and Tobin, including one to ask me if I'd like to be considered for two *more* positions; and a conversation with Rebecca also to arrange an interview for me with the first place -- Cable Partners Europe -- at 11:30 a.m. on Monday! Hurrah!
But I must not rest on my laurels... I should go round some private English schools tomorrow to see about TEFL.
Well, my mobile phone was locked, and I got it unlocked yesterday and today bought my first British SIM card and £10 worth of credit. Then instantly texted Night and Julia. (I also bought an adaptor for my charger so I can charge the phone!)
Julia's staying just outside of London, but she'll be in town Friday, she says.
And I'm going out tomorrow for karaoke with Night and a group of friends... should be fun!
I've had a couple of walks around the strip by Archway tube. There's a natural foodstore there which might be useful, though sadly not much else. I should walk into Highgate village soon and figure out how to get to Crouch End.
Mum and Keith are in the UK... they've just had their honeymoon cruise 'round the Mediterranean and arrived in London on Monday. I've seen them the last two nights, both at Tom and Ruth's for dinner, because they're staying there. They went up to Chester today to stay with Mark and Amanda for a few days, then they'll be arriving back Saturday night, when apparently we're all having dinner at Janet's. And on Sunday a big joint (Tom, Ruth, girls, Mum, Keith, me, Janet) expedition to the National Portrait Gallery has been planned, followed by dinner at Tom and Ruth's again! Busy busy us!
I was really slow getting off on Monday because of having to go to an internet cafe. I got out at Leicester Square and found one, but unfortunately every time I downloaded my CV from my hotmail account, made changes to it, and went to save, the computer I was working on would freeze. This happened on three computers, and then I managed to find an alternate way into it and printed it up -- after about an hour of messing! I was so late by this time that I was really hungry, so I stopped in Covent Garden for a bite to eat before even getting to Hays Personnel... but I still caught up what I wanted to do, and I've since forgiven that internet cafe because a guy there unlocked my phone yesterday for £10 instead of the twenty I had earlier been told it would cost.
The other low point of Monday was after King and Tobin I had a fit of complete stupidity and changed four hundred Euros in a bloody exchange office, just because it had FREE COMMISSION written on a sign outside above some other stuff I (again idiotically) didn't bother to read. I walked in and scrutinised the board, which said it was 1.73 to the Euro. The girl called out "standard rates, ma'am!" I had seen 1.5 something somewhere, I thought, but couldn't completely remember, and in addition, I had for so long been in countries where the Euro was more expensive than the local currency that I had in my head that 1.73 was better than 1.5 whatever-it-was. As soon as the cashier handed over £205.80 in exchange for my four hundred Euros, I exclaimed, "No, actually, I don't want to do this, could you change it back please?" and the girl of course said that no, she couldn't, and, oh yes, the "FREE COMMISSION" applied to sales only. I made a gigantic fuss -- so gigantic I'm embarrassed -- but only a bit, because I'm still so angry -- and actually came back after I'd been to Maine and Tucker and made more of a fuss and even told a few customers that they charge 11% commission (and one of them did in fact go away thanking me!), which made the girl REALLY mad.
I also stupidly phoned the girl's manager from a callbox outside only to be told that I had to speak to "his" manager who wasn't there. I wasted £2.15 at the callbox because it ate a bunch of my money, and gave up. Still stupid and stubborn, I called again the next morning, only to be told, I'm positive, by exactly the same man, that he was the manager, but not only "could" he not reverse the transaction or even refund my commission (which I strongly doubt) but that he didn't see any reason to. I argued with him for an hour, just upsetting myself further. And that was why I was late getting off on Tuesday.
GRRRRRRRR... it won't matter in a year, it won't, in fact, it won't even matter as soon as I get my first paycheque. Forget it, forget it, forget it... *sigh*
Well, that was stupid to end on a bad note. I'll just reiterate that in general everything is going swimmingly. So, yay. Hurrah. Back I go to "Love Actually"!