London days: a letter to myself for remembering
Now that I’ve found some time where I’m not either sleeping or working, I’ll give a go at a much needed update.
Arrived in London in one piece if not just a little bit shaken and shell shocked from the prospect of being there. Found a taxi and made my way to Dunsfold, a tiny little green town about an hour outside of London. Our family friends have their home base there and put me up for a few nights. I lucked out in finding a flat to house sit in for a relatively cheap price in Clapham, a south-west district of London. So after a few days of much needed rest out in the country I threw myself in and moved up to London. Becky and Helen, the two daughters, both live in Clapham area and were really great for the first week whenever I needed some advice, some help or some company. The flat is really unbelievable. It’s an old townhouse that has been refurbished inside and has an amazing back patio where the sun always shines-when it’s out in any case. Clapham is a beautiful part of London. It’s full of pubs and stores and is dominated by an enormous Common. All the little districts in London have Commons that are reminiscent of when all the towns used to be separate from London itself. Clapham Common is the biggest in the area and is home to community sports teams, school activities, concerts and much more. It must be at least 10 acres of green trees and ponds.
The first week I didn’t get on to much. I think I was still a bit frazzled and totally lonely. Helen and I went to a party on her friend’s barge on the Thames one night which was really great. Got to meet some brilliant people and got to dance the night away on a 100 year old boat as the tide went out. Later that same week the three of us went to see the Chinese State Circus which isn’t so much a circus as it is getting to watch Shaolin nights perform impossible feats. I also did the touristy stuff…. Going to see the London Eye and Parliament, walking past ugly old Buckingham Palace and lazing around in St. James Park.
After about a week of being here and finding my way around on the buses and the tube etc I got really really bored of my own company. I’m not idle and hate to not be busy. I’d spent the week before coming and the first week in London hunting for jobs online to no avail. Finally, miraculously I got an email from a place called the Rise Bar and Jongleurs. It’s both a bar downstairs and a comedy club upstairs. Went in for an interview, had a trial shift and tada a job. Work at Jongleurs is super hectic. It’s the type of job where you get there at 4, spend 12 hours on your feet rushing around and then leave at close around 3am. On Saturdays most people tend to hang around and end up going home when the sun is up the next day. The people are all really great and the job itself is at least active, but the pay is crap and it’s absolutely exhausting. A few days after the call from Jongleurs I got a call from the Windmill on the Common. The Windmill is a pub right on Clapham Common. It’s a hotel, restaurant and pub so it’s usually pretty busy. Being next to the Common means it gets the after work crowd as well as everyone who has been playing sports on the common. I went for an interview, did a trial, and voila job numero deux. The Windmill pays better and is more slow paced. I’m working the bar at the Windmill instead of running around on the floor like at Jongluers which is nice. The people there are also fantastic. Full of aussies and kiwis and self righteous brits. The crowd is much more diverse and there is much more opportunity for customer interaction. Last night I had a great talk with some guys from South Africa and Zimbabwe about school and development and about where to go. Right now I’m working part time at both jobs, but both have offered me full time hours. I’m a bit vexed about which to choose. When it comes down to it more money is better at the moment. And keeping my sanity as well. I’ve been run off my feet for 2 weeks now. I’m completely nocturnal and sleep for most of the day. My feet are in a complete state of ruin and it feels like I’ve been hit by a 12 wheeler. Every muscle in my body just aches. No matter how many bathes you have you still feel a little unclean. But work is work, money is money. When school starts I’ll cut back to part time at one job. And I’ll keep my eyes open for office work just in case I can switch it up. Such is life yeah?.
Week two mum and dad came to visit as well. I hadn’t seen dad since Christmas so that was really great. What with all the boat nonsense and their dreams coming crashing down they’ve been wanting breaks and wanting to be around family and friends I guess. It’s hard not to hear them being optimistic about anything but I think they know that there is a lot more out there that they can discover and experience. They’re moving back to North America in July to stay at my cottage for the summer and then probably to move out the BC where they have some property. I think it will take a little while for them to feel right about their choices but despite this disappointing low, mum is an eternal optimist just like me and she’ll figure a plan to keep them busy.
After mum and dad left some friends from school came to visit on their way to a conference in Prague. It was so great to have Peter staying here with me for company. He and I redid the touristy stuff and took some awesome pictures. Not having a digital camera anymore actually blows. I’ve had to rely on other people. Emma arrived a few days after Peter did and we had two nights of complete debauchery before they flew off on the 27th. Their visit was worth the exhaustion. I didn’t realize how lonely I actually was until they came and left. It’s not necessarily that I’m lonely, I’m to busy to be lonely, but I don’t have people as of yet that I can just go hang out with. I have my work people who are really great, but we haven’t quite breached the friends barrier I suppose.
This weekend I’m moving into a new flat share with 3 other people. The house sit was only for about 2 months and I decided that it would be better to get settled in a permanent place rather than live here and then have to figure it all out towards the end of the summer. The new flat is still in Clapham, right off the common, and is a really great price for it’s location. I’ve meet 2 of my flatmates and will meet the other hopefully tomorrow when I move in. It’ll be nice to not be living out of bags anymore. Two months of bag living is NOT FUN. I’ve forgotten half the things I brought with me because I haven’t seen them in ages. The 3 boxes I shipped from Ontario arrived safe and sound last week. My books and printer and winter clothes were in them. No matter how you pack you always leave something behind that you really want, or bring something you’ll never use. Those three boxes are full of things I know I would have used while one bag I took with me has remained unopened.
London as a city is really great. Just like any other city really. Hard to adjust to the small things- like where to find postage and make photocopies. Looking right, then left instead of left then right. Opening a min. of two locks on every door. Smaller everything. No dryers. Bad recycling. Different TV. Being able to drink in the streets. Liquor being sold everywhere. Accents. Being a minority… The bigger things, like moving to the city and having to navigate buses etc… it’s not as hard. It’s the small everyday life things that really muck you up. But I think I’ve adjusted fairly well. I love new beginnings and challenges and all that stuff and throwing myself in the deep end here has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I feel fresh and invigorated and totally limitless.
Have had a few disappointments, have learned some great lessons already, but have had some seriously memorable times as well. It’s amazing how time flies. It’s almost been a month. I guess when everything is so new around you, you expect things to slow down for you to adjust. It’s just not the case at all. You have to speed up to keep up with the hustle and bustle of everyone else. London agrees with me and I agree with London.
That’s all that I can think of for now… Much needed LONG update. No gritty details or dreamy interludes as of yet. I’ve never had much time for romance anyway! I’m busy romancing with the city, the sights and the sounds around me.
Arrived in London in one piece if not just a little bit shaken and shell shocked from the prospect of being there. Found a taxi and made my way to Dunsfold, a tiny little green town about an hour outside of London. Our family friends have their home base there and put me up for a few nights. I lucked out in finding a flat to house sit in for a relatively cheap price in Clapham, a south-west district of London. So after a few days of much needed rest out in the country I threw myself in and moved up to London. Becky and Helen, the two daughters, both live in Clapham area and were really great for the first week whenever I needed some advice, some help or some company. The flat is really unbelievable. It’s an old townhouse that has been refurbished inside and has an amazing back patio where the sun always shines-when it’s out in any case. Clapham is a beautiful part of London. It’s full of pubs and stores and is dominated by an enormous Common. All the little districts in London have Commons that are reminiscent of when all the towns used to be separate from London itself. Clapham Common is the biggest in the area and is home to community sports teams, school activities, concerts and much more. It must be at least 10 acres of green trees and ponds.
The first week I didn’t get on to much. I think I was still a bit frazzled and totally lonely. Helen and I went to a party on her friend’s barge on the Thames one night which was really great. Got to meet some brilliant people and got to dance the night away on a 100 year old boat as the tide went out. Later that same week the three of us went to see the Chinese State Circus which isn’t so much a circus as it is getting to watch Shaolin nights perform impossible feats. I also did the touristy stuff…. Going to see the London Eye and Parliament, walking past ugly old Buckingham Palace and lazing around in St. James Park.
After about a week of being here and finding my way around on the buses and the tube etc I got really really bored of my own company. I’m not idle and hate to not be busy. I’d spent the week before coming and the first week in London hunting for jobs online to no avail. Finally, miraculously I got an email from a place called the Rise Bar and Jongleurs. It’s both a bar downstairs and a comedy club upstairs. Went in for an interview, had a trial shift and tada a job. Work at Jongleurs is super hectic. It’s the type of job where you get there at 4, spend 12 hours on your feet rushing around and then leave at close around 3am. On Saturdays most people tend to hang around and end up going home when the sun is up the next day. The people are all really great and the job itself is at least active, but the pay is crap and it’s absolutely exhausting. A few days after the call from Jongleurs I got a call from the Windmill on the Common. The Windmill is a pub right on Clapham Common. It’s a hotel, restaurant and pub so it’s usually pretty busy. Being next to the Common means it gets the after work crowd as well as everyone who has been playing sports on the common. I went for an interview, did a trial, and voila job numero deux. The Windmill pays better and is more slow paced. I’m working the bar at the Windmill instead of running around on the floor like at Jongluers which is nice. The people there are also fantastic. Full of aussies and kiwis and self righteous brits. The crowd is much more diverse and there is much more opportunity for customer interaction. Last night I had a great talk with some guys from South Africa and Zimbabwe about school and development and about where to go. Right now I’m working part time at both jobs, but both have offered me full time hours. I’m a bit vexed about which to choose. When it comes down to it more money is better at the moment. And keeping my sanity as well. I’ve been run off my feet for 2 weeks now. I’m completely nocturnal and sleep for most of the day. My feet are in a complete state of ruin and it feels like I’ve been hit by a 12 wheeler. Every muscle in my body just aches. No matter how many bathes you have you still feel a little unclean. But work is work, money is money. When school starts I’ll cut back to part time at one job. And I’ll keep my eyes open for office work just in case I can switch it up. Such is life yeah?.
Week two mum and dad came to visit as well. I hadn’t seen dad since Christmas so that was really great. What with all the boat nonsense and their dreams coming crashing down they’ve been wanting breaks and wanting to be around family and friends I guess. It’s hard not to hear them being optimistic about anything but I think they know that there is a lot more out there that they can discover and experience. They’re moving back to North America in July to stay at my cottage for the summer and then probably to move out the BC where they have some property. I think it will take a little while for them to feel right about their choices but despite this disappointing low, mum is an eternal optimist just like me and she’ll figure a plan to keep them busy.
After mum and dad left some friends from school came to visit on their way to a conference in Prague. It was so great to have Peter staying here with me for company. He and I redid the touristy stuff and took some awesome pictures. Not having a digital camera anymore actually blows. I’ve had to rely on other people. Emma arrived a few days after Peter did and we had two nights of complete debauchery before they flew off on the 27th. Their visit was worth the exhaustion. I didn’t realize how lonely I actually was until they came and left. It’s not necessarily that I’m lonely, I’m to busy to be lonely, but I don’t have people as of yet that I can just go hang out with. I have my work people who are really great, but we haven’t quite breached the friends barrier I suppose.
This weekend I’m moving into a new flat share with 3 other people. The house sit was only for about 2 months and I decided that it would be better to get settled in a permanent place rather than live here and then have to figure it all out towards the end of the summer. The new flat is still in Clapham, right off the common, and is a really great price for it’s location. I’ve meet 2 of my flatmates and will meet the other hopefully tomorrow when I move in. It’ll be nice to not be living out of bags anymore. Two months of bag living is NOT FUN. I’ve forgotten half the things I brought with me because I haven’t seen them in ages. The 3 boxes I shipped from Ontario arrived safe and sound last week. My books and printer and winter clothes were in them. No matter how you pack you always leave something behind that you really want, or bring something you’ll never use. Those three boxes are full of things I know I would have used while one bag I took with me has remained unopened.
London as a city is really great. Just like any other city really. Hard to adjust to the small things- like where to find postage and make photocopies. Looking right, then left instead of left then right. Opening a min. of two locks on every door. Smaller everything. No dryers. Bad recycling. Different TV. Being able to drink in the streets. Liquor being sold everywhere. Accents. Being a minority… The bigger things, like moving to the city and having to navigate buses etc… it’s not as hard. It’s the small everyday life things that really muck you up. But I think I’ve adjusted fairly well. I love new beginnings and challenges and all that stuff and throwing myself in the deep end here has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I feel fresh and invigorated and totally limitless.
Have had a few disappointments, have learned some great lessons already, but have had some seriously memorable times as well. It’s amazing how time flies. It’s almost been a month. I guess when everything is so new around you, you expect things to slow down for you to adjust. It’s just not the case at all. You have to speed up to keep up with the hustle and bustle of everyone else. London agrees with me and I agree with London.
That’s all that I can think of for now… Much needed LONG update. No gritty details or dreamy interludes as of yet. I’ve never had much time for romance anyway! I’m busy romancing with the city, the sights and the sounds around me.