Life in London

I've started this blog so I can keep a record of my time overseas - the things I see and do, the people I meet and the adventures I have. I know, I should have started it sooner...

I've been in London now for 7 months and counting... and I am loving life here. For the most part.

My first few months here were really difficult for me. It took me 3 months to find a job, money was tight, it was difficult to make friends and I lived really far away from everything and everyone. The only thing that helped was that I was living with Lauren and Matt and they really made everything so much easier for me.

I eventually made some friends through gumtree - yes, I met them on the internet, and no, they have no killed, stuffed and mounted me. Yet. Just a couple of girl mates that I could go out with, see London and have a good time with. Albany and Tanya are now very good friends of mine here - even though they are Australians :)

Through my adventures with them I also met my boyfriend, Dane. We went out to the Church one weekend - and before you think I have started attending weekly mass, the Church is a big piss up. From 12-4pm on a Sunday afternoon, Australians, Kiwis, Saffas and the occassional American, just get heathened in an old theatre. People dress up, line up and wait to get drunk. When you get inside you go to the bar with your drink tickets and the bar person will give you your 3 beers/smirnoff ices in a packet which you tie to your belt loops - and that is you sorted for the rest of the afternoon. Or until you need a refill.

All of this I knew before I entered the drunken territory - what the girls failed to tell me was that it was also a strip show. Half way through the debauchery out comes a comedian, followed by a female stripper. A first for me. This was followed by country vs country boat races, etc. Sometime during the afternoon, when we had moved on from beer to the smirnoff's, we didn't have bottle openers and Albany was opening them with her teeth - yes, the English are that classy. Dane was in the group next to us and offered us his bottle opener. And the rest as they say, is history.... 5 months later and we are still together. And yes, he too is an Aussie...

On the job side of things, I got screwed around quite a lot. I was also quite fussy - I didn't want to go back to working in a restaurant, so for 3 months I just job hunted. It was very frustrating and boring, but in the end, worth it. I was offered the position of Account Executive for an advertising company called Wand. It's quite a small company, but the people are great, I'm learning and progressing fast and I absolutely love what I do. Most days. I have been here for 3 months now, have gotten past my probation period, gotten my first pay rise and bonus, and things are looking good.

Basically what I do is act as the middle man between our clients and the Creative teams. I get the brief from the client, write it into a coherent form, and then oversee the whole process from development of the creative idea right through to its completion. My company does everything from direct mail, to online work to TV ads - so I am still working in television. I must admit - it's not where I saw myself going, but its a job I want to get out of bed for in the morning.

I have also recently moved into a houseshare. Rent in London is pretty expensive, so the only way for most foreigners to afford to live in London is to move into a house or room share - pretty much like a digs. When I lived with Lauren I felt quite out of the way - I was really far from Dane, Albany, Tanya - and pretty much everything happening. I also worked at a pub on weekends for my first 2 months at Wand (a little German pub called The Octoberfest Pub - you all would have loved my uniform), and I also lived really far away from that, so I had to live out of a suitcase on weekends going in between Dane and Albany's houses.

So - I made the move to Fulham in South West London, where Dane, Albany and the pub live. Then I quit from the pub. Anyway, I get to see a lot more of Dane and my friends and I am much closer to work and central London life. I live with 3 Australians, 2 girls and a guy, in a 3 bedroom flat. I have a room to myself, but the other 2 girls share a room. It took a while to get settled, but I think I am finally getting there and I am very happy with my move.

That is an extremely quick update to my last 7 months here. I am going to add to this more frequently so I can keep a record of what I get up to while I am here. If you read it - thanks for keeping up with my life. Please return the favour and let me know what is going on in yours. I miss all of you so very much - love you all....