Change is good

It's refreshing. The pub I worked at in Clapham has a new manager... my flat-mate Chris. Chris, who was head chef at the pub less than a week ago, left the food for scottish dude to cook and upgraded as new manager. Nina, the old manager was, as they say here, "made redundant" or fired. She brought too much of her personal problems into the pub. She did too much drugs. Funny thing, as much as I should naturally want to see her leave, I feel really bad for her. Nina treated me like shit at times. I often felt patronized when she spoke to me for some reason. I'm not sure what I did to make her dislike me or have her treat me the way she did. Nonetheless, I still feel shit that she's gone. I feel like Chris, Scottish dude, Jeanie and I are burglers. We've robbed her the only thing she knew for 2 years. That pub was her home. She lived upstairs for two years, worked there for two years, was manager for who knows how long! She decided it would be a good idea to move out, but it seems like since she's moved out, we all moved in and taken over. She must feel like she's lost a piece of her. Then again, I think it's for the best, for all of us. She needs to sort out herself and try something new. She got dumped and needs to find a better boyfriend.

As for me, London one of the most beautiful cities in the summer. With all it's clouds and rain throughout the winter, as soon as the sun shined and the temperatures rose, so did people's spirits. People are in good moods. People want to be outside. Its beautiful. 

I've found a new love for good coffee and lattes. I love random cafe shops and charity shops. How unique each one is, the people inside, the things you discover, I love it. 

As much as I love media, I have spent less and less time infront of the television. To be honest,  I really hope America can one day see the newspaper industry rise again to what it once was. Everyone reads the paper here! It's interesting to watch the morning papers being fliped and turned sideways inorder for people to fit on the tube in the morning and evening rush hours. 

I love sitting on my own and writing, I love reading.  I love random chats with random people at pubs. As grey as they make this city out to be, what a social group of people we are. People go to pubs every night of the week, just to chat, to learn, to listen. It's amazing. And now that the sun is shinning and the air is warm, what I love the most is the sight of working men and women in their suits and ties and heels and shoes, sitting on the curb at the end of the day with a pint of beer or a glass or wine. It's awesome. People crowd the streets outside of pubs to drink and enjoy the weather. I'll miss this city when I leave. 

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

GUESS WHO WAS EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!!!! 

WEERRDDDD!!!! and extra 50 to keep me going just a little bit! 

And to think I've only been working here for a little under 2 months! 

Everyone is dope here... I really will miss the people I'm working with

BUT HOLLERR AT YA GIRL MAN!!! IM WORKING HARD!

G20

What looks like a crazy day in London, really didn't affect me much. Actually, it didn't affect me at all. Al was late to work because of the protests, but other than that, I don't think the media could have hyped people up any more than they already had. Half the videos they showed on television showed protesters surrounded by tons and tons of cameras, not small little sony digital cameras, I mean, like a Cannon Rebel DX something or another. People with Nikons were rockin front row seats at the protests today. Guess how many reporters were injured? A lot more than normal civilians! Which brings me to the conclusion that a number of the riot bralls could have been avoided if the damn press STFU for once. In 1990, a protest in Trafalgar Square took place against Margaret Thatcher's taxing practices, and that was absolute insanity: POLL TAX RIOT

But THIS SUMMIT RIOT was nothing like the one 19 years ago...

Hmmm

I've become obsessed with meeting new people. It's exciting! It's fun! It makes me think differently. I often find myself going out of my way to find a new place to get drinks or food or taking a different route home, just to get a new perspective. Then again, I've yearn for stability! I think I just want a job out here already that can keep me for a couple months. I feel like nothing is really promised for me at the moment. I could be out of work in two weeks and then be lost for work and need to hop on a plane. It would be sad considering I've worked so hard at finding work and a place to stay and friends and food and all that good stuff. I crave stability I think just so I can save the money to go traveling some more. I think I've finally started to get a feel for what I want to really do. I just need a video camera, a camera and my computer. I'll travel the world and put it out for the world to see, people need to stop being so chicken and get out and try something new! I can't believe I lived in such a bubble my whole life. It doesn't matter if you've lived in a huge Metropolitan like NYC or the smallest town in Nebraska, it's beautiful to live and feel a new culture. It's not about visiting the Eiffle Tower on your vacation, I mean live and work with the locals, get a pint a beer and find out what pisses off the dude that works at the corner deli shop or the dude at the bank or the woman that teaches. There is always a story to be told. 

Maybe the Peace Corps would be a good look for me. 

I woke up this morning wishing I came from money. How wonderful it must be to pay your bills on time and know you will eat well that night after a long days work. On the other hand, it's the lack of those things that's helped me realize how much I don't need them. 

I watched an old dude sit next to his wife on the tube. A posh sort, he rocked his argil scarf and wool peacoat. The couple read the paper as if they had an exam in an hour. I could tell they were married. Anywho, the dude got all upset because the train conductor had something other than a British accent and it was a bit difficult to hear him. "For Christ sake, can't they at least get someone to speak English!" he said out loud to his wife. His wife continued to read the paper, said something under her breathe as he continued... "They don't even dress properly. At least they could get someone that spoke English." 

I wanted to tell the dude that I spoke English perfectly fine and heard quite clearly what the train conductor announced. Or maybe I just wanted to give him a big ol' slap in the head. Wake up and smell the coffee Mr. Poshity Poshsters! People travel, listen to some other accents and maybe you can understand someone besides you and your wife. 

Hmmm, maybe Americans and Brits aren't so different after all... 

hahahah

Oh, excuse me sir, can you please STFU

It must be a New York thing. Are we that angry of a people? I love it. It's gotten so bad I've been tempted to strategically camp out on a busy city corner waiting for something to happen. 

Car fights! I love them! Not so much in NYC, those can get pretty ugly. But there's something about watching an angry British driver turn to the bike rider that almost caused a five car accident after swerving into the wrong lane to say, "Excuse me, but did you realize you almost hit me." Talk about anger management control. I can't even think back to the last time I spoke that politely to a person I wasn't mad at! Is there really a need to excuse yourself when your heart isn't there. Why lie to themselves? Save your breath London drivers and start speaking without thinking. No need to be polite, you don't like them anyway. The city is big enough, you probably won't run into them anyway... especially considering they ran into you first... (hahah.. I made a funny.) Maybe we should all just drive singing Bet Midler.

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends

Honestly, I don't think I'd be as happy right now or having the experience I've had without making friends. Life lesson dudes... it's no fun experiencing things without enjoying it with someone. It's the most beautiful feeling, giving someone a hug good-bye and thinking to myself, "Shit guys, I have a friend!" I actually found a good number of people who care enough about me that they'd even touch my skin to give me a kiss and a hug before leaving. They even call me once in a while to see how I'm doing. Amazing! Such a simplistic concept... friendship, yet so deep. I mean, think about how successful the show FRIENDS became! The whole show was just about a group of friends... and like woah, shits a hit!

It's been great, I mean, I do miss my plumber dude... he was my first real friend out here, but I've come to grips with it. It's fascinating how quickly people affect other people. All of my relationships here are based on me randomly popping into their world. Even at my new gig I picked up, the whole staff treats me like I've been there for years. Like, they actually care about what I'm doing with my life and I actually give a damn if one of them is having a bad day or stubs their toe (especially if it's the tiny one... those hurt yo!) 

For example, for the past 4 weeks, I've really gotten to know this guy named Tim. He's the other runner at the office. He's just awesome. His girlfriend is awesome... she rocks the dreads look right now. Funny, he's actually the only British dude I've met that doesn't like tea... Who does that? He puts me on all these random media facts in London, which may or may not do me any good in the future... unless I get to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?! (watch Slumdog Millionaire and then maybe you'll get my terrible joke/thought process)

Andy is another dude I've become good mates with. Him and his girl have been going out now for 7 years! Wowzers. Andy just looks out for me so much. We have the best chats about life and its great connecting with people who you'd never realize you had so many similarities with. Who would think a chick like me from the Bronx, would share similar goals as a dude from a small town in Devon, England. He's a drummer and I got to watch him live at the pub I use to work at. It's nice going back to the pubs I worked at, especially the one I used to live above. I made such good friends there. My two old Australian flatmates Ben and Anna. I love them and it was just so refreshing to see them as well yesterday. One of the regulars came up to me and bought me a Bulmers and said "Well you seem to be miss popular tonight huh!" Funny, I only worked and lived there a month. 

I can't even begin to explain how awesome my flatmate Chris is... and Jeannie and Scottish dude. Scottish dude is already planning out my birthday weekend. If nothing else works out here, I have nothing to regret or complain about. I've made some life long friends. It's a hard concept to grasp when you have your own circle of friends and you don't really need to find new ones, but for me, popping over here with nothing and finding so much... it just makes you really appreciative of what I have and it's made the relationships I have with people out here a lot stronger. 

No place like home..

I don't think it hit me till about a week ago... I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE ROACH AKA BUG AKA NASTY YUCKY THING AKA THE CRUNCHY SOUNDING THINGS WILL SMITH DID A SMASHING JOB KILLING IN MEN IN BLACK AKA THE CREATURE WE CAN NEVER SEEM TO GET RID OF NO MATTER HOW CLEAN YOU ARE!

Seriously, no lies... and I mean, I've worked in 2 pubs since I've arrived... I HAVE NOT SEEN A SINGLE MUTANT!! I can't believe it! As dirty as I sometimes think British people are (Although I do think it's mostly people from the pub I worked at), I feel like London is a damn pretty clean city. Three months and no bugs! It's awesome! No wonder I'm not ready to leave yet! I LOVE IT! 

While I'm on the topic... here's an interesting story that came out from the Guardian newspaper out here... 

How a cockroach put 30 people out of work

For the viewers of Turkmenistan's popular nightly news program, Vatan, it was another routine bulletin. But as the newsreader began the 9pm broadcast, viewers across the central Asian country spotted something unusual crawling across the studio table: a large brown cockroach.

The cockroach managed to complete a whole lap of the desk, apparently undetected, before disappearing. The program, complete with cockroach, was repeated at 11pm that night.

Turkmenistan's president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, was so upset when outraged viewers complained to the station that he fired 30 workers from the main state TV channel.

Back in US

I know the focus of this blog has been what goes on here in the UK, but yikes... what's happening to the US!? 

Today's BBC report:  AIG reports record $61.7bn loss

What's happening over there? Why are companies getting so much money and still messing up? Yikes... it makes me nervous. It's just as bad here...

BAIL-OUTS RECEIVED
AIG - $180bn
Bank of America - $45bn
Citigroup - $50bn
JP Morgan Chase - $25bn
Wells Fargo - $25bn
Goldman Sachs - $10bn
Morgan Stanley - $10bn
State Street - $3bn
Bank of New York Mellon - $3bn

Picture this...

The snow in London!!

My homie Scottish Dude

more pics to come

I guess I haven't really discussed this new job of mine in detail...

It's nothing big really, I'm a runner at a media slash advertising agency out here in Central London. 

Surprisingly, I got the job after facebook stalking the CEO of the company. The CEO is quite the man... making big bucks, making big deals and married to a pretty well known actress out here in the UK. It's wild! A dude like himself would normally give a flying hoot about who or what I was.  

I sent him a facebook message about a week after I arrived in London. Maybe it was two or three. It was around the time I started to panic about my job situation. I figured it couldn't hurt writing him. I actually tried to contact the company before I left New York City. I emailed another dude who worked there, but he never responded. At the time, I felt like it was the only way to get myself noticed with this company, so I looked up the CEO on facebook and sent him a nice little message which said... 

Hello Mr. (___)

I am a young producer from New York City. I recently moved to London and came across your company's website- (_____). I just want to compliment you and your group on an amazing website and what looks like on face value, a strong and creative media company to work for. I apologize for the informal facebook message, but I had no other way of contacting you other than a phone call and I felt facebook would be a bit easier for me to contact you personally. I am actually just looking for a freelance position or apprenticeship to get myself started out here. I have a lot of experience in multi-media production back in New York City. I not only helped produce many online media packages, but I was also a radio disc jockey as well as a presenter. I worked on many entertainment events such as the Pepsi Blue Carpet Bash and the Latin Grammy's.

If you have any room for a young woman with tons of energy and an infinite amount of ideas and passion, please contact me. If nothing else, I would like to see what you guys do so I can get a feel for the media out here.

Thanks for taking to read this!

YIKES... Thanks for taking to read this! I didn't even write properly in the message and he somehow sent me a message back about a month later saying... 

Hey, in NYC in Feb (3rd - 7th)... we are looking to open up in NYC and possibly LA this year... lets meet and have a chat. cheers. Let me know your availability and lets hook up to talk. Would be very useful for me.

WTF MATE! 

I jumped on the opportunity to meet with the dude. Called him the next day. Met up that Friday. 

It happened all too quickly. I met with him and it was like, we were using each other. He wanted to meet with me to find out about New York City. I wanted to meet with him for a job... we both won. He sent my name to the Facilities Manager and about two days later, I was offered a job as a runner. 

Unfortunately, the job is really really really (really) beneath me. It's been a humbling experience making coffee for people and picking up the dry cleaning for the lazy bastards. HOWEVER! I am thankful and super freaked out at how crazy it is that I am actually working for a legit company right now in London. 

My issue right now is the job is only temporary, aka for five weeks I can get paid and also panic at the idea of not having a job in another three weeks time. It's kind of like STANDING BEHIND ROBERT LOGGIA IN AN AIRPORT. Think of how anxious I am right now, just waiting for the damn thing to finish and hoping I can get hop on another plane of opportunity. 

Despite my internal grief and panic, I am enjoying meeting new people and shmoozing with every single soul I meet at the office. I have actually made some awesome connections and my job, which started off as a mere waste of a day with silly errands grew to getting the chance to work on a commercial shoot this past Friday for this group called the Noisettes and helping out one of the producers over the weekend with another music commercial for Groove Armada. 

The shoot Friday was amazing!!! I had an awesome time.. made a lot of connections and took a lot of pictures!!! Which I will post!!!

Yay for facebook and being gutsy! 

Money, drugs, I'm back at College

Like college, I've learned quite a bit about things and situations I've never had to deal with before. It's been an eye opener for me. I didn't realize I was that innocent until a week ago. 

Americans smoke a lot of weed. Yet, despite my own disconnection with the stuff, I don't really see a problem with it. I mean, I've seen tons of my friends smoke it and yeah, the lack of ability to really do much or care to do anything is something that could be a concern but it never really interfered with their duties to work and move and get things done. 

English do a lot of drugs. I mean, I've seen just about everything. No needles, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I did. It was last Sunday, the day before I started my new job. I was looking forward to a good ol' time being that it was my last shift at the pub. I started work at 11a.m. The night before a group of us stayed for drinks and had a good chat with one another. We made yummy cheese and guacamole sandwiches at three in the morning. It was awesome. 

The next morning, I arrived at the pub a bit out of it, but ready to work. I realized I was probably the only one ready to work. Nina came down to work an hour late, Scottish dude followed, both looked like they had bit hit by a bolder. Poor Chris, the other chef who works in the kitchen and currently, my other flatmate had to set up the kitchen all on his own. Scottish dude has been really irresponsible and so has Nina. As manager, Nina has been taking a bit of a piss at me for some odd reason. Scottish dude has stayed over her flat every night. I found out all they do is sniff cocaine and drugs and drink. It's ridiculous how much they do besides also doing each other. Yikes!

Imagine the whole shift, my manager, just taking a piss at me because Scottish dude use to like me and now she's all drugged up and hung over and cranky and complaining to me that the bar is messed up. Dude, I beg to recall last night when we all stayed after till 5 in the morning drinking, of course the pub is going to be messy, maybe you could come downstairs early instead messing around with the chef. It's too much for me. I messed up orders that day, I felt uncomfortable being there. It was a bad day. I needed to just get out. It got worse. 

I had to also work at the other pub that night, the one I lived above. I needed time to just sit down and rest for a bit. I walked in and thought I would just sit down on my couch in the living room for a good head clearing and a bit of tv. I walk in my living room and what do I find, one of my flatmates and two strangers siting in the living room. On the coffee table, lines of white powder... more cocaine. "You want a line" one of them asked. "Na, I'm good." Geeze, I ran into my room and bursted into tears. Drugs were everywhere. The manager and flatmate that runs the pub I lived at sold and bought coke as well and is in heaps of trouble now because he use to take money from the pub to pay for his drugs and the owner came by while he was gone and found out that a lump of money was missing... wonder who took it!?@! 

I know this makes everyone sound really bad, but to be honest, no one has ever asked me to take any drugs, or force me to be around it, or anything of the sort. They are actually really protective over me not to take it and are keen on the fact I don't do anything. So I'm not trying to make it sound bad, but well, until now, I definitely felt like I was back at College. Living in a messy messy flat with two dudes and a girl. We drank everyday. We went to sleep late. Woke up late. Had long and deep conversations. But like college, my flatmates I had to move out because I am taking a 5 week intense course (aka my new job) and my roomies party and drink too much. I kinda liked living at the pub, it was different for me. I learned a lot about English people, but now I've moved on. I have a great new job. (well it's not that great, but I will get into that another day). I live in a nice and cozy and clean flat. I just hope I can keep moving and getting on with things. 

Clothes drying

I really miss dryers out here. People don't use dryers like we do in America. It's becoming a bit of a pain for me. Clothes drying is the most important part of the whole process really, because despite your clean clothes, you can't wear them, unless they are dry! (okay, maybe cleaning the clothes is just as important as clothes drying, but you get my point). It's terrible, no one has a clothes dryer. I always have to hang up my clothes on a stupid drying rack and it takes a whole day to dry the damn clothes, sometimes even two depending on the heat in your room. 

Think of the luxury of seeing your favorite shirt, sitting in that pile of laundry you've put off all week and realizing you want to wear it two hours before you go out Saturday night. You pop it into the wash for a "quick 30 minute turbo" and put it straight into a drying machine, all warm and ready for you to wear in under 120 minutes. In that time, you can pre game, eat, and finish watching the Yankees game. It's beautiful. Why don't people have dryers here. It's terrible. Yes, okay, it's energy efficient, but for who? Me or the dryer?! I feel like I use way too much energy waiting around for my wash to finish, just to hang up my 5 shirts and a pair of jeans because that's all that fits in the damn washing machines here, and thats all you can fit on one drying rack. Think of the change in lifestyle I had to go through just because of the lack of dryers out here. I need to put aside at least 2 hours to do laundry. I also have to do laundry in smaller quantities, unlike my fellow Americans who I recall getting it all done on a Sunday afternoon after waking up with a bad hang over. 

It's terrible, and yes I sound very American right now, but I'm honest. I miss my tumble dryer. 

I get weekends off

So I started a new job.. it's only gona last for 5 weeks. Then I need to pack up and find something new. My new appreciation: stability. I've lived in 3 different places in the past 2 months not including hostels.

Yet, despite my own instability with moving, I've learned to find much more stability with friends and lifestyle. It is damn hard to trust people out here. I'm not sure who to tell things to or how to know who knows what. Everyone is damn too fake friendly here, and the problem is, that since everyone is nice, I can't separate the good from the bad. I use to be a person that trusted first until I lost their trust, but I think I threw all my eggs in one basket and now I can't seem to trust anyone... except you Al. 

Right now, I live with one of the chefs from the pub I use to work at. He's lovely. He's a young handsome 24 year old South African dude who is also married and has a little baby girl. His wife and daughter moved to Australia to start a new life, he leaves to join them in about 2 months. He misses them, I can tell by the hours he spends speaking to his wife and kid on skype every night. I also live with his wife's cousin, another South African. He owns the flat actually. I'm not sure how to describe him without making him sound too stereotypically nerdy, so I won't even try. He's a computer technician who loves movies and IKEA. He never goes out and often talks too much, but he has a good heart and makes the best damn tea.... milk and a small small dosage of sugar... if any. Anywho, it's us three, plus another one of his friend's who is currently having problems with his wife and so usually stays over at the flat Mondays- Wednesdays. 

I've not been home much this week to see my flatmates however, I've been running around London actually enjoying myself for once! Thursday, Jeanie bought us tickets to see a dance performance in central London. I booked out of work early and met up with her to get some yummy cocktails before the show! I fell in love with one of the dancers, Francisco Cruz! Yikes, that dude was cruzin' through my head that night! haha, just kidding, I really just wanted the opporotunity to make stupid joke.. nah, peep this show: SHOW PEEPIN, and MORE SHOW PEEPING!!! 

I now look back and realize how wild this trip as been. I feel like I've been in London for ages and it's only been a little over 2 months. I can finally say I feel emerged within the city and the people. I have no American friends out here beside Al, and even Al, I've not seen really. We are both busy working. I hope that she is getting out a but more now that she is working too. 

I got six bucks

Yikes, I checked my account today... 6 dollars and 18 cents.. werd I am just gliding by. 

Na, I'm ok actually, because despite how terrible that sounds, I have about 10 pounds in cash, so that's like, almost 20 pounds. Eh, I don't think I'm going to touch my account money though. Got to play is safe! I was tempted to call my mother , but maybe not. 

The new job is going alright. I work long days. It's funny, I really feel like an immigrant and then I realize, I kinda am. The front page of the newspaper this morning said, X amount (something million) of immigrants had jobs in the UK. Yikes, and there I was, on the tube, with every cover of every newspaper plastered towards my face as I sat on a crowded train of Londoners heading to work... including me. I felt awkward. I realized, geeze, the media is pretty powerful aye?! I sat there thinking for a bit, dude I'm the immigrant messing up the economy. That's not the case, (it was really the dude next to me who's been messing it all up), but yeah, for a second, it hit me. It must be scary to be in New York City or Chicago or somewhere right now where people are losing their jobs and blaming it on the "immigrants."

I finally moved out of my old flat. The pub, it was a nice one, but not the place for me really. I loved the people that lived there and worked there, but the flat itself was not for me or anyone who is really trying to focus on getting down to the nitty gritty. I need to be honest, mad people do drugs here. I'm not talking about weed or cigaretts or alchole or tabacco, I mean serious drugs. I walked into the living room my last day at the pub and two of my flatmates were sniffing lines of coke. The week before it was extascy. I found one of them still sitting in the same position I left him the night before. He hadn't slept. He was just sitting on the couch, dead still, smoking a fag. 

So I was able to move out last night. I moved in to a 4 bedroom flat out in Mitcham. It's a nice flat, but it's a bit far from central London. Ah, it's super late, I need to go to bed. 

New job

I think I need to not try and update everyone on what happened and just kinda start from where I am now...

It's been rough... not going to lie... I have been working at two pubs, working in two different environments, both very British environments, nonetheless, very different. 

My first pub, the original one I applied to work at is very cute, architecturally pleasing to the eye. It's a cozy little pub over on a street called Lillie Shall Road over in Clapham. Clapham, which use to be "a bit doggy" maybe 10 years ago, is now one of the more affluent areas to live in Central London, which means, the customers that come into the pubis a mix of both lower class and upper class residents. The new money coming into the neighborhood brings a lot of blue collar workers in at lunch time that work construction jobs during the day. It also brings in the very posh groups that live now in the mansionettes all along the side roads. The is both old money and new money. It's a great mix of culture and I love watching and speaking and serving the regulars that come into the pub. I really felt at home for the past month or so working there. The working staff there however, has been another story. Nina, the manager at the pub is a lovely young woman, in her mid 20's, she may seem like a typical blond, at at times she is. However, she has a good heart, but brings too many of her personal problems to the pub. I guess it would be hard not to, she lives right above the pub. Now that Scottish chef dude realized I was not feeling him the way he was digging me, he started hooking up with Nina and since then I've actually felt a big awkward about the whole situation. Imagine, your boss is hooking up with the one of the chefs, the chef that made it obvious to even the morning cleaning lady, that he was infatuated with me. Maybe I'm just jealous I'm not getting the attention anymore. Maybe I just feel like I've lost a friend? Maybe both. Nina came up to me one day after I broke down at work. We had a good chat, and at the end of the day, she came up to me and said, "Look, I'm not sure what your relationship is like with Scottish dude, but he made it pretty clear that you're not interested in him, and I was wondering if it would be okay with you that if something happened between me and him, it would be okay with you." Wowzers, talk about Jerry Springer. 

Also at my pub is the assistant manager, Ian. Ian is originally from Sicily, but is one of the most poshy sounding British dudes I've met. He tries to put on this older man persona and high authority type "I'm in charge" attitude, but he's one of the clumsiest people I've met. He thinks he's a flare bartender and breaks glasses all the time trying to flip cups and do tricks with all the glasses and bottles behind the bar. His goal is to be a personal trainer but is thin as a rail. He has a good heart, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel a bit patronized working with him, Ian is always right. 

Tess, one of the three bartenders that works there, besides the two managers. She currently dates Ian. Tess, currently getting herself through Uni, is one of the sweetest women face value. Again, she can at times speak to you as if you are nothing more than a can of worms. It's been hard working with Tess and Ian who seem to live these cute little lives. I love them both, don't get me wrong, but I guess it's weird for me as a complete outsider to come into the picture. For one, I take things to the heart here more than back in NYC. I'm more vulnerable because I hardly know anyone that well. And to be honest, it's hard trying to come in as an American into a super English pub and try and work. I don't care what anyone tells me, the culture is completely different!!!

Imagine you were once living a life of loud music in the mornings and at night from cars driving down the block listening to 50 cent. Living off eating rice and beans, Chinese food, sandwiches and burgers. Speaking to people really quickly and always being in a rush to do things. Then imagine leaving and starting a life where the streets are as quiet as a random road in upstate New York in the middle of winter when it's too dangerous to drive because of the snow. My diet has changed to eating less vegetables and more bland food. Seriously, British food does suck. Fish and chips doesn't fly when it's all the time. Steak and ale pie, sausage and mash, Sunday roasts... ehh, they eat a lot of red meat and my body is totally not use to it. Speaking to people has really taught me to slow down when speaking. I honestly didn't understand a damn thing anyone said to me when I first got here. Sometimes I still don't. The difference is, they all understand me and don't understand that an American accent sounds more natural because of all our damn media that gets streamed out here. Every movie out in the cinemas here is American. Family guy, Seinfield, the Simpsons, Friends... you name it, they watch it. What show besides Frasier do I actually hear a British accent from?! And remember, Fraiser is still an American show. 

No, I do love my pub. Jeanie, the other bartender hired at the same time I was is the one person since my homie plumber dude I've been able to really connect to out here. She is truly a gem. She's Australian, but came here with a different ambition that the majority of Australians I've met. She has her head together, doesn't do drugs and really took the time to listen to me and get to know me. We've both opened up to each other and she is a really beautiful person. It's hard, I had a hard time trusting her at first. She's just so nice and I really don't know people out here. It's also difficult because I think Americans are so out of touch with the rest of the world sometimes that it's hard for me as an American to shmooze with other people here because we think differently. Jeanie and Nina have really started a good friendship and get along a lot better than Nina and I do. Jeanie is just very care free, and laughs at almost everything. I on the other hand, feel a bit more reserved with people. I think it's something I need to break out of. I'm letting society get the best of me. Socially, it's expected to see Aussies running about London working. They have communities out here. They go and party and live together. Besides Al and some students from Syracuse University London Program, I don't know a damn American soul out here... which is great! But it gets to me at times that no one gets my sense of humor or my personality. Maybe I'm over analyzing everything and people here love me to bits, I'm not sure. 

But, luckily, I've landed myself a new job! Well, for the next 5 weeks. It's a production job for a company out in Central London. I will be a runner for 5 weeks for a company located in Soho. It's a company I've had my eye on since before I stepped foot in the UK. I attempted to reach out to them while I was still in New York and never received a response, so I decided to look up the CEO of the company on facebook and sent him a lovely message explaining out ridiculous he might think I am for writing to him in such an informal way, but that I loved the company at face value and wanted to learn more. If nothing else, I just wanted to chat with him and make a contact. A month passed since I wrote him, and about 2 weeks ago, he got back to me. He said in a message "Let's meet up, you could be some use to me." We met and spoke for about an hour. Lovely dude, has an eye for perfection and originality. The dude has dough! But I like his swag. Anyway, we ended the conversation with him implying that despite his lack of job openings at the moment, he would keep me in mind for anything that popped up. A week later, the facilities direction emailed me and offered me a 5 week job as a runner. She stressed the job was beneath me, but it was something. To be honest, I'm way better than the job I will be doing, but it's a foot in the door, and starting tomorrow, I will be busting my butt, making contacts and seeing what I can do to make these 5 weeks, at least another 5 months here! 

So to sum up everything... I quit my bartending job Tuesday. I will be moving out of the pub tomorrow or Tuesday and will be working in Central london for the next 5 weeks, with no promise of a future in the company, but then again, when has fear stopped me from doing anything since I hopped on that plane? 

More updates to come... 

I'm definitely not European!

Oh it wasn't that much, compared to something like Syracuse snow or the big New York Snow Storm of 1996, but it was enough to keep every single person from even trying to get to work Monday morning. It was ridiculous. I really found out how American, or New Yorker I am. Unlike Scottish dude who had to pass out on the coach that night because there was no transpertation means to get him back, I woke up panicking on trying to figure out how the hell to get to work! Scottish dude was like, "ah no biggie, guess we're not going to work! Pop open the beer!" I thought he was so lazy! How dare he not even try or care about getting to work! The funny thing... I was obviously the only one that cared! No one went to work! And everyone came to my pub. I wanted to run in the snow and make snow men and drink hot tea and do nothing, but I didnt. 

My manager finally contacted me and told me the other chef would pick up Scottish dude and myself... I had to work.

Catch up, Ketchup, Tomato Sauce

To sum it up, since the Superbowl, I've been been through my own illness, helping others with their own illnesses, two people cracked their ribs, there are sexual secrets going on in my pub, I might get kicked out of my living arrangements in the next week or two, a new job opportunity came up for me, I have no money, the biggest snow storm in the past 20 years hit London last Monday, and I finally realized how American I really am and there's really no escaping it. 

Like I said, Superbowl Sunday for me was wonderful! Everyone was really respectful of my little sports celebration and I got a couple people to really appreciate American sports more. I think Bruce Springsteen's camera crotch crash was the highlight however. Other's agreed. I was rooting for the Cardinals to be honest, even though I'm a Giants fan, which I guess I would root then for the Steelers, but I really can't stand Ben Roethlisberger, so I just decided to go for the underdog. To be honest, I like everyone else on the Steelers. Troy Polamalu's hair is an absolute masterpiece, and for that itself, I love him. But as for Roethlisberger, I mean, the dude looks like a block of cheese. Plus, his attitude is like a super no no! So, I rooted for the Cardinals... great game till they lost. Oh well, my Giants will still hold the memories of the ultimate and best Superbowl for years to come! I don't think Europeans understand the intensity in American sports as we do. I think it was a bit shocking for some of my mates to see me screaming at a television for a team I wouldn't really care for any other day of the week. But hey, it's the Superbowl. 

I didn't disappear for good!!!

I've been extremely sick.... and working my butt off... 

things are getting complicated... 

i will cover it more in this week.... 

I am trying to get over some stupid flu/cold/sick/thing... 

....may have a new job!!!! 

American Football and Chili Dogs

I watched the Cardinals lose munching on what was supposed to be an All American meal- Cheese Chili Dogs! It was good fun... my flatmates had the Superbowl on and we ate like Americans and drank like Americans. It snowed a lot... i'll post the pictures tomorrow. 

It was weird to be here, watching the commentary of the game and no commercials. I miss my American commercials. They had the same 3 commercials on the whole game. A Dominoes Pizza 555 deal, some cheerleader commercial for something, and I don't remember the 3rd one, I just know it was there. 

My flatmates really enjoyed the game. I think I'm starting to get them to really appreciate American culture. I think I'm actually getting a lot of people to appreciate Americans a bit more. For those who are more oblivious, Americans are not really liked in other parts of the world. I get joked on or ridiculed pretty often for being an American still, and these are with people that I know and serve at the pub. Today however, it was my day, Superbowl Sunday, and to be honest, a lot of my British regulars at the pub asked me "Oh, who are you going for?" "Are you excited about the game tonight?" It's nice to see they care a bit and I think a bit interested in what I have to say and what I think about things here in London. 

The snow is amazing! I'm going out to make snow angels! 

I'm friends with an ex-convict?!

We'll despite him being found not guilty, his named is ruined in Scotland and thus, he moved to London and is now my one of my best homies and chef at my pub. My Scottish homie chef and I had a heart to heart last night. I basically asked him why he came to London. He's been through a lot. I can tell he's been through a lot simply from all the scars all over his body, especially on his head. He always tells me, "you're such a breath of fresh air" "you're absolutely darling"- He explained to me, the people in Scotland he hung around did a lot of drugs and drank a lot and he came here to get away from all that. (Mind you, he's told me he's calmed down his drinking habits, but I think he's mad! He drinks sooo much and well, I've never really seen someone drink as much as he does.) Think of a Scottish Popeye without the "gugugug" laugh and a pint of beer as spinach. 

What's wild about the whole thing, I looked his name up and this dude's name is seriously ruined. There's articles about him for years. His face was plastered as a murder for over a year in Scotland. I even found an article about him in USA Today! Poor dude is a mess though. He was basically there when he watched another person kill a friend of his. It was a dispute over a woman and things got ugly one night. The woman smashed a bottle in the guy's face and killed him. My Scottish dude witnessed the whole thing. He watched someone die in front of him and spent a year in prison. He's only told two people his story since he's arrived here, the other chef he works with in the kitchen and myself. He went to see a psychiatrist today to talk about everything and to get help. Mentally, he's not been well. I can't even imagine. He has a good heart though and that's what matters. I told him about my situation out here... and he's been really understanding. He even tried to get Al a job at his sister's pub. He's a good dude. It's crazy the people you meet when you travel. Scottish dude wants to write a book about all the stuff he's been through. I told him I would help. Maybe it could be called Trainspotting 2.

It's everywhere

The owner of the pub I work at wants the managers to cut people's hours. The credit crunch hit everyone. I tried to be a pleasant little bumble of joy today and I brought in some croissants and fruit for the everyone.  But I think I take people too seriously, and I just felt at times that people I worked with were talking down to me. On top of that, it was such a stressful day at work. There was a leak in the pipes and I got rubbish pipe stuff all over me in the morning. 

It was one of those days. I think it hit me today how alone I really am out here now. At least before, I had Al living with me so I could come home and talk to her about my issues and stresses. But I don't live with her anymore. My plumber homie was my only other real friend I had here, and now his wife or whatever thinks I'm shagging her man, so I can't even call him! Damn broad pissed me off! I actually feel really bad for her, because I don't think she'll ever trust plumber dude, and he's actually a really nice guy. He actually told me he wanted to work things out with the threatening mad woman just for his little girl's sake. But anyway, it's not about them, this is about me... So yeah, I really take things to heart here as well. Apart from being alone here,  I get really sensitive knowing I'm not from here. I feel like an outsider at times, and then when customers at the pub are rude to me, I take it personally. I don't know why, in New York when I dealt with rude mo fo's, I just brushed it off, but here, especially today, I really took things to heart. And it was at the point where it really bothered me the most, when I realized, I am so alone out here! YIKES. I mean, yea I have great flatmates, but at the end of the day, they still have lives that have nothing to do with me. I'm not part of their system yet, or enough for them to care about me and wait up for me, to hear about my day and know that I got home safely. 

I do think I'm taking strides however. I am still happy. I just realized new things about myself I didn't know. I like coming home with that security of knowing there's someone home to listen to you and care. Peter is almost like that, but not enough. Plumber dude was that, but not anymore. Al is I'm sure struggling herself. Although she has a hot room now that I moved out. FYI, Hugo is a terrible flatmate now- he uses up 8 thousand shelves in the fridge for his food, mind you, there's 3 other people living in the flat! Poor Al. 

No way Jose!

My flatmates are so messy! AHH. See, I'm kinda on the neat side and well, they aren't! 

Peter got wasted the other night, like super wasted. The British word for wasted is pissed, which confuses the hell out of me because I use to think everyone was a really angry drinker.

Yeah, and everything got thrown all over the place and well, it's still all over the place. 

He did buy everyone Krispy Kremes this morning though, so I mean, I guess I can overlook the huge mess in the living room, bathroom and shower. Damn those Krispy Kremes, they're everywhere!

I've become really passive to the British accent these past couple weeks. I honestly don't even notice it and I think it's making me less conscious of my own accent so my New York accent is coming back a lot stronger and everyday this week I've been asked where I'm from.

So wild story but I need to explain this...

I'm a bit of a risk-taker (not sure if you noticed) and in my ridiculous efforts to try and stay in this country, I decided to email some companies I thought would be interested in sponsoring a gal like me. In my research efforts, I stubbled across a certain media company and basically feel in love with them! I had emailed them once before and never heard back from them. So about a month ago, I tried again, but this time, I thought I would try and directly contact the CEO of the company. Unfortunately, his email was not easily accessible to the public, aka me. So, I turned to my stalker practices on good ol' Facebook, and lo and behold, the CEO of the company had a profile. Now, before you jump to conclusions, I want to make it clear that I hesitated to contact him this way, I actually just wanted to see if his email was viewable on his profile; it wasn't. So yes, I sent him a facebook message explaining who I was and that I loved his company. I've been feeling like an idiot for a month now, until just a couple days ago. TELL ME HOW DUDE CONTACTED ME BACK!? I'm still flipping out about the whole thing. I just met with him the other day and he explained that he's trying to branch his company to New York and LA! He's forwarding my resume to the head of his production department, and we shall see where this leads. Honestly, dude made my time here that much better just by answering my message. If nothing else, I made a contact out here, and well, I just feel like anything is possible after he contacted me back. 

I work all day tomorrow... AHH, but I'm still happy! 

(still trying to load cribs london to youtube... don't think I forgot!)

I'm happy!

I am Happy. Just simply living and happy. I have no agenda and it's amazing! I have fully engulfed myself- living in Zone 3. Working in Zone 2. Meeting interesting people. Seeing interesting things. Getting interesting phone calls. 

My friend A.D. who works at the pub I live above just lent me some music. He is a professional drummer and lent me all these crazy rock groups... they are good! I'm rocking out as I type! I also asked him for some posters to put up in my room, so he gave me some posters he had lying around, which makes my room quite interesting. Peter already left a stupid mulled wine poster at my door the morning after I threw up from drinking too much wine. YUCK... (I will get into that in a bit... ) So now I have hanging on my walls, A mulled wine poster hanging next to a rock group named AMEN.

Back to me throwing up... No it was nothing like THIS. It was like a cat throwing up a hair ball, like a straight gag outa nowhere and it was all out. I was fine really. I went with Al to get a couple drinks, but to be honest, I am such a light weight out here. People drink so much out here! British, Scottish, Irish, Australian... AYE! they all drink like crazy people... I had two glasses of wine and a big cocktail drink and went to bed about 2 hours later. I really don't remember how long I was asleep for, but I only recall waking up and just puking. I couldn't even hold it in to get to a garbage or toilet or anything. Disgusting... It was like red yuckiness! 

But yeah, like I said, I'm happy!

I am a Westender

I watched it on a small television in my pub, but nonetheless, I was able to catch our 44th president get sworn into office. It was amazing. It was all over the newspapers here. Everyone in London is happy with Obama. Every paper had it's front page with Obama. 

Today they were talking about it in the pub. It makes me laugh to myself because I hear a lot of my customers talk about Americans this and Americans that... and it isn't until they hear me speak, do they shut up. 

Na honestly, it's been great to speak to my customers about cultural differences and how they feel about America. To be honest, it's wild, but I'm the first American some of these people have ever met or befriended. 

I work pretty far out from Central London, which is nice and kind of what I wanted. I like that everywhere I go I hear a British accent. I love that my customers nag me for my accent and joke with me about things. I almost feel like they are just as excited as I am to be here. 

I really love my flatmates. Peter is my favorite... we often watch season two episodes of Dexter before going to bed. He looks out for me a lot. 

I also realized that I am now fully engulfed in this country. I am a true Londoner. I had a phone call from my homie plumber dude's girlfriend. She threatened me because she thought plumber homie was cheating on her with me! AHH geeze, it was baby mama drama to the max! Plumber dude has a kid and is trying to work things out with the mother. But somehow she got my phone number and called me screaming and cursing up a storm! I told my manager because the phone call stressed me out. She told me, "I don't even have to watch Eastenders now!" 

SOO TIREDD!!!

TOMORROW INAUGURATION! The newspapers made a big deal about it here.. I think everyone is pretty happy about Obama here.. 

I will have full coverage tomorrow after work!!!

What would be better...

Honestly, I am happy. 

I've hit this point in my life. I feel amazing. I am making rubbish money. I am doing rubbish work. And I feel absolutely amazing. 

I'm working at a pub and living above another one. 

I now live with two Australians who drink way too much but are just so sweet and an English guy who is one of the funniest and most pleasant people to be around. He's kind of like this older brother to me. 

We watched Dexter tonight. He has all of season two on bootleg. Na, I'll call my English dude Peter. He's awesome. He recently went to Boston and now has all this stupid ugly Red Sox memorabilia. Knowing that I'm not cool with the whole Boston thing, I woke up this morning, to find a huge Red Sox towel hanging on his door. Now every time I leave my room, I see this American sign of stupidity and evilness hanging on my flatmate's door.

I really am just living an alternative life. It's amazing how different your life can be just across the pond, or anywhere for that matter. I mean, I feel the same, but I have just met the greatest people who are just making this whole journey a whole lot better and much more interesting. Take my two Chef's at the pub. One is from South Africa and the other is Scottish. Both young dudes. The South African is married and has a kid. He has a beautiful heart. I can tell he's not happy in London. He told me yesterday he's not and he's actually flying his wife and kid to New Zealand so they can set up a new life there. He'll be working at the pub for a while however, because he needs to save money. I can see the anguish in his eyes when he talks about it. I don't know how well he will be, living without his wife and kid for such a long period of time. 

The Scottish dude is awesome as well, but he drinks too much. It's funny I can understand him really. He has the roughest accent. Al didn't even understand him. I don't think many people do, but I do. I don't even understand British accents. He makes me the best meals at work. Which is great because I'm always hungry! I'm actually just thankful I can eat again! I have been full everyday this week! It's glorious, my stomach feels like I'm back home. 

Today I had a rough day at work. It was really busy and hardly any help. I felt my manager was a little rough on me, then again, I'm not sure I can take her seriously at this point, she's going through a rough breakup with her ex-boyfriend who she's been with for two and a half years. YIKES. She's going to Egypt next Tuesday for vacation. 

My Scottish homie chef made me feel better after work however, and told me to keep my chin up. 

I saw two foxes on my walk home from the bus. TWO! I was like.. wat the... ?! 

Things are good... I am happy. 

My internet is working now! More daily blogs to come! Cheers

So far so good

So to now fill people in...

I started working at a pub, a real cute one! They have a lot of regulars (which I like about it most.) 

There's this guy Michael. He's a little crinkled old man. He uses a walker with wheels to get around. He wears the same red wind breaker jacket everyday. His face is red from drinking. He can't hear very well either. 

Michael sits in the same seat everyday with his Guinness. He looks around or watches television, but he comes in so often, it bothers me when someone is sitting in his seat when he arrives. 

I've been opening the door for him when he leaves at night, and the other day he looked at me and said, "hey I don't know you" "Yeah, I'm new here, I'm Sarina" I tried to lean down close enough for him to hear me without struggling. "Oh, well hi. I like to come in here and drink Guinness, thanks for helping me." 

There's also another group of regulars that stand on the left side of the bar and play a game called Shove Ha'penny. About four guys play, two are brothers. They drink Fosters and bring their own peanuts. They are Chelsea fans. I like them a lot.

It's weird being an outsider working at a bar. I don't know all the beers. I can't understand pronunciations. Half the time I just pretend I'm deaf so I can get customers to repeat themselves. Other times I try and trace their eyes to which beer they want and then guess. It will get better. 

I am also doing a live-in position. I will be living above another pub not too far from the one I work at. I'll live with two Australians and one English guy. All young. They seem like good people who like to drink, which I can handle. I'm supposed to move in Saturday. 

Tonight I am going to a Chelsea match. It's against Southend- and I will be going to the away team's stadium. Should be interesting.

I'm starting to lose my New York Accent

               
I like my accent, it makes me different and stand out.

But I definitely lose it at times.

It's been a month since I landed in London. 

To be honest, I have to pat myself on the back. 

I've been on non stop since arriving and it's only now coming together. 

It's really not easy to just pick up and leave. 

But nonetheless, I am happy. 

I'm learning.

Say I did things the "easy way" I might have taken the first job I was offered.

Which may or may not have been the best fit for me. 

I really think people that decide to just pick up and leave to a new country need to buy a 80 packet of red bull or these energy drinks because I'm exhausted! 

So far, I've made some really great friends out here. 

Our plumber homie especially. 

He's been there for Al and I every single time. 

It's amazing how you can just pop into someone's life unexpectedly and turn out to be a prominent person in their life as a whole. In the case of our homie plumber, he's not only helped Al and I with advice and food and things of that nature, but he actually calls us to hear about our progress. We are actually going to the Chelsea match this Wednesday together! 

I noticed today on the bus how weak the pound is getting. The pound, usually being one of the stronger currencies, has noticeably dropped it's value. The euro is actually almost the same in value. Anyway, you can tell how weak the pound is because all I see and hear on the bus are a bunch of Spanish speaking Europeans from Spain and a bunch of shiny jacket gucci sunglass wearing Italians. They are all over now that the pound is down. 

One of the managers at the pub (I may or may not be working at) made a comment about how lucky he was with hiring staff this year. Since the pound is down and the economy is so weak here, he's had a higher standard of people coming in looking for work. He said usually he gets a bunch of Polish and Romanian people coming in, but since the pound isn't as strong, they aren't as many looking for work. 

Isn't it amazing how people work and send money home? Imagine kind of traveling ever year to a different country where the currency is stronger in order to make a profit working. Maybe I should look into doing that to pay of my student loans. 

One thing I can't stand about being in Europe is the smell of cigarette smokers. It's everywhere. It's not as bad since they placed a ban on smoking indoors, but it's still pretty bad. 

I'm still having trouble understanding accents. 

Americans need to learn more global geography and Europeans need to stop looking at Americans as stupid for not knowing it. Unlike you Europeans, we aren't bordered by 10 different countries. 

Every European listens and loves American music. Then again, what do you expect, we have amazing music!

I can still spot an American from a mile away. We all look alike and carry ourselves the same way. I wonder if they can tell I'm American??

I'm really excited about my future in London over the next couple months! 

Also on the bus today... 

A dude threw up. He was like hiccuping, and then just kinda, threw up. It amazes me how much people drink out here. No one like goes to a bar and has one drink, people have like 10 drinks! It's Sunday and people are on the bus throwing up from drinking!? Like, dude, you have work tomorrow mate! 

FYI: We have a new flat-mate and his name is Hugo. He's Portuguese. 

I felt bad for him. He moved in earlier today. I opened the door and he introduces himself, "Hi, I'm Hugo, I am from Portugal."  I didn't know what to say really, so I told him to come in and wait in the kitchen until our landlord came to set him up in the flat. Ahh, the poor dude was just sitting in the kitchen. Like, he really listened to me and didn't move. Poor Hugo.  

Chelsea VS Man U

Tomorrow is the big match! And I'm excited!

I'll be doing a shift tomorrow but I think that makes it even more exciting because I'll be in the middle of it all...(not the middle of the soccer field, but you know what I meant) (FYI: I'm still not giving full details on work until it's been sorted out! Sorry)

I did a trial shift today and it was funny. I never saw myself working behind the bar before, but I was! I was just making drinks, serving Ale and making mistakes! It was marvelous! I literally was learning and pretending I knew at the same time. I was embarrassed because I never really poured an Ale from a tap before, and wowzers do you need some arm strength for that! I feel great though, because I really learned a lot.

Chips are fries. Crisps are Chips. 

Aye Aye Aye! I was a mess but it went well apparently!

People bought me drinks which was nice too... 

The most interesting thing I found, was the way I started to say things with a British accent. 

It was only some words or like the Ale's especially! Ale's aren't really popular where I'm from. People just like their Coronas and Guiness' and Heinekens. Nothing too crazy. So since it was the first time I was saying some of these Ale names, I learned to say them with a British accent. Which kinda weirded me out! Here I was offering one dude a "cough-fee" and another dude a Deuchars IPA,  pronounced "aye pee eya" 

I took the bus home after, everyone was drunk. Two dudes were drinking bottles of Beck's on the bus. One guy had some fries and was offering them to other people. He later ended up falling on the floor and spilling his fries all over him. He actually fell because he was on his cell phone and he couldn't hold on because he had his fries in his other hand. Despite his fall, he kept his conversation on the phone completely normal! He was applauded on the bus for his graceful but not so graceful fall. 

Police in London are way too polite too. If I wasn't so tired after my shift, I think I would have appreciated the situation more. A dude on the bus gave the bus driver a problem before she pulled away, so she grabbed two police officers and told them to kick the guy off the bus. Now, not to hate on London Police officers, but yo, if that happened in New York City, the dude would have been thrown in jail by now. It took the cops 10 minutes to ask the misbehaving dude to get off the bus. And for such a hostile moment, the conversation sounded nicer than a couple arguing about what wall paper to put up in the living room. Literally, the argument between the two officers and the young man went on for a good 10 minutes and the officers were being so polite. "Please sir, the bus driver requested that you get off this bus, we are going to have to escort you off this bus right now." Like bro, you're the cops, just take the dude off! It prolonged so much, it kinda reminded me of this: REMINDER

Baby It's cold outside!

It's been really really cold here in London. Not to take away from all you Americans who are facing negative temperatures and high winds and icy roads. (I honestly don't have it that bad) But it's funny, because London doesn't get very cold, so having temps in the 20's has been an issue for my fellow Londoners.

As far as my updates, I will be bluntly honest, I've been trying to upload my Cribs London video for the past 3 days and it's taking forever to load to youtube... it's half way done... so who knows really what will happen with that?!

Theme Park Guy was very interesting, I don't know how he has so much money, but basically, I was one of his favorite 3 people so I ironically will be tutoring him in English. Apparently, he said "I like your simplify-message, your English and your international background." So on top of me, he is also hiring two other dudes, one British guy and one Australian. It will be interesting.

I have been working on getting some work, but I haven't spoken about it, so i don't jinx anything!!! So bear with me, I will explain it all when it's all said and done...

For now, until cribs loads, enjoy some pictures I loaded of my cute little neighborhood!

MY HOOD

Quick update more to come!!

I have had limited internet access this week thus, my lack of blogging and fun pictures and random references to Family Guy.

Quick update which I will gladly elaborate on later...

I've been doing a lot of trial shifts, trying to stay on my grind.

It's true, I've been pretty bummed about things!

I still love 80's music...

I will start writing for an online media website this coming week which is good!

The interview with theme park guy went really well!

THEME PARK GUY CALLED ME!!!!

I really am starting to feel like Ron Burgundy when he loses his mind...

I just turned down that au pair position with that family. Probably the stupidest choice I've made so far in my life. I need to start listening to my own heart instead of what people think I feel or think I should do. 

I asked a lot of people about my decision and I had a really large mix of opinions and I guess it made it a lot more difficult for me to decide. It's funny, I still remember leaving that interview and getting to the train station and just wanting to cry. I knew I had to take it, I was just scared about the move into a family's house I hardly knew anything about. Yet, I was still more than willing to try it. I could have done that and I would have been fine and happy and I would have worked things out. But I turned it down for some odd reason I'm still trying to figure out in my head. Not only was that the only employer thus far that was cool with the fact I had no bank account in the UK, they were going to deposit the money directly into my US account. They were also cool with the fact that I could only work for 5 months (for visa reasons, my need to leave the country) and were even willing to help me figure out a way to extend it. 

I turned it down. 

I told her that I wasn't sure I could commit to her for 5 months because I felt I should start looking for employers that would sponsor me for a longer period of time and I wouldn't feel right leaving her family before the 5 months were complete. It wouldn't be fair.

OMG, what was I thinking, no one is going to hire me!!? Have you seen the economy?! 

Spain

England

USA

I need to start listening to myself. It's fine, I need to just get past this. 

My issue is, I know nothing is going to give me what that family was willing to offer me. I can't be picky at a time like this. 

On a lighter note, Theme park guy randomly called me back. I'm meeting with him on Thursday. 

I also have 5 other interviews to go on, although I'm this close to calling them all off by explaining my situation so they can all just tell me to go home. What did I just do? 

YIKES! 

I need more 80s music... 

I wish I was Australian

Australians just get everything they want... 

They have their own country, their own continent, they can get a visa in a day and they make it on to cool websites like this one: COOL WEBSITE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS BLOG

I am struggling people. This is not an easy task. Do not try this at home. 

I just threw away a great opportunity to stay in the country with this family. 

I turned it down, well I am tomorrow when I call the woman back. 

Basically, I called immigration today and they told me there is NO POSSIBLE way of getting a visa unless I went back to the US. The only way I can get a visa by not leaving is if I get sponsored. 

It's a catch 22. In order to get work here, I need a visa, and in order to get a visa here, I need to get work. Why do they make things so complicated. My mom says it's because of 9/11, but I feel like everyone uses that excuse. Couldn't they just say they don't like Americans? The French do it.

Oh, and about the people that moved into my flat! I don't where they went or if they shrunk since yesterday, but Al and I have no idea if they are even still living here! Last night I had a sneezing attack and I went upstairs to blow my nose and I think I woke them up in the process. When I went to lie down, I could hear them talking loudly and I thought, Hm, maybe they are trying to get back at me for waking me up by trying to keep me from falling back asleep... but that failed! Hello, I'm from the Bronx, noise is my lullaby! I don't know what their current status is, their light hasn't been on in a good 24 hrs. Unless they're mimes for fun, I haven't heard a peep from their room. 

Oh, and by the way... I LOVE 80's MUSIC!!!

Dont You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds

Alleluia!

I went to Church today to pray about my decision with all this stuff... 

I've had a stressful time deciding on what to do. 

I figured I could think about it better at Church. I was kinda hoping for some type of sign on what to do when the wildest thing happened... the priest started talking about leaving your comfort zone and traveling and exploring and taking chances!! Like, talk about a sign?! I mean, I took the homily completely out of context, the priest was actually referring to the Three Kings traveling to see baby Jesus, but still, I was just so flabbergasted. I was like... OMG I'ma take care of Jesus!

Haha, okay okay, I'm not that special, but it did make me feel better about everything. 

I'm not going to be making a lot of money. I am going to have to give up a bit, but you know what... it's something different and new and that's what I wanted. Plus... my mom said why not! So... the woman is going to call me tomorrow to tell me if she wants me for the position. I'm going to be calling the Embassy for a visa. And Al is going to figure out who moved into the flat... because someone definitely did... and they're supposedly short... real short. Nothing against short people, but hey, when you're short, people are going to notice. 

FYI: The Theme Park Guy never called me back...  

Fran Dresser Moves to London

It never crossed my mind to apply to something like this, but I did. 

I didn't expect any response back, but I got one. 

I applied for a live-in "Au Pair" position. 

Basically, I would live with a family and help look after their kid as well as help around the house. 

My housing would be completely covered. I would have my own room with a bathroom and tv.. blah blah blah.

The pay sucks, but my expenses would be a lot lower having my housing covered. 

Ah, and here is where things get difficult. 

I decided I wasn't going to wait around for the job I thought I initially got since the dude never called me back. 

But, being a nanny was never my intention. It would be a year commitment, although I'm going to see if I can cut it down from that. I mean, this would really just buy me sometime with my visa thing. 

The pros to this are, I'm gaining a ridiculous life experience plus, the family might be a really great family and what's it going to really do me if I decide to stay for 6 months to a year? Another thing, I didn't come here for the money, I came here to leave New York and get another perspective. I'm going into media, if I am going to be anything of an influencer, I think I should engulf myself with a different and new culture don't you? 

The cons are I am going to be their slave, and I am scared that I really would be. The hours are supposed to be 30-35 a week, but I'm scared that might stretch out to more. Yikes! Maybe the family is evil? Maybe I can't stand someone in the house, maybe they can't stand me? This would be quite a culture shock for me! Maybe the little boy is the devil! AHHH

What it comes down to is, what am I doing!? 

I need to decide by tomorrow but I'm going to try and ask for an extra day to really think this one through! 

This is a really big commitment for me, and I'm just not sure what to really do about it. 

HAHA, imagine me, mary poppins?! I thought usually it was the other way around, sending a british woman to watch american kids, haha, this could get ugly. 

What a Fella!

Yes there is a reason I haven't mentioned anything about men in my blogs. Oh, I've met a number who are all fun and charming, but I think the cultural differences here make it a bit difficult for me.

Let's take my most recent encounter, an Italian named Francesco. (haha I would meet a Italian dude named Francesco.) He's got the look and the chivalry going for him, but the dude is wayyyyy too forward with women. For example, dude invited me to go out with his friends to a club called Koko later on tonight. I honestly wasn't planning on going out because I have an interview in the afternoon, so I texted him back suggesting we could meet sometime earlier (assuming we would get coffee or something of the sort).

He replies: "If you want I can meet you now...I'll be in my hotel in one hour... do you wanna come with me?"

Wowzers Francesco, take it easy!!! We just met! I hardly know how to spell your name!

I assumed that this was a cultural thing and he wasn't really intending for me to actually go up to his hotel, so I texted him back, "Well, Where is your hotel, I will be heading to Covent Garden in a couple hours, would you like to meet me there?"

Francsco: "My hotel is at _____ on the grey line, if you want I can meet you at the station and we can go in the hotel... it's ok for you?"

HAHAHAHAH WTF?! Aye ve Francesco.. "Oh, no I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to go to meet you to go to your hotel with you. Sorry!"

Yea and that's just Francesco! No, it's been weird for Al and I to go out for drinks. We've made some great guy friends however!

Avoid the Jubilee Line for a couple days...

OMG... JUST IN!!! A WOMAN GIVES BIRTH IN A LONDON TUBE STATION!?

geeze... it was on the grey line too... 8 stops away from swiss cottage station! (maybe she gave birth as an excuse to not meet up with Francesco!?) 

FULL STORY: 

A Polish woman has become only the second person to give birth on London's Underground rail network since it opened 146 years ago, the capital's transport authority confirmed on Friday.Julia Kowalska was travelling with her sister on the network's Jubilee line on December 19 when her contractions started. She got off at Kingsbury, in northwest London, and gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the station supervisor's office, assisted by an ambulance crew. She was taken to the nearby Northwick Park Hospital and was discharged after four days, a hospital spokeswoman said. Brent Council, the local authority, said social workers were in contact with the woman, who was reported to be homeless. The only other birth recorded on the 275-station underground network happened in 1924 when Marie Cordery was born at Elephant & Castle, operator Transport for London said.

We need to figure out what to do with the Francesco's of the world... maybe we could learn a thing or two from this woman... she says no pretty well!