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...
1 comment:
An extremely thoughtful and interesting update. Keep up the good work loser.
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