It's been a while since I posted - December has been manic! The picture above is the front of the London Evening Standard - one of the free papers they have here. And yes, -6° made front page news! What I thought was the funniest part were the posters with headlines saying "The BIG freeze tonight!". I suppose that it is cold for London, but still. I don't think any of them would survive a day in Saskatchewan in December!

Moving on. As I said, December has been a very hectic month. Very busy at work with work in general and loads of Christmas parties. I had 3 Christmas parties for work alone and then a bunch of lunches out with clients. It kept us going I suppose but I felt battered by the end of it! I can't even begin to explain how much English people drink. But it's a cultural thing - as odd as that sounds. Going to the pub after work is as common as taking the tube.

Needless to say I was happy to have a couple days off at Christmas - just to get a break from it all really! I went out to Surrey to spend Christmas with Lou and her family. And as far as my first Christmas away from home, it was the best it could be!

We spent Christmas Eve at the pub - an English tradition from what I understand. Then Christmas day we went over to Lou's cousin's cottage (which was beautiful by the way) and just chatted over champagne and canapés. Then we went back to her's for a proper Christmas dinner. It was good but not near as good as back home.

An added bonus was that Mom got the family a webcam and I had a bit of a breakdown when I saw them! I think it was more than likely because I haven't physically seen Mom and Dad in close to six months. It was nice though - it almost felt like I was there. Not quite, but as close as we could get. Seeing all of you on Christmas Night was also a weird occurence - waving hello to everyone was a bit odd! But I managed.

I'm now back at work - and it's slowed down. There's very few people in the office so it's quite quiet. But I'm sure next week it'll start to pick up.

New Year's Eve is this week - a few friends and I are going out for dinner and then heading to the bridge to watch the fireworks. Should be a pretty tame way to ring in the New Year, but I'm happy with this choice!

Miss you all and hope you had a great Christmas and an even better New Year's!

baby please come home for christmas.

So it's been a few days since Lindsey left and I already miss her! Sunday was harder than I can begin to explain. It was the first time since I've been here (and in my life in general) that I've ever been homesick. I think bringing her here was awesome but I also knew that she was just gonna leave!

Now that we're in December, and Christmas is fast approaching, it gets harder being away from my friends and family. I am happy though. Work has been going really well and I love everybody I work with. And I've realised that December gets busier and busier as you get older. When you're a kid, you only have Christmas Eve to wait for. Now it's dinner parties, get togethers and work parties. And I'm not complaining!

This weekend I'm off to Surrey with Lou. Her parents are away in China so she's stealing their house for a dinner party. And I'm very excited! She's planned this crazy menu and I can't wait to try it all.

Anyway, I gotta head to work now! Just wanted to let you all know that I love you and miss you - now more than ever.

xx

time flies.

I can't believe it's already almost December! Where has the time even gone?

Lindsey is leaving tomorrow. We've had a fantastic time. We started with a trip to Paris and tired ourselves out for four days. On Day 1 we visited the Louvres, which was amazing. I can't even begin to understand how big it is. Just getting around the building took over 2 hours. I think Lindsey really enjoyed it, as did I. We topped off the day by trekking up the Cathedral of Notre Dame. And what a trek it was! We climbed what seemed to be endless stairwells but it was beautiful once we got to the top. We were promptly in bed by 9 that night - Paris had tired us out! But it didn't stop there. We went to Versailles for the day on Tuesday and than that night climbed up the Arc de Triomphe. It was beautiful. And tiring! I seriously don't think we've walked so much in 2 days before! The Wednesday was probably the highlight of our vacation. In true UnRuh style, we went out to EuroDisney for the day! It was amazing! Obviously it didn't really compare to California or Florida but it was still quite good. We capped it off by going to the Eiffel Tower. Absolutely amazing little vacation.

The rest of Lindsey's trip has been filled with lots of shopping, a couple of musicals (Avenue Q and Wicked), The Eye and the cinema. It's been great and I'm sad to see her leave tomorrow!

Can't wait to come home and visit eventually. It won't be for a while, but I'm still excited!

We're gonna finish today with a trip to Marks and Spencer and then heading to the cinema tonight.

Love and miss you all. xoxo

It has been a VERY long time since I've posted and I'm trying to recollect what's been going on since then. Work has been going great. It gets busier everyday which is a good thing. The first couple weeks were really slow but we're getting more and more stuff to do on a daily basis.

I love the people that I work with and the company that I work for. So, all in all I think it's a win.

I'm excited because tomorrow Lindsey's gonna be here! It's going to be amazing to get a little piece of home. She's also bringing me loads of stuff but all in all I'm just excited to see her. It's crazy to think that I've been here for 4 months already - part of me doesn't even really understand that I've been gone that long! On one hand, it feels like it has only been a couple weeks but on the other it feels like I've lived here forever.

I have all of next week off and Lindsey and I are going to Paris for four days! I know I live in London and it's been amazing, but words can't describe how stoked I am to go back to Paris.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a quick update. Will try and keep more regular with this thing. Expect a few posts over the next few weeks considering Lindsey and I will be adventuring around London (and Paris!).

xoxo

driving miss crazy.

It goes without saying that I miss my friends and family. But I've just realised something that I genuinely miss. Driving.

It's been almost 4 months since I've driven a vehicle. Not that I mind public transport. It's part of London's charm. But since I've recently acquired new music, I forgot just how much I loved driving, most times alone, while listening to music. It was probably one of my biggest forms of therapy.

This isn't me saying I'm home sick. This is me saying I miss one of the minor things that used to play a vital part of my everyday life. I guess in a way I've swapped listening to music in the car for listening to music on the tube. Lou and I take the tube to work everyday together and sometimes I like when she's running late because then I get to listen to my iPod for the whole journey to work.

I guess this is just a small way of describing things that I've swapped. I have a new method of transport, a new job, new friends.. all in all, a new way of life. And don't get me wrong, I'm loving every minute of it. But sometimes, for as little as 20 minutes, I miss Saskatoon.

Love you all xx

video killed the media star.

Alright - so time for a post since I've started my new job! It's been almost 2 weeks now at Carat and I have been loving it! There's a lot to learn, but I'm embracing it. Basically, I work as an assistant to the broadcast team and mostly just do administrative work. So my days are filled with building spreadsheets, booking tv spots, etc. But the best part has been learning all this new stuff! I sit with some of the TV buyers and they've been really helpful in terms of helping me grasp the industry.

One of the cool things so far was on Monday, it was MTV day at work. They came to work and had different presentations (none of which I could attend - too busy) and then finished the night off with a pub quiz (they're huge over here - basically, you get in teams, go to pub and do trivia questions). The pub quiz was so much fun! I was on a team with Lou and her friend Rachel and it was all music trivia. We didn't do too badly - didn't win, but still - and the winning team (again, not us) get to go on to the finals to compete for MTV Europe Award tickets! All in all, we got to go for a night out on MTV's dime! And in a few weeks, ITV (a TV channel) is taking out all of broadcast for drinks.

The people have been lovely and I'm really enjoying the job. That's about all I can say for now. For the time being, I'm just biding my time until I get paid and then Lindsey arrives! So excited!

Miss you all and love you. xx

gettin the used and abused.

I've had a fantastic week so far - just as predicted! I didn't start work today because the other 2 guys that got hired are starting on Monday, so they thought it was best for us all to start on the same day. Makes sense. So I'm enjoying my last 2 days of freedom.

Yesterday I had a day of supply teaching and it went fairly well. The first half of the day was good and the last half was hell. But I survived. Mostly on the idea that I don't have to do this full time!

But the night was capped off with The Used in concert! It was amazing, but I went in the mosh pit and am paying for it today! But Lou was nice enough to stick around with me so I could try and meet the band. And I met Dan Whitesides (the drummer)! It was awesome.

Going out in Soho tomorrow with Lou and some of her friends. Should be good - then work starts on Monday! Thank God!

a job worth it's weight in 24 carat gold.

This is shaping up to be quite the week. I interviewed at Carat last week and thought I did quite well. Turns out I was right! I was called today by their HR rep and was offered the job! I start on Thursday!!

I finally have a job!!! I'm ecstatic. Hence the exclamation marks. I haven't been able to contain my happiness and smiles all day long.

On top of that, I booked a day of supply work on Wednesday that I'm still gonna do despite the fact that I start at Carat on Thursday. And on Wednesday, I'm also going to see my favorite band alive, The Used.

So let's recap. Work. Concert. WORK. Drinks with friends. Amazing week. Yes? Yes.

(Oh and here is a link to the company website so you can see for yourself where I'll be working - http://www.carat.co.uk/index.php)

I GOT A JOB!!!!

what do you carat bout?

Alrighty, so first and foremost, the lack of blog updates? This is due to a lack of things happening right now. There's only so many posts I can make about going to the cinema or watching TV at home. The job front came to a stand still for the last 2 weeks BUT fortunately came booming back this week. This is ironic because this was the week I was going to start making calls for supply work but now I don't have time!

Today I had to go in and do some testing for the first round of interview for an administrative job at Carat (pronounced Cara - it's French). It's an entry level job where I'd be working on a team of administrators assisting the TV buyers for the company. They're the ones who buy advertising space, etc for TV (obviously). Anyway, I made it through testing and have an assessment day on Thursday. I'm really hoping this works out for 2 reasons. 1) I want the job and 2) this just happens to be the company that Lou works for! And that would be amazing. She's told me nothing but good things about it as a company and the perks are supposed to be pretty great.

While I was at testing, one of my non-teaching agencies called about an interview day tomorrow for a sales role within telecommunications. So tomorrow I have that all morning. And then directly afterwards I have to go and register with yet another teaching agency (keeping my options open). And then Thursday is the assessment centre.

Busy busy week! I also have plans for Friday with my 2 new teacher friends, the Aussie and the Kiwi. I should really just refer to them as Team South Pacific. That's what I call them in real life anyway! They're lovely girls and it's nice to have some other people to chat with and have to call on.

Anyway, that's it for this post. I will keep you all posted on any progress on the job front - keep crossing those fingers! (They probably hurt by now seeing as it's been 2 months of no job). Love you all and miss you! xxx

aboot a trunk.

A boot = a trunk. Just another vocabulary lesson from Paige.

Just thought I'd do a quick update - this weekend was a Bank Holiday, or as we Canadians know as a statutory holiday. It was actually quite eventful.

On Friday, I went to a pub in central London where one of my teaching agencies was having a welcome night for their international teachers. I met 2 girls there - 1 aussie and 1 Kiwi. We got on quite well and decided to go out afterwards. We met up with the Kiwi's flatmates, who were also from New Zealand, at a pub called The Walkabout. It's a franchised type place, basically Australian themed pubs. It was an amazing night! They were really cool people and it's nice to have met others in my shoes. Definitely will be keeping in touch with them.

Then on Saturday, Lou and I went out to Sussex for a barbeque. One of Lou's friends from university has this barbeque every year out at her parents' place in Battle. It was so nice! It felt a lot like going out to the lake because we were out in the countryside. After living in London for 2 months, you forget what space and trees and such look like! We had a wicked time and had loads of fun.

To cap off the weekend, Lou and I spent most of our time watching films and staying in. Despite the beautiful weather, we wanted to just chill out a bit.

Now I'm off to meet Lou for lunch. In terms of the job front, it basically is as follows. No job. But school's back in on Thursday so supply teaching should theoretically start pretty soon. I say theoretically only because it's quite slow for supply teaching at the beginning of the school year. So my plan is to get a retail job for September-October, use my days off to do a few days of supply then move to full time supply come November. I have an interview for a sales assistant job at the shop in Westminster Abbey which doesn't pay too horribly (about the equivalent of 13$CA an hour) and it would be quite cool to work there! I've also applied at Vodafone, which is basically a UK equivalent of Telus. And that would be in Wimbledon which is quite close to me. So fingers crossed that come next week I'll be working. If I get the job at Westminster it starts Monday. NO MORE BOREDOM!

Miss you all and hope you all have a great September Long Weekend!

xxx

brought to you by the letter p.

Well, it's been a few days since I last updated and I've been keeping busy! Nothing job related - I decided to take a few days off seeing as it was Lou's birthday last week and she took time off from work. So mostly I spent my time helping her get set up for her party on Saturday night.

Last Wednesday was Lou's actual birthday and her brother cooked dinner for her and invited me to tag along. It was wicked. Lovely dinner with her brother and his wife. They were amazingly cool and we got on quite well. So that was definitely a highlight of the week.

Let's skip to Saturday. Had loads of people over at Lou's. The party was themed and everybody was to dress as something starting with a P. I went as a Pink Lady. Lou was a pilot. There was a prom queen, Pocahontas and a peacock among other things. We all had a wicked time and I got to meet a lot of new, nice people. One of which was a girl called Becca and she's one of Lou's best friends from university. She's invited me to come along with Lou to her birthday party this upcoming weekend out in Sussex. I'm stoked! I get to see yet another little slice of England.

The only other news I have is that I've been enthralled in True Blood and that my flatmate, Ken, is amazing. He handed me his external hard drive today and let me copy loads of movies over to my computer. So now, I have about 15 new movies to watch. And you all know me well enough to know of my fondness of film and seeing as I only brought 24 of my 200, I'm happy for new ones.

Love you all and miss you. And happy birthday Mom!

this time baby i'll be mullet proof.

Again, it's been a while since my last post but I haven't really done a whole lot. Pretty much been doing the same thing as I was a week ago! Just been keeping busy with job interviews and assessment centres. It's been a good experience in the way that I'm only getting better at it but I still have not gotten a job. It's ridiculously competitive! I have to keep reminding myself that there's 400,000 grads that have just been released by the UK. All looking for jobs and all crazy Type-A high flyers. But I've made it through to the end of a few interview processes, which I guess is a success in itself. Oh well. Just gotta keep pushing. If anything, school starts in about 2 weeks so I can start supply teaching to make some money! Plus, it's really not that bad of money!

I chatted with Lindsey and she wants to come over here in November. So excited! She'll probably stay for 2 weeks - in which we'll obviously explore London and go to Paris for a few days. I can not even explain to you how stoked I am. I can not wait to go back to France! Plus, it'll be so cool for somebody to come visit. I keep forgetting I live in London.

It's Lou's birthday this week so we're busy with that. Her brother is cooking dinner for her tonight and he's invited me to join. I'm sure it'll be amazing. She's got the next couple days off so we'll be busy getting ready for her birthday party on Saturday. It's brought to you by the letter "P" so everybody has to dress up in something starting with the letter P. I'm going as a Pink Lady from Grease. It'll be amazing.

Anyway, I gotta go get ready to meet Lou for lunch. Then I'm off to register with another teaching agency - keeping all my options open.

save it for a rainy day.

I have had a lovely weekend! I'm writing this right now as I sit in the garden (aka backyard) with a pint of cider and my sunglasses on. The weather has been fantastic this weekend -- all sun, no rain. I decided to take my mind off things for the weekend and give the job hunt a rest. I have conceded to the idea that it will take time to find a job and there's no sense in worrying about it. Most people I've met have spent 2 months finding work in London, so I shall not fret ... yet.

I didn't get the job at Haymarket, but to my credit I made it to the last round of interviews, which is a huge deal considering this was my first ever career related job interview. I'll take what I can from it and move on. I had an interview with Nielsen (think Billboard magazine and Soundscan, etc) and it went well, in my eyes. Apparently though they weren't as happy with the group that my agency sent -- which might I add was 6 people. Not one of us 6 made it to the second interview. This I blame on them because the interview was only 40 minutes, divide that by 6 and you don't get a lot out of us! Most group interviews take 2-3 hours so the fact that this one was just over half an hour said a lot. Even my recruiter was confused. She has told me to contact her on Monday though and we'll set up a new interview this week. It's awesome now that I've been registered with an agency. They want to get me a job because me getting a job means they get paid. So yay.

I went to a lovely dinner party on Friday and it was illuminating. How so? I've discovered that any sort of "formal" event that you're invited to is really just a front for "Let's all drink!" Dinner parties, baby christenings, you name it. The Brits like them a pint or two.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a quick update -- I'm off to enjoy the lovely weather and my pint of Magner's.

Oh and P.S. I added a slideshow to the side of my blog that I'll keep updated as best I can with new photos. Love you and miss you all. xxx

this is what it sounds like when foxes cry.

It has definitely been a little while since my last post and I come to you know with teeny bits of news. I've been quite busy the past few days, what with interviews and moving.

So first off, move in. On Saturday, I moved into my flat! Finally. It's awesome. I love my room, with a few exceptions (more on that later). I went to Sainsbury's, which I equate to Superstore, and picked up a duvet, pillows, towels, etc for my room. I got a nice black and white duvet but because they don't have dryers here (unless you own a house) I didn't wash it right away. Bad idea. I woke up and my hands were black. Other than though, I love it. Super comfy. It was nice getting stuff to make it feel like my room. I think I'm gonna have to print off some pictures and put them up to remind me of home.

The downside of the room? It has a big bay window with white curtains making it impossible to sleep in. On Sunday, I woke up at 6 am thanks to the bright shiny sun. This will only be a problem every other day seeing as London likes to alternate sun with rain and gloom. The other downside to this room is that I face the street. London has a problem with foxes in that they live in the city. Hardcore foxes. I don't know where the sleep or live for that matter, but at night they like to roam the streets, picking through rubbish and making their disgusting mating noises. I've posted a link to a video to demonstrate said noises. In a nutshell, it sounds as though babies are being murdered. This was not a pleasant thing to discover at 3:30 in the morning on Monday. I woke up thinking that somebody was dying outside my window. It took me about 10 minutes to realize it was the bloody foxes.

Play the video for yourself and listen in horror as the fox imitates the death of a small child. That's about it about the flat. My flatmates are incredibly nice, which has made it a very nice experience thus far. I'm writing this from the garden/backyard, which is by far my favorite aspect of the flat. It's all decked and just lovely (as per photos I posted previously).

Now onto the job front. I've had 5 interviews, yes 5, in the past 3 working days. Yesterday I fell asleep on the tube ride home because I had 3 back to back interviews consume my day. I don't think the job with Haymarket worked out but I have yet to hear back from them. They like to take their time here getting back to people. When Lou got her first job in media it took the company 3 weeks to let her know. Anyway, the most important one was with a recruitment agency. They took my info and said my CV looked fantastic so they have set up a couple interviews for me this week within media sales. Right now I'm swimming in a sea of job applications and interviews, but it only gives me hope that someone, somewhere will want to hire me. So please, continue to cross your fingers for me!

Anyway, I'm off to make a few calls and probably head to the supermarket to sort out dinner. Love you all and miss you. xxx

a house is not a flat. a flat is not a home.

I'm creeping closer and closer to move in and I'm getting excited! I've loved my time with Lou and Katie but I can't wait for my own room. I need to buy linens, and probably some more towels, maybe a couple picture frames and a mirror, most probably from the 99 pence store (pence not cents!). I'm just gonna try my best to make it home. The people I'm moving in with seem super nice, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

In other news, I got a call back from the group interview I had last week! This means I've made it to the final round of interviews! Go me! Oh and on top of that, I have 2 more interviews! 3 job interviews in 3 days. I like my odds. I keep telling myself that someone somewhere will want to hire me. Optimism. This is new to me!

Oh and another cool thing to report. Every year iTunes has a festival in London, so for the month of July they've had a show every night. The tickets can not be purchased; only won via Facebook. When I went to Paolo Nutini, it was because Lou had won tickets. Anyway, before I left Canada I started listening to a band called The Hoosiers; coincidentally from England. Well, turned out they were slated to play the iTunes festival. So about 3 weeks ago, I entered under three different e-mails in hopes of winning. Well.. I won on ALL three e-mails! Yup, that's 6 tickets I won. Plus, Lou entered and she won! I think they knew that I really wanted to go. So tomorrow, I get to go see them live! So exciting.

I also have to add that I have these tiny moments that just seem to happen every now and then. They're teeny and random. It usually happens when I'm getting groceries or waiting for the tube where I just have a huge realization: I'm actually in London. It seems weird seeing as I've been here for almost a month, but yes, it still hasn't set in.

Anyway, I should go - cross your fingers for me on the job front!

sometimes life knocks you down.

You just gotta get back up, because who knows? There might be a flat with your name on it. Which is the case for me! After tedious amounts of searching, I have landed myself a flat! I'm so happy! Words can not express how happy I was to finally find a suitable/nice/affordable/etc one. I had 4 flat viewings set up for today (on top of the 2 I'd already seen last week). 3rd time's a charm I guess! The flat I found is just down the road from Lou's and it's amazing. It's been recently renovated so everything is brand new and in great condition. Love it. I have a double room with just enough room for the few belongings I brought with me. I'll be living with a couple, Ken and Beata. Ken is half Japanese and half English. Beata is Polish. They met in Spain and collectively speak English, Polish, Japanese and Spanish and are currently learning French. So you can imagine how pleased they were to discover I'm a French teacher.

Anyway, I move in on Saturday! Can't wait. Now just keeping my fingers crossed about the Haymarket job. That would essentially make my life perfect.

Miss you all xoxo

just like an oxford circus.

What a crazy week it's been. I would say that this week has been more of a "sorting shit out in life" sort of week. I've had 2 job interviews, been to see 3 flats and I have 2 more flat viewings later today.

So let's start this thing off with a bit on the flats. I've seen 3. 1 out of 3 was nice, but alas I did not get it. Blast my stupid age. It really is working against me -- seems that everybody looking for a flatmate is wanting somebody in their late 20's. Um, hello? 22. It's not like I'm 20. (I'm reaching here but you know what I mean). Basically, I've learned to play on my strengths - maturity, sense of humour, wit, teaching. The teaching thing always makes people think I'm older. But anyway, flat #1 was wicked. The girl, called Liz, was really nice and chatty and the flat is super close to where I am now. BUT, I didn't get it because somebody was closer to her age. Next. The second flat I saw was extremely close to a tube station and quite nice, aside from the fact that it felt like a prison. It was an East Indian woman who rented the rooms in the house out to single females and quite honestly felt a little along the lines of "Taken." Next. Saw a flat this morning and the girl who owned the house was so awkward. Pretty sure I'm capable of having a better conversation by myself. Actually, I'm pretty certain that I have had better conversations with myself. The sad bit is that her flat was gorgeous! So so nice but the conversation was so dull. But on the upside of things, I have 2 more flat viewings later today. So hopefully (fingers crossed) those go well and the people are cool.

Next topic of discussion? Work. I had 2 job interviews this week. Scratch that, 1 job interview, 1 scam. The first was an interview for a job in "marketing." Now the reason that I use quotation marks is because that's the loosest use of marketing I've ever seen. Basically, they hire you (AFTER you do an 8 hour observation session which you don't get paid for) and then you go and pitch charities/other needless things to people who don't want them. NEXT. I was a little defeated but had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a real job, but then I got an interview for a job at a company called Haymarket. They are a huge publishing company over here and the job was within sales (selling adverts/classifieds, etc). Score. I had the interview which was actually a group interview. My first of its kind and I rocked it. Just myself and another guy were asked to stay for one-to-one interviews. This was awkward because they tell you this in front of the rest of the people who are not asked to stay... Anyway, had my one-to-one and now I'm waiting for a call back to see if I got the final formal interview. So again, FINGERS CROSSED.

Anyway, that's about all that's new with me. Just trying to sort some stuff out - hence the week of "sorting shit out in life" title. It's been hectic but exciting and I'm just hoping to get the job and a flat so then it will actually feel like I'm living here and not on vacation!

Miss you all, xoxo.

culturally shocking.

Time for a quick blog post. I've been spending my morning drowning in job applications - the job hunt isn't going well. It's only been about a week though, so I still have to be a bit optimistic. If anything I might just have to take a random crap paying job to tide me over until September when I can teach. It is a bit defeating but that's what happens when you're in a global recession.

The other Canadian arrived here on Friday and I picked her up from the airport. It was nice being able to help her out and share the little insight I have. I had a flat viewing the other day as well for a flatshare with a girl called Liz. She's wicked and the flat was super nice, so cross your fingers for me! A plus is this its just done the road from Lou and Katie's, which also makes it a minutes walk away form the tube station and a supermarket!

We're going to catch Harry Potter at the Imax on Friday. Lou booked the tickets well in advance so we've got awesome seats. On a side note, when you go the movies here and buy your tickets, you actually book your seats. The guy literally turns the screen to you and asks you which seats you want. It's phenomenal. So note to Canada, get up to speed with England.

In other news, as August approaches more and more things keep popping up -- which just reiterates how badly I need a job! Lou's birthday is August 19th and she's planned a 4 day celebration for it (greedy bitch, most people get 1 day!). For her actual party, she's having a "P Party" which basically means everyone has to dress in something starting with the letter P. I've gotten my costume already for really cheap - Pink Lady! (Grease, not the apple). So excited.

Anyway, I should get back to the job hunt. It's so tedious and I've gotten to the point that I feel like a robot.

Oh and as for the culturally shocking bit, British television is awesome. For real. They have awesome shows that I've become hooked on like 8 out of 10 Cats and Chatty Man with Alan Carr. They're hysterical. Oh and did I mention they love Russell Brand here and play his stand up on cable all the time?! Yeah, I'm in heaven.

british 101.

My apologies, "English 101" because apparently "British" encompasses too many people that are not English, but British. Don't call a person from Scotland or Wales English, because they aren't.

You walk on the pavement,

not the sidewalk.

Rubbish goes in the bin not to be confused with garbage going in the trash.

Whilst watching TV with friends, you might find yourself in the lounge but definitely not the living room.

If you would like a Vodka Seven, be sure to order a Vodka Lemonade or you may just get seven vodka shots.

Be aware that a pint of Stella is actually a pint of wifebeater.

When job hunting, you hand out your CV. Whatever it is you call resumé doesn't exist here.

Remove the word "pants" from your personal dictionary, it will only get you in trouble. Pyjama pants? Goodbye. Capri pants? See ya. Pants are underwear here or commonly known as knickers. Trousers are pants. See? Trouble.

Lay's Chips are Walker's Crisps. Here chips are thick cut fries commonly seen next to a pile of fish.

If somebody asks you for a lift, they're looking for an elevator not a ride.

If you pull someone, it doesn't mean you grabbed them. Unless you grabbed them and made out with them furiously. "Pulling" is a large concept which basically insinuates hooking up with someone.

Last but certainly not least, picking up a pack of fags is not derogatory or related to a hate crime, you just need cigarettes.

how could you be so job-less.

I've spent the last couple days, inundated in job applications. I've applied to so many places I can't even keep track of them all.

Except for one. I applied for a job today as a Sales Supervisor for Virgin Holidays. Basically it would combine my sales experience at Telus and my supervisor experience at Shopper's. What's bad is that I'm unrealistically optimistic about it. Is that bad? I want it so bad. The last time I remember having this feeling was when I initially applied at Telus. The wage is decent, it's in Clapham which is super close to where I am.

In other news, I have arranged a flat viewing on Monday. We'll see how it works out. Oh and I forgot to mention that the other day Lou and I went to a screening of Julie and Julia. It wasn't the greatest of movies, but the screening itself was wicked. It was only for industry people and was right at Sony in Central London. They had a cool little theatre right in there and a full service bar. So nice.

Anyway, off to M&S today to get some new things... Not many though, just necessities.

oot and aboot.

It's been a few days since the last post, but it's still been eventful. On Saturday, Lou and I went out to Harrod's. It was craziness. We had some pizza at the pizzeria in Harrod's and it was awesome. They guys working there were actually from Italy and the one would just randomly start spouting off opera while he made your pizza. Harrod's itself was mental because of two things: a) it was a Saturday and b) there was a sale and they never have sales. We then went over to a few shops on Oxford Street but to be quite honest, I couldn't wait to get out of there. The crowds were unlike anything I've seen and I've been to Disney at Christmas.

Later on in the evening Lou, Katie (her flatmate) and I went out for a night on the town. We went out to a club called Infernos in Clapham (a hop skip away from Tooting). Overall, it was a lot of fun. I met a few random people at the club and when told I was from Canada then began talking incessantly about Shania Twain. Who knew the English associated Canada with good ol' Shania?

Monday I ventured off to the City to meet Lou for lunch and get my bank account sorted. It was a stupid ordeal with the bank, but I managed to get an account! I then managed to (on foot mind you) find my way to Piccadilly Circus all by myself. This was a task I didn't know I could handle, but managed. Met Lou at Piccadilly for dinner and then the theatre. We grabbed dinner at TGIFriday's (funnily enough) and then went off to catch my first show ever; Avenue Q. It was brilliant. It was basically a spoof of Sesame Street but was only relevant to said show in the way that they used puppets. It was amazing. So funny.

Yesterday was rather uneventful, I wandered around Tooting for a bit and checked out some flats. Kim (another girl from Saskatchewan) is arriving here on Friday and we were planning on living together, but it's halted for now. We don't have UK references so any letting agent would require 6 months rent up front. And seeing as a flat goes for 1000 pounds a month, that's about 7000$ Canadian...each. So we're gonna wait til we land some jobs.

Today has been a lazy day, just chillin' out at the flat. It's been nice. Kim gets here on Friday so I'll pick her up from the airport so she's not as freaked out and alone. But for now, gonna go watch some BBC and probably head to bed!

nutini new.

So yesterday's post was all about how relaxed I'd felt... well today was busy and exciting! Lou and I started the day off with going to the Towers of London. It was fantastic! We had an awesome Beefeater guide; he was hysterical. Lou loved him because he kept cutting down the Americans. We got to see the Armoury and the Crown Jewels. So awesome. We weren't allowed to take many pictures because it was banned in most parts, but needless to say it was beautiful.

Then we were off to Gaucho to have lunch. This is Lou's favorite restaurant and I wish she hadn't taken me there, because it is now mine! Such a posh restaurant. It was on the edge of the river with a beautiful view of Tower Bridge. And I tell you now, it was the best steak I've ever had in my life. Actually, it was probably the best meal I've ever had. So so so good. Too good for words. We were gonna go to the Dungeon after but we ended up polishing off a bottle of wine and needed to immediately go to Camden.

All of this month, there's been a festival put on by iTunes. There's a gig every night of July and all the tickets are free through Facebook. Lou won tickets to a gig tonight for Paulo Nutini (wicked famous over here in the UK) so we went to that. It was in the Roundhouse in Camden which might I say is one of the coolest parts of London I've seen yet. Such a bohemian, rocker attitude about the place and I love it. The gig was long and good and I got exposed to a few artists I'd never seen. So good. My feet hurt really bad afterwards and it was such a LONG tube ride back to Tooting. 20 stops to be exact! But now we're back, watching British TV and heading to bed. Overall, FANTASTIC week.

in a piccadilly.

Compared to the first part of my week, the last couple days have been rather relaxing. Yesterday was interesting because I had my first adventure on my own, sans Lulu, when I went to Wimbledon to the teaching agency. Took public transport all by myself and arrived in Wimbledon ok... only to get lost and overwhelmed! I eventually found the agency and did all my paperwork. It was annoying though because before I had arrived, I had been told that at my induction interview I'd get set up with a bank account and a national insurance number; neither of which I received. This was a piss-off. On the subject of the bank account thing, I subsequently went to HSBC today to get an account set up (in the words of the Protocol rep, just go in and get set up, rrrrrrrright) and was initially deceived into thinking it was an easy process. Apparently I needed proof of my overseas address-- which I had with my driver's license-- BUT because the address is on a separate piece of paper and not on the actual card (Thanks SGI), it wasn't good enough. I knew it was too good to be true when the bank guy was making it seem so easy!! I digress. So I finished my induction interview then met Lou at the train station.

We headed off to Weybridge in Surrey to meet up with one of Lou's friends, Maritez. She picked us up from the train station and we went to go for lunch. It was wicked. Surrey's more of a country type environment so there were loads of trees, grass and such. Then it was back to London. Spent another night at The Manor pub and met some crazy Australians. Very wicked night; most of which was spent getting unexpectedly tipsy.

This brings us to today. Today was eventful only in the way that after dinner in Leicester Square, Lou dragged me over to Piccadilly Circus! Hello tourists! Loads of cameras. Loads of people. Ridiculous. It was wicked though. Totally different feel when you go to a touristy place after spending time in SW London. I loved it though and will probably go back eventually.

Anyway, it's late and I need sleep! Goodnight :)

hangovers are international.

What a first day. Yesterday was ridiculously busy. I had a terrible sleep -- woke up at 3 am, and was wide awake. Gotta love jet lag. So I didn't actually wake up until around 11. Lou had a busy day (and week for that matter) planned so we just went at it. Started off by having my first tube experience, which was awesome. It's wicked that I have Lou here to help me because she gives me little insider information in terms of how not to look like a tourist. And then you witness people doing exactly what she says not to do and then laugh. Haha. Oh, and pronunciation; she's good for that too (example: Leicester Square, pronounced Lester Square). Juicy little tidbits.

So we took the tube down to Waterloo, in Central London to start off the day with a flight up the Eye. I mock the use of the word flight because it's a ferris wheel, but Lou informed me that it's sponsored by British Airways. It was awesome! The views from the top were phenomenal and it just kind of makes you realize how small a place like Saskatoon is. London goes on for ages and you literally can't see an edge to the city. And not only that, it's extremely compressed. You'd be surprised they have room for roads. Then we went to the London Aquarium which was awesome! Saw loads of fish, sharks, these weird eels and things called razor fish. All very very cool. We lunched at a place called Prezzo and had awesome Italian food. We then went to House of Fraser to do a bit of shopping. Finished the day out with a hot chocolate from Costa (Jen and Melissa; it was just as good as you described!).

After that we just came home and sat around for a bit before heading out to the pub. Lou, her flatmate Katie and I all just went to a pub around the corner called The Manor and had some awesome food and drinks. We had a little too many and stumbled the way home. That brings us to today, it's about dinner time and we haven't even left yet. Well, we left, but only briefly to get McDonald's. Hangovers are the same over here as they were back home. Shocking.

across the pond, they all know us.

So this is my first post from LONDON! I arrived here safe and sound about 5 hours ago. But before I get into that I'll share a little bit about the journey here.

The first flight was awesome, I had the best flight attendant ever and there was barely anybody on the flight so I had nobody sitting next to me. During the short two hour flight to Denver, I re-learned how to play Yahtzee! on my iPod touch (and consequently got hooked on it). Clearing customs in the States was SO quick. Then I had 3 hours to kill before boarding the flight to London.

The second flight was not so fun. It was obviously a huge plane which was filled to capacity. What I've discovered is that the worst part of being sat in coach is that they make you walk through first class, almost just to throw it in your face! But, it gets worse. I was told I had a window seat when I booked through Travel Cuts (remember Kelly?) and where was I? I wasn't in a window seat, nor was I in an aisle seat. I was in the middle seat of the middle section. Probably as far away from the windows as humanly possible! So what did I do? Took 2 sleeping pills and played Yahtzee! until they kicked in. I didn't get out of my seat once throughout the 9 hour flight.

So Lulu came and got me from Heathrow (which might I add is a HUGE effing airport!) and we somehow managed to get all of ours bags onto the train. We were gonna take the tube back to her place, but I had WAY too much shit and one of the tubelines was closed for maintenance. Instead, we took a taxi. The taxi itself was amazing. As lame as it sounds, it was just a really cool car. Rode back to her place in Tooting and I got to shower and make myself feel like a human being. We then went out to grab a bite to eat at GBK which makes the most amazing gourmet burgers! I had a Pesterella -- pesto and mozzarella on a burger. Fantastic. We then grabbed a beer at a pub (within which loads of people were watching the end of Wimbledon) which was coincidentally in Wimbledon.

Jet Lag is catching up with me and I haven't really processed that I'm actually in London! It's craziness. I think the hardest thing to get used to will be the left hand lane thing -- it's freaky. But anyway, I'm gonna go take a nap. We're probably just gonna stay in and be lame tonight. Tomorrow, it's off to the Eye!

Cheers!