Week 2: Settling into work, getting a feel for being a local

Hi all,

Week 2 and I'm starting to feel like an old hand.  I'm catching the #17 bus to work as it stops right outside the house and it a lot more pleasant than taking the tube.  Discovered a giant Sainsbury's supermarket and its head office just around the corner from the office (and a red bus, of course)

 Day 13

 Day 14 - a rare hour of sunshine during the day and every man and his dog went to the park for lunch (including me with my 3.50 M&S sandwich-and-crisps meal deal).  This park is about the size of my living room.

On Day 14 I noticed this sign on the outside of a pharmacy on Holloway Road.  An indication to the kind of people in this part of town?

 Day 14

 Day 15 saw us help Kate move her stuff into Megan's house.  Kate is moving into Steffi's room once we move into our house, but there's a 2-week overlap period where Kate will be staying with a friend but all her furniture will live in the living room (i.e. my room).  So this is us with 5 sofas, 3 tables, 3 desks, lots and lots of chairs and 3 flatmate's washing hanging up to dry.  Cozy!  Good thing is we managed to help Kate out by taking some extra furniture and kitchenware off her hands, which means we don't have to buy it in the new place.  Bonus!  I am now the proud owner of proper English teacups with roses on and everything.

 Day 16.  Raining.  And a big red bus.

Day 17, mounted policemen and a big red bus at Piccadilly Circus.  Got my fill of stereotypes this week.  Friday night drinks for Vic & Jay's leaving, met a nice bunch of Kiwis, had a good night out on the town and still managed to get the last tube home.  Well done me!

Week 2 has passed in a blur.  I feel very at home here; it's a stark contrast to the places I've been for the last year.  It feels really good to have a social network, a job that I enjoy, good colleagues, a familiar language and culture.  I am on the mend :)

x ML

Week 1 in London (Days 6-11) Theme: B&W

Good rainy Sunday morning!

I'm 11 days in and feel like an old hand already.  After much fuss and bother and excessive paperwork, we have passed the reference checking for the house (thanks, Dad!) and we are officially allowed to move in on 1st July.  Acton here we come!

I've also finished my first week of work.  Day 1 was an adventure; taking the tube to Farringdon meant having to change lines at King's Cross at 8:30am, this is an experience akin to fighting your way through the Boxing Day shoppers to find the toilet, which is located at the other end of the megastore.  So I quickly decided NOT to do that ever again unless life depended on it.  My office is located in the Smithfield Market building, which is one of London's oldest grocery markets.  At 3am every day, butchers from London and surrounds come here to sell wholesale meat to buyers from restaurants and cafes from all over the city.  The public can buy meat too, there is a small butcher's shop across the way.  I think I will try out some organic pork belly or fresh duck at some stage.

Smithfield Markets

On Day 7 (Tuesday 7th June) I went with Wai Mon to visit Wai Lan & baby Ryan.  He's now 4 months old and SUCH a cutie pie!  He's grown a lot since I saw him in March, had his first haircut, and now smiles at people.  Not me yet, because I'm a stranger :/ but hopefully I can fix that!  Keep an eye out, Ryan is most likely going to be a regular feature on this blog so you can watch him grow up!

 baby Ryan Wan

Days 8 & 9 were spent exploring the immediate surroundings of Smithfield Market.  To my delight, I found these 2 gems within 2 mins walk of the front door:

 Day 8

 Day 9

On Thursday Wai Thing took me on a walk from Farringdon to Chinatown (by Leicester Square) via Covent Garden.  There is so much to see in this city; it never stops, never sleeps, never stays the same and never stands still.  Here's a snap from Covent Garden area.  I love the colour theme of this city; white and red.  Very regal.

 Day 10

Saturday 11th June - weekend!  I'd scored some free festival tickets through a good friend and Steffi and I dutifully trucked off down to Clapham Common - possibly the biggest expat Kiwi & Aussie enclave (bar Shepherds Bush) in London - for the Southern Sounds music festival.  Headlining were INXS (meh) and Shihad (EXCELLENT).  After being away from NZ for so long, it was a strangely stirring and patriotic afternoon, hearing my own accent and slang all around me.  Not a British person to be seen.  Could have been a summer gig at The Mount, Grey Lynn Park or any other outdoor area in NZ.  Except for the crappy weather of course.  My favourite moment is captured here:

Day 11

Today, Day 12, will be spent moaning about the rain, eating toast with peanut butter, surfing the net, watching some TV and finally getting dressed around 2pm.  Ahhhhh Sunday!

Until next time!

x ML

365 Days of London

Hi all,

It's  been far too long since I wrote.  The last few posts were written in some of my more difficult times, an outlet for all the thoughts that were rattling around in my head when I had too much spare time to worry about life.  But that's all changing now; I've recently arrived in London to start fresh.  New job, new house, new country.  Back in an English-speaking environment.  Friends to go shopping/picnicking/drinking with.  A new job with exciting career opportunities (and work trips yay!).  A nice house in the suburbs.  And TOPSHOP!!!

I'm introducing you to my project: 365 Days of London.  I'm going to post one photo a day for the next year, to document the London chapter of my journey (note: I may lag behind and upload a few at a time).  Here are the first few days... enjoy!

 Day 1 - Arrival in London on the train with my life packed into 2 suitcases (from Platform 9 3/4, no less)

 Day 2 - A bit of lost-in-translation humour (you Dutchies will appreciate this one)

 Day 3 - Being a tourist at Trafalgar Square

 Day 4 - Amusing road sign at Greenwich

Day 5 - getting ready for my first day at work