An expensive weekend [29 Apr 2007] [ time started | 7:59 p.m. ] So I ended up spending WAY more money than I planned to this weekend, and didn't get anything out of it - very frustrating! First up was Friday night, when a bunch of us went out after work to bid farewell to two people who are leaving the department. It was all fine and good, but one of the girls ended up getting way beyond the funny side of drunk. We went to put her in a taxi, but couldn't even get out of her where she lived. Yikes! So one of the guys and I ended up taking her all the way home in the taxi and getting her safely into bed, and then having the taxi bring us all the way back in to the city - a trip that cost over £100. You don't even want to convert that to Canadian $, it's too depressing. And THEN, even though I had specifically told the driver where I lived before we got in the taxi, he refused to take me all the way home unless I paid another £20. I refused, so ended up taking the bus home at 3 a.m. Then on Saturday, I went out for the day, and realized about halfway through that I'd left my keys on the table in my room - the door locks automatically. So I had to cut my day short, call the letting office before they closed for the day, and pay £25 to have them let me back into my room. I was not pleased with myself. I also got a threatening letter because I haven't yet paid for my TV license - yes, you need to have a license to watch TV here. And it's not cheap - £135 for the year!!! I think that's outrageous - I really don't watch *that* much TV, but I don't want to be completely without it, so I had to pay it. Sucky. Other than that, I had a good week. :-) My outing yesterday was to Kew Gardens, which is a huge park and botanical gardens in the south-west of London. There's a palace where George III and his family lived, plus several conservatories and all of the plant life. I was there for four hours, and could have spent more time there easily, it was really lovely. I have decided I have a new favourite TV character. :-) I've been watching Ugly Betty since I've been here - I had always been interested in it, but it's on at the same time as Smallville at home, so I'd only caught it when Smallville is a repeat. But I've seen it nearly from the beginning here, and I LOVE Justin. :-) In the latest episode that was on here, he acted out the whole of Hairspray while stuck in the subway. I am glad to know there are other people who act out entire musical scenes in public, even if they are fictional. :-) Although nothing's been said officially, I have been told unofficially that my company would be happy to renew my contract if I wanted to work there for the whole year that I'm here. I don't need to commit to anything yet, but it's very nice to know that the option is there. Okay, a few pictures for now. Next weekend is Norway, which I'm very excited about! Hope you've all had a good one! Kew Palace A pretty flower (playing with the flower mode on my camera) The rhododendron dell in Kew Gardens A pretty waterfall in the gardens [ time finished | 8:14 p.m. ]

Back to work [23 Apr 2007] [ time started | 10:14 p.m. ] I am on my own again! My cousins left early this morning to continue on their trip, and I went to work! But we had a very busy and fun weekend before they left. On Saturday, we got up early and arrived at the Tower of London just after it opened. This is one of my very favourite things in London, and even though I've been a couple of times before, I enjoyed it just as much this time. After taking a quick peek at the Crown Jewels, we went on the guided Yeoman Warder tour, which was very entertaining. Between visiting the White Tower and Medieval castle and stopping to take pictures of Tower Bridge, we were there for about three hours. After a quick pub lunch, we went to the National Gallery, where we just did the highlights tour, and then walked down to Parliament and Westminster Abbey just to take a look around. They were wanting ice cream with a Flake in it, so we grabbed a bus to Kensington Gardens, getting a nice look at the city along the way, and then came back to Trafalgar Square for a quick supper. Then it was time for the Jack the Ripper walk, which I had done on my first trip to London, but which was considerably different this time around. This guide was also very interesting and entertaining, and we learned a lot. Yesterday we spent the day out of the city, which was good since the London Marathon was going on! We took the train up to Oxford, and spent the afternoon wandering around some of the different colleges. It's a really lovely town, and the colleges are gorgeous. My cousin Brittany has a friend who's currently in Oxford, so we met up with her and her husband for supper, and then they showed us around a bit more. To finish our day, we had to try punting on the river... and all I can really say about that is that it's harder than it looks! We all took a turn at it, but Courtney definitely got the hang of it the best, so she ended up doing most of the work! And now I'm having a quiet night in, to recover from my weekend. :-) I don't have many plans this week, other than going out after work on Friday with the work group. But we'll see what comes up! Some pictures (from my new camera!) of the weekend: The Yeoman Warder leading our tour Westminster Abbey The 'Bridge of Sighs' in Oxford The dining room at Christ Church, where Harry Potter was filmed A mom and her baby ducks, in one of the college parks People punting on the river Giving it our best shot! Courtney and I in the boat [ time finished | 10:29 p.m. ]

The first visitors [20 Apr 2007] [ time started | 7:46 p.m. ] Zorana says I sounded unenthusiastic about my work in my last entry, so I will try to show a little more enthusiasm here. :-) Work is good - I really like all the people in the office, which is a huge part of whether or not you're going to like a job. This week, unfortunately, I was a bit bored at work, I didn't have quite enough to keep me busy. But that's mostly because I'm still learning, so there are a lot of things I can't do yet, without having them explained to me. And someone else has taken over the filing, which I had thought was going to be my back-up project for months. So there was a fair bit of hunting around for work this week, but the work that I do is quite interesting. I got to know some of the people from the office a bit better last night, as they took me out for drinks to welcome me to the company. There were 6 of us that went, though one had to leave fairly early. The rest of us were out until we got kicked out of the pub at 11:00, when they all close. We drank an enormous amount - probably not the best idea to get quite that drunk in front of people you're going to be working with, and that you've just met! But almost everyone else was just as bad - one girl was driving, so she was the only reasonable one by the end of the night. Anyway, it was very fun, and they're great people to hang out with. We are going out again next week, on Friday, as two people are leaving, so we're having a going-away night out for them. Hopefully I will NOT consume more than 2 bottles of wine by myself. In other news, my cousins are here! They arrived on Wednesday, and we had an evening in that night, as they were tired from their flight. Yesterday and today they were pretty much on their own, as I had to work, but tomorrow and Sunday we should get to spend some good time together. Tomorrow I'm taking them to some of my favourite places in the city, like Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, and on Sunday we're going to Oxford, as one of my cousins has a friend there. And I will be able to take some pictures, as I've just received my new camera! Yes, I gave in and bought a new one - couldn't stand being without one any more. So I traded in the old one for a slightly better model, and it cost $150, which is not hideous, but still money I would have been happy spending elsewhere. But ah well - at least I have a camera, and a new warranty, in case anything should happen to this one!! I did some shopping this week, as I received confirmation that the dress code in my office is actually "suits" - as in, a jacket is required. So I went and bought a new jacket, and a bunch of tops to wear underneath. I went to a new store on Oxford Street, called Primark, that Amanda had recommended to me. I didn't realize it was new, and I couldn't figure out why it was so crazy in the store, and the lines were so long! But it all makes sense now. :-) Amanda gave me this advice when I met up with her and her husband for dinner and drinks last Sunday. They live out in the northeast end of the city, so I got to go see another part of London, and I got to see their apartment as well. She says she may be up for doing some day trips with me on weekends, so that's good to know! Alright, I'm going to try to post this now, but my Internet connection has been awful, so if it doesn't show up for a couple of days, you know why. Have a nice weekend! [ time finished | 7:58 p.m. ]

My checklist is complete! [12 Apr 2007] [ time started | 9:42 p.m. ] So today I finally finished the last of the things on my "moving to London" checklist. It took a bit longer than I had hoped, but I now officially have an apartment, a job, a phone, a bank account, a doctor and a National Insurance number. Hooray! :-) I was finally able to get the hold off my bank account by taking in a letter from my employer, so now I just need to go into the branch where I set up the account on Saturday and pick up the debit card. And then everything is set!! I have accepted the 6-month contract at work, so it's officially from April 16 to October 19. That might work out very well, as I actually have a plane ticket to Toronto booked for October 23 (I had to randomly book a return date when I bought the flight over here). So maybe once the contract is up, I can take a trip back to visit everyone (oh okay, mostly to see Tiger), and then come back to London and figure out what to do with the rest of my time here! Other than that, I really have very little to report. My 4-day weekend was relaxing, but I didn't do much, as I was sick on Friday, and my tube pass expired on Saturday, and I wanted to save myself the 2 days by not renewing it until Tuesday. :-) This week so far has just been lots of working. Things are still going well - the office is busy, which means my days are going very quickly. I am planning on going to the theatre tomorrow night after work - I'm not sure yet what I'll see, depends what I can get a cheap ticket for. Mary Poppins is my first choice, so we'll see if I can get in for that! I might also take a day trip this weekend, but I'm just waiting to hear back from my cousins, to see if they're interested in the trip too. If they are, I'll wait and do it with them next weekend - if not, I'll go this weekend! I've just realized that the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships are in Sweden! I may just have to go. :-) They're in March, so I'll still be here, and tickets are quite reasonable, about $500 for an all-event pass (I paid $800 for Moscow). But I really shouldn't be spending that kind of money right now, so I'll put it to the back of my mind for the moment. For now, the trips I'm in the midst of planning are: my trip to Oslo in May, trips to Paris and Majorca with my mom and sister, and trips to Edinburgh and Vienna for my mom and I. That should keep me busy for a little while at least! I'll post again in a few days, when I hopefully have something more exciting to say! :-) [ time finished | 9:55 p.m. ]

First day jitters [5 Apr 2007] [ time started | 8:39 p.m. ] My first week is finished! Awfully nice to have a 3-day week to ease me back into the routine of working. :-) Anyway, things have been going very well. Aaaaand - they offered me the 6-month contract! Hooray! I haven't actually accepted it yet, but I most probably will. The only ever-so-slightly disappointing thing about it all is that I had a call from the Globe Theatre for an interview for a job I'd applied for there. And I had to turn it down. That hurt. But, as Peggy reminded me, everything happens for a reason, and I guess this just means I was meant to spend this time where I am! First things first, the people in the department are wonderfully nice, and have really made me feel welcome. It's quite a small department, so everyone's quite busy. Unfortunately, the woman who probably would have done most of my training was not in this week, so I've just had some bits and pieces, and learning one thing at a time as I do it. But next week I believe I'll get some more overview training, which will be nice. One really cool thing about the job is that we get a free lunch! I find that quite a perk, actually. I hate packing a lunch, just one of the reasons why I was always happy to go home for lunch in Toronto. So now I don't have to, but I can still have a good, healthy lunch (or not-so-healthy), and not go broke doing it! So that's pretty much all that I've been up to in the past few days. Now it's Easter weekend, of course, and we have a 4-day weekend, so I'm hoping to get out and about in London a bit. I had been hoping to get away to Rome this weekend, but with the whole not working for 4 weeks thing, my finances are a bit stretched at the moment. Not, however, stretched enough that I didn't celebrate getting a job by planning a trip. :-) I've decided to spend the first May long weekend (there are two) in Oslo, Norway! I've got my flight and hostel booked, going for two days and two nights. It should be great, I've never been to Norway before! Also on a trip-planning note, my sister and my mom both have their flights sorted for the summer, and we've booked a hotel in Paris for the three of us for the end of June. I can't wait for them to come! I do get my first company soon though, two of my cousins are stopping in the week after next at the start of their Europe trip. I went out and bought an air mattress in honour of the occasion. :-) When I was paying my rent last weekend, I asked a guy who's been here for a while how strict they are about the "no overnight visitors" rule. He said it's not something they enforce at all - it's basically just to keep noise down, which is what I thought. So I can breathe a bit easier about that! Okay, I'm off to watch 2 episodes of Lost now! (Got 'em both downloaded at once). Here's a picture of my Tiger, that Todd sent me. I miss him. *sniff* Have a very happy Easter!! [ time finished | 8:53 p.m. ]

Temporarily employed [2 Apr 2007] [ time started | 10:51 a.m. ] So, big news first - I am starting work tomorrow! I had an interview on Friday, and even though they are still interviewing people today, I had a call this morning saying that they'd like me to come in temp for two weeks, and if they like me and I like them, then they'll hire me on for the full 6-month contract that I had applied for. That's fair to me, especially as I think I'll be more appealing by actually working than I am in an interview setting. The job is in the HR department of an iconic London company. The more I thought about it, the more I realized HR could be a good move for me. I mean, my ultimate goal is still theatre company management, but in some ways, that job is a lot of HR stuff. So if I get some HR experience, it could help in the future. I will be an assistant to the administrator of the department, which is fine with me, since I have no idea what I'm doing. :-) The office is located in St. James, so it's very posh. Which means I have to dress up. Which means I have to go shopping today. Remember, I only brought over two suitcases full of clothes, and only half of those were business clothes. That's not gonna last me very long. In other money-spending news, it appears I am going to have to get a new camera. I've been in touch with Fuji, and since my warranty has expired (just expired....grrrr), they're going to charge me £70 to fix it, when a brand new one only costs £67! So I guess I'm going to have to buy a new one, when I can afford it - we'll see when that turns out to be. I went for a walk yesterday in Islington, around the Angel tube station. It was a walk designed to show off more of the geographic features of London - former river valleys and such, and was pretty good! I also found a mall there. :-) I'm starting to figure out where the shortest interchanges between lines on the Underground are, so my trips are going a little faster. I'm pretty much caught up with my TV shows from home! I've still got two episodes of Lost to see, plus the Amazing Race that just aired last night, but other than that, I've seen everything. Thank goodness for the Internet. :-) I paid my rent for the first time here yesterday. You either have to pay with a banker's draft, or pay a £12 "administration fee" if you use cash. But the banker's draft costs £15. So basically, the rent is at least £12 more than it says you're paying. *sigh* Alright, I guess I better get ready to go and do my shopping! I'm just waiting to hear back with more details about tomorrow - like, what time I'm supposed to show up, and then I'll head out. Wish me luck tomorrow!! [ time finished | 11:17 a.m. ]