17 October 2006
Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated this in ages but things have been a bit manic lately. London has been pretty exciitng the past month and Ive managed to cram lots in even around work. Here you can do most anything any time you want - especially with the all night buses running right to the end of my street and it's entirely acceptable to head out to a pub at 9pm on a Sunday night (like yesterday…) being close to everything and having great public transport means that Im able to do a lot of things despite working 40 hours. The job is going really well, we're still waiting for the final figures to come back from the CEO so I can organise all the bonus payouts for this 6 month period but until then Im helping the global
mobility manager and the HR Administrators around the office, enjoying the free lunches (there's so much to choose from - soups, sandwiches, baked potatoes, japanese and even pizza and KFC on fridays) and eating lots of fruit - its such a cool service to provide for employees - and as a temp Im completely living it up!! In my two weeks here so far one person has left to get married and another had a birthday so there's always lots of cake around for afternoon tea!
My flat is going really well too, Im stoked I moved in there, everyone is lovely and we've spent a lot of nights just hanging out at home chatting, with often ends up in us walking down to Fulham Broadway and invariably ended up out dancing together. Ive adapted to sharing a room with three other girls really quickly, despite having slightly different schedules we never wake each other up, although with winter looming its getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings and go for a run so I may have to find a cheap gym or pool soon. So what fun stuff has been going on in London for me over my first month here… actually quite a bit of drinking, surprisingly enough! They'res another similarity to Japan - because houses are smaller people always head out to socialise and meet up for a drink which (if you go to the right place on the right day or you get the guys to pay :P) isnt actually all that expensive. Have met a lot of people out and about - Kiwis, Aussies, South Africans, Brazilians, Polish Spanish, French, Irish, Scottish, Albanian, the list goes on… When people meet you here the first question isn't "What’s your name?" its "Where do you come from?" it’s a pretty multicultural city and Im enjoying it to the fullest. Other than heading out clubbing a lot of nights Ive been doing some actual dancing and am getting into Ceroc classes (thanks for getting me hooked Pete and Mikey) it’s a mix between modern jive and salsa and as a girl all I have to do is smile and spin but it looks awesome, and Im working on the concept of not being in control all the time. They'res a beautiful dance hall about 15 mins down the road from me and for £6 it’s a great way to spend 3 hours on a Thursday night!
I worked at the Opportunities NZ Expo last weekend and seeing as I'm working 12 days straight I'm taking it a little bit easier on the extra-curricular activities this week. The two days at the expo was cool though, I was just on the door meeting and greeting people and handing out leaflets but it was a lot of fun to be back in a bubbly customer service role, and they paid me in cash afterwards which definitely helped towards this months rent : ) Just like a career fair there were lots of free goodies so got to indulge in pineapple lumps, peanut slabs and chocolate fish!! Even got a couple of free tee-shirts (a wellington one and an AB one) and a cute little plush teddy-bear! On my breaks I also got a chance to talk to some people about HR positions for when I come back to NZ in 2008 (if I decide to launch into a career back home) and will be working at the Opportunities Australia Expo in two weeks time so will hopefully look to set up some contacts there as well just to keep my options open!
This weekend Im heading off somewhere - don’t ask me where… camping with my Polish flatmate Gosia and her Brazilian friend Priscilla and some scouts, so that should be a really cool experience. Over the last couple of weeks I've had a chance to catch up with my Pat and Reg Hammond who were over taking a well deserved holiday and surprising Pat's brother Chris for his 50th birthday party, I had a great day mingling and eating and really enjoyed playing with the kids outside on the tramp and trying to understand 10 year old Sophie's science homework - obviously to no avail… Got to hang out with my cousin from back home - Paul - and we had drinks at this wicked underground Irish pub in Leicester Square with a huge tree inside and dinner at a Lebanese place in Soho. That reminds me, he's been here for a little while and has done quite a bit of travelling with his partner so I will have to drill him for tips once Ive saved enough up to travel around Western Europe and Thailand etc on the way home. Hoping to be able to get to Poland for Christmas and might have New Years in Berlin with a german friend from Japan which would be wicked but we'll have to wait and see.
Other than that, Ive been to the Festival on the Thames with Jayne, saw the AFL final with a bunch of Aussies at the walkabout in Sheperds Bush, went to a market in East London and found these amazing buddha bags, and Wallies and have just been having a pretty fun time in general. I would love to hear from you guys. Let me know whats going on wherever you are in the world, despite keeping myself busy here Id actually love to hear what you're up to - leave a message here or you have my email, phone number and snail mail address so there's no excuse innit!
Well, in more grown-up professional news, I finished my work at Man Investments today, managed to get everything done they needed me to do and got a bottle of wine and a card even though I was only a temp and only there for a month. Got along with a few of the girls there quite well so will keep in touch and am definately going to miss the free breakies and lunches there, has been great hardly having to buy any food at all for the past month! 
