After One Week

"You alright?"

While I knew coming over here that that was what they said in place of "How are you?" I'm still caught off guard every time somebody asks me that question. They say it so fast!

It's amazing how quickly every day goes by here. Although, I will say that it seems like forever ago that I was back in Canada. I've been so busy this week trying to get a job going and trying to find permanent accommodation while all at the same time, keeping up with a social life. I've seen about 8 places so far that are renting out a room and I must say, haven't been all that impressed with either of them. I am currently staying in this student building at the moment. I would love to just stay here, believe me, but it would be a little too expensive. I am feeling a little bit of the pressure though. I'm only here until Tuesday so I basically need to find somewhere for after that. Since I am struggling with finding permanent accommodation, I do have 3 options for flatshares that are available only for July/August, which is probably the best as it will give me more time to look at somewhere for Sept 1st that might be more relative to wherever I'll be working. On that note, I did have an interview on Wednesday with a recruiting agency and that all went well as I got a spot on their roster. The lady that interviewed me actually sent out my CV (resume) to a company that day and I was supposed to have an interview with the company the following day. Unfortunately, they really liked the person they interviewed on the Wednesday and just hired that person instead of going through an interview with me. No matter though, I am hopeful I'll get something this week.

The best part about my experience so far is the overwhelming amount of people I'm meeting. Tuesday, BritBound had a pub lunch so I met a completely new round of people and this bunch was a fun bunch. Aussies, Kiwi's, and of course, Canadians. Can't go wrong with that. Wednesday, I met a couple of guys in the same flat I'm in right now and one of them happened to be from Burnaby!! Thursday, although not meeting somebody new, I met up with my buddy Chris from the Keg who's doing a euro-trip for school this summer and we watched the USA/Germany game. Friday, BritBound had a boat party. As you might have seen on some facebook pictures, yes, it was tennis themed, and yes, it was as fun as it looked. And of course, I met even MORE people there because the boat was packed with BritBounders. Today, I went to the London Pride Parade with a few new friends and of course, it rained. Parade also didn't really compare to Vancouver Pride Parade. Vancouver's got a lot more floats and a lot more music. It was like mainly a march in London. After the parade, we headed over to Trafalgar Square where they had performances. Now, I didn't care for any of the performances... the main reason I was there was to see Sir Ian McKellen with my very own two eyes. Even though he only talked for a good 5 minutes, it was awesome to see him in person and hear his magnificent voice.

Sorry for the lengthy read. I plan to make a decision tomorrow on accommodation so hopefully this week moves in the right direction in both that area and job wise! Canada Day is on Tuesday and I will be wishing I was back home. I'll have to try and find some poutine and a spicy caesar that day.

The Journey Begins

Just got back from eating some fish & chips and then topping it off with watching a gorgeous sunset on the River Thames. It almost got ruined by a different view, and those who saw my instagram photo know what I'm talking about!! So after my last post, I said that I was on my way to the BritBound info session. They provided some decent info and seems like they should be a valuable resource. They have events that they put together every week so I'm sure if I attend those on a regular basis, I should have no problem meeting other travellers and making friends. After the session, all the other BritBounders and I headed over to a pub to have a drink and I made a few new facebook friends!! After that night, I was able to correct my sleeping pattern (I think). Yesterday, Paige, a few of her friends, and I all went to Greenwich Park for a little BBQ. So in the UK here, you can buy these disposable BBQ's, they're small and cheap but they work!! I don't know why they don't have them in Canada. Well, maybe we don't really need them over there and to be honest, we weren't really allowed to be bringing that into the park anyway!! We could see why after when we realized we had left a rectangle shaped patch of black grass. A lot of fun though, and I got to meet even more people. However, the annoying thing about the past 2 days has been my allergies. They are 10 times worse than they were in Vancouver. That didn't stop me today though as I did some more exploring of Greenwich. First, I took a trip to the Greenwich market which was cool but expensive at the same time. Then, ventured over to see Cutty Sark, the Royal Naval College, and the National Maritime museum. Pictures coming soon. Now begins my process of finding work and accommodation. It looks like the best option, and also a popular one in the UK, is to rent a room in an already existing house/flat share. I'm going to be looking at places that have tenants around my age and hopefully, be like-minded people. Still unsure of what I want to do for work. BritBound said that 80% of employment in the UK is done through recruiting agencies. So, the plan is to send my resume to them, and then they'll forward them to agencies, and then hopefully these agencies will have jobs for me that match my resume. Tomorrow, I'm going to set up a bank account and set up my phone as well. BritBound is having a pub lunch on Tuesday so hopefully, I'll meet more people there. One last thing, I greatly miss the tap water back home!!

Welcome to London

I must say, It's been a crazy past 48 hours. Actually, the past 3 weeks have been all around crazy. I was fully booked every day but it was worth it. I had so much fun seeing family and friends and saying goodbye to everyone was not easy. As much as I have wanted to do this adventure, I cannot see myself not coming back to Vancouver. I love it there too much and everyone along with it. Anyway, enough of that. The flight over here was pretty good for how cheap it was. There was, luckily, no one to my immediate right so I had some space. I, of course, only got maybe a few minutes of sleep. When I landed, I chilled at the airport for a bit to re-organize my luggage and prepare myself for the long trek to my friend Paige's place. Now, it may not have seemed like a long trek to some people but I had a massive (and heavy) suitcase, a massive (and heavy) backpack and another small (and heavy) backpack. I managed to stumble across town to Paige's and was exhausted by the time I got there. Nobody was home and without hesitation, I took a nap and woke up to find quite a few messages from Paige and my other Canadian friend, Natasha. I journeyed back across town to meet up with the two and it was a great sight to see a couple of familiar faces. We ventured over to a pub to have a few pints and eventually, watched the England/Uruguay game. Despite the loss, it was an awesome experience to witness a World Cup match at an English pub with everyone yelling, "Come on England!" and "Roooooney!" Unfortunately, Natasha had to fly out the next day for a visit to Vancouver (funny how that worked out) so I won't be seeing her for a few weeks. Fun first night but jeez, first day waking up in London and already hungover. Today is the SWAP/BritBound info session that I signed up for and they'll hopefully be a good resource for finding somewhere to live and finding a job. Wish me luck!