That's All Folks!

Well, I'm going home. As per my last entry I had decided to leave my decision up to fate. I was going to wait two weeks and see what happened. It's a little short of two weeks and I've decided to leave - tomorrow. Home in time for Canada day!!

Now don't go feeling bad for me, I actually feel this is the right decision. I'm gonna get all philosophical now so bear with me, but I think I came to London looking for something and when I got here I realized it wasn't here. What I discovered it that I'm finally ready to settle down. How weird is that... me... settle down. I'm actually at a point in my life where I want a career and to develop that career. I really miss the mental stimulation and the sense of pride in my job. Can't believe I'm saying this as just 6 months ago I was convinced I would never be a career girl again. But it's true, so I figured I'd ride this wave for as long as it lasts.

I'm really quite excited about going home. I've even been seriously thinking about saving up and buying myself a place in Toronto. Strangely my travel bug has disappeared - well not completely, but at least the one that makes me want to leave for long periods at a time.

So anyone who knows anyone in TO, I'd love to give you my resume!!!

Paris in June

Paris... what a great city!! Definitely up there at the top of my favorite cities. I spent the whole weekend walking around. There's so much to see that you never have enough time. I confess, I spent a little time shopping as well. Your mind really does play tricks on you... I've been living on the pound for so long that when I got to Paris the euro seemed really cheap. Plus it was the sale week... how can you pass that up!! The shops also gave me respite from the unbearable heat. If I have any complaints about my weekend it was the heat. I swear it was over 35 everyday and humid beyond belief. I popped into a movie theatre to take advantage of the air con - at this point both my shirt and pants were soaked through with sweat - only to find out (once seated) that the AC wasn't working!! Aaaahhh!! I really do miss North America and all it's modern convenience - AC everywhere!!

But enough moaning, Paris as I said is a beautiful city. The architecture is phenomenal - even in the dingiest parts of the city, the buildings where great. I strolled along the Champs Elysee - stopping in the shops of course! - to the Arc de Triomphe ;) Sat around the fountain at the Gardins de Tuileries while enjoying a creme glacee, visited the Palais du Louvre as well as the Tour Eiffel, enjoyed the view from the Trocadero and finally sat a cafe and just did some people watching while my waiter kept calling me "jeune fille". I even strolled along the rue St-Denis and had flashbacks of Montreal, it was fantastic!

Contrary to popular belief, the people were very friendly. I even had some guy stop and ask if I needed help when I standing on a corner looking puzzled. Ladies if ever you needed some male attention, Paris is the place to go. Can't tell you how many times I was approached, complimented and asked if I would like some company. Very good for the ego!!

I recommend Paris to anyone who hasn't been and to those who have go back!! This was my third time there and I swear I discovered new things.

Life of Pi

Have you read Life of Pi? What a fantastic book!! I know I'm several years behind, but I just finished it and I loved it. It's definitely got my recommendations!!

Casual tennis fans need not apply

Wimbledon is not for the faint of heart. I left the house at about 3pm yesterday to make Wimbledon before 5pm so that I could get in line for the cheap after 5 tickets. I had heard that their would be a line up. I never expected what I got! Almost 2 1/2 hours waiting in the hot sun!!!

Wimbledon is a very popular event. It is the last sports event in London that has same day ticket sales. They have a ballot that you can apply to the year before for advance tickets - these tickets get you into the big courts - although you have no idea what matches you will be seeing until the day of. Every day during Wimbledon, they release 6000 extra tickets to the general public - these are the tickets you have to queue for. Queuing is taken very seriously, we were handed queue cards that assured our positions in line. Line jumpers will not be tolerated!! Wimbledon park has a capacity of 35 000 people. This means that when full they only let people in on a one in one out basis. Might explain the 2 1/2hr wait...

I finally did get into to Wimbledon. It was quite an exciting place - teeming with people. Serena Williams was playing on court 2 - with my ticket I was only allowed to stand in court 2. I headed over to the standing area and what did I find... another line. No way was I waiting in another line. I walked around a bit... peaked in on some other matches, then headed over to the Hill. The Hill is a big hill (obviously) with a big screen. They broadcast the big games on it. I watched Serena - she won, sipped on a Pimms - the drink of choice at Wimbledon, and then headed over to see if I could catch any other matches. The problem is that all the courts were full of people, so the best you could manage was standing over someone's shoulder trying to get a look.

I'm not sure if I would do Wimbledon again. Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience. But I'm not sure if it was worth the 2 1/2hr wait for me. I'm not that big of a tennis fan - I only really know the big names. The ambience was great, but then watching a match on a screen felt wrong given that I was at Wimbledon to see them live. So I don't think I would go back - unless of course someone has advance tickets they would like to give to me?!?

FATE

I’ve reached the end of my rope. This whole London thing is just no fun. I’m not a martyr; I don’t feel as if I need to stick it out just to prove something to myself. The idea behind coming here was to change environments and have some fun. I’ve changed environments but I’ve been miserable for the past month. Not worth it.

I’ve decided to leave my future up to fate. Last week I applied to about 15 jobs. I’ve given myself 2 weeks to hear back from any one of the employers. If I don’t hear anything by the end of the two weeks, I will be heading home. I can’t tell you how much relief I felt once I had made this decision. Fate will take care of me. I’ll either go home – (good option) or get a job in London (another good option). It’s a win win situation!

In the meantime I’ve decided to enjoy the rest of my stay. I’ve booked a trip to Paris for the weekend, planning on going to Wimbledon, Leeds castle and hoping to get to Wales – maybe next weekend. One thing I will not be doing is sitting by the phone waiting for an employer to call!

The job search continues

So it’s been over 4 weeks now and I haven’t heard anything. No scratch that. I’ve heard “Thank you for your application but we have decided to go for someone with more appropriate skills” or from the agents “Yes Christine, we’re actively looking for you unfortunately we don’t have anything to match you profile. Don’t give up!”. Looking for a job is a miserable prospect. My recommendation – don’t leave the one you’ve got until you have another one lined up!!! I’ve never been so de-moralized in my life!! I left home confident in my skills and ability to find a job. Now I’m at the point where I’m wondering if I’ll ever work again.

The situation gets worse by the need to find a place to live. I’m currently living with friends but can’t stay here forever. Jo has graciously given up her room for me so Jo and Tara are now sleeping in the same bed. How guilty do I feel!! Not sure they were expecting me to stay for this long when they offered me a place to stay.

Looking for a flat is no fun when you have no money coming in. A room in a small apartment, sharing with 2-4 other people will cost me as much a month (after exchange) as it did when I was living in my great single apartment in Toronto. How sick is that?!?!? The other problem is that London is so huge… how do you decide where to live? South of the river? North of the river?

I had settled on Greenwich. It is in my opinion the best of both worlds – close to the centre of city but has a small town feel with a fabulous park nearby. Problem is… the flats are few and far between in Greenwich. I did find one, but they chose someone else. Booo!!!

Time to do some thinking about the future!

York

York is a fantastic English city. It has all the things you think off when imagining a typical English location. Old castles, winding cobblestone streets, an old city wall, beautiful gardens bursting with English roses, a fantastic Minster (church) and a great river winding through it.

I had been to York on my last trip to England, but felt like I needed to give it another look-see given that the last time I was there I was infested with bed-bugs and it was pouring down rain. I’m glad I did. What a beautiful city!

Claire and I took the train Leeds to York – about a 40 min ride. We spent the whole day walking around the city. Had a Cornish pie for lunch and Betty’s for high tea. Betty’s is renown for their tea and crumpets – I had hot chocolate and a Fat Bertha – a Betty’s specialty. I felt so English – having high tea!! Giggle!! We visited the old castle in the middle of the city and found out all about Guy Fawkes.

Definitely a great day and to anyone who hasn’t been, I would recommend York.

You can never go back!!

I took a trip to Leeds to visit my friend Claire who I had met in Australia. We had a fantastic time catching up and remembering the good times in OZ.

Leeds is known for its cosmopolitan-ness – great shopping and a great nightlife. Well you can guess that I took advantage of the great shopping – on a budget of course. I think Claire was a little horrified about taking me shopping as a tourist attraction, but I was happy!!

Saturday was the big night out. We started off with a beautiful Italian dinner in this fantastic restaurant with a 1950s décor… kept waiting for Dean Martin to show up on stage and do a little dance… sing a little song! Afterwards off to a pub, then a club which was later deemed “too cheesy” – I actually liked it – then another club (sorta reminded me of Velvet – but bigger and a little classier) which was dead. Finally one of the girls decided that we would join her brother at a bar called the Drydock. Did I mention he was her younger brother – younger by about 10 years.

The Drydock was a university hangout. No one but me and the 4 other girls I was with was over the age of 22!! Now I have no problem with people in their 20s – on the contrary, I traveled with a lot of people younger than me and made some great friends. But a club full of them – all intent on nothing else but getting falling down drunk – I really felt old!! I then found out we were moving on… phew… to the student union… NOoooooo!!!! So we moved to a dark and dingy hall that charged us 4 pounds to get in and drink alcholised grape punch. The bathrooms were flooded with young girls so drunk they couldn’t stand up and the sounds of vomiting coming from every second stall. Kids walking around in costumes and rebels with piercings in every orifice. Where people weren’t rebelling, they were philosophizing – as you do in Uni. The funniest was that they were playing music from the eighties – my generation!! I’m sure had I been 19 and in Uni this would have been the height of cool. But I’m 31… I’ve been there, done that. I just wanted a dance and a vodka soda. So I say… You can never go back and chances are… you don’t want to!!!

Waiting Game

So I've appliedto several jobs, have sent my CV (must remember not to say resume!!!) to multiple agencies, called said agencies... and now I wait. I'm not enjoying this waiting game. I feel so powerless... like there's nothing I can do. One agent suggested that I not work with so many agencies as in two weeks I would probably be overwhelmed with interviews. I look forward to that day.

I never thought that I'd say this, but I really do want to work. I'm bored to tears!!! I know, I know... I should be using this time to explore London. Well I would, except for the mullah!! It costs me about $12 a day just to get in and out of London and with the job search looking like it might take a while I need to conserve. So I've become a real fan of Charmed and Animal Planet... sad... this is what my "exciting" life in London has become!!