Just a quickie!

I realise it's been ages... and I've been meaning to upload photos from Tenerife (the good part) and my recent work trip to Austria, but my iPhoto is acting up (or my computer is dying, which is more likely at five years old) so have been having trouble with photos.

So, I thought I'd go old fashioned and just write a quick update. We are moving on Friday!!! After what feels like an eternity looking for a new flatshare we've found one that hopefully will be good. It's in a house, which is nice because we'll live on a regular street and not a dodgy apartment block and also great because it has a GARDEN!!! Well, more of a yard, but with a little work it could be really nice. We've got a large double bedroom on the first floor and a huge bay window. There are four other bedrooms (one single) but they haven't been let yet, so we don't know who will be living with us. Hopefully nice, considerate and clean people.

The woman who is renting the rooms is part owner of the house and lives in the loft conversion, so hopefully she'll get decent people in. I'm pretty sure she will anyway. There's also a small living/dining area and obviously a kitchen! One of the double rooms has an en-suite bathroom and there are two other bathrooms so we won't have any problems getting in the shower... oh, there's no bath, which kind of sucks, but I dealt with it in Korea and will just have to do it again.

Anyway, it's also next door to a super huge Tesco (grocery store) and about a 7 minute walk from the tube. On paper it's pretty ideal... we'll see how it works out, and if we're not happy then the search will start again!

Things art work are going ok, aside from the announcement of more lay-offs. Several of my colleagues have left in the last week and two more of us will be going soon... fingers crossed it isn't me! I feel pretty secure, but you never know. Last week I went to the Prime Minister's house on Downing Street and actually went inside for a two crew interview with him (myself being one of them), a highlight of my career so far, I suppose. A lot of people probably think this is pretty cool and crazy, but it's just part of the job really... suppose I'm a little blase about it...

Anyway, not much else in the way of news... just looking forward to the move, really. Coming up photos of the house, Tenerife, and Austria!

a home

It’s official. I’m a Londoner! I have my very own room, in a flat, in Cricklewood. I don’t really know much about my neighbourhood yet, but as in Korea, you’ll learn about it as I do.

My room is nice. It’s big. That’s the important part, right? It’s actually about the same size as my apartment in Korea was… minus the kitchen and bathroom. I have a double bed (that will require some kind of mattress cushion, or something to make it more comfortable), two dressers, a wardrobe, a “comfy” chair, a coffee table, a side table, and a plastic patio chair (which might actually belong outside…). It also came with a free webcam and headset, and space heater, which I can only assume were left by the previous tenant. Did I mention the (non-working) fireplace?

The carpet and curtains a little ugly, but things can be done about that… Someone is coming in next week to super wash the carpet, and I can always hang other things over the curtains.

I’ve just unpacked my bags and slightly organized things – it could change. I’m still not sure I like the positioning of the furniture, so I’ll have to wait and see. I’ll need to get something to hang on the walls since they’re bare, and a room only ever really starts to feel like home once there’s something on the walls. I’m thinking of getting some of my photos done at the snappy snaps photo store that I work at on Saturdays.

What? Yeah. I work five hours a week at a little photo shop. There’s so much catching up to be done on here, I apologize for the lack of posting of late, it’s something I can only really do when I have my own space to sit and think, and now I do.

The flat doesn’t (as far as I know so far) have Internet, so I’ll be posting this from work tomorrow. So again, I apologize for the shortness of this and the lack of real information, there will be LOTS more very soon, with pictures and all, until then, be well, happy new year, and stay tuned for more of my adventures in London… there is just SO much to catch up on…

Back and Forth

This seems to be a theme in my life right now. I'm back in Otterburn - the cats at my (wonderful) friends' house were just too much for my immune system - and I'll be here until I leave in 36 days.

Which brings me to the other "back and forth" part of my life - moving to London. I keep thinking how things would be so much easier if I just stayed here and then I think that I would regret not going (possibly for the rest of my life)... What's a girl to do? No one can make the decision for me, but sometimes I wish there were someone to just tell me what to do. Not that I'd likely listen to them if there was!

So here is a pros and cons list to staying and leaving.

Pros to staying:

• I could set myself up in a nice apartment for WAY less.
• I would be close to my friends and family.

Cons to staying:

• I would always wonder "what if..."
• Finding a job in my field is more difficult here.
• I could get "comfortable" and forget about my dreams of seeing the world.

Pros to leaving:

• I'd get to live in one of the biggest most exciting cities in the world.
• I would never wonder "what if..."
• I can always just come back and settle if I want.
• My visa and flight cost me about $1000.
• I'd be fulfilling a life-long dream.

Cons to leaving:

• My money will be gone the instant I land.
• I will be in a foreign country (again) with no (real) support network.

I guess that I should go... I know that I will, it's just that when you have to wait so long to something so "crazy" you tend to start to wonder why you thought of doing it in the first place. I felt the same way for a few weeks (and especially days) before leaving for Korea, so I know this is part of the process... I just can't help thinking about it.

In other news...
My "cold" developed into something more fierce, but being away from the cats for a couple of days is helping. I hope to be 100% better in a few days.

My new "job" had no hours for me this week. Ya, that's right. I had to log in to a website today to choose my hours for next week and am now waiting on approval. I hope that I get something next week... if not I'm not sure what I'll do for money... though I am awaiting my tax returns...

new digs... again.

I've moved into the city. There are a number of reasons for this, but I won't list them. There is something sad about leaving Otterburn, but it's also a good thing for me. I'm stuck here until the 4th of December, so I might as well make some money in that time, right?

Today I got a job at a market research firm where I will be calling people and asking them questions. Fun. I had some friends way back who did this while they were going to school. I'm just doing it to be able to survive for the next six weeks without spending any of the money currently in my bank account. Hopefully I can stand it enough... if not, maybe I'll head back to the country...

I found a great deal at redtag.ca for my flight to London. $480 one way on British Airways... the same flight is listed at just over $1000 on their site, so I'm looking at it like a 50% off sale! Plus BA lets you bring more luggage than the (only) cheaper flight that I found. Anyway, I've got two days until I start my new job, hopefully the cold that has been lingering in my sinuses for the last five days will be gone by then.

BTW, I was thinking of trying to go to the Gazette or CJAD and ask them if I could be their "bitch" for a day or two a week... just not sure how I should go about it... any ideas are welcome.