Happy New Year!
I'm sure everyone thinks I abandoned this blog but internet has returned here at the pub. I will try to post more from now on.
Things have been interesting. Very interesting tonight.
I'm not one to do anything for New Years. Somehow, I ended up on a boat on the river Thames. I feel a bit silly about paying so much for a ticket but it was the cheapest boat around and it was quite the interesting night.
We didn't get tickets until today and somehow our bosses convinced them to let us all get tickets so we were "VIP".
So I saw in the New Year with a view of Big Ben and the London Eye fireworks while managing to lose everyone I came with. I will say I had a New Years kiss. I also danced a lot, drank a fair amount, and danced some more. Oh and I was complemented on being a good dancer. Dear lord, the guy must've been wasted as well to think that. Anyways, fun was had by all and I got to experience New Years in person and not on tv. It wasn't terribly exciting but it was certainly better than watching the ball drop in New York.
Then, I managed to fall asleep for the US New Year. After all, it wasn't until 5am here. Now it's almost 8am and I've been awake for over 2 hours. I've had horrible insomnia lately, especially after a night of drinking. However, now I'm tired so now that the sun is coming up I think I will call it a night.
Internet still not working. Maybe later today? Real updates will resume when I have internet in my housing and I'm not sitting at McDonald's.
I think I fucking love this city. I think I should move here forever.
We'll see if I regret this later. But as for right now, it's edging up there on Chicago as best city ever.
Yesterday was my first day of work ie the second busiest day ALL week. Tonight is my second and it's the busiest night ALL week. And they are both 10 hour days. Oh fuck, I'm not used to this.
And then I stayed up until 3am talking with people. So yay for being social but FUCK I'm tired and my legs still feel tired.
Tonight I'll try to go to bed early but tonight is free drinks night. People don't really tip here. Last night, about 5 people made 15 pounds in tips. So instead of splitting it up, every Friday night is free drinks for all the employees after work. It's also cleaning night. They have to bribe you with something, I guess.
Okay, real update later. Right now, I have to get motivated to get to work...again.
Yesterday, I arrived in London with two way too heavy bags and managed to make my way on the pub with public transportation.
Today, I sorted out paperwork, opened a bank account, found tax forms. I should've been more social at the meeting. I mean, I was social but then failed to get contact information. I met a guy who did the same pub placement program I did and it would have been nice to have that connection. He's working in a pub on Picadilly circus and is a midwesterner from Minnesota. Oh well...
I shouldn't be too depressed. The pub accommodations here are large. In fact, it's exactly what I wanted. Too small would have been constricting. My only complaint is that the area of Holborn is a business area which means everything shuts down around here at about 6. So no cheap eats but then again, I get free food at the pub. The free food is mainly left overs but I'm not sick of it yet.
Yesterday, on a search for a cell phone, I stumbled into Trafalgar Square.
I'm unsure about my job and meeting people. I work with mainly Australians. Is it just me or are they always so damn outgoing? I always feel kind of weird around them like I'm not being crazy or social or "hey I LOVE DRINKING" enough around them. Most, however, are quitting in the next few weeks to go places for Christmas. It's an odd time of the year to come as it's a big switch over. It doesn't feel like Christmas to me.
What I am completely sure about is the city. Everyone told me it was dark, rainy, dirty, expensive, and not a place they would ever want to live again. I told them Denmark was dark, rainy, dirty, expensive, and not a place I'd ever want to live again. So far, this holds true. The first few days in Denmark I was horribly homesick. Every simple task seemed so hard to do (like finding goddamn hangers). Everything here has been so easy. It's a bit dark, a little bit rainy and for a big city, not that dirty at all. The exchange rate is better but regardless, here I can afford to eat out a bit. At $10-15 a meal, it's reasonable. At Denmark's $20-30 for the same thing, it's not.
But food aside, I love the city. I love the architecture. The street I live on features high rise cubicle filled glass window buildings and 18th and 19th century pubs. They are smooshed in together without that terrible Paris effect (like the Pompidou but more glaringly seen on the outskirts of the city). Some of it is ugly but it's a gritty city kind of ugly and I'm ok with that.
Most of all, it's alive. Copenhagen always seemed so dead. As one girl put it, suburban. And it was a culture I felt totally alienated from. The obsession on fashion, weight. The often closed off personalities. Pickled herring. Some people fell in love with it, but not me. I almost went to London but chose Copenhagen instead. At the time, there were some good reasons. Also, what the hell did I know about Copenhagen?
Here I know I'll be ok if I don't meet people right away. I won't feel isolated in a completely dead part of a not too lively city. I can walk to the river, St. Paul's, the British Museum. I can still indulge in silly American things like Subway and the English language.
I should also mention the BUNAC program was very inviting. When I first enter Copenhagen is was disconcerting with lots of confusion and only going to school with Americans. With this program, I have places to meet other Americans but I don't have to be there all the time. They also offer super cheap trips. I plan on getting my birthday off and going to see Canterbury. I had planned on going myself and spending a bit longer there but the trips are so cheap. And honestly, I'm sick of traveling alone.
So, just to be lame and put it out there. I really wish I could meet someone. It would be very nice to have a boy to travel with. Not all the time, and not overly serious. It would be fun and nice for a change.