WOW! Franz Ferdinand was SO amazing last night! I'd have to put it in my top ten concerts fo' sho! Brilliant! The opening band, which I think was called Music Go Music was also really good. We went to a really famous venue, the 02 (Brixton) Academy, which was one of the coolest and most interesting venues I've ever been to. It was all standing room only and it had ridiculously sloped floors down to the stage so everyone could see most of the time, even me. Until really tall drunken frat boys jumped into me. The whole thing was just really really cool and I'm stoked that I got to go. Franz Ferdinand didn't even go on until 11h30, tho, and the tubes stop running at 12. Here's the story about Brixton ... it's the gun crime capital of London. We had to wait for the night busses with hundreds of other people. Interesting experience to be sure. We managed to not get shot, and began a process of bus taking which got us pretty lost. No matter what Steve says, I know we were lost. After a 2 hour voyage, we eventually found our way. Phew. It was an amazing night tho for sure! I'm a concert fanatic so going to a show in London was just perfect!
I've had a tough few days of working, I can't go into detail because of the whole confidentiality thing with schools but I can say that I literally got attacked by a 10 year old one day which was overwhelming but I was working at the greatest school - I've been there a few times and the staff was phenomenal. They even invited me out for drinks after school and I got to make some new friends which was awesome. No matter what happens to me, I try to take it in stride. I came to London because I knew it would make me a better teacher, and that's exactly what's happening. I've already experience and learned so much ... it's insane.
It's half term, 9 school-less days. Hope I'll do some travels! I'll keep you all posted! Thanks to those of you who comment! It's nice to know people are reading!
xo Megs
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Twilight Omens
Hallo from Megs and Steve,
We are chillin' at Steve's flat getting ready for the Franz Ferdinand concert. Pretty stoked. I have lots to blog about but Steve says I'm boring when I blog so I must go for now. Hi to everyone ... I'll blog more tomorrow! xo Megs
We are chillin' at Steve's flat getting ready for the Franz Ferdinand concert. Pretty stoked. I have lots to blog about but Steve says I'm boring when I blog so I must go for now. Hi to everyone ... I'll blog more tomorrow! xo Megs
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Heya ....
Hey y'all!
I don't have much to say since I just posted a blog the other day, but thought I would drop in to say hello and let everyone know that life is good! Yesterday was a tough day. I got pre-booked for a school in one of the tougher boroughs of London. I was pre-warned that it would be a hard day. By morning breaktime, I was laughing. Everyone kept coming up to me nervously asking if I was doing okay. By that time, the kids had been tough but nothing I couldn't handle! I thought it was a breeze, and life would be good.
By lunchtime, I literally wanted to leave. Run away. Sit at a desk and cry. Anything but teach. I was MISERABLE. I hate to admit defeat, however, so I soldiered up and continued on. What a day. I had a T.A. for most of the day, but half of the time, (And I HATE to say this!) she was ENCOURAGING the behaviour! I'd try to get the class' attention and she would be laughing and talking and ignoring me WITH the students! WTF?! I LITERALLY had to bang large, metal objects ON the tables to get their attention. I got the scariest voice I've ever used (I terrified myself!) and gave them the most intense reaming out/talking to/deal making I have ever used with a class shortly after lunch. During breaktime, I LITERALLY saw 10 year old beating the $H!T out of each other on the playground. There was a helpful teacher next door, who luckily gave me things to do with them because when I arrived, absolutely no planning had been done or left out for me. I wearily walked back to the train station, and began my TWO HOUR journey home. I'm up for pretty much any challenge, but I would have to honestly be prepared and think about it/ be desperate for work to head into that school again. WOW.
All I wanted to do when I got home was crawl into bed, BUT once again, my new buddy Lindsey threw me a text and twisted my rubber arm to head downtown. She has a friend from Canada in town, so we headed into Camden (my fave neighbourhood ever! I want to LIVE there!) and got a bite to eat. Alexis had her proper London fish and chips (we photographed this big event) and I had a chicken sandwich that came exactly the opposite way of what I had ordered and paid (extra) for. Thank you, pub! Oh well. We then headed over to the Spread Eagle pub. I've wanted to go here since I arrived, for the reason being the name only. Too funny. We made all kinds of innappropriate jokes and comments and also took innappropriate pictures. Spread Eagle Pub is right up there with the Bung Hole Pub in my books. God, I love this city! I still headed home rather early and went straight to bed as I didn't know if I would be working today or not.
I wasn't pre-booked for today, and I woke up feeling like crap! My whole body was achy and stiff (It is missing my daily physio and chiro appointments for SURE!) I also felt like I may be coming down with the flu, and was a little shaky. Did NOT feel like going out to work, that's for sure! I called in anyways, tho, cos I'm a wimp who's terrified of living in poverty, and was sure I wasn't getting put in a school. I settled into the couch with Crystal and watched her 'favourite shows' with her that she watches pretty much every morning. Before we could get thru some children's reality show (that should be illegal!?) my fone rang, and I was heading out. I was half stoked to be working (yay paycheck!) and half sad (i feel like crap!). But, it's half term next week so I have a whole week off so I sucked it up and headed into the 'office.' Luckily, today, I wound up working in my own neighbourhood! This never happens! I'm used to 75-120 minute commutes! It still took me an HOUR to get there, though, since I was given the WRONG directions. Not the first time this has happened. Won't be the last, I'm sure. I love my job and I love going to different schools and classrooms every day - I'm learning and growing SOOOOO much as a teacher. It's fantastic. I am starting to HATE never knowing where I'm going, though, and I freakin' HATE two hour commutes each way. So shitty. Definately starting to grate on my nerves to the point that I've asked to be considered for my own classroom (long term position) next semester. It's a lot more work, and not the same experience but I'm spending at least $70 CDN/week on the commuting and losing up to 4 hours a day because of it as well. Not good.
Today, was different. Best day I've had so far. I went to a Catholic school near my house and fell in love with it. Big open classrooms with an entire wall of windows that look out onto greenery. TREES! Bushes! Nice playground! The playground is locked in, and every classroom has a door going straight on to it! Amazing! Someone really smart (aka a teacher?!) must have designed this school. It was so great. I also got two T.A.'s who were SO helpful. The children were amazingly well behaved, and I had my best day yet. Days like this renew my faith in this career after I've had days like yesterday! Tomorrow and Friday, I'm pre-booked for the school I was at last Thursday. It's a 90 minute commute but I liked the school a lot. It's flattering to me when a school specifically requests to have you back, so I'm looking forward to it.
Aside from that, I'm DEFINATELY going to the Franz Ferdinand concert with Mr. Steve on Saturday - SO excited! On Sunday or Monday, I'm almost positive that I'm going to head to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet up with my Swedish friend, Angelica. SO SO SO excited to go visit the motherland! And next weekend, I have tentative plans to head to Paris! Almost everyone I know is going to Italy next week, and I've been invited, so we'll see what happens ... I'll keep you posted!
Miss and love all my lovely people back home!!
xo Megs
I don't have much to say since I just posted a blog the other day, but thought I would drop in to say hello and let everyone know that life is good! Yesterday was a tough day. I got pre-booked for a school in one of the tougher boroughs of London. I was pre-warned that it would be a hard day. By morning breaktime, I was laughing. Everyone kept coming up to me nervously asking if I was doing okay. By that time, the kids had been tough but nothing I couldn't handle! I thought it was a breeze, and life would be good.
By lunchtime, I literally wanted to leave. Run away. Sit at a desk and cry. Anything but teach. I was MISERABLE. I hate to admit defeat, however, so I soldiered up and continued on. What a day. I had a T.A. for most of the day, but half of the time, (And I HATE to say this!) she was ENCOURAGING the behaviour! I'd try to get the class' attention and she would be laughing and talking and ignoring me WITH the students! WTF?! I LITERALLY had to bang large, metal objects ON the tables to get their attention. I got the scariest voice I've ever used (I terrified myself!) and gave them the most intense reaming out/talking to/deal making I have ever used with a class shortly after lunch. During breaktime, I LITERALLY saw 10 year old beating the $H!T out of each other on the playground. There was a helpful teacher next door, who luckily gave me things to do with them because when I arrived, absolutely no planning had been done or left out for me. I wearily walked back to the train station, and began my TWO HOUR journey home. I'm up for pretty much any challenge, but I would have to honestly be prepared and think about it/ be desperate for work to head into that school again. WOW.
All I wanted to do when I got home was crawl into bed, BUT once again, my new buddy Lindsey threw me a text and twisted my rubber arm to head downtown. She has a friend from Canada in town, so we headed into Camden (my fave neighbourhood ever! I want to LIVE there!) and got a bite to eat. Alexis had her proper London fish and chips (we photographed this big event) and I had a chicken sandwich that came exactly the opposite way of what I had ordered and paid (extra) for. Thank you, pub! Oh well. We then headed over to the Spread Eagle pub. I've wanted to go here since I arrived, for the reason being the name only. Too funny. We made all kinds of innappropriate jokes and comments and also took innappropriate pictures. Spread Eagle Pub is right up there with the Bung Hole Pub in my books. God, I love this city! I still headed home rather early and went straight to bed as I didn't know if I would be working today or not.
I wasn't pre-booked for today, and I woke up feeling like crap! My whole body was achy and stiff (It is missing my daily physio and chiro appointments for SURE!) I also felt like I may be coming down with the flu, and was a little shaky. Did NOT feel like going out to work, that's for sure! I called in anyways, tho, cos I'm a wimp who's terrified of living in poverty, and was sure I wasn't getting put in a school. I settled into the couch with Crystal and watched her 'favourite shows' with her that she watches pretty much every morning. Before we could get thru some children's reality show (that should be illegal!?) my fone rang, and I was heading out. I was half stoked to be working (yay paycheck!) and half sad (i feel like crap!). But, it's half term next week so I have a whole week off so I sucked it up and headed into the 'office.' Luckily, today, I wound up working in my own neighbourhood! This never happens! I'm used to 75-120 minute commutes! It still took me an HOUR to get there, though, since I was given the WRONG directions. Not the first time this has happened. Won't be the last, I'm sure. I love my job and I love going to different schools and classrooms every day - I'm learning and growing SOOOOO much as a teacher. It's fantastic. I am starting to HATE never knowing where I'm going, though, and I freakin' HATE two hour commutes each way. So shitty. Definately starting to grate on my nerves to the point that I've asked to be considered for my own classroom (long term position) next semester. It's a lot more work, and not the same experience but I'm spending at least $70 CDN/week on the commuting and losing up to 4 hours a day because of it as well. Not good.
Today, was different. Best day I've had so far. I went to a Catholic school near my house and fell in love with it. Big open classrooms with an entire wall of windows that look out onto greenery. TREES! Bushes! Nice playground! The playground is locked in, and every classroom has a door going straight on to it! Amazing! Someone really smart (aka a teacher?!) must have designed this school. It was so great. I also got two T.A.'s who were SO helpful. The children were amazingly well behaved, and I had my best day yet. Days like this renew my faith in this career after I've had days like yesterday! Tomorrow and Friday, I'm pre-booked for the school I was at last Thursday. It's a 90 minute commute but I liked the school a lot. It's flattering to me when a school specifically requests to have you back, so I'm looking forward to it.
Aside from that, I'm DEFINATELY going to the Franz Ferdinand concert with Mr. Steve on Saturday - SO excited! On Sunday or Monday, I'm almost positive that I'm going to head to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet up with my Swedish friend, Angelica. SO SO SO excited to go visit the motherland! And next weekend, I have tentative plans to head to Paris! Almost everyone I know is going to Italy next week, and I've been invited, so we'll see what happens ... I'll keep you posted!
Miss and love all my lovely people back home!!
xo Megs
Monday, October 19, 2009
I ALMOST FORGOT!
Silly girl, I am! I almost forgot my two kinda cool events of the past week. Right now, the BFI Film Festival is going on so London is crawling with celebs attending premieres, etc. We went down to Leicester Square on Wednesday night to watch the celebs walk the red carpet for the Fantastic Mr. Fox premiere ... it was so cool to see the things you see in magazines and on TV (Hello, TMZ?!) in real life! We saw Cindy Crawford, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wes Anderson, and GEORGE CLOONEY walk the red carpet ... George even threw a wave our way! That was pretty cool ... we were like 8 feet away from these people!
Also, I just finished reading 'The Time Traveller's Wife' and it was BRILLIANT! I loved it! Must mention, however, that I'm a bit disturbed by the idea of my 14 year old sister reading that book ... totally not 14 yr old appropriate but definately Megs appropriate. Haha. So ANYWAYS, the author, Audrey Niffenegger (I know I prob spelled that wrong but I'm lazy and cold and need to go home!) was in London doing book signings for her NEW book last week ... we didn't know this so we totally missed out. BUT, we walked by a bookstore that had her new hardcover on 50% off because it was the book of the month, and they had extra signed copies! So I got a signed hardcover for dirt cheap which was AWESOME! I'm a book nerd so this was exciting to me! Anyways, that's it for reals ... I need to go home! 'Nite all! xo
Also, I just finished reading 'The Time Traveller's Wife' and it was BRILLIANT! I loved it! Must mention, however, that I'm a bit disturbed by the idea of my 14 year old sister reading that book ... totally not 14 yr old appropriate but definately Megs appropriate. Haha. So ANYWAYS, the author, Audrey Niffenegger (I know I prob spelled that wrong but I'm lazy and cold and need to go home!) was in London doing book signings for her NEW book last week ... we didn't know this so we totally missed out. BUT, we walked by a bookstore that had her new hardcover on 50% off because it was the book of the month, and they had extra signed copies! So I got a signed hardcover for dirt cheap which was AWESOME! I'm a book nerd so this was exciting to me! Anyways, that's it for reals ... I need to go home! 'Nite all! xo
Lovin' The London Life!
Hiya everyone!
I have been sitting in an internet cafe for 3 hours and 7 minutes. It is freezing in London and they refuse to close the door to this place, it is steadfastly held open. I am a human popsicle. I have been in here for ages because I had loads to do. I had to do expense claims for work, travel research for work, check my 74 Facebook notifications (I love you guys!) and my 37 emails (mostly work related ... and related to 3-4 days ago. ) We finally got our internet/landline/cable tv kit in the mail ... only to find out our house has no jacks for any of these things?! WTF?! Apparently no one who has ever lived in our house has had these things? I need we lived pretty far in the outskirts of London but SERIOUSLY! I didn't know we'd gone so far we'd hit Ireland! (Haha just kidding - I love you, Ireland!) Life has been CRAZY busy and super hectic and not having the internet BLOWS and I never have time to make it to the internet shops, so I'm really sorry for the lack of posting. I'll try to fill you all in.
WORK: I've been working LOTS! I was a bit worried because I've been hearing these horror stories about supply teachers getting no work here. I have a GWA (Guaranteed Work Agreement) so I'm guaranteed to get paid anyways, but still ... I came here to work! And work I have! Here's the deal. We try to get pre-booked so we'll KNOW if we have to work the next day or not, but this usually doesn't happen. The joys of day-to-day supply! SO, we get up for work at 5h45 or 6h00 am, shower, do our hair &makeup, eat a hearty breakfast (mmm Wheatbix!) and get dressed. At 7h00am sharp, we call into our agency and state our name and ask if they have work for us. They put our name on the availability board and say they'll call us back. Sometimes they never call. So you just got up, got ready, and got fed for NOTHING. Other days, they call back and you do a cartwheel and go flying out the door cos it will take you at LEAST an hour to get ANYWHERE (from our house, anyways!)
My first day available was Tuesday ... no work. I met up with my new friend Lindsey and we did some sightseeing and shopping instead. Lindsey is a cool chick from Ontario that I met on our Facebook group. We've spent every day except today together for the last week and we get along great and have a ton in common, and we both don't like to waste our days off so we hit the town! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I got jobs! Yes! Teaching here is so different and so the same from teaching in Canada. They have different rules, kids wear uniforms at every school, and little things are different here and there. One rule that threw me for a loop was that every recess, and every lunch hour, you may have to take your kids right out to the playground, but you ALWAYS have to pick them up from the playground. I sure did not go out to pick up my kids on Wednesday. Whoops. Luckily, all the schools I've been to have been calling my agency and leaving good feedback about me, which is awesome and means I'll get placed more, because they know I'm doing a good job. One school has already called back and asked just for me again, this Thursday! It was probably the toughest group of kids I've had so far, but work is work, and I'm not here for a cushy job so I'll TAKE it! My contact for my agency called me today and got me pre-booked for tomorrow, which is GREAT.... BUT ... she said it will be by far my most challenging placement ever ... I'm going to a pretty rough school in a tough neighbourhood ... yikes! But I have confidence that I can handle it! I came here to become a better teacher and this can ONLY help me! Here's hoping! Wish me luck!
My roomates were NOT having good luck with work. They don't have contracts, they are day to day supply, and weren't getting much. Luckily, Crystal has now been called to do Nursery (pre-K) at the same school twice now, and Marlee actually got a full time job with a private Nursery so that's AWESOME! Things are looking up!
So the school I went to today was about two hours from my house, no lie. I had to take a bus, two subways, an above ground train, and walk (there's always walking to be done here!) for about 15 mins. I got my call at 7h10, and ran into the school at 9h05. Late. So, I had this lovely 2 hr trip home to look forward to ... until our tube (subway) stopped because of a malfunction in the tube signals for about 45 mins in a dark tunnel ... NOT FUN. I did strike up a convo with the 15 yr old girl across from me who was really sweet and told me she wanted to visit Canada. We're now BFF's and even swapped e-mail addresses. New London Friend Count : 3 (Lindsey and I met two randoms at dinner last night who gave us flowers!)
Social life wise, it's not bad but I'm a bit bored. I think I expected more. The thing that really sucks is that there are no nightbusses to our neighbourhood so all transport to our house is over at 1am. If you go to a club until 2am , you have to ride the bus as far as you can and then pay a small fortune for a taxi for the rest of the way. We learned this the hard way on Friday. My amazing friend Niki was in town so we went to her friend's housewarming party to meet some lovely Londoners. The party was fab and we headed out to a cute little pub 'n club (two in one!) in Balham. Just getting to the party itself took us 1hour and 25 minutes, door to door. Crystal fell asleep on the tube clutching her plastic bag of beer which was cute. We went out, had some drinks, danced, had a lovely time, etc etc. I even met NBF #2 ... A lovely boy named Ricki who was way too cute. NBF #1 is not an honorable mention, if you're wondering. Haha. The night was great and we were having fun. We ditch the bar, the booze, the friends and the booze shortly after one and begin the adventure home. About 3 busses, 3 hours, and a big nap later (Thank GOD Crystal stayed awake!) We still weren't home. It's after 4am, I'm exhausted and lost. I literally ran ahead of all the people and desperately waved down a taxi in the middle of the street. £16 (almost $30cdn) later, we were home. THAT will NOT be happening again! We need to come up with a new plan on how to get home! It was a fun night tho, for sure!
Not sure what else to write. UK kids have no school for more than a week next week. I'm not sure what I'll do with my free time. I believe my buddy Steve and I will head to the Franz Ferdinand concert this week (OMG YAY!) and I'm contemplating a mini trip up to Scotland, and a visit down south to my one true love ... Paris! I'll keep you all posted. For all you know, I'll try to get some actual sleep and relax for once! Who knows? I hate sleeping and staying home here. Every second that I'm sitting around being lazy drives me nuts because I can't help but think 'I'M IN FREAKIN' LONDON ... I NEED TO GO EXPLORE!' I have been all over so much of this city but there's still so much to see ... I can't wait!
I talked to my family the other day and my sisters are going thru some tough times ... it makes me feel really guilty to be away from them while they're going thru these things. I just want to give them big hugs. I think now I will probably be going home for Christmas because I miss my peanuts and want to smother them with love. I'm not homesick at all - I love my life here and I love being here so much. The only reason I wasn't going home for Christmas was because of my fear of planes and I appear to have overcome that! Yay! So I will prob come home for the holidays but have plans in Paris for New Year's so we'll see what happens. Miss everyone lots and lots back home but I sure don't miss HOME! I love my new home! Hope you're all doing well! Please post comments so I know people are actually reading this ... it doesn't encourage me to write anything when I think no one's reading my random rants! Hope you're all doing well.
xoxo MEGS
I have been sitting in an internet cafe for 3 hours and 7 minutes. It is freezing in London and they refuse to close the door to this place, it is steadfastly held open. I am a human popsicle. I have been in here for ages because I had loads to do. I had to do expense claims for work, travel research for work, check my 74 Facebook notifications (I love you guys!) and my 37 emails (mostly work related ... and related to 3-4 days ago. ) We finally got our internet/landline/cable tv kit in the mail ... only to find out our house has no jacks for any of these things?! WTF?! Apparently no one who has ever lived in our house has had these things? I need we lived pretty far in the outskirts of London but SERIOUSLY! I didn't know we'd gone so far we'd hit Ireland! (Haha just kidding - I love you, Ireland!) Life has been CRAZY busy and super hectic and not having the internet BLOWS and I never have time to make it to the internet shops, so I'm really sorry for the lack of posting. I'll try to fill you all in.
WORK: I've been working LOTS! I was a bit worried because I've been hearing these horror stories about supply teachers getting no work here. I have a GWA (Guaranteed Work Agreement) so I'm guaranteed to get paid anyways, but still ... I came here to work! And work I have! Here's the deal. We try to get pre-booked so we'll KNOW if we have to work the next day or not, but this usually doesn't happen. The joys of day-to-day supply! SO, we get up for work at 5h45 or 6h00 am, shower, do our hair &makeup, eat a hearty breakfast (mmm Wheatbix!) and get dressed. At 7h00am sharp, we call into our agency and state our name and ask if they have work for us. They put our name on the availability board and say they'll call us back. Sometimes they never call. So you just got up, got ready, and got fed for NOTHING. Other days, they call back and you do a cartwheel and go flying out the door cos it will take you at LEAST an hour to get ANYWHERE (from our house, anyways!)
My first day available was Tuesday ... no work. I met up with my new friend Lindsey and we did some sightseeing and shopping instead. Lindsey is a cool chick from Ontario that I met on our Facebook group. We've spent every day except today together for the last week and we get along great and have a ton in common, and we both don't like to waste our days off so we hit the town! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I got jobs! Yes! Teaching here is so different and so the same from teaching in Canada. They have different rules, kids wear uniforms at every school, and little things are different here and there. One rule that threw me for a loop was that every recess, and every lunch hour, you may have to take your kids right out to the playground, but you ALWAYS have to pick them up from the playground. I sure did not go out to pick up my kids on Wednesday. Whoops. Luckily, all the schools I've been to have been calling my agency and leaving good feedback about me, which is awesome and means I'll get placed more, because they know I'm doing a good job. One school has already called back and asked just for me again, this Thursday! It was probably the toughest group of kids I've had so far, but work is work, and I'm not here for a cushy job so I'll TAKE it! My contact for my agency called me today and got me pre-booked for tomorrow, which is GREAT.... BUT ... she said it will be by far my most challenging placement ever ... I'm going to a pretty rough school in a tough neighbourhood ... yikes! But I have confidence that I can handle it! I came here to become a better teacher and this can ONLY help me! Here's hoping! Wish me luck!
My roomates were NOT having good luck with work. They don't have contracts, they are day to day supply, and weren't getting much. Luckily, Crystal has now been called to do Nursery (pre-K) at the same school twice now, and Marlee actually got a full time job with a private Nursery so that's AWESOME! Things are looking up!
So the school I went to today was about two hours from my house, no lie. I had to take a bus, two subways, an above ground train, and walk (there's always walking to be done here!) for about 15 mins. I got my call at 7h10, and ran into the school at 9h05. Late. So, I had this lovely 2 hr trip home to look forward to ... until our tube (subway) stopped because of a malfunction in the tube signals for about 45 mins in a dark tunnel ... NOT FUN. I did strike up a convo with the 15 yr old girl across from me who was really sweet and told me she wanted to visit Canada. We're now BFF's and even swapped e-mail addresses. New London Friend Count : 3 (Lindsey and I met two randoms at dinner last night who gave us flowers!)
Social life wise, it's not bad but I'm a bit bored. I think I expected more. The thing that really sucks is that there are no nightbusses to our neighbourhood so all transport to our house is over at 1am. If you go to a club until 2am , you have to ride the bus as far as you can and then pay a small fortune for a taxi for the rest of the way. We learned this the hard way on Friday. My amazing friend Niki was in town so we went to her friend's housewarming party to meet some lovely Londoners. The party was fab and we headed out to a cute little pub 'n club (two in one!) in Balham. Just getting to the party itself took us 1hour and 25 minutes, door to door. Crystal fell asleep on the tube clutching her plastic bag of beer which was cute. We went out, had some drinks, danced, had a lovely time, etc etc. I even met NBF #2 ... A lovely boy named Ricki who was way too cute. NBF #1 is not an honorable mention, if you're wondering. Haha. The night was great and we were having fun. We ditch the bar, the booze, the friends and the booze shortly after one and begin the adventure home. About 3 busses, 3 hours, and a big nap later (Thank GOD Crystal stayed awake!) We still weren't home. It's after 4am, I'm exhausted and lost. I literally ran ahead of all the people and desperately waved down a taxi in the middle of the street. £16 (almost $30cdn) later, we were home. THAT will NOT be happening again! We need to come up with a new plan on how to get home! It was a fun night tho, for sure!
Not sure what else to write. UK kids have no school for more than a week next week. I'm not sure what I'll do with my free time. I believe my buddy Steve and I will head to the Franz Ferdinand concert this week (OMG YAY!) and I'm contemplating a mini trip up to Scotland, and a visit down south to my one true love ... Paris! I'll keep you all posted. For all you know, I'll try to get some actual sleep and relax for once! Who knows? I hate sleeping and staying home here. Every second that I'm sitting around being lazy drives me nuts because I can't help but think 'I'M IN FREAKIN' LONDON ... I NEED TO GO EXPLORE!' I have been all over so much of this city but there's still so much to see ... I can't wait!
I talked to my family the other day and my sisters are going thru some tough times ... it makes me feel really guilty to be away from them while they're going thru these things. I just want to give them big hugs. I think now I will probably be going home for Christmas because I miss my peanuts and want to smother them with love. I'm not homesick at all - I love my life here and I love being here so much. The only reason I wasn't going home for Christmas was because of my fear of planes and I appear to have overcome that! Yay! So I will prob come home for the holidays but have plans in Paris for New Year's so we'll see what happens. Miss everyone lots and lots back home but I sure don't miss HOME! I love my new home! Hope you're all doing well! Please post comments so I know people are actually reading this ... it doesn't encourage me to write anything when I think no one's reading my random rants! Hope you're all doing well.
xoxo MEGS
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sorry Sorry
Heya,
Sorry I've been MIA. We've moved into our fabulous flat and we've no internet until Thursday. Yech. It is hard to live without internet when it's something you're used to!
Lemme start off by saying our place is AMAZING! It can't even be called a flat, really, I believe they call it a 'maisonette.' Essentially, we have a little house. It has three nice bright and white bedrooms upstairs, as well as a 'loo' with an amazing skylight. Downstairs, we have a nice, big living room with hardwood floors and leather sofas and everything. Our living room also has some lovely French doors that open up onto a little deck. Our landlady said she's getting us deck furniture. Sweet! Past the living room, we have a nice sized kitchen with a big dining table and full sized fridge (Which is important ... a few of the places we saw had mini bar fridges! No way!) True to English form, our flat also boasts of a washing machine conveniently located in ... the kitchen. Bizarre, I know. It is very hard to get used to the no dryer thing. Crystal has magically rigged up a clothesline in the 'garden' (located just off our little deck in the back yard) and I've bought a drying rack that appears to be a permanant fixture in our living room. We had a lot of clothes to wash after over a week of hostel life, so hopefully we find a system that works. We are lacking a microwave and a vaccuum, but hopefully our landlady will help us out with this. We've spent enough £££ (aka $$$) on things like dishes and linens, a toaster, kettle, and iron!
We did a massive shop in Ikea on Friday night and it is so cheap here! Ridiculous! I got all my bedding (duvet, cover, pillowcases, etc) for like £15! Less than $30cdn! Ikea is pretty tricky to get to, tho, and required many transportation transfers which proved a bit confusing.
I'm kind of all over the place here, but I have to mention that my amazing friend Kristin and I got to hang out on Wednesday! Kristin is a friend from Lethbridge who married Anthony, who is from the UK. She's been living over here for about 5 years and I stayed with them for a bit the last time I was in the UK. They are the sweetest couple! I met up with Kristin and we dined at a lovely place called 'Pizza Express' which is a huge pizza chain here and is delicious. Please note - if you come to the UK, they do not believe in slicing their pizza, but they DO give you a BUTTER KNIFE to cut and eat it with. Your pointer fingers get a mean workout from pizza eating! Kristin is managing a Lush store so she brought me an amazing package filled with all kinds of bath and body products! YAY for Kristin! My first shower in my new home was incredible thanks to her!
So, we got all moved in and set up on Friday, and on Saturday, we headed down to Trafalgar Square. This is where the Canadian Embassy and the National Gallery are located. We took some pics and explored the area a bit. There is a statue in all 4 corners of the square. There is one corner that always changes. Last time I was in London, it was a sculpture of a nude woman with no arms. This time, it's actual people who get to go up on the podium and do an action of their choice for an hour. They were pre-selected by the 'artist.' It was really neat!
I'm supposed to start work tomorrow, so here's hoping! I have to run for now, but we are getting internet on Thursday so I promise there will be more updates soon! Hope everyone is doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving!
xo Megs
Sorry I've been MIA. We've moved into our fabulous flat and we've no internet until Thursday. Yech. It is hard to live without internet when it's something you're used to!
Lemme start off by saying our place is AMAZING! It can't even be called a flat, really, I believe they call it a 'maisonette.' Essentially, we have a little house. It has three nice bright and white bedrooms upstairs, as well as a 'loo' with an amazing skylight. Downstairs, we have a nice, big living room with hardwood floors and leather sofas and everything. Our living room also has some lovely French doors that open up onto a little deck. Our landlady said she's getting us deck furniture. Sweet! Past the living room, we have a nice sized kitchen with a big dining table and full sized fridge (Which is important ... a few of the places we saw had mini bar fridges! No way!) True to English form, our flat also boasts of a washing machine conveniently located in ... the kitchen. Bizarre, I know. It is very hard to get used to the no dryer thing. Crystal has magically rigged up a clothesline in the 'garden' (located just off our little deck in the back yard) and I've bought a drying rack that appears to be a permanant fixture in our living room. We had a lot of clothes to wash after over a week of hostel life, so hopefully we find a system that works. We are lacking a microwave and a vaccuum, but hopefully our landlady will help us out with this. We've spent enough £££ (aka $$$) on things like dishes and linens, a toaster, kettle, and iron!
We did a massive shop in Ikea on Friday night and it is so cheap here! Ridiculous! I got all my bedding (duvet, cover, pillowcases, etc) for like £15! Less than $30cdn! Ikea is pretty tricky to get to, tho, and required many transportation transfers which proved a bit confusing.
I'm kind of all over the place here, but I have to mention that my amazing friend Kristin and I got to hang out on Wednesday! Kristin is a friend from Lethbridge who married Anthony, who is from the UK. She's been living over here for about 5 years and I stayed with them for a bit the last time I was in the UK. They are the sweetest couple! I met up with Kristin and we dined at a lovely place called 'Pizza Express' which is a huge pizza chain here and is delicious. Please note - if you come to the UK, they do not believe in slicing their pizza, but they DO give you a BUTTER KNIFE to cut and eat it with. Your pointer fingers get a mean workout from pizza eating! Kristin is managing a Lush store so she brought me an amazing package filled with all kinds of bath and body products! YAY for Kristin! My first shower in my new home was incredible thanks to her!
So, we got all moved in and set up on Friday, and on Saturday, we headed down to Trafalgar Square. This is where the Canadian Embassy and the National Gallery are located. We took some pics and explored the area a bit. There is a statue in all 4 corners of the square. There is one corner that always changes. Last time I was in London, it was a sculpture of a nude woman with no arms. This time, it's actual people who get to go up on the podium and do an action of their choice for an hour. They were pre-selected by the 'artist.' It was really neat!
I'm supposed to start work tomorrow, so here's hoping! I have to run for now, but we are getting internet on Thursday so I promise there will be more updates soon! Hope everyone is doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving!
xo Megs
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Busy Busy Busy!
Hi Again!Sorry for the lack of posts ... My flatmate Crystal is much better at writing daily blogs than I am! (Check her out under my followers if you wanna read her blog as well - I think she's funnier than me too, haha) It has been a CRAZY couple of days here in London!
So I think I left off writing about the first day only! Wow, a lot has happened since then! On Saturday, Niki, Crystal, Marlee and I headed down to Oxford Street and did some shopping and sightseeing. Here, on Oxford Street, we made the BIG PURCHASE ... UK Mobiles (aka cell phones) We were shallow and picked our cell phones based only on the colour (I got neon yellow, Marlee got hot pink, and Crystal got bright purple - our fave colours.) Then we wandered down past Ambercrombie and Fitch to check out the studly male model they pay to stand half naked in the doorway to take pictures with random people. Interesting. Tough job?
After that we took a stroll down to Bond Street. AKA The Street I'll Never Be Able to Afford to Shop On! This is a street of crazy high end stores like Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, D & G, etc. It was fun to stroll along checking out the flashy cars and crazy outfits people wore.
We continued along on our stroll and wandered into Green Park which is a lovely little park with lots of pigeons for Marlee and Crystal to chase. Crystal is not a pigeon fan and is determined to kick one before we leave. I'm doing my best to sway her from this plan as I'd like us not to be deported anytime soon. Green Park leads to Buckingham Palace and also holds the Canadian War Memorial and the Canada Gate (across from the palace) It's a bit humbling to see something so incredible dedicated to our amazing country. I'd seen the gate and palace before but not the memorial. We met a pretty decent looking dude from Vancouver at this point and Crystal has decided he is her new boyfriend. Love it. We took some pics of the Canada Gate and headed over to Buckingham Palace and the Victoria memorial. No changing of the guards as it was mid-afternoon but was still fun. We followed the Princess Diana Memorial Walk for a bit and then veered off to the left to visit my buddy Big Ben. We got to Big Ben and the Parliament buildings and snapped a few pics. Interesting lesson for some of you : Believe it or not Big Ben is NOT the large clock tower most people think it is ... it is actually the large bell inside of the large clock tower. After this we headed over to Downing Street and checked out the Prime Minister's residence thru the gates. After this, we decided it was imperative to check out some housing arrangements and get looking for a flat.
We got back to our teeny tiny hostel room and it was beginning to wear on our nerves. As exciting as moving to London is, it is incredibly irritating to live in a tiny hostel room with 2 other people and ALL our luggage. Hostels are fine for travelling but not really cut out for moving! We were getting a bit irritated and snappy and on top of this, poor Niki was still with us and no longer had a room of her own so she was stuck in a room with us! At this point in, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from my good Avignon buddy, Andy! Andy, Niki and I were all best buds in Avignon and had some great times together. Andy happened to be in London and was nice enough to travel across London to meet up with us so Niki and I headed around the corner to the pub and met him and his friends for a pint. Andy's friends, Tim, Ed and Sonja were really nice and we had a great time chatting and swapping stories.
We decided to split up for dinner and to meet up for some nightlife action later on. I know it's important to find a place to live etc etc but there wasn't much we could do at night about it anyways. Marlee and Crystal stayed home to do a bit of research and get some rest and Niki and I headed out to the Camden area to meet Andy, Tim, and Ed. We started at a pub and things got pretty fun from there! I drank some "posh" beer as Tim called it and we wandered to various places in Camden throughout the evening. We had a really great time and Andy's friends were super nice and showed us a good time so a huge thanks to them. We eventually wound up at a famous jazz bar that said it was closing and wouldn't let us in. For SOME bizarre reason I convinced the bouncer that I was a journalist for Elle Canada and that I'd give them a nice review if we got in. It worked and in we went. Closed? It was open for HOURS (or so it felt) later once we got in. We had a great time dancing the night away. We eventually went looking for a taxi as the tubes were done for the night and we couldn't figure out the night bus schedule. It took us awhile but we got a cab and Niki and I wandered back to the hostel and the boys headed ... actually I have no idea where but hopefully they made 'er back safe and sound. Haha.
The next morning, as I'm sure you can image, was NOT the best morning of my life. I woke up with a cold, a headache and a hangover to boot. Awesome. We mustered up the courage to get outta bed, had a cold shower, and back to searching for a home we went. We pored over the website Gumtree trying desperately to find something. We sent out countless emails and made many a phone call. We went and looked at a few places but nothing felt right. We had to say goodbye to our dearest Niki as she had to get back home for work in the AM and discovered that in just a short day or two we had MASTERED the tube. YES! One hurdle down! We still really need to learn how to use the busses tho - that knowledge has totally deserted me.
Since then our life has been a whirlwind of going into our work offices to do paper work and set up bank accounts and to sign up for National Insurance numbers (like our SIN numbers back home) We've looked at numerous apartments and have gone from depressed to elated and everywhere in between and then back again. I never thought it would be this hard. I knew it would be this expensive, but it's still mind boggling from time to time. We finally found the perfect place for us yesterday. We breathed a sigh of relief, gave each other a knowing look, and turned around to tell the guy we'd take it - even before knowing much about it! We were DESPERATE! We were so excited last night making plans in our head for the new place. We didn't hear back right away so I sent the guy a text asking if he knew if the landlord had accepted us or not ... the only way he would take us was if we would make a 2 month's rent security deposit! WE FREAKED OUT! Rent is over $1000/month Canadian each when you do the conversion. This guy was basicaly asking for over $5000 between the 3 of us as a damage deposit because we were foreigners. We said no way, that we could get references, etc from Canada. In the end, we lost out and some British girls got our lovely flat. This was depressing to us because we had thought we were SHOE IN'S! We did our best to brush it off and jumped back in. We called another few agencies, and headed back out to West London, where we were looking at moving. We looked at flats all day and the only nice one we saw, we couldn't afford (bummer!) We were not too happy about this but plugged on to our last appointment. The lady took us in her car to see 2 flats (they take us in their cars all the time which I thought was weird. Oh well - saves us a tube trip!) We walked into the first home, saw the big windows, clean white walls, leather furniture, wood floors, open & airy bedrooms and cute little backyard/garden and we knew we'd found it. We went to the 2nd home and it basically looked like a crack shack after what we'd just seen! After seeing the second place and having been so frustrated for 3 days, we handed over our money, signed the papers, and we were in business. We found the flat thru a rental agency so we had to pay them a fee but we didn't care anymore. We had a home! The rental agency gives our info and references to the landlady and the landlady has to approve us but she said she thought it would be ok! Here's hoping!
Tomorrow we have some meetings etc and hopefully Thursday we'll move. During this time, we may not have internet so that will be my excuse for the lack of blog posting. Hope everyone's doing well. I think of you often and miss you guys lots but I'm really happy being here in London and I hope you all know that! This is exactly how I dreamed my life after uni would turn out and I can't wait to see what the future holds!
Much love,Meaghan xo
PS) I tried posting this last night but it wouldn't work ... seeing as how it's 5am and I've been wide awake for 2 hours I thought I'd post it now! xx
So I think I left off writing about the first day only! Wow, a lot has happened since then! On Saturday, Niki, Crystal, Marlee and I headed down to Oxford Street and did some shopping and sightseeing. Here, on Oxford Street, we made the BIG PURCHASE ... UK Mobiles (aka cell phones) We were shallow and picked our cell phones based only on the colour (I got neon yellow, Marlee got hot pink, and Crystal got bright purple - our fave colours.) Then we wandered down past Ambercrombie and Fitch to check out the studly male model they pay to stand half naked in the doorway to take pictures with random people. Interesting. Tough job?
After that we took a stroll down to Bond Street. AKA The Street I'll Never Be Able to Afford to Shop On! This is a street of crazy high end stores like Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, D & G, etc. It was fun to stroll along checking out the flashy cars and crazy outfits people wore.
We continued along on our stroll and wandered into Green Park which is a lovely little park with lots of pigeons for Marlee and Crystal to chase. Crystal is not a pigeon fan and is determined to kick one before we leave. I'm doing my best to sway her from this plan as I'd like us not to be deported anytime soon. Green Park leads to Buckingham Palace and also holds the Canadian War Memorial and the Canada Gate (across from the palace) It's a bit humbling to see something so incredible dedicated to our amazing country. I'd seen the gate and palace before but not the memorial. We met a pretty decent looking dude from Vancouver at this point and Crystal has decided he is her new boyfriend. Love it. We took some pics of the Canada Gate and headed over to Buckingham Palace and the Victoria memorial. No changing of the guards as it was mid-afternoon but was still fun. We followed the Princess Diana Memorial Walk for a bit and then veered off to the left to visit my buddy Big Ben. We got to Big Ben and the Parliament buildings and snapped a few pics. Interesting lesson for some of you : Believe it or not Big Ben is NOT the large clock tower most people think it is ... it is actually the large bell inside of the large clock tower. After this we headed over to Downing Street and checked out the Prime Minister's residence thru the gates. After this, we decided it was imperative to check out some housing arrangements and get looking for a flat.
We got back to our teeny tiny hostel room and it was beginning to wear on our nerves. As exciting as moving to London is, it is incredibly irritating to live in a tiny hostel room with 2 other people and ALL our luggage. Hostels are fine for travelling but not really cut out for moving! We were getting a bit irritated and snappy and on top of this, poor Niki was still with us and no longer had a room of her own so she was stuck in a room with us! At this point in, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from my good Avignon buddy, Andy! Andy, Niki and I were all best buds in Avignon and had some great times together. Andy happened to be in London and was nice enough to travel across London to meet up with us so Niki and I headed around the corner to the pub and met him and his friends for a pint. Andy's friends, Tim, Ed and Sonja were really nice and we had a great time chatting and swapping stories.
We decided to split up for dinner and to meet up for some nightlife action later on. I know it's important to find a place to live etc etc but there wasn't much we could do at night about it anyways. Marlee and Crystal stayed home to do a bit of research and get some rest and Niki and I headed out to the Camden area to meet Andy, Tim, and Ed. We started at a pub and things got pretty fun from there! I drank some "posh" beer as Tim called it and we wandered to various places in Camden throughout the evening. We had a really great time and Andy's friends were super nice and showed us a good time so a huge thanks to them. We eventually wound up at a famous jazz bar that said it was closing and wouldn't let us in. For SOME bizarre reason I convinced the bouncer that I was a journalist for Elle Canada and that I'd give them a nice review if we got in. It worked and in we went. Closed? It was open for HOURS (or so it felt) later once we got in. We had a great time dancing the night away. We eventually went looking for a taxi as the tubes were done for the night and we couldn't figure out the night bus schedule. It took us awhile but we got a cab and Niki and I wandered back to the hostel and the boys headed ... actually I have no idea where but hopefully they made 'er back safe and sound. Haha.
The next morning, as I'm sure you can image, was NOT the best morning of my life. I woke up with a cold, a headache and a hangover to boot. Awesome. We mustered up the courage to get outta bed, had a cold shower, and back to searching for a home we went. We pored over the website Gumtree trying desperately to find something. We sent out countless emails and made many a phone call. We went and looked at a few places but nothing felt right. We had to say goodbye to our dearest Niki as she had to get back home for work in the AM and discovered that in just a short day or two we had MASTERED the tube. YES! One hurdle down! We still really need to learn how to use the busses tho - that knowledge has totally deserted me.
Since then our life has been a whirlwind of going into our work offices to do paper work and set up bank accounts and to sign up for National Insurance numbers (like our SIN numbers back home) We've looked at numerous apartments and have gone from depressed to elated and everywhere in between and then back again. I never thought it would be this hard. I knew it would be this expensive, but it's still mind boggling from time to time. We finally found the perfect place for us yesterday. We breathed a sigh of relief, gave each other a knowing look, and turned around to tell the guy we'd take it - even before knowing much about it! We were DESPERATE! We were so excited last night making plans in our head for the new place. We didn't hear back right away so I sent the guy a text asking if he knew if the landlord had accepted us or not ... the only way he would take us was if we would make a 2 month's rent security deposit! WE FREAKED OUT! Rent is over $1000/month Canadian each when you do the conversion. This guy was basicaly asking for over $5000 between the 3 of us as a damage deposit because we were foreigners. We said no way, that we could get references, etc from Canada. In the end, we lost out and some British girls got our lovely flat. This was depressing to us because we had thought we were SHOE IN'S! We did our best to brush it off and jumped back in. We called another few agencies, and headed back out to West London, where we were looking at moving. We looked at flats all day and the only nice one we saw, we couldn't afford (bummer!) We were not too happy about this but plugged on to our last appointment. The lady took us in her car to see 2 flats (they take us in their cars all the time which I thought was weird. Oh well - saves us a tube trip!) We walked into the first home, saw the big windows, clean white walls, leather furniture, wood floors, open & airy bedrooms and cute little backyard/garden and we knew we'd found it. We went to the 2nd home and it basically looked like a crack shack after what we'd just seen! After seeing the second place and having been so frustrated for 3 days, we handed over our money, signed the papers, and we were in business. We found the flat thru a rental agency so we had to pay them a fee but we didn't care anymore. We had a home! The rental agency gives our info and references to the landlady and the landlady has to approve us but she said she thought it would be ok! Here's hoping!
Tomorrow we have some meetings etc and hopefully Thursday we'll move. During this time, we may not have internet so that will be my excuse for the lack of blog posting. Hope everyone's doing well. I think of you often and miss you guys lots but I'm really happy being here in London and I hope you all know that! This is exactly how I dreamed my life after uni would turn out and I can't wait to see what the future holds!
Much love,Meaghan xo
PS) I tried posting this last night but it wouldn't work ... seeing as how it's 5am and I've been wide awake for 2 hours I thought I'd post it now! xx
Friday, October 2, 2009
I'm Safe & Sound in London!
Hey Everyone!
I'm safe and sound in London Town! So happy and excited to finally be here, starting my new adventures! We had an amazing flight-Those of you who know me well, know that I DESPISE flying - I'm terrified of it! This flight totally changed my mind set! We flew with Thomas Cook Airlines and it was the smoothes flight I've ever had - two minor bouts of turbulance I can handle! I actually don't feel a fear towards flying at all anymore! Thank Goodness!
Niki came to fetch us from the airport and it was so great to see her! She's my good UK friend that I met in Frnace and we've not seen each other in 3 years! She's amazing! She gave us a lift into London from Gatwick and then took us to our hostel. Our hostel is interesting. Smallest room ever but at least it's PRIVATE! Whoo! Poor Niki has to share a room with some strangers tho :(
After dropping off our luggage at the hostel, I went to meet my employers, Smart Teachers. Apparently, we need to bring our original copies of our Canadian Criminal Record Checks with us! I didn't get this memo so I DON'T HAVE MINE! I can't start work until I have it so after frantic calls to mum and the RCMP, it should be on its way sometime next week. Phew.
After that, my new roomies (Marlee and Crystal, from the Regina, SK area) had a nap at the hostel and Niki and I went and explored Covent Garden - so cute! We saw street performers and wandered around ... finally hit me ... I LIVE IN LONDON! Whoo!
Went to look at phones but was absolutely too knackered with jet lag and time changes to make a decision - I've got my eye on a cute little neon yellow number. Haha.
Went back to the hostel and had a little nap for 2 hrs ... first time sleeping since we left Thursday afternoon, really, as my airplane slumber was frequently interrupted due to me being in the aisle seat.
Got up about 7pm and got ready ... mmmm first nice hot shower - we were grubby, sweaty, dirty and smelly (NOT GONNA LIE) from being on planes, in cars, and on the tube all day and carrying all our massive luggage.
We went down to Leicester Square for supper and had a lovely little Italian bite to eat ... yum! We also popped into the nightclub in our hostel - it was a bit dead but the DJ was really good and we had free drink vouchers! Yeh! We then wandered around Leicester Square, people watching - so many interesting people around here! Then we wandered thru China Town and back over to Covent Garden.
After all that walking (sore feet and legs now!) we headed back into the hostel, grabbed a nightcap and bought some internet minutes so we could write home to all of you guys!!
Going to head to bed now - big day tomorrow. We HAVE to get UK cell phones and we HAVE to find a home - our hostel's nice but is literally a 4x4 square with NO room. I am, again literally, sleeping WITH my suitcase IN my bed with me tonight to save on space. Welcome to Europe! Haha.
Miss and love all of you back home! Thanks for reading - post comments so I know how you are!
xo Megs
PS) Check for pics on Facebook!
I'm safe and sound in London Town! So happy and excited to finally be here, starting my new adventures! We had an amazing flight-Those of you who know me well, know that I DESPISE flying - I'm terrified of it! This flight totally changed my mind set! We flew with Thomas Cook Airlines and it was the smoothes flight I've ever had - two minor bouts of turbulance I can handle! I actually don't feel a fear towards flying at all anymore! Thank Goodness!
Niki came to fetch us from the airport and it was so great to see her! She's my good UK friend that I met in Frnace and we've not seen each other in 3 years! She's amazing! She gave us a lift into London from Gatwick and then took us to our hostel. Our hostel is interesting. Smallest room ever but at least it's PRIVATE! Whoo! Poor Niki has to share a room with some strangers tho :(
After dropping off our luggage at the hostel, I went to meet my employers, Smart Teachers. Apparently, we need to bring our original copies of our Canadian Criminal Record Checks with us! I didn't get this memo so I DON'T HAVE MINE! I can't start work until I have it so after frantic calls to mum and the RCMP, it should be on its way sometime next week. Phew.
After that, my new roomies (Marlee and Crystal, from the Regina, SK area) had a nap at the hostel and Niki and I went and explored Covent Garden - so cute! We saw street performers and wandered around ... finally hit me ... I LIVE IN LONDON! Whoo!
Went to look at phones but was absolutely too knackered with jet lag and time changes to make a decision - I've got my eye on a cute little neon yellow number. Haha.
Went back to the hostel and had a little nap for 2 hrs ... first time sleeping since we left Thursday afternoon, really, as my airplane slumber was frequently interrupted due to me being in the aisle seat.
Got up about 7pm and got ready ... mmmm first nice hot shower - we were grubby, sweaty, dirty and smelly (NOT GONNA LIE) from being on planes, in cars, and on the tube all day and carrying all our massive luggage.
We went down to Leicester Square for supper and had a lovely little Italian bite to eat ... yum! We also popped into the nightclub in our hostel - it was a bit dead but the DJ was really good and we had free drink vouchers! Yeh! We then wandered around Leicester Square, people watching - so many interesting people around here! Then we wandered thru China Town and back over to Covent Garden.
After all that walking (sore feet and legs now!) we headed back into the hostel, grabbed a nightcap and bought some internet minutes so we could write home to all of you guys!!
Going to head to bed now - big day tomorrow. We HAVE to get UK cell phones and we HAVE to find a home - our hostel's nice but is literally a 4x4 square with NO room. I am, again literally, sleeping WITH my suitcase IN my bed with me tonight to save on space. Welcome to Europe! Haha.
Miss and love all of you back home! Thanks for reading - post comments so I know how you are!
xo Megs
PS) Check for pics on Facebook!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Leavin' On A Jet Plane!
I'm not sure if anyone is even reading this blog (yet?!) but just to keep the family updated, I'm in Calgary! I'm moving to London with two great girls, Marlee and Crystal, who are also recent Education grads. We are in Calgary staying with Marlee's brother (THANK YOU, SEAN!) Our plane flies out tomorrow afternoon at around 3h25pm. We'll arrive in London at 7h30am London time. I THINK the time difference is 7 hours so that'll be about 12h30 Saskabush time. I've still got my cell phone but I'm leaving it turned off to avoid gnarly roaming charges. I hate flying and would normally be having crazy lady panic attacks by now but I'm actually doing okay. We'll see how tomorrow goes. It took me about 17 tries to get my suitcase packed and I actually just did it again in Sean's apartment. It's still going to be overweight but I hope the luggage/airline Gods are smiling down on my tomorrow and it doesn't wind up costing me a fortune!
I'm pretty pumped to get my life in London started ... I know there's going to be so many great experiences ... probably some tough ones too but that's life! It feels great knowing I have so many friends and family supporting me 100% ... I'm lucky to have all of you! Well, just gonna put my carry-on back together and head to bed. My 3 Albertan sisters, Chelsea, Casie and Maddison are comin' to see me off at the airport tomorrow - can't wait to see them! On the other end, I have my amazing British BFF waiting to collect me from the airport - can't wait to see you again Niki! (It's been THREE years!) I also get to see my friend Kristin from Lethbridge who is living over there now on Wednesday - Will be great to see familiar faces!
Good night, everyone, and I'll post as soon as I can from London! Say a little prayer for me tomorrow that my flight goes safe, sound, and SMOOTH! (Bah turbulence!)
xoxo Megs
I'm pretty pumped to get my life in London started ... I know there's going to be so many great experiences ... probably some tough ones too but that's life! It feels great knowing I have so many friends and family supporting me 100% ... I'm lucky to have all of you! Well, just gonna put my carry-on back together and head to bed. My 3 Albertan sisters, Chelsea, Casie and Maddison are comin' to see me off at the airport tomorrow - can't wait to see them! On the other end, I have my amazing British BFF waiting to collect me from the airport - can't wait to see you again Niki! (It's been THREE years!) I also get to see my friend Kristin from Lethbridge who is living over there now on Wednesday - Will be great to see familiar faces!
Good night, everyone, and I'll post as soon as I can from London! Say a little prayer for me tomorrow that my flight goes safe, sound, and SMOOTH! (Bah turbulence!)
xoxo Megs
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