London 2012

Olympic mania has hit London, that is for sure.

 I went down to Hyde Park yesterday to watch the live Olympic coverage of events, etc. and it was an experience. You definitely have to brace yourself if you are going to go into Central London during the next few weeks I suppose. The good thing is that there were so many staff members there - on every street corner, at every intersection and at every entrance into the park. We had to go through airport-style security just to get in to the park - which is free, they just don't want you taking anything in there. Like, at all. I had to dump out my water bottle.

Of course they want you to buy the overpriced bottles of water available within the park, but if you don't do that it's actually quite an enjoyable experience to be there watching the games along with hundreds of other people. They have a bunch of huge tv screens showing live coverage of a bunch of different events and a festival kind of atmosphere. I didn't see any GB or Canadian medals being won yesterday but I may go back again next weekend.

I watched the Opening Ceremonies at a pub with a bunch of people from my work, which was quite fun as well. There was lots of cheering for Australia, New Zealand, Italy and of course Canada in our particular corner.

I am excited to see how the next few weeks play out and to enjoy the international vibe over the next little while. London is already full of so many different cultures, but the Olympics is a good chance to celebrate it. And just a great summer to be here as there are so many free Olympic events going on that I hope to take advantage of.

Work related things are going well. It is one of my co-worker's last few days at the office before she heads home to Australia and everyone keeps saying I've got such big shoes to fill when she leaves. I try not to be too worried about that,as  all I can really do is my best. I feel fairly settled in so we will see how it goes over the coming weeks.

This week I'm going to the Olympics!!!!! Which should be exciting, so stay tuned to hear of my sporting adventures -  mainly braving the tube ride all the way across London!

Summer in London!

Summer has finally arrived!!!! At least for this week, anyway.

I have woken up to the sweet sweat of a hot, hot day the past few days. It is proper summer here at least for the moment, which makes me happy, in spite of having to wear stockings to work in the sweltering heat. Ugh.

Although London is very beautiful and has many parks to enjoy on a hot day it is missing that all important beach aspect that I love about Canada. This weather has me longing for some decent time floating on a lake somewhere. Not that I am complaining!!! I will take as many of these sunny days as I can get.

I`ve been busy working away the past little while. I went to see We Will Rock You with some Australian pals this past weekend. Although I do enjoy Queen's music as much as the next person, it was not my favorite show so far. Definitely was something lacking in the "plot" department of this show...

I much preferred the production of Taming of the Shrew that I saw at the Globe. I tried out the standing seats in the yard area, which I am glad I did at least once, though it is a long time to stand for 3 hours. This show was really well done and made me glad that I came to London where I can see so many great Shakespeare shows. One of my favorite characters ended up being the guy who played Grumio, one of the manservants who I would usually completely write off. Also, Petruchio was half-naked for an entire scene, and it didn't rain once!

The Olympics are nearly here but other than some tube closures it hasn't really affected me too too much yet. I am on the opposite side of London from most of the events, so stay tuned to hear of any adventures that may befall me, including my visit to the Olympic Park next week!

For this week I will alternate between staying cool and soaking up as much sun as my body can handle in this brief British heatwave.

We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

It seems that the adventuring never stops for this girl - at least not while I am trying to pack in the sightseeing in this summer of fun. Today was an enjoyable trip to Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, which is Shakespeare's Birthplace. It is always nice to take a little foray out of London, which can sometimes get a little overwhelming!

Oxford was a little underwhelming, possibly because it was raining when we were there and also because we didn't get a ton of time to look around. I didn't realize that there is no campus exactly in Oxford, there are 38 different colleges which all have their own separate buildings all over the city. There are a few main buildings, like the library and halls and things, but mainly it's the town itself that is the university. It was also home to SO many writers at one point or another, like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, and Oscar Wilde, just to name a few. So it was cool to visit the city that has been home to and inspired so many great thinkers. Another fun fact: every elected British prime minister has graduated from Oxford...conspiracy???

Then it was off to the lovely city of Stratford-upon-Avon, Avon being the river that passes through Stratford. We visited Anne Hathaway's cottage (above), which was the home of Shakespeare's wife. Parts of the building are exactly as they would have been four or five hundred years ago when Shakespeare was courting Anne. It was very cool and very eye-opening as the cottage is tiny and life would have been very, very different back then. The Hathaway bed (apparently it's famous?) was there which is a mattress laid on top of ropes which would be tightened every night before bed. This is apparently where the expression "sleep tight" comes from.

I also viewed the site of Shakespeare's birth, and his grave which is in the Holy Trinity church at Stratford. It's really a bit surreal when I think of how incredible it is that he actually once lived in that village. Of course the tourism there now is insane, but it's still a beautiful little spot in the English countryside and definitely gives a better understanding of Shakespeare and his plays. I'd love to go back and see a production by the Royal Shakespeare Company, which has a theatre there in Stratford.

In all, a fully satisfying foray into the realm of history and culture for today. I am grateful that my roof is not made of thatched straw and therefore no bugs or mice will be above me while I sleep (I should hope) and grateful also that I have had the chance to see such awesome places. It so far has only increased my appreciation of all the blessings in my life and made me wonder at how incredibly interconnected the world really is.

The Night I Almost Should Have Stayed Home

Tonight I came home from work a little tired, a little sleepy, not very motivated from a long day at work and wrestled with that eternal question of whether to go to the gym or not. I lay on my bed trying to muster some sort of motivation. Feeling that a hit of endorphins could certainly do me good, I somehow got myself out the door. At any rate it was something to do to get me out of the house and my gym has those machines where you can watch tv, which I enjoy.

On the way I was harassed by some young London punks (aged 10-12) which did not enhance my state of mind in the least.

Arriving at the gym I found an intruiging program called Dispatches which uncovers scandals or falsehoods in business or corporations in the UK and was investigating companies with off-shore bank accounts trying to avoid paying tax. I was happy, my attentions were engaged. After finishing my workout (Dispatches was over) I went to leave the gym, only to realize that I did not have my ipod with me.

Instincts of initial panic were superceded by the rational that perhaps I had dropped my ipod or left it on the previous machine I had been using which was right beside me. Nowhere was the device to be found. Now I allowed frustration to creep in. It would seem a little unjust that after all that has happened to me so far in London this further act of bad karma would fall upon me. Besides, these unlucky streaks were not coming cheap and I do not fancy having to purchase another ipod in the near future.

I should explain that my luck with ipods is not great - I had my last one stolen out of my lap (literally) on a bus in Vancouver - which was also on a MONDAY night!

I politely informed three different staff members of my plight. They all directed me to each other but couldn't seem to help me so I left my name and number just in case something were to turn up at the end of the evening.

I walked home (without stretching - this is how bad my state of mind was) feeling that I had really lost hope in London. First I get kicked out of apartments twice in as many months, and now my ipod has left me. It was raining, I was grumpy and I was tired. So glad I enforced some positive thinking on myself and got off my bed in order to be harassed by surly pre pubescents and lose a personal possession.

After getting myself and what remained of my things home to sulk, I received a call from the front desk at the gym saying that someone had indeed turned in an ipod and they would put it in the safe for me to come and collect tomorrow night. Hallelujah, there is good in the world after all. I think I really would have been taken down a peg in my faith in humankind after tonight if someone at my gym had stolen my ipod right under my nose. Thank goodness for other peoples goodness. Even in crazy, busy, bustling London where people will stand directly in front of you just to make sure they get a spot on the tube first, there can still be good deeds.

So it was worth leaving the house after all, just barely.

working/holiday

It is that time again for a general update as to my adventures and goings-on here in London. I have to say that I purposely tried to make this a quiet week as I have had a lot going on the past little while and I needed a little time to recover, to say the least.

After all the excitement and adventure of my recent sightseeing it was a bit of a downer to return to work this week and be back at the grind. The good news is that I passed my 3 month probationary period at work so I am pretty much in the clear on that regard. I have begun to feel that I will never really know everything that goes on with my role - every week there is some new facet of it that I wasn't aware of or haven't had to deal with yet. It is a good learning experience for sure but it is still a little hectic for me as I start to deal with more and more responsibility on my own.When I think back to 3 months ago when I wasn't even confident in my ability to get this kind of a job (semi-grown up), to where I am now, it really is quite astonishing. I'm learning so many new skills and am being reminded that things like common sense and organization really do count for something sometimes.

I feel really settled at my new house. Although I am the only person in the house who does not speak Spanish or Italian, for the most part it is not a bad arrangement. It will be a curious situation when I return home to Canada and find that everyone around me is actually speaking English...I am also trying to get them all on board with recycling!!! London is notorious for recycling which is shocking to me as it is such a big, modern city. But I ordered some containers from our council and have started the recycling regime in our house so at least that's something.

After visiting the city of Bath and taking a poor man's tour of the Jane Austen Centre (we're too cheap to pay admission so we just looked around the gift shop) I have been on a reading kick. Sometimes I wish that I could spend my days walking the English countryside, writing correspondence and attending balls like Jane's heroines. I might fancy that roaming the halls of Westfield shopping centre and having coffee for one is the modern equivalent of this - with more plumbing and less restriction on acceptable womanly pursuits.

Risking sounding like a broken record, time really is flying this summer. The Olympics are fast approaching, although seeing as I live on the opposite side of London from the Olympic stadium, I'm hoping the disruption to my daily routine will be mimimal. I do have tickets to a Field Hockey event, which is very exciting! I must be truly Canadian because I purchased them thinking, great, I will go to a hockey game as that is something I will be able to follow! It did not cross my mind at the time that Ice Hockey would naturally be an event at the Winter Olympics...therefore my tickets would be referring to the summertime event of Field Hockey. But nevertheless I am excited to go and experience the event and all its hype just to see what it's about.

I'm hoping that the excessive amount of sleep I have gotten this weekend means I will be refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the month's adventures when they come my way. It's hard work on a working holiday, as work and holiday are two very conflicting ideas when you try to do them both at once, at full tilt, over a period of several months. But I will carry on with the philosophy that has gotten me this far, which is enjoying every moment as best I can and taking my rest where I can get it.   

So Many Canadians In London

As Canada celebrated its 145th birthday (what an infant country we are!!), Nicole and I joined thousands of other Canadians in Trafalgar Square to eat, drink, dance and be merry.

It was a nice day for once! We met up with a bunch of other Canadian girls that I have run into during my journeys here and trekked down to the square with our faces painted and flags on. London apparently hosts the largest Canada Day celebration outside of Canada itself and I have to say that the celebration in Trafalgar Square was bigger than any I've ever been to in Canada.

We tried the poutine (a decent imitation but far from the real thing), sipped some Molson Canadian (oh what a difference after getting accustomed to the European stuff) and hung out to take it all in. Highlights include watching the free concert in the middle of the square. We didn't stick around for Our Lady Peace but we did see Jacob Hogard from Hedley jump into one of the fountains after his set which was entertaining.  

One last hurrah before Nic headed back to Canada to end her European adventures for now, and I headed back to work today. I was very sad to see her go as it really was nice to have a bit of home here with me. There is a (small) part of me that is envious of her flight home to the Great White North, but I know that my time will come, sooner than I know it, and I will be looking back at longing with my time here in London.

I certainly do appreciate our wonderful country after a little time apart and am glad to have gotten the chance to celebrate it from afar. There is one thing that is still missing from my life here and from the Canada Day celebrations, and that is a cup of Tim Hortons coffee and honey cruller doughnut. I have had many experiences so far in my travels, but none that can rival Tim's.

There really is no place like home.