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Zane
Hi again, what a huge and tiring week I've had. Not much sight seeing to speak of yet as I've mostly been sorting out living and working arrangements. The big news is I have a job, a UK bank account and a permanent place to live.
Through my uncle Mick I was able to score an interview at Mute Records. One of the people from the web/network support team is going on maternity leave as of this month and they were eager to find a replacement until September/November. My luck as I dropped by for an interview on Monday and Thursday and was told I had the job! It is only three days at this stage with the possibility of extending to another day in the next month or so. Pay is pretty decent but not as lucrative as some of the engineering jobs available further out of London, but I don't mind one bit. The best thing about working at Mute, according to other employees I've spoken to, is the perks. Staff have full access to the Mute Record back catalogue, 6 CDs per month from the EMI label and regular gigs to check out... all for FREE! As far as I'm concerned that is awesome! Not only does this mean I'll be able to have a endless supply of new music but also something to do on weekends without costing me those so valuable pounds. I think I'll be the only Australian at work which suits me. I want to find out where the locals go and I'm fairly confident the people working at Mute will be up with what's happening. And get this... my working hours are 10am to 6pm! Just like at home, give or take a couple of hours, hehehe :)
I start work Wednseday 10th but I'm heading to Brighton (which is on the coast about 1 hour south of London by train) tomorrow for some training on the new web development system that will incorporate the huge interactive EMI website with Mute.
Then there was the task of finding a place to live that is closer to work and had a shower (unfortunately Lewis' place only has a bath and I need my morning showers if I'm going to face any sort of work). Bree and I checked out 8 places yesterday, mostly on the West and North-West sides of London. Mute's headquarters is near Westbourne Park which is West of London on the Hammersmith & City Lines. I looked at a few places there, one within walking distance, but none really took my fancy. They all seemed rather boring which would ultimately lead to me having to travel to see my friends and go out etc. Based on that I tried to find a place on the Jubilee line to the North which would mean I needed to change trains and a 40 minute plus ride to work. Bree and I stumbled across two places we really liked. Both were share bedrooms with an awesome atmosphere and fantastic house mates. We went for the one in Dollis Hill which we fell in love with the moment we walked through the door. I can't explain it but it just felt like home. At the end of the day we went back to meet the rest of the housemates and we were sold. Then a little fearful we might miss out on getting it, we paid a small deposit and took the long tube ride home with a house key and happy little smiles on our faces. :) - like this one, see.
Today Bree and I did a big shop for bedding gear. None of this was provided with the room but I'm glad cos I was able to pick up a really nice duvet (dooner) and pillow which I'm sure will help me sleep like a baby for the first time since I arrived. I've spent every night on an inflatable mattress at the end of Lewis' bed in Manor Park listening to Lewis snore. Gotta love the bloke though, he has shown me the ropes in his own style and given me a great head start here. Thanks mate!
During the week we met up with one of Lewis' friends from Poland, Marcin, who is an absolute champion. He only had one night in London so we went out and with a little alcoholic lubricant we hit it off big time. I have some classic photos from the night which I will put up next week when I start work. I think Marcin must have felt the same way about us cos he begged us to come to Poland to visit him. He offered to pick us up from Berlin airport and drive us to his place just over the Poland border... and with flights as cheap as they are here I'm extremely keen to take him up on the offer in the near future. I figure a lot of this "pay the favour" stuff goes on... seems everyone wants to visit Australia one day and having a place to stay when that times comes is definitely the way to go.
Dropped in to Paul and Lauren's for dinner the other day. They've put there house warming party forward a week so still looking forward to that, but to consolidate my disappointment they offered me a meal and bed for the night. They live in a magnificent share place two stops from where I'm living now. Again, wonderful people to share an evening with and I didn't end up crashing until about 3 or 4am. If that wasn't enough I woke up to some sort of pie/pastry hybrid thing that Paul had bought for 80p each from the local bakery and they were delish! I must find out where he get them from... I want more I tell you, MORE!
Visited the Spitalfields Market which was pretty cool. Bought a ring to replace the one I lost a week before I left Melbourne and the most scrumptious, gigantic square pie I've ever seen. Came with mash and mushy peas which I took a big liking too. As they say, "When in Rome..."
Which brings me to food. Everyone told me that I would be shocked at how expensive everything is in London and how awful the food is. I'd like to say that I've been eating better than in Melbourne and haven¡¦t found much (other than near the touristy places in central London) to be expensive. Then again, we did stumble across a cheap grocery store which has bulk no-name brands of everything, but we all agreed that it was top quality food and at half the price we would at places like Safeway and Tescos, we were chuffed. That was in Manor Park so maybe we'll have to come down to reality living here but I'm working now so I'm not as stressed about cash flow.
For those of you who'd like my home address in London let me know by e-mail or on the message board and I'll send you a private e-mail. Also for those of you who are interested, here is an Underground "Tube" Map:
http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/tubemap/images/tm_quad_2h_0309.gif
Now I have a whole week to see London from the tourists perspective so I'm sure I will have plenty of photos to show you all next week. I've already filled one card (121 photos) on my digital camera and my second card is filling fast.
I'm having a brilliant time and life is grand. Just wish you were all here to share it with me.
Cheers!
Zane
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