Journals

Friday 11 April

I arrived safe and sound at London Heathrow without any noticeable jet-lag. I took a sleeping pill and slept most of the way to London. I even had an empty seat beside me and a very friendly British man in the next seat along. It was nice to meet such a friendly Brit (he gave me his number in case I need help) so early on, so I know the rumours of the unfriendly Brits isn't true!

Andy, the friend I met last year when he was travelling in NZ, met me at the airport. I had told him not to worry about coming so early in the morning (I arrived at 7am!) but I must admit it was very nice to be met and to not have to think about anything much at all. He has only just returned from his Big OE himself and is currently living with his parents in Crawley, a town of 97,000, about halfway between London and the south coast.

The first thing I noticed is the cost! Oh. My. God. Multiplying the bus ticket to get home by three gives $45 for a hour long bus ride!! I knew it would be expensive but I don't think I actually grasped how much.

It's really nice staying with Andy, as it means not having to stress about anything for a few days. I don't feel in any rush to see the sights as I know I am here for ages and there is plenty of time. It's a nice feeling.

The area where Andy lives is quite like a lovely little English town we might see on the telly, although it's actually a suburb of Crawley. They live right on the edge of town so there are fields (paddocks!)about, which makes me feel quite at home. We even went down the pub for a pint after dinner! I think I'll be doing a fair bit of that for the next year or so.

Saturday 12 April

I've arrived safe and sound in England. The flight was fine, I had a seat at the back with an empty seat between me and an English guy who was very friendly and had just been in NZ with his family visiting his son living in Auckland. He gave me his contact details in case I ever get stuck and also said he had a friend who's in law, so he'd ask about jobs etc for me. So that was nice to meet a friendly englishman so early on. I took a sleeping pill and slept for 7 1/2 hours too which was great! Woke at 4:30am London time to b'fast and then touched down on time at 7am. Customs etc was a non-event, I was almost disappointed!

I wasn't sure how I was feeling about it all. I wasn't really excited about coming, just a little. And quite apprenhensive I think.

Andy met me and I'm staying at his parents place. It's not in London,
it's actually just next to Gatwick airport. We're just having a quiet day today, I think we're going down the pub this evening. We've wandered through the area already and seen gorgeous english pubs and an old old church. It is kind of cool to be here where there's so much history.

Andy's parents have been to India, as has he, so they're keen to see my photos etc. The internet connection here is superfast and free, Andy tells me, and they have a scaner so I might spend some time getting my website up and running if I can.

I just bought some NZ pinot at the big supermarket store Sainsburys - it was £6.99. Everything's so expensive! 2 litres of diet coke is £1.27, apples were about £2 per kilo and mince was £5.58 per kilo. I'm sure that's really expensive!! Arrrrr!

Saturday 12 April

Andy took me into London today on the train, then the tube. We picked up my parcel of work clothes that I had posted to a friends in West Hampstead, then went to the South Bank for a wander. The weather is quite lovely (they say it's not typical) and I can see that parts of London are actually very nice (I sound surprised I know!). The houses are just as you see on TV (gosh, you'd think my whole life experience was based on the TV the way I'm going on!) they are all stuck together in long, long rows.

We popped into the Tate Modern which definitely deserves another visit (or more). We walked down the south bank of the Thames and saw the Millennium (Wobbly) Bridge, the London Eye and parliament buildings and Ben Big across the Thames.

I love the tube - despite the way the Londoners complain, it's really a very good system when you compare it to what I'm used to (which is virtually no public transport system). It's neat to be able to get on and off the tube and they are so regular every 2-3 minutes really. It gives quite a feeling of freedom.

We then took a Thames River Boat down to Greenwich. There was a running commentary by a funny young guy with a gorgeous Cockney accent. I could get used to that! He was very informative and it began to hit me that I was actually in London, this place I've heard so, so much about. And there's so much history here, it's quite overwhelming for a little antipodean from a 200-year old country!

We met up with Andy's girlfriend Kat, and, over the rest of the afternoon, her brother, sister-in-law, nephews, mother, sister....! We stopped in two pubs for a drink, fossicked about in the Greenwich market and had dinner at a Nepalese curry house. Kat lived in Nepal for a while, teaching in the mountains. She's lived an amazing life and is an extraordinary person. I think I will be able to cope with friends like this! The trip back to Crawley after dinner was really rather long, but on the other hand, at least it could be done on public transport. Try going to Oamaru for dinner and getting public transport back home to St Kilda!

Sunday 13 April

Andy and Kat are training for their planned bike ride to Portugal in July, so they headed off this morning to bike to Brighton. I took the easier option and caught the train. It was a pleasant day and I explored Brighton. The beach took me by surprise it is made of large smooth pebbles, not a grain of sand in sight! Not really my idea of a beach, but it seemed very popular. There is a boardwalk all along the beachfront with cafes and icecream vendors and a pier out over the water with a rollercoaster and other kitsch rides. Dare I say it - just like on the telly! There are some lovely old lanes winding up the hill from the beach filled with hidden shops and cafes. The lanes are themselves a tourist destination and once again it struck me how old this place really is. Next stop was the famous Royal Pavillion, an Indian style palace. I didn't go in but chose instead to doze away a couple of hours on the lawn, listening to buskers. I am absolutely shattered with everything that's happened in the last few days! I spent some time in the museum learning about Brighton's history before meeting Andy and Kat, and yes, some more of Kat's family!

Monday 14 April

I ventured into London myself today and met with three recruitment agencies. I really am keen to get a job soon! The legal centre of London, Holburn, is lovely too. One of the agencies had offices in a little back street, lined with cobblestones and with only enough room for one vehicle at a time. It's so quaint! After getting rid of my CVs on unsuspecting people, I took the opportunity to walk around the area some more. I discovered the Royal Courts of Justice, a huge and impressive building where so many legal decisions that I have read in the past were decided. Again, I still can't get over the history of the place and the fact that names of places that I have heard for years are falling into place they are actually real places! Like, Fleet Street and the Strand (from Monopoly!) and St Clements Church which I heard chime Oranges and Lemons - just like the nursery rhyme.

Tuesday 15 April

I've had a good first few days here. On Saturday we went into London and looked around the southbank - Andy's being awfully good looking after me. We went into the Tate Modern, saw the millenium eye and bridge and took a riverboat down the Thames to Greenwich. There we met his girlfriend Kat who is also lovely. We had a drink in the pub, went to the market, to the meridian line, another drink in another pub (they do do that a lot!), saw the Naval college and related sites and met most of Kat's family!

On Sunday Andy and Kat biked to Brighton. I took the train and wandered about down there. It has been lovely weather ever since I've been here. They're saying it won't last, although it's meant to be 25 in London on Thursday or something.

Andy's parents are lovely, and he tells me they're enjoying having me. I don't want to overstay my welcome but at the moment the thought of flat hunting is very daunting.

I went to London alone today - £13.40 for return ticket!!!!! I had an interview with ASA Law and also went into 3 other recruitment places. One agency, which Malcolm Couling (from ALC) recommended to me, met with me and has already emailed today to say contact them because they have a job that may be of interest! I do hope I get something soon, as the money is really stressing me out. Everything is so expensive!!! Anyway, the interview was very casual, but I've been up all night making changes to my CV as suggested.

Tomorrow Andy and I are going to some sleepy little English town south west of here. On wednesday I'll be packing and heading to Luton airport for my flight. I tried to get an appointment at the bank today to open my account - nothing available to Wednesday and she claims to need a utility bill with my name and address on it before I can open the account. What bollocks the banking system is here!

Also today I wandered around the Fleet St/Strand area. I went into
the Royal Courts of Justice, which was quite cool. I've spent years
reading cases decided there. I heard the bells of St Clements chime Oranges & Lemons too!

**Brief Interlude in France for Easter**

Thursday 24 April

Just got back today from France. I'm hoping to have a job sorted out soon, there seem to be plenty of opportunities being suggested by one of the agencies I went to, so I think I will just have to take one and go for it. I'm as frightened as can be about it, I cannot imagine that I will be able to do the job - most of the ones being talked about are for London Borough councils doing either housing work or child protection work. That sounds interesting, but scary.

Apparantly I can expect to be paid around £12-13 per hour when I start and perhaps £20 per hour in 6 months. That might sound like a lot in $NZ, but I already know it's not!

I can't believe my sister Kimberley is coming over in a couple of weeks. Wow! That's so soon, it will be great to see her and I hope I'm a little more settled by then.

**Brief Interlude in France for Easter**

Sunday 26 April

Things are slowly starting to fall into place. I am feeling a little unsettled, not knowing where I will be in a weeks time and starting to really want to get a job. However, I am also enjoying being unemployed and free to spend my days how I wish! I am sure I will miss that when I do get a job! I now have a cell phone. Luckily Malcolm pointed me towards dialaphone.com who don't worry about the three year credit checks that everyone else wanted, so I was able to get a free phone on a monthly contract. Of course, phone calls here cost a fortune too, like everything else. Typically, about the only thing I have found so far that doesn't seem expensive is chocolate and that's the one thing that I shouldn't be buying! I've found a place to stay in London for the next few nights. It will be nice to be right in the city and will give me a chance to get out and explore, as well as be available for job interviews etc (if I get any!).

I went into London feeling like a true pack-horse! It's not so bad if the distances to walk aren't too great! I waited for over half an hour at the Ifield train station before a friendly bloke told me there were no trains today! It turns out they were repairing some lines (it happens quite often I hear) and so there was a bus service filling in for part of the route. It made for a long trip in! But I met a kiwi girl on the bus and we swapped numbers. It's nice to know there are people out there who can help if I get stuck. The hostel tonight is not so much a hostel as a B&B. I was quite lucky though as there was a problem with the bookings and so I have a room to myself for £10, rather than sharing which was the original deal. I won't stay though, as it's no way to meet people.

Monday 27 April

I've moved to a hostel down the road which seems very decent. I had a quiet day today - read the paper, discovered you can use the internet for free at the local library, went to Kings Cross Station and found that there is actually a sign for the 9 ¾ platform (re Harry Potter!). I had a meeting with 1^st Contact and set up a limited company of which I am the sole director. I'm told I'll get about £100 more in the hand each week, by benefiting from a lower tax rate! Sounds good to me! I then found myself in Leicester Square where there are heaps of 'official' stalls selling cheap theatre tickets. The only 'real official' stall, tckts, suggested going to the theatres themselves and asking about cheap tickets. I did this and picked up a ticket to The Phantom of the Opera for £20, usually £40. It's a bit of a treat but I reckon I deserve it. I just sat enthralled during the whole show and loved every minute of it. I am definitely a fan of the musicals! And I had a grin on my face on the way there too as I thought about how neat it is that I just bought a ticket to a famous West End musical and jumped on the tube to get there in the evening. Life in the big city eh? It's great!

I never grasped quite how big London is, and I still haven't. I am beginning to understand why when I told local people I was going to live in London they asked 'where?' 'In London' is not really an answer, as it is so big that the different areas are like different townships in themselves. You don't live 'in London', you live in an area of London. I am excited about getting to know more about the areas and to settling in and actually living here!