One Year Anniversary

When 28 MARCH 2008 arrived marking a year in London I thought back to when I first got here realized how far I had come. I had the job I wanted, a flat in my favourite part of London, (Notting Hill) complete with one of the communal gardens made famous in the movie Notting Hill.  I had survived 2 hospital visits, 3 moves (and a crazy flatmate), and the morning commute in London. I met some great people some of whom became friends. Learned how to find my way around London (and home on the night bus). Got to know new parts of town and became very accustomed to the fantastic shopping and great clothes.  Learned to walk anywhere in high heels. And finally I didn't miss the Canadian winter one bit and love spring time in England.

I didn't get to travel as much as I would have liked but there is plenty of time for that, and just knowing Europe is a short flight away makes me happy.

Old Friends

When I was 13 a very good friend of mine Erin moved away to Ottawa.  Erin and I had known each other since we were 5, and lived 2 minutes away from each other.  It was a sad time.  We wrote letters for a while but then lost touch (as you did before Facebook and email came along).

Fast forward 10 years later, my sister who was going to University in Ottawa was stopped by a girl on campus who thought she was me.  My sister realized she recognized the girl and Erin realized it was not me, but my sister.  Emails were exchanged and my sister forwarded the information on to me. I had a visit to Ottawa to see my sister planned so Erin and I plans to meet for Lunch.

As the day approached I felt a little hesitation, what if it was awkward and we had nothing to say to each other? It turned out none of that was a problem, Erin was still the girl I knew and loved, lunch went far to fast and I left very pleased to have my old friend in my life again.

So what does this have to do with London, well fast forward 10 more years... time for another reunion! After both of us having moved around and living in various parts of the world we were going to cross paths again, Erin was coming to London on some work related business.

We managed to meet up 3 times in the week she was in London and about 7/8 months later again when her brother relocated to London and she came for a visit.  Great to catch up and not wait 10 years between visits. Alas now she is living in Asia, I can only hope it isn't 10 years until I see her again.

Me, Jennie (another London friend of Erin's) and Erin.

UK Winter

Winter in England is a breeze compared to the snow, ice, freezing rain and freezing cold weather I grew up with. I come from a part of Canada that has  milder winters than most other parts of Canada.  When people used to ask me about it in England I would say our winters were pretty messy but mild.  Now that I know what they think is cold over here my new answer is "you would die!".  Having said that I'm not sure I could handle a winter back home myself any more.

I have learned when in England if they talk about a blizzard they are referring to the fact it is just snowing (sometimes not that hard), I've stopped expecting anyone (even the train stations) will clear the snow away from the side walks in front of their shops or houses (or train platforms), and most likely the city of London will grind to a halt under 5cm of snow, amusing the first time it happens, not so much the 3rd and 4th times. The upside, the snow makes London look very pretty.

January 2009 Annie in the park across from the flat. 

Camden High Street 

Warming up in the Hawley Arms with Nat and Annie

Out on the town.

In London there is always something going on, and the Christmas season is doubly busy.  Below are some pictures of my first birthday in London spent with friends in one of my favourite bars in Notting Hill, as well as some of the Christmas parties, there was 4 work ones in total. 

Trailer Happiness, a kitsch basement bar I really like in Notting Hill, it reminds me of hanging out in friends basements in Canada, notice the wood panel walls. 

The Volcano drink, they light it on fire for you, very dramatic.

Some of the Sky Sports girls and I at the  Football department Christmas party.

Soccer Saturday (one of the shows I do travel for) with Helen, Alan.

Some of the guests I book travel for.

Boys being boys... Tony, Condo and Tony. 

Rob, Jess, Helen, and me.

Night out Soccer Saturday

Work Life

In London I started out temping as a travel agent to see what was out there and until I could find work as a travel coordinator.  What is the difference between travel agent and travel coordinator you may ask. Well basically  the travel agent works for a travel agency booking travel (cars, hotels and flights) in a GDS (global distribution system) the generic name for the different airline reservation systems.  A travel coordinator works for a company and looks after many people's travel arrangements, liaising with the travel agency, dealing with visas, making sure payment of hotels is taken care of etc.

I started out temping for an agency in the city for 4 months, which was a great to experience working in the city.  I interviewed for a position of travel coordinator for the Royal Saudi family, but didn't get it. The next interview on a Friday afternoon was with Sky Sports (TV) as Studio Travel coordinator. By 5pm I had the job and started the following Monday! The job was just what I was looking for, except the location, it is in a business park in the suburbs about 20 minutes down the road from Heathrow Airport.

I found myself in the middle of the TV and football world, neither of which were familiar to me. There was a sharp learning curve as well as an overwhelming work load.  My job was to call up the guests coming in for shows and finding out what travel arrangements they would need to get to the studio, as well as sorting out travel for shoots and for the Sky Sports News reporters. I was working long hours but I enjoyed the new challenge, and getting to see behind the scenes of TV, I and even got to go out to France to work on some Rugby broadcasts!

I have now been here over 3 years and know a lot more about Rugby, Cricket, Darts, and of course Football. I have also worked with my boss to have my work load reduced which makes a big difference with my commute (which is over an hour), I now get home before 830pm!

The view from where I sit, that is Jo and Kate my co-workers in the foreground.

It is a very open plan office, many TV's (most recently the 3D TV arrived), if you click on it you will get a bigger version in which you can see the ciaos!

This is what the business park looks like, one of the main studios is across the road.

First visit home.

Attempt number 2 to go home was successful. After getting the doctor's ok that I could fly off I went. This ticket was booked to either bring me home if London wasn't working or to finalize things such as selling my car and making the move more permanent. Despite ending up in the hospital and having a couple of shaky starts in the flat department London was under my skin and I was loving every minute.

Below are some photos of the things that make my home town great.

A visit with Tweasel at Shannon and Joel's who were kindly fostering her until I could find a cat friendly flat in London.  I got a bit of the old cold shoulder from her.

The good old Town Clock in Halifax.

The Economy Shoe Shop, a bar I really like.

Boats out in the harbour. Summer stuck around for my late visit, which I was very happy about.

The lake I grew up on, kayaking, swimming, skating, fireworks - Fantastic!

Banook lake is used for world class boating championships.

3 Years Later...

So here I am still in London 3 years later.  Things didn't always go smoothly but they were always interesting! A lot has changed too. I now live in Camden, Tweasel my kitty has flown over from Canada to join me and I have a fantastic man in my life who makes me smile and looks out for me.  What more could a girl ask for?  So coming up over the next couple of weeks, a look back over my first years in London, England which I now consider my home.