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Monday, June 23, 2003
 guess what I got....a job!!! had an interview last friday at a recruitment company in the city - they offered me a job. I start on wednesday at 10am so I've got one more day of freedom - no, I'm actually pretty stoked to find a job that I already know and a bit of stability because I was seriously thinking of packing my bags, picking a spot on the map and ditching London for good! Marieke finally had a game of sport that wasn't cancelled!!! I headed down to her cricket game on sunday and yes, surburban women's cricket is just as boring in England as it is in Australia! had an interesting ride home with four kids throwing rocks at us while we waited for our bus until Marieke made a very loud and very fake phone call to the police (yes, I laugh now but it wasn't very funny at the time) and one very amusing "obsessive compulsive" guy on the bus who walked on and closed all the windows, the people sitting at the windows of course opened them again and he went back around and closed them etc. etc. until he got off the bus after four stops... after my interview on Friday I celebrated my new job by doing what every "normal" person would do - buying a new wrist-watch of course! I wish I could draw a picture or send a photo because I absolutely love it - it's got a touch of "Wonderwoman magic bracelet" to it but of course it's silver and it's a "superblonde magic bracelet". lovely as it is, it didn't quite satisfy the celebratory urge so I headed down to Walkabout Shepherd's Bush but ended up having to voice my disapproval at the fact that the Hawthorn game wasn't one of the four they had taped and sent over during the week!!! hopefully they don't make a habit of this or they're gonna have one angry little Aussie to deal with - regardless of how much they assure me they are unable to influence which games get taped! I might just have to forgive them though because they did sell me a ticket to the Spiderbait concert this tuesday night - yes, the night before I start a new job! always a good first impression that - tired and half deaf...but I missed Silverchair so this one's not getting away from me! okay, racing against the clock here so I'll sign off before I have to pay another 50p. be good and stay warm in your winter - it's nice and hot and sunny here (yes, the world truely has gone crazy!) byeeeee.....
Thursday, June 12, 2003
making full use of free internet!!! I've been hitting the streets hard and it's finally paid off (well, no actual pay yet) - I've got six days worth of temping work at a place with a subsidsed (ie. cheap) canteen and free internet access. The job itself is pretty boring but at least I'll get a cheque next week. other than that there's not really much to report...managed to part with some money and get myself a swanky new mobile...ready for the number...its'.... 07952 826 839 or if you're dialing from Oz...0011 7952 826 839 ...and no, I don't expect anyone to call - I know how much it costs after all - but text messages are most welcome!!! last week I headed out to Marieke's cricket training but when we finally got home afterwards (at 12:20am) I came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to do that too often...and no, we weren't in the club house drinking until 12am...we were walking for miles and catching trains and buses and...well, everything takes forever to get to over here. spoke to my friend Claire last night who's moved over with her hubby...I'm now assured that she's very pregnant and very keen to catch up once I get a few days free to jump on a train and head to Nottinghamshire. Marieke's cricket game was cancelled last Sunday so we headed into Central London for a little look-see. managed to do some site spotting and a bit of a walk through the old chook's front yard but decided that I'm going to do a real touristy bit when I do eventually get inspired to have a proper look around. don't know exactly when that will be but it definitely relies on my topping up the bank account first. stopped off at a Walkabout (Aussie Pub chain) on the way home and caught a bit of a week-old game of footy (Melbourne vs Brisbane) but it was only a pit-stop between buses so Marieke dragged me out of there before I had a chance to get a good look at one of the local AFL footy league teams doing a "who's got the best bod" contest on stage... hopefully Marieke's gaelic footy game won't be cancelled this weekend so that me and her mate Kris get a chance to kick our own little footy around while she runs around in the back-line decking people in her game. getting a bit hooked on UK Big Brother but still couldn't "give a rat's" where Posh and Becks are going to live next season (he's managed to take up most of every newspaper and TV news reports this week). okay, enough exploitation of the free internet...bye...
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
well, here I am!!! London at last - I've got a bed and a local internet cafe, now all I need is a job and some money! would you believe it rained the for my last few days on the islands and cleared up one I got back to loud, smelly Athens? the bus tour around Naxos was great with commentary provided by the amazing "multilingual mimi". as it turned out, my timing was perfect (for once) because it was drizzly all day so it was good to be able to sit in a bus and get shown around the lush island. that night I offered my leftovers to the pom and the kiwi staying upstairs and was well informed on "what to do, what not to do in england" by the time I had to go downstairs and pack up. the tv was showing coverage of a catamaran sinking - of course all commentary in greek so I really didn't have too much of an idea what was happening seeing as the only words I could read on screen were catamaran and santorini. turned out all were safe but four ferries didn't arrive at their ports (including one to Naxos) because they all went to answer the sos. I was a bit worried when it was windy and raining in the morning but my ferry arrived pretty much on time (greek time anyway) and the six hour ferry ride to Pireaus felt like much less. a quick metro ride to Monastiriki to dump my pack and I was off to spend my last 50 euro on clothes and shoes. at least now I know that I don't just suffer from "shopper's apprehension" in Perth - after two laps of the main shopping drag, I was unable to part with the last of my cash so headed out to the airport for my flight to London. BB obviously enjoyed Greece because he tried to escape again! I was through the x-ray machines this time and realised that he was still on the waiting room chair...but never fear, he was saved and traveled safely to London on a 3 hour EasyJet flight. we arrived at London Gatwick at 1:30am with one question from immigration, no-one to greet me in customs and I only had eleven hours (or so I thought) to wait for Marieke. a few naps in a few different sitting areas, a cuppa and english muffin from maccas and I was on the bus to Heathrow to meet MJ. I read, I wandered and I waited for Marieke in Terminal 4 on the flight I thought she'd be on and when she didn't arrive, I checked my email. turned out she was flying into a completely different terminal so it was a quick train trip to Terminal 3 to meet the 3:30pm flight. there were two flights arriving at the same time and I'm really not trying to sound racist here but I swear that everyone on London who's ever worn a sari or a head-scarf and their entire extended families were there to pick up their relatives. the arrivals area was so completely full that MJ and I totally missed each other until I heard a page for "Mr Ford" to meet "Mr Johnson" at the meeting point. another train and bus and we were "home". Marieke's room is great, big enough for the both of us (at the moment) and I was ecstatic when I was given and actualy mattress and clean bed linen so after a trip to the supermarket and a bit of an explore it was to bed for 13 hours for the both of us! Ealing is a great little suburb - full of restaurants from every continent - and I've promised to take Marieke out to the Greek restaurant on my first pay packet. sunday we caught the train(s) down to Kensington - not see the castle, but to catch up with Rachel in the gorgeous little pub she works in. yesterday I went to work with Marieke (in Putney) and wandered the streets for a while before heading home and settling in a little more. today, the job hunt begins. there's three recruitment companies around the corner and one a little further up the road. I had intended to hit them early but lack of cash meant I had to hike up to the closest ATM before I could get to the net and print out my resume. cross your fingers for me!!!
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