Working in the UK

Super Bowl / Snow Day!

2009-02-04T22:47:00.003Z

Super Bowl

Can you believe they actually show the Super Bowl here? But get this... can you believe they show it without the commercials?!?!?

We had a bunch of people over to the house (about half were Americans, the other half required constant explanations) to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. Kick-off wasn't until 11:30 PM though. So the only people around were the ones really dedicated to a good party. And the game ended at 3:30. Transportation is pretty much closed around 12:30. So several of the people who came live in a house nearby and were able to walk home. Everyone else stayed the night.

As for the game, I was surprised how entertaining the game could be without the commercials. It was a GREAT game to watch. I don't remember a Super Bowl game ever being that close. I seemed to be the only one in the group supporting the Steelers (no particular reason). So it caused a good bit of banter once the Cardinals took the lead, and again when they lost it.

We watched it typical Super Bowl style. We had snacks and drinks out the wazoo. I was so overdosed on sugar afterwards. I almost threw up the next morning.

It also started snowing pretty hard late in the evening. I got caught in it in my last couple of minutes of walking back home. And it didn't stop. And this leads into my next section...

Snow Day!
We woke up the next morning to mass amounts of snow outside! I actually got up for work like normal. I was just about to leave for work when one of my flatmates said he wasn't going into work bc all the transportation's shut down. We turned on the news and sure enough, everything seemed to have shut down. I called up my work since it should've been open 15 min by then, and no one answered. So I just figured it'd be an expected snow day!

So what do you do when you're in a house full of 11 ysa-aged kids and there's loads of snow outside? We all went outside and had a massive snowball fight! Nevermind that we were all dead tired from staying up late watching the game. The excitement overtook the sleepiness, and we got each other drenched in snow. And some of the lesser competitive ones even built a snowman. How have I lived in Alabama for so long without snow?! A couple hours later... yes, a couple hours later, we went back inside and mellowed out as our coats and shoes were hanging up to dry.

About that time I glanced at my phone and noticed a miscall. It was my manager from Snappy Snaps asking where I was. Crap! So I called him up and explained my assumption. He was fine with it, but he wanted me to come in around 4:00, so I could help close up at 7:00. Kind of ruined my snow day a little bit. I took a bit of a nap and went into work at 4:00. I only worked an hour before the mgr decided to close up bc the weather was getting worse. He drove me home in his jeep, which was nice. But I still would've prefered a full day off. :) Papa John's was closed all day. They're just not as motivated to make money as my SS's mgr.

I was so excited to come back home early to everyone, but half the people had left. And the rest were too tired to do anything, and no one felt like watching yet another movie. So we just kind of moped around all evening being bored. We made a few attempts at playing some games, though nothing seemed to really pick up too well. Oh well. At least the morning was awesome!

Jack of All Trades

2009-01-09T12:15:00.003Z

I forget to update my blog unless someone reminds me. Thanks, Mom. :)

Between my 2 jobs I usually tend to work 13-hour days. After a week though my body has gotten used to the routine. And I get Thursdays and Sundays off of both.

Papa John's has stayed pretty much the same. I'm still answering phones and cutting the pizzas. I meet some interesting folks of all nationalities and accents. And I get orders from a lot more Americans than I would have expected. Some nights about half of the people who call in are American.

Business at Snappy Snaps has really calmed down since the holiday season. Things were CRAZY then, and it was an awful time to be trained. In fact, I never really was trained. I was just thrown into the deep end and told to swim. But I've got most of the basics down and it's a lot easier since the business has slowed down as well, though it can still get pretty hectic at times.

This past week, since it's been a bit slower, Simon (the owner) has had me doing all kinds of weird projects around the place to keep it in shape. The sink in the kitchen downstairs had a leak. He told me to go fix it. I went down, found the leak coming from a part of the pipe under the sink. I took it apart, went to a Home Depot-type store and found a replacement part, and put it back together again. Of course it wasn't that simple. It took most of the day, and I was in all kinds of awkward positions trying to keep my black clothes as clean as possible (basically impossible), and problems kept arising here and there. But in the end it was perfectly fixed. Hooray! *pats self on back*

A few days ago, he had a couple of us going into the back of a closet-type area to find any documents older than 5 years old to be burned. They were all bundled up in garbage bags by year. First of all I never even knew this closet was there. Second, it's set up to look like a small closet, but as I kept digging through the bags it's actually a giant room underneath the pavement without any real floor, wall, or ceiling. I felt like I was spelunking. I found old bags from 20 years ago covered in bits of mud. When Simon came down to check on us, he saw how far back we had gotten and said not to worry about going that far back. I thought the job was annoying but when I saw how far back the room goes, I got really excited about going through all that stuff. Disappointment. And of course by this time my hands were completely dirty as were my once clean black clothes.

The past couple days he's had me cleaning the ceiling in the shop, focusing on the areas where the fluorescent light bulbs are fixed in. With a ladder, a bleach spray bottle, and paper towels I've been going at it. I didn't realize how dirty it all was until I started cleaning it. It's come to a whole new level of brightness. Half the room is a lot brighter than the other half now. It's a long work in progress.

Yesterday, he had me go up into the ceiling to find some cords we don't need anymore and pull them down. It took a while and involved me popping my head into a few different places within the ceiling, but I eventually got the job done. And of course I'm having to wash my black clothes once again. At one point, Simon got up on another ladder to help me. He was on the other side of a big ventilation tube thing so we couldn't see each other. He found one end of the cord and wanted me to pull it down my side. To make it easier he threw the plug over in my direction hitting me square in the eye (not small enough to actually hit my eyeball though - don't worry). It left a small mark on my nose. Didn't really hurt, I was laughing about how accurate his blind aim was. But he bought me lunch, probably bc he doesn't want me to sue. :)

So I'm learning quite a bit working at Snappy Snaps, and not just about developing pictures. And I finally got my first paycheck yesterday, so that makes it a lot more rewarding. :)

And now I'm off to Primark to spend Christmas money!

2009-01-01T14:49:00.002Z

New Years Eve!

2009-01-01T14:33:00.004Z

This will be a hard NYEve to top. It was wonderful.

I had to work all day and didn't get off work at PJ's until 10:00. We were well busy too, so I didn't actually leave until 10:15. We closed at 10:00, but it took that long to clean up everything. I'm usually right out at the time I'm scheduled to leave. I had to run back home and change before heading toward the church where there was a YSA dance going on. I finally got there about 11:30, and the place was PACKED! I could barely get through the door. As I was barely past the front door I saw one of my friends who was leaving with some others to go to Big Ben, and she dragged me along too.

The tube was packed was it was full of very happy people (most were probably drunk). One guy was actually passed out on the escalator of all places. They had to stop the escalator and his friends could barely lift him - he was a big guy.

We finally made it to Westminster Abbey and Parliament where there were LOADS of people. But we squeezed our way into a spot with a great view of Big Ben. And when the clock struck midnight we were all there to witness it. Everyone was cheering and I got champagne sprayed on me. We hung around the area for about 15 minutes cheering and dancing around with all the drunk people our own age. As with a lot of things this trip, it felt quite surreal realizing I was enjoying New Years Eve in London, in front of Big Ben. Never would've expected that a year ago!

Heading back to the dance was a difficult issue. Most of the tube stations close to the area were closed. So we had to walk a long way amongst massive crowds of people to get to a working tube station. At times it became quite difficult. One area was like a giant whirlpool of people going different directions. You couldn't move on your own. You could basically left your legs and everyone around you would be holding you up dragging you with the current. The hard part was finding the current that was going your direction. That was only about 10 min though. Most of the time there was enough free space.

We got back to the dance right after it had ended. And the crowds leaving the church were about the same as the masses of people in the streets. It was hard going the opposite direction of everyone else. Stayed and helped clean up a little bit before heading back home. Hung out at home eating and chatting for a while. I think we ended up finally going to bed around 6:30-ish.

Fun New Years! :)

2008-12-28T19:31:00.004Z

Christmas Time in London Town

2008-12-28T19:02:00.003Z

So I suppose y'all would like to know about my Christmas here, eh? Well, it was basically like a week's worth of Christmas.

Most of the singles had left to go back home for Christmas. And since we were fewer in numbers last Sunday we even just had a combined EQ/RS class. After that we were all invited to one guy's flat for dinner. We filled the room but it wasn't overfilled. Played games, ate food, etc.

Tuesday night was another dinner put on by a couple singles living together. It was a good ol' traditional English Christmas dinner, complete with Yorkshire pudding and for dessert was a delicious trifle. Afterwards we played Dirty Santa and other games. As we were leaving the hostess of the party handed out wrapped presents to everyone. She even gave me a couple extra bc she knew I would be having people over for Christmas day.

I had invited anyone who was sticking around to come and stay at my place for Christmas. In my house for 7, I was the only one staying. And the entire transportation system was completely shut down on Christmas Day. So I invited people to come over Christmas Eve and leave the day after Christmas Day (Boxing Day). After I got off work at PJ's on Christmas Eve, I headed home to meet a couple of the girls who would be staying at the house with me. I was expecting a much bigger number, but those were the only ones that came. Everyone else seemed to be sick. We really wanted to go see a Midnight Mass, but since the transportation was to be shut down after midnight the only way to get home would be by taxi - which would be charging a premium. So we decided to just be lazy and watch one on tv. :) We all seemed to get really sleepy really early (shows how interesting the service was), so we were all in bed by 1:00 (separate beds). ;)

We woke up Christmas morning and opened the presents that the girl had given me the other night. If it wasn't for her we all wouldn't have had anything to open on Christmas morning! Except me - I got my soap-on-a-rope. :) But it was really nice of her to do that. It was a stocking filled with random treats in it. And it had a nice little Christmas message from Pres. Monson on a card. There are some generous/creative people in this world! The other day, one of the girls and I had gone to a grocery store to gather up loads of food for Christmas. We planned for a lot more, so we had plenty of leftovers. She was really into the whole feast idea. I was fine with microwavable pizzas, personally. Some people are just more ambitious. But between her and the other girl we had a wonderful meal! And that morning we were joined by another guy in the ward who has a car. So the 4 of us sat down to a great Christmas meal of turkey, lasagna, vegetables, gravy, and sparkling cider (more or less). We had some good plans for the rest of the day - going to a park, going to a church service (since we had access to a car now), going for a walk, etc. None of that happened. We all got way lazy - especially since it gets dark around 3:30 - and we sat and watched tv the entire afternoon/evening. It was wonderful! :) I think we ended up watching 3 movies in all. And among all 4 of us were an American, a South African, an Australian, and an Italian. Not even one Brit in there. How ironic. But it was a wonderful Christmas, and I got to spend it with some really great people.

The next day was Boxing Day. To me it seemed to be identical to our day after Thanksgiving. It was the huge shopping day of the year when everything goes on sale. Most businesses are still closed. And from what one girl told me, it's usually tradition to go on walks that day. I spent the whole day working on a talk. Snappy Snaps was closed but I did go to work at Papa John's in the evening. We were so slow though that they let me go home after just a couple hours. So I at least got my walk in to work and back. :)

Today, since there's still basically no one left in my singles ward, our ward was combined with the family ward in the morning. I think there were about 10, maybe 15, singles there. And I got to be the first speaker followed by the mission pres's wife, then the mission president. It was an interesting situation - I had prepared a rather long talk bc I didn't know what the order of speakers was. While I was speaking I kept my eye on the clock to see how I should narrow it down. I had planned to skip a story and go to an instructional part taken from a general authority talk if time was slim. Well, time was slim but after a moment of hesitation I decided to reverse that idea and share the story instead and just highlight the instructional part. The mission pres's wife got up after me and basically shared the talk that I had gotten that instructional part from. If I had skipped the story like I originally planned, I would've stolen her talk completely. Guess she must've been praying for me not to take her material. :)

Got back after church today with some others - including the ones from Christmas - and cooked up the leftover food we never got around to eating. Communal eating seems to be a very popular thing here!

Job #2

2008-12-18T15:32:00.003Z

So I got a second job. It's at a place called Snappy Snaps. They develop film and such. One of my housemates saw a sign posted for "Staff Required".

So I went by and gave them my CV. Hadn't heard anything back for a few days so I gave up on it. But I got an e-mail later from the owner asking if I could come in for an interview. I did and we chatted for a bit, mostly about my availability. He wasn't a fan of my limited time here, but since I was the only one who applied who spoke English he took his chances with me.

So both my jobs I got bc I speak English. Who would've thought that would be such a valuable asset?!

I went in yesterday for a "trial day". It was rough! I had no idea there was so much to know and do at a film developing place!!! I basically knew nothing that was going on - like I had no background knowledge in that field. And people were coming in and calling up asking questions about stuff I have no idea. "Can you copy an A4 onto an A3?" Um... what? So it was like a full day of confusion and anxiety. Not a whole lot of fun. I was relieved when the owner sent me downstairs to cut up a giant pile of Christmas cards that someone had ordered. Just me and a cutter. Loved it.

He talked with me afterwards and asked if I'd be interested in coming on. Um... okay. So I've got a day off today, but I go in Friday to really start. This is going to be stress until I figure out what's going on. But what job isn't?

So now I'll be working that job 9-5, then I'll go straight over to Papa John's and work all evening. PJ's isn't even really work to me anymore. It's really easy to me now. So I might as well keep doing it and get paid... and get pizza.

But now I run the dillemma of working TOO much! Who ever would've thought that would've been my problem?! I'm kind of at a crossroads for what I really want to do now. The one I'm leaning towards right now is that I might just keep going with both through the end of January, then quit both and enjoy my last few weeks in February with free time and money to spend. I hope I can last that long though. This Friday, for example, I'll be working Snappy Snaps 9-5 and PJ's 5:30-12. And I think I do the same thing on Saturday too. Sunday will be WONDERFUL!!!

PJ's Update / Christmas Thus Far

2008-12-14T22:58:00.003Z

I have an ongoing list of things I want to write about, but I keep putting it off and the list keeps getting longer. And since it's only a mental list I know I'll be forgetting things as more things happen. So finally... here's an update.

And the n key seems to have lost sensitivity, so forgive any lack of n's in the text.

PJ's Update
I've been working there like 2 weeks now. It didn't take long to get used to the system. It's really simple though it's really different from what I was used to from before.

I think the guy who owns it knew what he was doing when he hired me. He hired me so I could be the face and the voice for the store since I'm the only one working there whose native tongue is English. I've had SO many conversations with people just based on the fact that I'm American. I've actually received quite a few calls from Americans - probably bc it's a product they're used to. Comfort food. And of course they usually tend to ask about why I'm there. I had one call yesterday who, after she placed the order, said that was the quickest she's ever gotten through an order bc they're usually not able to understand her. I had no problem! It's always such a relief to hear an American accent on the phone.

I get tons of calls from foreigners and it takes a lot of concentration. In fact, just being in the store requires a lot of concentration and simplified speech. The other girl who answers phones with me speaks English very well but there is a limit. Everyone else seems to struggle to some degree. I work with 3 Indians, 5 Brazilians (all the drivers), 1 Egyptian, and 1 Iranian. The Brazilians are all really tall and really laid back. They're always joking around about something. The Indians are always really proper and dignified... and are kinda short. It's fun to see the different cultural differences.

I'm not getting a whole lot of hours there though, so I'm still looking for a 2nd job that I can work during the day time.

Christmas Thus Far
Last week was the annual Christmas party of the house. I was actually at work at the time but got to catch the tail end of it when I got off.

There was a huge feast. There was such a huge variety of food. Someone left me a full plate of leftovers and I had fun just startig from one side of the mountain and slowly moving over to the other side. There was even Yorkshire pudding in the mix.

Decorations were all put up the day of and the night before. One of the girls cut out tons of snowflakes and strung them from the lights in the middle to the 4 corners of the room. And there's a 4-ft Christmas tree with ornaments and lights and strung popcorn that another girl and I made. I remembered doing that when I was a kid! So the room has a very Christmasy feel to it now.

We had a Secret Santa gift exchange. I was assigned the guy whose room I was taking over - the one who just got married yesterday. I got him a box of cards with the title "How to Improve Your Sex Life". I crossed out the "improve" and wrote "start". And they also double as playing cards! He actually had me and got me an American-English translation dictionary. I had fun sitting down with a couple of the housemates and going through some of the words that I never even caught being different.

Once the night settled down there were a few of us Americans left that sat around a laptop and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. Christmas tiiiiiime is heeeeeere. Man, that brought back so many memories!

That was the party (one of many). Today after church we watched the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional. And after that I was part of the Institute Choir that sang an hour of Christmas songs for the congregatio. We've been working on that for a couple months now. It was so fun to sing in a choir again! There were a few really rough spots, but I think overall it sounded pretty good. Then anyone who wanted to could join the choir to go sing carols on the street to the people passing by. Too bad there was hardly anyone walking by. Maybe they were taking the long way around. I dunno. But we sure had fun singing. :)

Turkey Bowl / Iron Bowl

2008-11-30T00:41:00.003Z

This has been like a week-long Thanksgiving celebration for me. All the activities normally crammed into one day have been spread across from last Sunday through today (Sat). Sunday was the giant turkey meal. Thursday was, of course, the real holiday as well as a service at St. Paul's Cathedral. And this morning was the Turkey Bowl!

I organized the Turkey Bowl here in hopes that we could get at least enough people to play a game. And we did! It turned out better than when I once tried to organize it in Madison a long time ago when it wasn't a tradition yet and 2 people came. We actually had 9 people playing at one point today! And they were good! Well... not like amazing, but good enough to enjoy a good game of football. One actually was amazing - the one I mentioned from Thursday who has an amazing throw. 6 of the 9 were Americans, the others English. At one point 3 had to leave leaving a good 3 on 3 match. That's like the minimum for a decent game. So I really lucked out that that many people showed up.

We found a spot on a local park to play. There were a ton of kids playing their "European" football. So we had to avoid them and avoid the giant mud patches that were all around. The ground was wet, which made it really hard to play without cleats. But at least we were all at the same disadvantage. It's hard to play football without traction though!

But man, that sure was a lot of fun. And everyone had fun, which always helps. And no injuries! That helps too. I brought my football and pump out with me just for the specific purpose of hosting a Turkey Bowl, and I'm sure glad I did it. Who knows if anyone will host it next year? Only 1 of the 3 English even knew what a Turkey Bowl was - he learned on his mission playing with all the Americans. So at least 2 more have been exposed to the joys of it now.

And this evening at 8:30, I joined 12 others to watch Alabama slaughter Auburn. It was so deliciously sweet. I got a toothache, it was so sweet. 36-0! And half of the 4th quarter was with our 2nd string! We all had scratchy voices by the end of the game bc we had been cheering so much. I can't ever keep up with the enthusiasm of the guys around me after they've downed a few beers, but they sure keep the energy of the game up. I sure wish I could be in Tuscaloosa right now. It's got to be crazy there! And everyone is going to be in a great mood on Sunday at church too. A winning football team always brightens spirits. :)

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-28T01:22:00.003Z

I had a unique Thanksgiving Day experience this morning. At 11:00, St. Paul's Cathedral hosted a special Thanksgiving service for the American community in London. It's the 50th year in a row they've done it. There were about 2,500 people there, and all I heard were American accents all around me. I haven't been around so many Americans since I got here! It was a really nice service. The US ambassador was escorted in and even gave little speech. That was kind of neat. There were also a couple Americans who are ministers of local interdenominational churches who gave sermons. And we all sang a few hymns. Luckily 2 of them I actually knew from our own hymnbook. So it was a nice way to celebrate Thanksgiving across the pond. The ushers were, of course, British and one was being a bit too cheesy. He would ask people, "Have you eaten your pumpkin pie yet? (a dish they don't have)" and "Are you ready to go eat your turkey?" I don't know... it just sounded weird. I should've asked him if he was ready to go have a spot of tea.

All week I've been eating a giant pack of Russian dumplings with a friend. She has a kitchen so we always eat together. It's been great for saving money on food, and we've been attacking that giant 2.5 kg bag for the past few days with plenty to spare. But today we celebrated Thanksgiving by eating at Walkabout (an Australian pub) since they have real meals but still semi-cheap. I had the Southern Fried Chicken meal since it at least sounded American - the best I could do for an American holiday. Btw Tammy... I showed my friend the trick about making an energy ball and she flipped out with excitement when she did it.

I brought my football to Insititute so I could practice for Saturday's Turkey Bowl. A couple of the local guys were able to at least get it to another person, and they usually didn't have any problem catching it. So that gives me hope for a productive game. But one guy totally blew me away! Out of nowhere he was throwing perfect spirals and with good aim. Apparently he just likes the sport. Don't know where he picked that one up, but it'll be a big help on Saturday. We got trumped by the volleyball game that everyone else wanted to play, so I joined in that for a bit.

At one point, I left to go join a few other Americans (two from Seattle) to a pub that was showing the Seattle Dallas game. They were losing so bad though, that by the time I got there, they weren't really interested in watching anymore. Can't blame them.

So that was my Thanksgiving Day in London! I sure enjoyed it! I hope everything went smoothly back home. I sure could use a turkey sandwich right now. Yum...

PJ's

2008-11-26T17:31:00.004Z

This story is best explained with a bit of background...

I had given up completely on ever finding a "real" job, so I had settled my mind on just working at some min wage job. I enjoyed my time with Mom and Tammy and used it as an excuse to delay the efforts of finding that job.

Monday I did a lot of walking. I walked all up and down a street close to the house where I'll be moving into in a couple weeks. I figured it'd be best to find something close. I only found 4 places decent enough to work at, so I stuck my head in but got rejected from all. I quit around the time the food places were starting to get busy. No use going in asking for a job when they're surrounded by customers. So I called it a day after that.

Tuesday I used my knowledge of Monday's events to plan my day more effectively. I went out with particular stores in mind. I went into over 10 different stores including 3 Waterstone's (bookstore). Got rejected by all. A couple were still friendly and accepted my CV. A couple others were sorta rude. By around 3:30 I was tired and annoyed. I ate dinner and hung out with a friend for a couple hours. Then I just relaxed in front of the computer for the evening.

I got up today knowing that it would be more of the same as yesterday. I didn't know a more productive way of doing it. I figured if there was at least a slight percentage of success, then the odds would eventually work in my favor. I started out by calling up a Waterstone's that I had applied to last week. I got to talk to a manager who said they were all staffed, but she was really friendly about it. So that was a semi-good start to the day's adventure. I had on my list a couple of Papa John's nearby. I went to a closer one first. The first the guy asked was if I had experience. Yes! Yes, I do have experience! I may not have experience in all the other jobs that are out there in the world, but I do have experience working at Papa John's! He got my name and number and said he'd pass it to his manager. Also dropped by a Costa (coffee shop) on the same road. He said there aren't openings right now, but people come and go, so he asked for my CV to have for future reference. Then I took a journey over to another Papa John's and got a similar response to the first one but not quite as positive. On my way back from that one, I got a call from the first Papa John's asking if I could come in for an interview at 3:00. A what? An interview? Someone actually called me for an interview?

I went in at 3:00 and chatted with the manager guy who can't be more than 5 yrs older than me. His basic attitude was the job's mine if I want it. All the workers there are foreigners and can struggle with the language at times. He wants me to be the face and voice that the people interact with and feel comfortable with. So I'll be working the phones and helping people that come in. It's the same thing I did when I was 16-17! It's come full circle. I'll only be earning just enough to get by, but that's more than I'm earning now! And he was totally fine with letting me off on Sundays, and even on Thursday nights for Institute.

The place is REALLY small compared to what I'm used to, and some things are a little sketchy. Like I think I'm just getting paid under the table. He had a long and complicated explanation for it (he talked a lot and very loudly), but I think that was the main point. There's only 5 drivers and I'm helping the Indian girl who was the only phone person before (there's only 2 phones). I don't think he even has any other assistant managers or shift leaders. Oh, can I point out one irony here? After Brom has gone to India to teach people there to do his job, I'm here in London being taught by an Indian girl how to do my job. Hmm.

So that's pretty much the scoop. I go in Fri evening for a couple hours of watching/training. Then I'll go in Mon to start work. Should be fun. And maybe I'll get some good food out of it. :)

Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T10:28:00.004Z

We celebrated Thanksgiving a bit early this year. This past Sunday, one of the girls in the ward (American) got together a big Thanskgiving dinner for everyone. There were probably about 30 people there in a really tiny flat. But food wasn't lacking. There was a good amount of leftovers. She cooked 2 turkeys, one really big one and one sorta small. She even had me carve them. So one day I've actually got to learn how to do it properly. But despite the lack of technique we all got some good meat off of those birds. And there were like 6 different desserts - half of which were pumpking pies. I didn't know that pumpkin pie was an American dish. No one from other countries seemed to know what it was, and they were surprised to hear it was sweet. It got good reviews though. When all the food was ready, this girl got everyone's attention and explained the whole purpose and history of Thanksgiving for the sake of all the non-Americans. She was explaining that the early Americans were celebrating a bountiful harvest, at which point one of the English girls piped in with a smirk, "I believe it was the English who were over there." Ha... good point. So yeah, Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, even halfway across the world. And this Saturday morning we're all going to play in the Turkey Bowl that I'm organizing. And later that night I'll watch as Alabama crushes Auburn. :)

A Turn of Luck?

2008-11-04T14:41:00.004Z

There's an LDS Employment Center at our church building. Last Thursday before Institute, the lady in charge of it spoke to us explaining what it is, why it's there, etc. I went the next day. I chatted with the lady who had spoken, and we discussed... everything. She even gave me some resume pointers I hadn't thought about.

I got a call from her Sunday morning about a guy in the family ward that we share our building with. He works in a marketing company (Rapp) and there's a new entry position open. They're spread all over the world, including Moscow and Kiev. And apparently they have a high LDS employment rate.

I got in touch with him (Wade Allen) and we chatted for about a half hour. He's a really nice laid back guy. The conversation was a little strange, bc he didn't try to find out if I was right for the job but more if the job was right for me. We talked about my experiences and what I was looking for. Unfortunately it kind of occurred to me how unlike my personality this job actually was. That's a downside.

He let me think it out overnight and it was on my mind almost constantly since we talked. I even ran into a friend after I got off the phone, and she told me I looked as though I had a heavy decision weighing on my mind. Something like that...

So I wrestled with the idea of this job all night and morning. It would be a more permanent role, so I would get the work visa I came here to get in the first place and be here like 2-4 years. 2 months ago I would've said YES! but now that I've had in my mind that I might go home for the holidays, it's taken a lot of reconsidering. Also, this job isn't something that I would necessarily enjoy for the job's sake, but I may enjoy it once I get into it. I think I was just spoiled over the summer getting a job that was a lot of fun.

I just e-mailed him back and told him I was interested...

Interview / Paris! / Advice?

2008-10-29T14:08:00.006Z

This is a long one, but it's all good so bear with...

Interview

I know I've left you all hanging as to how the interview went last week. That's bc it took so long for it to come to some conclusion, and I wanted to wait until I had a final answer to let you guys know how it went.

I went in Wednesday morning for an interview with the Westminster Abbey Shop - the souvenir shop just outside the Westminster Abbey. Like it's the official shop of the Westminster Abbey and all the profits go to the Abbey. I was completely prepared for this. I had even done about a week's worth of research about the Westminster Abbey bc I read that I would have to answer people's questions about it as part of the job.

I met with Kirsty McDonald who was over all the shops associated with Westminster Abbey (coffee shop, souvenir shop, expensive souvenir shop, etc). The interview went pretty well and felt very comfortable. It had its highs and lows, but overall it went pretty well. My biggest selling point was all the retail experience I've had - I pulled my American Eagle and Ruby Tuesday experience into it. I left not really knowing how it was going to turn out. I knew that she had another couple interviews the next day, so I had to wait it out to see. She knew I was going to Paris for the weekend so she had just planned to e-mail me.

One issue that came up during the interview was scheduling. The employees work 5 out of the 7 days, and the 2 days we get off rotate through the week. I asked her how it would affect it if I wasn't able to work Sundays. She said I wouldn't be able to make it up another day. I would just not get paid for the Sundays I would be scheduled to work. I was fine with that and left the interview with that conclusion in my head.

I got an e-mail from her a couple hours later with corrective information. She looked up the policy on getting Sundays off and said that employees must give the shop 3 months notice before being able to get off on Sundays. In the meantime, they must work as scheduled. Well, the position only lasts 3 months. So what it came down to was that she offered me the position, but I would have to agree to their scheduling policy. And in a nutshell, my job was conditionial on whether I was willing to work on the Sabbath.

I want to point out the irony here, bc it's too... ironic. The Westminster Abbey - a church that teaches the 10 Commandments - wants me to break a commandment in order work for it.

I wrote her back an e-mail explaining that it's a religious standard that I hold to not work on Sundays. I also offered a counter-proposal that I was particularly proud of. They get a massive amount of vacation days here. It just so happened that I would have the same amount of vacation days as the amount of Sundays I would have to work. So I asked if it would be possible to use all my vacation days on those Sundays. And that's how I left it before going off to Paris.

While in Paris I went to an Internet Cafe and read her responding e-mail. Basically she didn't like the idea. So I thanked her for her time and politely turned down the job. And that's the end of the Westminster Abbey Shop.

Paris!

So I went to Paris for the weekend! I went with two other friends - both American. One's here on the BUNAC thing and the other's here getting her masters (there's a lot of Americans doing that). The one studying here had lived in Paris for a semester about 8 years ago. So she had a vague recollection of the way things run and of the language.

We went by an overnight bus which only cost 40 pounds roundtrip. It would've been just fine, but we had to stop like every 2 hours and get out - when checking in our passports at the border and when getting on/off the ferry. So we couldn't get into a deep sleep.

When we finally got to Paris we were like "Hooray! We're in Paris!!" We couldn't find our hotel so we asked a guy on the street. He looked at our address and said, "Oh, you're not in Paris." Crap! We were just on the border though, and he showed us where to go. It took us 2 hours to find our dang hotel, and we were all tired and hungry. And when we got to the hotel they told us we couldn't check in for another couple hours. Crap! So we went to McDonald's - our comfort place - and ate/loitered/slept there for 2 hours until we could go back to the hotel. Once we did go back we slept for about 5 hours.

After all that settling in and getting adjusted, we were finally able to enjoy the city. We went to the Eiffel Tower first and took mass amounts of pictures with it. It was kind of weird to see it in person. It looked like a posterboard picture in the background. At night it was lit up blue and had the EU circle of stars on the front of it. I guess they're promoting some kind of EU thing right now.

The next few days we saw all the other sights there were to see in Paris - the Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc du Triomphe, etc. I saw the roundabout around the Arc du Triomphe that I remember them driving around in National Lampoon's European Vacation. It was a weird reference to flashback to, but it's what came to me. I never thought I would actually ever see all this stuff - at least in the near future.

On Sunday we found our way to church and happened to make it in time for an English Sunday School. I think the entire class was visitors, and half of them were some BYU group that passing through. And they all looked like they went to BYU. There's a look. Next was Sacrament Meeting held, of course, in French. We grabbed headphones for translation but none of ours worked. The bishop was American... which I didn't realize until he translated what he had just said in French into English. We pretended like we knew what we were doing when we sang the hymns. It was a fun experience.

I was surprised at how much French came back to me, and how much I was able to pick up, just from having taken a year of French my junior year of high school. Most of the people were able to speak English to some degree, so we were able to get by. But the language barrier was an annoyance. When buying stuff it usually involved pointing and grunting. Our last day there, we met up with a friend of one of the girls who had been living there a year. Her French skills opened up a whole new world of enjoyment for us. If I ever go back, I'm taking someone who speaks French!

Advice?

Alright, so I need y'all's opinions since I hate making decisions on my own/seem to be unable to do so. I was looking back to my original plans when coming over here and realized how much they've changed. And now I'm kind of unsure how to proceed.

My original plan in coming over here was to use this 6 months as a way to get in with a company, so they'd decide they like me enough to sponsor me for a longer work visa. Of course, I knew there was a slim chance with this, so I figured I'd be happy to just get a good start to a career with 6 months business experience in London and see what doors would open from there.

It didn't take long to realize the first option was practically impossible. The second option I held onto for a bit, but there's like a 1% chance of it actually happening since I lack any real experience. Also, I'm 6 weeks into my work permit already, so the most I could look forward to is about 4 months of work. Well, Scott's wedding would cut that back to about 3 months. So I doubt there's any business possibilities for working for only 3 months.

About a couple weeks ago I started expanding my job searching to general jobs, like the Westminster Abbey Shop. And admittedly, that would have just been a really fun place to work at. But now I'm at the point where I'd only be searching for a job like waiting tables somewhere.

Looking back at my original goals, I've completely gone off track job-wise. Whatever job I could get at this point would only pay enough to hold me over until I went home, and the only advantage would be that I'd be living in London. That's no small advantage though. I really like this city and the friends that I've made here. But the joint advantage of starting a career in London has become split. Now it seems I can either go home and start a career or live in London and delay it. I can't seem to do both.

Option 1:

I decide to just chalk it up for experience and go home to start a real career somewhere. There would be about a 2-week delay before the plane tickets become cheaper. So I'd have a couple weeks to get my last touristy jollies in before leaving. If I went this route, I could be home for Thanksgiving if I make a final decision in about a week's time. And, of course, this would put me home for the holidays.

Option 2:

I just look for something simple to hold me over financially. I'd probably wait tables somewhere until around the end of January or whenever Mom and Tammy would be coming out. This would just let me delay my trip back home a few months and enjoy London a little bit longer. Of course, there's no guarantee that I would even be able to find even a small job that would want me for only a few months. So this option is based on the possibility that I would be able to find such a job.

Option 3:

I win the lottery and I have enough money to do whatever the heck I please. No more job searching. Just eating out all the time and living the dream.

Any other option inputs are welcome as well. Please let me know your thoughts so I can make a more informed decision. Many thanks...

Bath/Stonehenge

2008-10-22T13:02:00.008+01:00

Thanks, Mom, for reminding me to write about this trip. I had planned to, but it completely escaped my memory.

Last Saturday I went on a trip organized by BUNAC to Bath and Stonehenge which was set at a price I just couldn't pass up. We were all crammed into a double-decker coach, but I had some fun neighbors and the sleeping came easy. I went with another girl here who's LDS who's also doing the BUNAC thing and a fresh new boyfriend of hers. Luckily they're both really cool, so it ended up not being too awkward being a 3rd wheel (despite the fact that I was the first one to sign up anyway).

Apparently there was some miscommunication between the bus driver and the BUNAC people hosting the trip. We were supposed to go to Stonehenge first, but the driver took us to Bath first. This is going to come back later...

So we went to Bath first. The town was really pretty. All the buildings were yellow-ish and seemed to have a real Mediterranean feel to them. And the town was big enough to have everything a town could want, but it was still small enough to feel at home. It was nice to step outside of London for a bit. There was plenty of stuff to look at anyway, i.e. parks, architecture, landscape, river. But the main attraction of the city is the Roman Baths. During the Roman occupation of Britain (didn't know there was one) they built a few baths around a hot spring. Sounds like a great idea to me! :) Apparently it was more for worship than recreation. There was even a high priest actor there welcoming us to worship Minerva. The whole building has Roman statues and architecture. Those Romans were pretty smart! They had pipes that carried hot water from the spring to the main bath to keep it warm. They also had a really interesting method of heating houses which requires too much explanation. But it was all really neat to see and learn about. If you want to read about the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath,_Somerset

There's a Jane Austen museum there.

The program used for this blogging site is really bad, so I don't know how to organize my pictures than that.

So after Bath we got in the bus and headed over to Stonehenge. We got there at 4:55. It closes at 5:00. They wouldn't let us in, so we had to take pictures from outside the gate. We got a 5 pound refund, but that's still lame. We could only see one side and from a bit of a distance. I blame the bus driver. So I took what pictures I could. Stonehenge was really neat though. I've heard a lot of people talk it down saying it's just a pile of rocks, even our BUNAC host said that. But I was really fascinated by it! It's an organized pile of gigantic rocks out in the middle of a rockless field! Pictures just can't do it real justice.

My Competition

2008-10-17T20:14:00.004+01:00

"Unemployment in London Reaches 300,000" - That's what the headline was for a local newspaper. Upon further reading the actual number is 304,000. I'm up against some heavy competition! I'm thinking my timing couldn't have been worse for coming over here. Of course, I couldn't help it. It had to be right after I graduated or not at all.

But on a positive note, I have an interview to work in a souvenir shop next Wednesday. It's just a little retail job, but it's full-time and pays well enough to hold me over. So hopefully I get this job and I'll be able to stay! And it's not just any souvenir shop... it's the Westminster Abbey Shop. So I'd be working in a shop connected to the outside of Westminster Abbey. That'd be pretty fun. I walked through it yesterday to scope out the place. It looks like I'd be on my feet all day, and I might get bored out of my mind. But I'll find ways to entertain myself. I'm looking forward to it. I hope I get it.

And I'm going on the Stonehenge/Bath Tour tomorrow and next weekend a few of us are going to Paris. Believe it or not I'm pretty sure I'll be spending less money spending the weekend in Paris than living in London. Someone's got connections so we'll be able to stay at someone's place there. And I think it's one of the 70. That's what I heard, but don't quote me on that.

Bad Luck

2008-10-12T12:30:00.002+01:00

I figured I was long overdue for an update, but I was hoping to wait until I had some good news for an update. Unfortunately I've had nothing but bad luck. I think I need to go buy a rabbit's foot or hang a horseshoe above my hostel door.

I've had lots of help from all the people here... more than I ever would have expected. I've been surprised at how concerned a lot of the people have been in helping me find a job. One person who has helped a lot was Marianne, who was my connection back at CPLG - the company I worked at over the summer. She's the one from Alabama and who arranges for interns to work there over the summer. We became really good friends through all that. She has a husband (Jason) who works at Arch Insurance, and she really talked me up to him. He was impressed by how much she was talking me up and talked me up to his company saying they should hire me in a position that had just opened up - payroll processing, etc. The way he made it sound, I was about 95% guaranteed in the spot. He had me come in for an interview on Thursday morning. He said he hoped it was just a formality for them to meet me and explain the position to me. He was rooting for me, but it wasn't his call. I met with an HR person and the finance person I'd be working under. I wasn't expecting an actual interview. I thought it was going to be just an information session like he said, but it was a full-blown interview. So I wasn't really prepared at all, but it actually worked out pretty well. I felt comfortable with how things went.

I got a call a couple hours later from Jason who said they were impressed with how I presented myself, but they're turned off by my lack of experience in the field and the short duration of my work permit. I can understand that from their end. It just doesn't help me out any! He said they'd keep the position open for another day to basically see if anything better comes along.

Also that day I found a really nice flat I'd be able to get. I talked to the owner and he was totally cool. I explained I'd be hearing about a job the next day and I'd be able to give him a definite yes once I hear back.

So the next day (Friday) I had nothing to do all day except wait for Jason to get off work and call me. I went to Greenwich and distracted myself. Of course it was always playing in the back of my mind. I was supressing any hope, bc I didn't want it to be a big blow if it didn't work out. If he said I was in, then I would have both a job and a flat before the day was over, and a real life would finally begin. I was in the tube when he called so I didn't have reception. I got his voice message after I got back above ground. I could tell by the tone of his voice it wasn't good. He said they decided to hire someone with a bit more experience. Crap. I can completely understand it from the company's end. But now I'm still jobless with no more prospects than I came here with. And I called up the guy to cancel the flat.

So I'm still in the hostel with no job 3.5 weeks later... and my supply of steam is running out. And that's my bad luck. I'll go in Monday to see about a telemarketing job. They actually pay decent money, and I might be able to word it well enough on a resume for it to sound like I have experience in marketing. Every job wants experience, even if it's just 6 months. But how do you get experience if every company requires you to already have experience? There need to be Start-Your-Career companies to gain that initial experience.

On a positive note, I'm having a lot of fun with the YSA. There's something to do almost every night. We even watched Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2 last week. Brought back tons of memories.

One Day of Work

2008-09-29T00:32:00.003+01:00

I've been putting off writing all week bc I kept telling myself I'd just write on Sunday for the whole week. Well, today pretty much came and went without any time to write. So I don't get to write all my highlights. However, I did want to write about one:

Last Monday I was in the BUNAC office looking at the wall posts for jobs, and I saw one for a one-day event. Fulbright (the scholarship people) were hosting a US College Day where about 90 US universities come and set up a table while the UK students wanting to study in the US come and check out what's available. Bama wasn't there... I checked. But they just needed a few extra hands for the day. So I e-mailed the lady in charge and said I'd love to help out. Made 54 pounds out of it! So that's about half a week's rent I earned right there. :) Hey, it's better than nothing!! It was all in a hotel, and all I had to do was help set things up and take down later, as well as just general helping during the whole thing. I stood outside in the courtyard directing people who looked lost, and I helped the speakers who gave a lecture every 30 minutes set up their PowerPoint and helped with crowd control. It was easy money, and the people were really nice. I networked the heck out of everyone but didn't really have any luck. Oh well. At least I made 54 pounds and met a new circle of friends. Most of them were American even. Afterwards we went to the Fulbright House and ate snacks and drank wine as we just chilled and chatted.

I guess I'll keep going a little bit further. That evening was a baptism for a Russian girl that I went to. Got to chat a little bit with her. Found out this evening that the bishopric was actually looking for Russian speakers to help her out. I'll have to let them know. There is a guy here from either Russia or Ukraine. I didn't really understand which he said. He loves to talk to me in Russian, and it's nice for me to be able to practice again. He did serve his mission in Ukraine but finished before I got there. It was fun when the 3 of us got to chat bc it was pretty much half in Russian, half in English, and I don't think that phased any of us. I think she prefers to speak English, but she's still at the stage where she's struggling with it.

So I came home pretty exhausted from that day!!

Job searching is still going and hadn't really been fruitful, but the people in the ward are just extremely helpful! It's surprised me how much they've gone out of their way to help me. One girl passed on my CV to her brother, and also came to me today with the name and phone number of a missionary couple in the area who are employment advisors or something like that. I didn't even know those existed! But she made it a point to write it down so she could pass it to me. Another girl doing the same thing as me gave me the business cards of a couple temp agency agents and told me to try calling them and mentioning that I know her. So that's my plan for tomorrow morning. So I haven't found great success yet, but I've really been supported!

And I'm having way too much fun with the YSA in the ward. There's so many that I keep meeting more and more every activity. And there's always something going on. There's a house near my hostel with 7 really social YSA in it that we usually congregate to. It's the party house. So loneliness has definitely NOT been an issue for me.

Alright, I'm seriously late for bed. Good night. And ROLL TIDE!!!

Alabama Oasis

2008-09-21T23:04:00.004+01:00

Yesterday evening I met up with a bunch of other Alabama alumni to watch the Alabama/Arkansas game. It was SO much fun! I found the right apt by the giant UA flag hanging under the window. And everyone inside was wearing crimson. It felt like a little Alabama oasis in the middle of London. It was like a little taste of home for the evening.

And the game, if you kept up with it, was incredible!! It took us all by surprise and we were loving it. So since we were doing so well, it helped the atmosphere and I made a lot of good friends. Plus everyone else had drunk several beers throughout the game. That always helps them make friends more easily. And most of them are married and settled in here and offered their help if I ever need a place to crash or bailing out of jail or anything. The couple that saw me in Edinburgh recognized me, so it was nice to be able to actually hang out with them. One girl graduated in the Spring and is here on the same program I am. But she settled with just a part-time job. She's spending more money than she's making. Another guy is actually living across the street from this hostel I'm staying at. And he offered to have me over for dinner sometime. Sweet!

The way we got to watch the game was the guy whose place we were at has a subscription to ESPN 360. So he got access to the game online and hooked it up to his tv screen. The game started at 5:30 here. For the evening games, they still watch the game at like 1:00 in the morning, and they set up a blow up mattress and have a guest bed for those who just want to crash there for the night. These guys are fun. :) They'll be out of town next week, so we have to skip a week of fun. But we'll pick it up again the week after.

Roll Tide.

Went to church today. It went as well as it has all over the summer. Met new people... because there's always new people to meet in this ward. And most of them seem to be from the states. I met a few people here to get their masters. Most of them from Utah. They always state that fact with the air of 'I know I'm one of the millions from Utah'. School starts for them tomorrow. Maybe I'll consider that someday.

After church was a general priesthood meeting - basically a motivator to do missionary work. Something to do though. ;)

And after that I joined a bunch of others who were having a goodbye party for a girl who just finished her masters and is going back to the states. It was a typical YSA party with the cheesy Mormon games they'd play at BYU on a Sunday evening. And they had food! I've been so lucky when it comes to food. My breakfast is always provided by the hostel, and the past couple days I've always ended up being able to eat a meal somewhere else. So I've only been paying for one meal a day... if that! Man, I just need to keep this up and I'll have nothing to worry about until I get a job. :)

So Far So Good...

2008-09-19T21:18:00.000+01:00

So I guess I should start this up again. I'll tell y'all about my adventures thus far.

Day of Arrival
My flights here could not have gone any smoother. I had 4 different airports to go through (Nashville -> Chicago -> Copenhagen -> London) and not one was late. In fact, the oversea one was an hour shorter than planned - the one I wanted to be long. That's the one I got to sleep on. It was only about a 7.5 hr trip and after meals and all I only got about 4 hours of sleep. But man, I slept hard those 4 hours. Didn't get to watch any of the movies they had though. And in Copenhagen I was really drowsy waiting in the airport, and when i got on the next plane I took a REALLY nice nap, one that I woke up from on my own. It was exactly what I needed, and I never really had jet lag. Woohoo!

The line at Immigration was really long, but luckily the lady I got was nice (doesn't happen too often). By the time I got to the desk, the line was winding all the way back to the end. I asked her if it was like that everyday. She sighed and nodded. That's a job I don't want!

My luggage was waiting for me on the moving track. No problems with them at all. I suppose Joseph Smith's advice to weary the Lord with your prayers until he gives it to you really works! :) Bc he sure heard a lot from me at every new step of the way.

I got on the tube with my 2 pieces of luggage and wearing my heavy backpack. I was planning to be at my hostel before everyone got off work and loaded the tube, but Immigration took longer than I expected. So I was right in the middle of rush hour. Wasn't too bad though.

Found my hostel and got settled in. It's actually really nice. It's more spacious than any hostel I've had so far. And it's got free wireless which is what I really need right now. And the free breakfast is a definite plus too.

At 7:30 was "Menrichment" - Enrichment with the men invited. I got there around 8:00 but was glad I went. I saw several familiar faces - good friends I had made over the summer. It felt just like going back to a place I already belonged - like when I go back to Tuscaloosa after visiting Huntsville for a Christmas break. And I met several new people as well, most of which were American. Hmm. That's London though. In fact, there's a new bishop here too who was a BYU professor who's here working on his doctorate. The activity was really clever. We filled out a questionnaire that gave us points based on our answers. Then we wrote down an act of service that we were willing to do on a piece of paper. The pieces of paper were collected and auctioned off using the points from our questionnaire. It's a great way to get to know each other and do acts of service. I was impressed with the idea. I'll be cleaning someone's bathroom, and I won a free dinner at a place where 7 ysa are rooming in one house. I already know all the people, but it'll give me a chance to shmooze a little more with them. Plus it's a free dinner. :)

I had no problem getting to sleep when I needed to and slept just fine. Problem was when I needed to go to the bathroom I had to climb off the top bunk, slip into my sandals, and walk past all the people in the hall and lobby still awake to get to the bathroom. No more drinking before I go to bed.

First Full Day
This morning I went to the BUNAC Orientation and learned all the details there about things I need to do, i.e. insurance, bank, taxes, cell phone, getting a job, etc. It was long and boring, and the chair was ridiculously uncomfortable and hot. But all the details they told us are in handouts for later reference.

Then I met up with Ashton who I made friends with over the summer. This girl is a blessing and a half!! She's from Texas and has been here a few years now. In fact, she started using BUNAC, so she's familiar with all the things to do. She helped me get my Oyster Card last night and a cell phone today. So for anyone who needs to call me the number to dial is 447503959586. It's 4 pence/min to call the US from here and only 2 pence/min for the rest of September. So that would be really nice, but I'm not sure if it costs on your end. If so, it wouldn't be worth it. She was going to help me open a bank account too, but I'm lacking a reference letter from my old bank that I didn't realize I needed. Other than that, we just walked around London all day. So she's been a great friend to have here.

(Mom/Tammy: It's really easy to get an Oyster Card and will most likely be worth getting one as soon as I meet up with you. Travel wihin the main zones 1 & 2 for one week cost about 25 pounds. And it may be worth getting a cell phone with Pay As You Go. Mine cost 10 pounds for the phone with 20 pounds worth of minutes purchased. That will probably last me a couple months, but there are cheaper starting costs. I'm not sure what, but we can figure that out later. Figure out how much it would cost if you just used your current phone and we can compare. And when you call me from your cell phones once you're actually in the UK, dial this number - 07503959586.)

I guess that's my update for now. No pictures to upload yet. Maybe I'll take some at some point. I don't know though... nothing's really new to me anymore. It's pretty neat how everything just came right back to me. I was walking down roads today that I used to walk everyday during the summer, and it felt like I was just here last week.