It's been ages since I wrote a blog so it's time that I got to work and went back over ALL the things that have been happening…

Since leaving Australia (and all my amazing friends and family again) I finally got my act into gear and started WORK!

Crazy - whoever would have thought that one needs to work in order to get money… after a lovely email of introduction from Leonie and a few very informal interviews (which I didn't realize were interviews until later which was probably very lucky for me!!!) I managed to secure a position contracting at Telstra International! The work will be a few things that I was involved in back home (internal communications, customer communications and events) but is on a MUCH different scale. To give you an idea, the marketing team back home (when I left) was around the 100 people mark (I think)…. The entire EMEA (Europe and Middle East Asia) team would be around the 250 mark… if it was lucky… and within that there are 8 people in marketing. So a VERY different scale of things… Everyone at work has been really lovely and I've been fortunate enough to work with a really great team who is as diverse in their backgrounds (Australians, Scots, Americans and Brits) as they are in their skills. Life contracting is set to be great with a 9 day fortnight to ensure that I make the most of being in London and do some UK and international travel!

Once the work portion of life was setup (as in planned, not as in started - that wasn't set to happen until December) it was time to enjoy some London life and to do a little side trip to NYC to visit Esta and to do some shopping… (you'll have to check out the NYC blog for what happened there!!!) It was also time to start thinking about moving out of Stretch's room and to get myself some space of my own. So began the epic adventure that we will call Gumtree.

For those of you who don't know, Gumtree is a remarkable site that is VERY popular in the UK where you can source or sell almost anything. Houses, flats, rooms to let, bicycles, cars, furniture… pretty much everything is on there… and I went through pretty much everything. Given the location of work, and loving where the boys (and Dan) live, I'd set my heart on trying to stay within the N1 postcode. And so the search began… from houses with no living rooms, to houses with students looking for professionals to pay the bills (I kid you not!!!), to a house with 5 girls and one bathroom (I STILL don't think it's possible…), to overpriced rooms with no space… If it wasn't the room it was the housemates, if it wasn't the cost it was the location… after countless applications which were all starting to turn into a pile of mush in what was once called my brain I finally had a place to look at which appeared to be in the right place and area… then I got an email letting me know the room had been taken, but there was a larger one at a slightly higher price which was available if I was interested… I replied that I was (what's the harm in looking right?) and arranged to go over that night for an inspection…

All of the housemates were out, so I walked through the place with the landlord… the occupant for the smaller room had fallen through so I had the choice of the two rooms (if I wanted them). The kitchen was gorgeous with everything hidden away, and with two bathrooms for four people I was beginning to think the bedrooms must be a shambles… the smaller room was too small for my liking so I started to lose hope… maybe this wasn't the house for me. Then I saw it. My new room. Massive with HUGE bay windows (I mean seriously, I was sold the second I saw them!!!) and loads of natural light… on the spot (and without having met the housemates) I asked if I could take it. Maybe not the smartest move on my part, but I was sold and I was in love, and I've never been good at playing poker anyway! So, the room was going to be mine once it had a new coat of paint, and was due to be held for me for 2 weeks until Jan 1. So, I had intended for this to by a blog to go before my NY one, but what the heck, it can go after now so I can get all my London out before getting into that one! I'm in LOVE with my new place… I have to post pictures of my room, but it's pretty big and it has gorgeous bay windows with loads of natural light… I was very SLOWLY moving - they repainted my room crystal clean white so I wasn't really in too much of a hurry to move out… lol. I've moved all of my things over now (as of Jan 10)… slow and steady… just lucky the boys don't mind having me at the house! I've met the other new housemate Tamsin - she seems quite nice so will be 2 boys and 2 girls… I met one of the boys (Tom) in December last year and he seems very nice, and Australian Andrew seems nice too, so I think it's going to be a good house to live in! I've gotten into a terrible habit of waking up between 3:30 and 4:30am, so will have to get over that quick sharp!

Working life in London… some amusing little anecdotes… like the time we had a fire drill, and everyone walked down the 14 flights of stairs only to be herded back in as we walked around the bottom of the stairwell as it was a false alarm. Or when it snowed so much that we thought we were going to be snowed in - and 3 of the airports closed, but all it did was mean Lin and I (Lin was working 2 blocks away from me at this point) had to walk up a bus stop to get home… Or, there was the morning after the Christmas party where there were 9 people in the office at 9am… or at the Christmas party where I accidentally spilled my glass of white wine all over my two-up boss - and he then checked to make sure I hadn't gotten any on me! We've had another snow day (just this week) where only 8 people made it into the office, and several schools and offices were closed… Craziness!!! Working life here is VERY different to back home…

Of course, working isn't the only reason that I came to London, so there are a few night out stories as well… there have been a number of fantastic nights out with the crew from the Playboy Mansion and friends from back home, including fancy dress over Halloween, some random nights out in the city, and some adventures in our local area… There has been however one thing that seems to happen a lot… and it seems to happen to one person in particular… Lin, I'd like to make a public apology for the number of drinks that you have lost as a result for being near me… Whether I knock your drink from your hands, spill it all over you, or somehow make you drop it, it seems to happen an awful lot… and you haven't cracked it with me yet… Cheers! Hahaha The nights out here have always seemed to involve a lot of dancing too (although we're not always in places that have dance floors… ) so it's always been a great night out!

One of the newest things that I've tried in London (as well as improving my cooking skills a lot!!!) would be hypnotherapy to help me sleep… Years of lacking to sleep through the night (we've just crossed the decade mark!!!) and I thought I'd finally give it a go as Brenno had a friend who was a trained therapist! With nothing to lose, and a potential full nights sleep to gain- I was all in! Unfortunately, despite feeling EXTREMELY relaxed, I didn't actually manage to get quite as refreshing sleep as I'd hoped, but I think that was just due to my normal brain being strange… I mean, I know I was SUPPOSED to drift off and stop listening, but I just felt so rude! Hahaha

Anyway - this is just a small sample of life so far… soon you'll be able to read all about my adventures with the girls over from Aus …

As always I am missing you all heaps and love you all lots…

XoxoX