They said finding work was going to be hard... and touch wood on this next bit... but I sent out my first CV's on Tuesday and within hours had responses and interviews lined up.
And that's how I found myself on trial in a bar two days later, pouring drinks once again and happy to say I've still got it. Unhappy, however, to say that on a bar tenders wage here 90% of my weekly earnings would go to rent. Hmmm..
I got the job too!
But here's the thing... I've also had three other interviews, been offered temp work and am through to the last round in a senior role with a really friendly company. That's two job offers in less than a week. It's time to make some decisions. And with other requests for interviews coming in today I'm feeling pretty good about my employment prospects.
On top of it all I should be moving into my new place in Clapham South in a couple of days, sharing with three really friendly girls. We'll end up with an international house - two from Europe, one from Latin America and me. It's a lot more money than I'd hoped, and I did toss up on whether it was the right place for me, but when I met with the landlord and he mentioned the date my lease had to end on I took it as a sign that it was the right decision - my first ever lease finishes on Sarah's 25th birthday. So here's the proof... it is possible to move to a new country, starting from scratch and be sorted within two weeks... fingers crossed anyway.
So I found myself homeless yesterday after spending my first two weeks in a great sharehouse I found through Airbnb (Kind of like couchsurfing but you pay your host so you feel less of a burden). I had major issues with a cab company, they sent a cab who couldn't find the place, left after not being able to call me back (no reception for me), and then when I called the company to request another they were really rude and then hung up on me - multiple times. You may not have seen the monstrously huge bag I brought with me but there was no way it was fitting on a bus, so the lovely Francis helped me walk it 20 minutes down the road with my 40kgs and I eventually got a cab with the nicest driver in the world who forgot to put the meter on so undercharged me. It was just one of those days when everything seems to go wrong - the hardest since I've arrived. But then again I can't complain, it all worked out in the end. Actually it ended with me walking to my last minute B&B in Brixton and getting serenaded by a drunk old man who saw my blue scarf and started singing Blue Eyes by Elton John to me. Now every time I walk down Coldharbour Lane I get it stuck in my head...
And it hasn't been all bad. Me and my date have been hitting the town of late, animal watching as the streets of Clapham filled with increasingly inebriated Aussies and Poms in animal onesies after the Safari-themed London Sevens Rugby Tournament on Saturday. I don't think the guy in the very small Tarzan outfit had any feelings because by that stage I was in four layers and still cold.
We discovered Lobster Water - a phenomenon caused by sharing unstable burgers and made more enjoyable when watching someone drink said water all for the sake of £1.
We've been back to the Bedford for the biggest Sunday roast I've ever seen, and some more really good local tunes.
On the other hand we have discovered that we are old... I'd joked that come midnight on Saturday we'd turn into pumpkins. So, it made us laugh a bit when we got up to leave, turned and saw the clock and it was exactly midnight. Oh well it's been a long week...
Moral to the story... Jobs are crazily underpaid here, and despite everyone telling me London would be cheaper, rent is more expensive than Sydney, and that's saying something. That said it is possible to sort your life out in a very small period of time. Now all I need is my bed, my job and to buy an animal onesie and I'll be a certified Londoner (as long as I can stay up past midnight)...
