Tried to upload this blog last night but my browser crashes, so my Hemmingway-esque prose was consigned to the annals of cyberspace static. Or something.
Well, have finished doing what minimal Christmas shopping I had to do. A bit expensive to send stuff at the moment and to be honest, the British post service is a bit unreliable, so you all might just have to wait until I pop back to NZ via Australia in mid-February.
Sunday/Monday: Christmas shopping in London is not something I'm keen to repeat. It's wet, it's miserable, there's black ice all over Oxford street pavements, people have oversized umbrellas designed with the sole purpose of eye-gouging anyone within 1.5m of them and there are literally hundreds of thousands of people everywhere. Hell, maybe even over a million...
That said, the whole place looks very festive, especially on the main streets like Oxford and Regent street and around the boutique areas like Carnaby street, Soho and Covent Garden. I hoped to get a white Christmas over here, and so far it's looking like that'll be the case. To be honest, it's just like seeing snow back home but instead of it being 40 degrees on Christmas day, it's 4 degrees, maybe less.
Without harping on about the weather (how British), I'd say it's colder here than in NZ -- I attribute this to the fact that it's dark by 4pm, so the sun doesn't heat the day up as much. A good place to be a vampire, but not as good as say, Alaska or Antarctica.
Job situation is improving. More freelance work has been forthcoming and I'm currently doing an artwork test for a games company south of London. I have an assignment to do for them, due 17th of January. Hard to believe I've nearly been without work for a year. Time flies and all that rubbish. Thank god I got a two year visa and not a one year one is all I can say.
Have been looking really hard but it's too close to Christmas. Have met a few of Craig's film friends and am currently doing another media pack for another horror film. The guy writing the film is awesome -- he worked on the make up and blood effects for Kill Bill, Harry Potter among other things. Very talented.
Getting back into my swimming a bit so that when I go back to NZ/Australia, I won't be bulging out of my jeans. Haven't booked my tickets yet, but will be popping through Aussie either on the way to NZ or on the way back. Not sure yet. Whatever's easiest.
New Flat - Hammersmith: Have finally moved into my own place and it's great to have a bit of sanctuary. However, my room which I took without checking out is something of a jail cell, measuring 1.85m x 2.2m. It has room for a single bed and a chest of drawers and that's about it. It's very warm though as the house has some kind of automated thermostat or something, which is very handy this time of year. I'm living with Mike Gane, from Invercargill, Bridget (social worker) from Christchurch, Ant and Karen (couple, builder, nurse?) from Auckland and Malcolm (Irish, medic/ambo). All this way to live with Kiwi's eh? Heh heh heh. They're all good people though although everyone is doing their own thing this close to Christmas with work functions.
Have attached some photos of decorations around London-town as well as one of Anna and I in some snowy part of London. Have been seeing her for a few months now, so that's a bit of goss for ya, I guess.
And on that note, I'll sign off! Merry Christmas all, I'll try and get Skype set up and give you guys a buzz on Christmas day, if I can.
Merry Christmas, Love
Joe
