Angel

Very exciting milestone this week! Just picked up my keys to my flat in London.  It isn't very big (about 500 sq feet) but I love it.  All very modern and posh which is just how I like it.  Angel Underground station is a 5 minute walk away which means I can be to Kings Cross in about 8 minutes...from there I can catch a train or tube to just about anywhere in Europe!!  How cool is that?

The neighbourhood is called Islington and I live just opposite Islington Green...a very nice little park with lots of benches to watch the world go by from.  There is an excellent Patisserie on the corner which has the loveliest pastries & lattes.  Today I saw two people order their "usual" and I can't wait until I can do the same.  I guess I will need to settle on a "usual" first.

Another exciting thing -- my shipment from Canada cleared customs this week and I get my stuff on Monday.  It will be like Christmas.  I am a little worried about where I am going to fit stuff? But I guess that will sort itself out.  The cupboards are pretty big...well not really...but I guess they will have to do.

Mom arrives on Friday for her first official visit.  Can't wait to show her Buckingham Palace and Big Ben!  It really is something.  When I'm walking around sometimes I look up and realize that St Paul's Dome is right in front of me -- such a good landmark even after all these years.  The other day I was watching The Tudors and I realized that I had been in the same square the day before that they characters where standing in several hundred years ago (it looks much cleaner now)!

Here are some pictures of my new flat and the view from my terrace (Terrace: fancy British word for balcony).  Look closely at the kitchen picture.  That is the entire kitchen you are seeing and within it are: a fridge, a freezer, a washer/dryer, an oven (with warming tray), a cook top, a cooking vent/fan, a dishwasher and a sink. Also note the bowl with fake plastic fruit in it as you won't be seeing it in future photos -- my Grandma Nest had a bowl like this in her kitchen in the 80's and I didn't like it then either!

Wicked

The Stage for Wicked the Musical.

My week started out pretty rotten with some sort of terrible flu/cold.  I haven't been exposed to any of the UK strains of things so I hear that I am likely to get a few terrible cases.  Kind of like when your little one starts at daycare.  Except I'm not so little!

Thursday I was in The City for a meeting.  Londoners call the fnancial district The City -- you probably think of it as Canary Wharf.  Anyway, Wednesday I was right in the heart of The City for a meeting at a swanky law firm.  I have to admit it was one of those meetings where in the back of your mind you are thinking "How did I end up here?".  I mean, seriously, I spent my summers in the raspberry patch in Ogema and now I go to meetings in London at swanky law offices?  I bet my family never saw this coming when I was eating dirt in the Garden as a toddler.

Thursday night I went for drinks and dinner in the Farringdon area at a restaurant/bar called Smith's.  It is right across from the Smithfield Market which is -- I'm told -- a famous meat market.  I'm not really sure what a meat market is and I have never heard of it before (except in the context of describing a bar where people are looking to hook up with each other) so I don't know how famous it really is?  I'm not much of a foodie so maybe I'm just not in the loop.  It's really close to the new flat so I will have to make it back some day when it is open and see what the famous-ness is all about.  Great spot to have a drink (main floor is a great pub) and dinner in the restaurant upstairs.  The entire place is decorated in modern-ish cow portraiture.  Think Joe Fafard but less traditional.  City folks think this is cool.

Saturday I had a great Birthday (36 years and counting).  Went into London and saw Wicked the Musical which was absolutely brilliant!  I have this nagging feeling that the book didn't end nearly as happily as the musical but it has been a long time since I read the book so it wasn't too distracting.  The woman who played Elphaba was phenomenal.  I have had the pleasure of seeing many musicals over the years but this woman easily has the best voice I have ever heard.  Absolutely spell binding!  After the show it was off to dinner at my friend Elizabeth & Johan's.  And, to round out the night, Elizabeth and I went to a bar where one of her friends was also having a birthday party.  Elizabeth grew up in St Rose Manitoba -- jut a stone's throw from Canora Beach really!  If our hangovers this morning were any indication, we sure had a great time last night! I wonder how old I will have to get before I realize that Tequila shots are never a good idea?

Only one more week left here in PB.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me just to type that!  My next installment will be written from my new Flat in London.  Not too sure on setting up internet services over here so it might take me a bit to get back on-line.  You'll have to be patient with me.  At this moment I couldn't even name any UK Internet providers.  I guess finding out the name of a company is step number one.  You really take things like that for granted until you move to a whole new country.  Every little thing seems like a nightmare to figure out.

Jamie

I finally have my laptop and can now upload pictures! A whole new (and potentially exciting) way to share my adventure.  This is me sitting in front of my balcony here in PB.  The office is in the background.  The commute time is pretty good!

Winnipeg was great last week.  Thanks to all my friends, family and co-workers for keeping me entertained! A definite highlight was getting to attend Ashley & Mat's wedding where I was even lucky enough to catch the bouquet.  Ashley didn't really give me a choice as she hit me with it!

Some hits and misses this week in my life as an immigrant.  Somehow I have managed to turn a load of laundry into a very unattractive beige colour using the washer/dryer (affectionately renamed the "wrinkler" as that is what it is truly efficient at). I'm not sure if this is the detergent, fabric softener, machine, or operator.  I've been washing my own clothes for 23 years and this is definitely the first time I've gotten these results! What I wouldn't give for a bottle of Tide and some Downy! On the up side, last night I met a friend in London for dinner and we managed to get a table at Jamie Oliver's restaurant near Covent Garden.  How cool is that? I had an English Lamb dish which contained a bunch of parts of a lamb that I have never eaten (heart anyone?) but was thoroughly delicious!

I'm on the countdown to my flat now.  Only 3 more weeks until I get to move into a permanent home in an exciting neighbourhood.  The corporate flat is fine but it is limbo. I'm trying to think of it as just two more weekends.

Two can dine for £10...

Would you believe that includes a bottle of wine and dessert? I'm pretty sure that nobody here can actually cook. I suspected it based on the square footage (or lack thereof) devoted to the kitchen but the more time I spend in grocery stores my suspicions are confirmed. You can get anything in a prepared meal. Marks & Spencer are the best at it but everyone else is in on it too.

Other shopping mysteries include long-lasting milk (too afraid to try this stuff), powdered eggs (why?), and a large assortment of tinned meats (who knew Spam was high-end?). I am assuming some of this stuff is a hang-over from rationing? Thanks to the BBC, I learnt this week that WWII rationing lasted until something like 1954 in England. Isn't that shocking? When WWII broke out, Britain imported 70% of their food supply. Hitler targeted food shipments to try and starve the British into surrender. Too bad they never mentioned these rather interesting facts in history class, huh? I guess the dates of battles are just SO much more important to know.

The rest of the week was rather uneventful. I am systematically running my way down every street in PB. Yesterday, I visited the National Portrait Gallery which was quite enjoyable. There are some really fantastic prices there (and some not so much). The annual competition exhibition is on right now and I have to say that there were several stunning canvases. A couple of them I honestly thought were photographs when I walked in and not oil portraits (which they are).

Short week coming up as I am back in Canada on Friday for a week. It will definitely be very strange to stay at the Fairmont! I honestly don't think I have ever been in one of the guest rooms in my life (note to my smart ass friends: my Grandma reads this blog).

Flat

The last week has really flown by! Everyone at work has been very welcoming and helpful. They are all very concerned about the fact that I am living in PB. My initial assessment that there is nothing here is pretty accurate. There are two main roads (High Street & Darkes Lane) which both run north/south and are about 1 mile apart. Our office is on the High Street and the Train Station is on Darkes Lane. Other than Tesco (UK version of Superstore), most of the shops - not that there are any worth shopping in really - are on Darkes Lane. So, I'm getting in a lot of walking!

The big news this week is that I found a flat! Presuming the lawyers can work out the agreements next week, the deal should be finalized in the next couple of days. The deposit is paid so there shouldn't be any problems. The flat is in the same building as the one I offered on before but didn't get - just a floor up and on the other side of the building. So, instead of a garden view, my balcony overlooks the skyline of The City (which is what Londoners call the financial district). On a clear day, I can easily see the distinctive Gherkin building and it's neighbors. Technically, I'm in Islington not London but I'm at the southernmost part of Islington. London is much like New York in that it is made up of a bunch of boroughs: London, Westminster, Chelsea, Islington, Croydon to name a few. If you are looking at a map, find Angel Underground Station and that is my neighborhood. Or at least it will be on October 23rd. Until then I'm still living in PB.

I am getting used to the trains slowly but surely. Getting out of PB you have to leave the overground train system at some point and switch into the underground (the tube). On the weekend, the trains only run to/from Kings Cross so you can either change there or at Finsbury Park. I was hopelessly lost on the first attempt at changing at Finsbury Park and had to ask a policeman for directions only to find out from him that the entrance to the train platform I was looking for was right behind me. Since then it has been smooth sailing. I have also been getting a lot of practice following a map this weekend as the District/Circle line is closed for repairs (as it seems to be every weekend) and it causes a lot of problems. You end up getting off the train somewhere "near" and walking the rest of the way. In the main areas, there are stations every 1/2 mile or so but out in the suburbs it is about a mile between stations - so again, more walking!

Arrival

So here I am. Sitting in the kitchen of the Canada Life, Great-West owns Canada Life & London Life, flat in Potters Bar (PB for short henceforth). PB is part of what I would call the greater London area. If you look at a map, London looks to have a ring road around it called the M25 - PB is at about 12 o'clock noon. London proper is really just a small portion right in the middle of circle made by the M25. The rest is what were once villages outside of London which have been consumed by urban sprawl. PB is one of these. There is nothing exciting or notable about PB. It is in the county of Hertfordshire (pronounced her-fert-shear) which makes me think of Grandpa's cattle. No sightings of any cattle thus far but I will be on the lookout.

I start the new job on Monday but spent a bit of time today having coffee with my boss. I'm really looking forward to finally getting going next week. Seems like we have been planning forever and now I finally get to get going.

My only outing today, due to jet lag, was to Tesco for some groceries. I had forgotten how exhausting shopping is when you have no brand recognition. Every item is a decision. Some enterprising marketing student should be following me around studying how consumers with no brand recognition choose products! I would say pretty packaging is very effective. Except for the Tesco brand wine. It did have a nice label but I just could't bring myself to buy grocery store chain wine.

For now,until I find a flat in the city, PB will be my home and work location. It's okay for a first step but I definitely need to gear up the flat hunt on Monday right after I figure out how to get a coffee card. Yes, there is coffee...but only foreigners drink it!