The big smoke

---

London - WEEK 1

After getting back from Menorca I was starting to run low on cash so I decided it was time to find a job. I decided that I should make the move from Barrow-In-Furness down to London and try my luck there.

The night before I left the neighbours had a Guy Fawkes party so was good to say my farewells to all the locals and stuff my face with hot dogs. (Thanks to all of you in Rampside for making my stay so welcome)

Anyway, I caught the train down to London and rolled into London Euston at about 6pm. This is when I realized that I had timed my arrival poorly as I needed to get across town at rush hour using the underground. This is bad enough without gear, but with a travel pack and 2 backpacks it is a f’ing nightmare. The carriages were absolutely chocker, hot as hell, and more and more people pile in at every station. Then when you try to get off you have about 10 seconds to push your way to the entrance or you are stuck.

Once that nightmare was over I got to Aaron & Shannon’s place (mates from Christchurch, whose couch I was crashing on), dumped my bags and jumped on another train to go look at a flat another hour away. Needless to say I slept well that night.

The next few days were spent getting ready for a job interview that I had later on in the week. I went out and bought a shirt and tie, and even learnt how to tie a tie. I thought I had gone alright in the interview but apparently they had a stack of applicants so I missed out, I also missed out on that first flat that I had looked at so was a bit bummed.

The next few days after that I posted ads on the internet in order to find a flat, and also applied for a whole heap of jobs. With all the stress of the week I decided to meet up with Aaron on Friday night at his work, and after playing some intense games of foosball with him and some of his colleagues, we headed out and had a few jars. Some of his mates had had a boozy afternoon, something quite common over here apparently, and were in fine form so that made for an entertaining evening.

Saturday was a day filled with watching sport, was good to see the Kiwis beat the Brits in rugby league, Argentina beat England in rugby and the All Blacks smash the French.

Sunday night I went with Aaron and Shannon and watched the movie Borat, if you haven’t seen it I recommend it, some of the scenes will have you in tears, others will leave you speechless. I think they are being sued by almost everyone who stars in it.

More… (Click on next journal)

---