(This post brought to you by my IT “Help”desk, who declared it would probably take 24 hours for someone to call me about the fact I can’t use printers or email at the moment. Which means I do what exactly? Blog!)
So. 2009. Forget 2008, I swear 2007 only began about a month ago… I was still in a relationship (just), finishing off a particularly annoying summer school course or two (including Korean, which has proven to be *oh* so useful (see above)), had almost moved into the Rainbow Love Mansion (thanks again for that, Simon), an MBA loomed (damn, did it loom), and plans for 2008 weren’t even a twinkle in my mind’s eye. At this time two years ago I was on the cusp of finally busting out of that comfortable Christchurch existence I’d so carefully constructed since leaving school.
Which I guess you could say, looking back over the last twenty four months, I managed to do. And then some.
So where does the beginning of 2009 find me?
Well, I’m living in London. Or to be more precise, I’m living with Dan and Alex out in sunny Lee, which is in the London Borough of Lewisham found to the south east (SE12 0AL, for those who care… also, who knew that postcodes could be so, er, specific?) I’ve been there for a month and a half, and would love to move closer to the centre of the city if I could only get an employment contract confirmed for longer than a couple of months at a time.
On the work front I find myself in that wonderful space of being over-educated but under-experienced (especially in UK terms), and consequently find myself somewhat under-employed working for Westminster City Council in Parking Services (so much for grand plans…) Then again, I may complain, but it’s not that bad – the people are cool, the pay’s pretty good, the experience is valuable, and the work, when I have some, can be quite interesting in a problem solving kind of way.
I have to say though, coming to a new country on a temporary work visa while trying to change professional direction just as the biggest recession since the Great Depression hits with bugger all money in the bank… well, let’s just say I could have perhaps done it differently. I don’t think I would have, but I definitely could have. And based on my experience I highly recommend that others do so when they come over (looks meaningfully in Tim’s direction).
So what, you ask, does London have to offer apart from the slow death of the dream of a challenging, relevant, highly paid position in a forward thinking, globe spanning organisation based in the heart of the business universe situated in one of the biggest cities in the world? For me so far this would fall into two categories: new friends and music.
New friends is pretty self-explanatory, except to say that there are a number, and they’re all damn cool people. (One of whom I convinced to buy Game of Thrones the other day. And there was much rejoicing. And then I lost.) You should come meet them, if you’re not already here to do so.
The music front is in relation to both music to go and see, of which there is much, some of which I even manage to get to, and the playing of it. So far I’ve made it along to Death Cab For Cutie, Sigur Ros, Lisa Hannigan and Ben Ottewell, next week I’ll add Don McGlashan to the list, and the goal is to make that expand considerably in the near future. Chuck in the festivals over the summer and it should be a fun year. On the playing front, I’ve started some guitar lessons to try and sort out some kind of technique or some such, and hope to get more into this as the year goes by. Watch this space. (He says, but you all know it’ll take another three months for any kind of update…)
As for other 2009 plans, I’m working on them. Seems like they’ll be many and varied, but I have no idea where I’m going to be in six months, let alone twelve, so I’m not making any promises.
Except that I’m going to write some thoughts about this article.
Probably.