My first week working in a foreign country

Like I said in the last post, I got a job. I'm a server in a cafe called Le Pain Quotidien. So, I had two days of classroom training last week then I actually started working on the floor. The classroom was quite interesting to say the least. The girl who was running the training was English, but besides her and I, no one else was a native English speaking person. I guess in the restaurant business you can somewhat get used to the idea of being around people who don't speak English well. But, from the restaurants I worked in back home, you only see that in the kitchen where its mostly Mexicans. A whole other story here though. Everyone I work with is from a different country around the world, whether it be France, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Brazil, you name it and I probably work with someone from there. None of the servers are English which was shocking, only upper management. So, at first it was all a little overwhelming. The training began by the lady, Petra, telling everyone we must speak English and making a joke at the fact that it would hurt my feelings since I don't know another language but that. All I could think in my head is,"here we go, jab at the American." But, what was funny is that anytime one of them didn't understand a word they would look to me to somehow translate it to them or put it in other words, which took me back at first. The Italian girl next to me was probably the worst though. I almost felt bad for her for how little English she knew. She looked completely lost the whole time and I did whatever I could, with the Italian I could remember, to help her understand. The thing is, most of these people have come to London to learn English better or help their families out in other parts of the world, which obviously are completely different reasons than for me being there. Some of them were honestly confused by my reason for being there, they couldn't understand why I would ever want to leave America, which I thought was a little funny. I mean they see it as this big beautiful country where everyone is rich and happy and they have no way of getting in due to our wonderful immigration policies. So, its like a place they can't touch, almost somewhat magical to them. And there is no use in explaining in detail to most of them that its not all like that because I've tried and failed. Everyone has their own image of the U.S. and there is no changing that, at least not now. Besides that, they did tell me they all really like my American accent, something about it being slow lol.

Anyways, I had the two days of classroom training which went well and I met some interesting people. Then I went to the actual shop I'd be working in, which is in Chelsea by the way, about a 10 min bus ride from where I live. All of the cafe's have the same feel to them, very earthy with all wooden tables and floors, and an open bakery when you walk in. I was little nervous on my first actual day at work, which I think anyone would, especially when I think about the fact that I'm on a foreign continent with people who don't speak English that great. The first day they just had me hosting and helping the servers, which was an experience in its self. Number one, the service in this country is down right awful. The servers have no idea about customer service.They wait until someone calls them over, there are constantly customers looking impatient, and there is no sense of talking to your customers or having any sort of conversation with them. It about the opposite of everything you see in the States. Especially being a server in the U.S. where customer service is obviously put before everything else, because that's what you're making your money on, its so crazy to see a restaurant run like that. All I could think is, "wow, I'm going to just look like a superstar here." So, the next day I actually got to work as a server and although the computer system took a little getting used to, I got the hang of everything fairly quick. I actually made 20 pounds in extra tips which is pretty good! I think at first I was dreading the whole thing, because it wasn't really my ideal job in London. But, its actually turning out to be quite nice and pretty flexible. So far so good then. Updates coming soon! Miss everyone!

Scrap that last post about the job + Going to Church

My past week has probably never been busier since I have been in London. From the last time I wrote in this, I thought I was set with a job at an advertising agency doing customer service. Well, after that interview, I got about seven different calls in a matter of two days for interviews other places. On Thursday, I was asked to come into an interview at a cafe/restaurant called Le Pain Quotidien (www.lepainquotidien.co.uk). I honestly was dreading the interview, having the idea in my head that I wasn't going to get a waitress job here, due mainly to the thought that I didn't want to work weekends so I can do more travelling. But, when I first walked into the place though, it had a kind of earthly feel to it with all wooden furniture and warm atmosphere. A counter full of pastries and fresh bread greeted me at the door, as well as their delicious smell. I guess its what I envisioned a European cafe to look like, with people everywhere sipping on their espressos, eating scones, and looking at their laptops. My preconceived notion that I would hate working in a restaurant in Europe, with the whole people don't tip thing, but this I might just like. A french girl named Sophie interviewed me and I immediately liked everything about what she was saying. She was quick to tell me that it was OK that I would only be there a short amount of time and that I could take off days to travel. I would get paid the minimum wage at first (which is 5.75 pounds per hour) and then a 12.5% service charge is added to every bill, which she said averaged my wage to about 7 pounds an hour at least, then any other cash tips are mine to keep. The interview went good over all and she asked me to come in for a trial the next day, which at first I hesitated a little thinking about the advertising agency job that I also got a trial for, but took it anyway. The trial lasted 3 hours and like any waiting job, was pretty easy. They called me the next day saying I got the job and that training would start Monday, so I just accepted. It seems easy enough, the highest paying job I have had an offer for, flexible, and I really don't have the resources anyway to hold out any longer on a job, so why not? So, I had my first day of training Monday...which was quite interesting...but I think I'll save all those details for tomorrow. That's going to need a blog of its own. :)

My weekend was unpredictable as usual. Thursday the house all just hung out together, played pong, and had a good time. Friday, Brendan, Jamie, and Ellen went to one of our local pubs/clubs Belushi's and ended up having a good time. They were giving out Mardi Gras type masks which we ended up having a good time with lol. Saturday, as you all know, was Valentine's day which is always depressing if you don't have a date (skype doesn't really count) or at least not one where you live. But, Jamie, Ellen, Brendan, and I decided to be each other's date at a Mexican restaurant at Westfields Mall, which is the biggest mall in London and one of the biggest in Europe. It has a really cool decor about it, even when your outside of it walking alongside, you still feel like your inside with a semi roof covering your as you make your way to the front door. Sunday though was quite a day. A couple people in the house decided to go to a place called the Church, which is only open on Sundays, go figure. Its basically a party held only on Sundays from 12-4 where if you dress up for it, in any kind of theme with your friends, you get in free. After hearing so much about it, we all decided to go last weekend, picking an 80's theme. So, I dressed up in my neon blue tights, side ponytail, and ankle warmers along with my housemates Blake and Jill, their friend Emily, Brendan, Jamie and myself and hopped on the tube to a party I wasn't really expecting. When we got there, the line wrapped around the place with people dressed up like pirates, police, construction workers, or just draped in flags of their countries. A guy behind us in line just so happened to have an Ohio State hat on, go figure, and of course we started talking to him and found out he was from New Albany which is so ironic. You had to buy a ticket for alcohol before you got in, that when you presented it to the bartender they gave you 3 drinks of your choice in a plastic bag which was slightly funny to carry around. It took place in an old theater venue, where they had taken out the seats in front of the stage to make a dance floor, so it made for a massive area. There were two large screens around the stage where people's faces from the crowd would get put up there sporadically, sometimes with little captions underneath..:) The place started getting pretty crowded within the first half hour we were there, then a comedian came on stage making fun of the Aussies and Kiwis that made up most of the crowd. He proceeded to shout out countries for people to cheer when theirs was called, Australia was the loudest, New Zealand and England got booed (which I thought was funny) and of course the Americans got booed. I mean I kind of expected that. Then the rest of night did not turn out as expected, which I really can't go into to detail on here, but lets just say girls gone wild London should be taped at the Church (which I did NOT participate in, don't worry). Anyways, it was a blast, and if you want to know more just ask me. From there we went and grabbed a couple Aussie burgers (burger with egg, cheese, beetroot, lettuce, and mayo....its actually pretty good) and went home! Like I said I started my training Monday, but I'm feeling under the weather today so I'll put up another blog tomorrow and tell you all about it! Miss everyone like always!

Sorry everyone..weekend + job update

Hey everybody, sorry I haven't written a blog lately, there really hasn't been too much going on so I didn't want to just be writing anything boring. There is one new really good development here in London. I had an interview last Thursday for a customer service position for an advertising agency called Ogilvy (http://www.ogilvy.co.uk/) and it went really well. Pretty much the job entails helping with all of the catering/hospitality events for the company and its clients. The interviewer called me the next day to say I made it to the "trial period", which is pretty big over here. Pretty much it means you are a definite candidate for the position but they want to bring you in to make sure you can actually do the job for the day. So, if you do good then you get the job. He is supposed to call me this week sometime to set up a time for the trial, so wish me luck!
The past weekend was eventful as usual. Friday, Brendan, Blake, and I went to a local bar called Belushi's and hung out there all night. It had a good DJ and it ended up getting pretty crowded. At one point in the night when I was waiting in the line for the ladies room (which can be very eventful on its own sometimes), a couple of Aussie girls behind me were talking and one asked where everyone was from. One girl behind me said she was from Sydney and the other, in an obvious Australian accent, said she was from California. For most of you that know me, know that I couldn't let that one go, so I turned around to nicely correct her,
"There's no way your from California", I stated, "I'm from the States." She immediately shhed me, which I wasn't sure why. And then she said, "Well I was going to go to the University of San Fransisco." (Yes, I emphasized the going for a reason) "Ummm not exactly the same as being from California," I said, and for some reason they thought that was funny although I wasn't exactly intending it to come out that way. I just thought it was funny, because for years on this continent you were half embarrassed to ever admit you were from the US, but here's a girl who is obviously Australian to pretend she is from the States. Of course, I immediately gave Blake crap for that. I guess things are changing..
Saturday, Blake, Brendan, Ellen, Jamie, and I all went down to Twickenham, where England's Rugby stadium is, and watched England vs Italy at a local pub there. It was actually really cool to be right in the center of it all and although I don't know a whole lot about rugby I caught on fairly quickly with Blake's help (he played rugby in Australian). After the game, we stayed to watch Ireland vs France and the pub we were at immediately became swamped with English fans from the stadium. It came to a point where you could barely move in the place...and then when we headed home the crowds of people were endless as everyone was trying to get on a train. It was funny when we finally got up to the train to get on because we literally were being pushed inside the train, something like you seen on one of those subways in Japan or something. I think I laughed a little too much over the whole thing, but you kind of have to be pretty easygoing with it all, especially when there are drunk English rugby fans all piling up to get on a crowded train.
When we came home most of our housemates were still out because it was Waitangi day, or New Zealand's national holiday, similar to Australia day. The Kiwis pretty much shut the city down, usually on this day the whole circle line (which is the part of the tube that makes a circle around the city, kind of like our outer belt but much smaller) is practically packed with them because they get off at each stop and go to a pub until they've gone to every single one. But, London officials actually closed it on that day due to past events....I guess it gets a little crazy. But, they were still out and I think they made due, at least it seemed that way when everyone got home later.
Anyways, I'm still waiting to hear back for the trial and I have another interview tomorrow for an office assistant job. Miss everyone back home!

O and for an FYI my housemates kindly told me that I keep referring to our backyard cow as "Bessie". Correction: NOT "Bessie", it's "Daisy". Sorry for the confusion. :)

Rickshaw Races, Superbowl. and SNOW!

Life across the pond seems to get a little better every day I'm here fortunately. This weekend ultimately proved that, probably being the most eclectic weekend so far. So, Thursday night we went back to the Portabello Acoustic Sessions that I mentioned last week that we fell in love with. We seem to secure a front row spot every time we go so the host of the show is starting to know us as the "regular Americans". Supposedly we have a table reserved for us next week...I guess there is huge tradition in becoming a "regular" at a pub in London, and we may have actually succeeded in that, which in my mind thought it would never happen. Its nice to find a niche though, even if its thousands of miles from home.
Again it proved to be a wonderful little escape from the bustle of the city and had four separate artists all different in their own ways, but each very soulful in the distinct sound of their music. Maybe the best part about that type of music is that it's raw, and you seem to get lost in it. With the stress of looking for a job in hard economic times in a city that's far from home, this music helps me to forget that and remember the reasons I came here in the first place.

Friday actually turned out to be one of most adventurous/fun nights since I've been here. Brendan and I decided to contact Stuart, Chris' English friend he introduced us to that we hung out with most of the time Chris was still in London. Stuart proved to be a lot of fun when we hung out with him before and he obviously knows the city better than us, so we thought it would be nice to meet up with him again. We started off at the TGI Fridays in Piccadily Circus (aka the Times Square of London) and met up with not only Stuart, but Chris' dad and sister, Claire. Stuart loves playing the pick a page, pick a number game, in which you pick two numbers (first is the page, second is the order of the drink on the page) and where ever they land on the drink menu, thats what you get. Its actually kind of funny what you end up with, I landed on some monstrous vanilla milkshake looking thing. haha After a while there, Chris' dad decided to head home so the four of us ventured elsewhere. Claire decided that we should go somewhere I hadn't been to yet, so we headed towards the Covent Garden/Soho area of West London. Well Stuart had the brilliant plan of taking rickshaws there, which are those bikes with a buggy attached to the back seating two people. I thought the idea was fun to begin with, but Stuart decided to take it up a notch when he offered the two rickshaw drivers ten pounds to the person who got there first. So, the race began through London with Claire and I in one and Stuart and Brendan in another. I guess I'll make the public apology now to anyone we almost toppled on the way there, because there were many of you. I think when we finally arrived in Covent Garden, my stomach hurt so bad from laughing so hard as we twisted and turned through the packed streets of London. All in all though, the rickshaws were actually a good way to see the city and quite memorable. And if your wondering, my rickshaw obviously won. :)
From there we went to a two story pub that looked over a street in Covent Garden that I guess is normally packed with enertainers in the summer. After that we found ourselves wondering the streets of Soho, which is to say the least, a very expressive part of town crowded with people on a friday night. We ended up finding a really trendy Indian bar that had authentic looking Indian decor with couches and drapery lining the whole lounge area. The night ended there late with the four of us talking, but I have to say this was one of the BEST nights I've had here and possibly one of the most memorable.

Saturday became more of a chill day after the craziness of Friday. In London, I have found it doesn't really matter what night of the week you go out, unlike in the States where most partying or what not is a thing of the weekend. Here, pubs is just a way of life, and people go to them every night of the week. Sunday, was an eventful day though. London got one of its worst snowfalls in nearly a decade and everyone was excited about it. My Aussie housemates were like kids in a candy store and couldn't wait to play in it, which ultimately resulted in a house snowball fight on our street. The snow here is a little different than back home, its more wet which can either be a good or bad thing in a snowball fight. Good in the sense that it makes for amazingly compact snowballs, bad in that if you get nailed with one in the side of the head (which I did more than once) it doesnt just automatically break apart. haha. As you all know though, it was Superbowl Sunday which started at 11:30 our time. Stuart had reserved a table at a pub called Bond's in Oxford Circus, so Ellen, Jamie, Brendan, Blake, and I tredged through the snow to get there...sliding along the way. When we got there, we found that we had a little VIP section to ourselves with our own flat screen for the game. Stuart brought his friend Matt who are both Englishman American football fans (Stuart actually plays in an American football league here). I had to root for the Steelers for my dad..so sorry all you Cardinals fans out there. I actually didn't see the half time show because the whole pub decided to go outside during it to have a massive snowball fight in the street. Most of the people in London haven't seen this much so snow in years so they get really excited about it. So after the exchange of snowballs with Londoners, we resumed watching the game til about 3:00 am and returned home..which took awhile since the buses were down due to the snow. But, honestly I didn't mind it much because I got to see the city with that first layer of snow on it, which we all know is the best snow.
The next day most of London was shut down due to the large amounts of snow and there were tons of people in the streets making snowmen and playing. Some of my housemates even made Shelia the Snow woman outside of our house, complete with a blonde wig, bikini top, and an Australian flag around her waist. We even noticed some people stopping to take a picture of it which was funny. Overall though, although we were snowed in for a couple days, it proved to be more eventful than most snowdays at home. When you see people so excited about things like snow, you tend to forget about how fun it really can be when you're so used to it. It kind of reminds you about how you felt about it when you were a kid and couldn't wait to go outside in it...although most of us came back in after five minutes after it probably took us 20 minutes to get out there because it was too cold. Once again though, these are the things I love most about being over here, just all the little reminders about good life really is.