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!
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