Job Hunting is fun!....NOT

So the job hunt has commenced. Starting up in London is much harder than I ever gave it credit for! It seems as though obtaining anything you need to live here is a Catch 22. Everytime you try to get ahead while you're starting up, it's like being in a maze, and everywhere you turn there's a brick wall infront of you. You need a few things to live and work in London. A flat (somewhere to live), a job (living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, you'll need to be making money while you're spending it), a National Insurance number (if you don't get one of these, you'll be taxed much more than if you do have one, visit Jobcentre Plus to find out how to get yours), and a Bank Account (you obviously need one of these to put money into when you get your job, for more info on opening up a Bank Account in the UK for Canadians visit CanuckAbroad.com). The problem is...when you start to try to get any of these things you need, you'll realize that you need one or more of another one of them in order to get the one you're trying for. It's SO frustrating!

So we have a flat, Thank God. This is one of the hardest to obtain since nobody would like to rent to a couple without jobs. So luckily we got a flat with my friend, Franco (from high school). He's been out here for the last 3 years studying Law. We've tried to obtain our National Insurance number and Bank Accounts but they've been both difficult to obtain without a proof of address. We moved into our flat on the 15th of January. Today we phoned the Gas/Electricity company and put our names on the account. They're going to send us a welcome package with our names on it, so please please please cross your fingers with us and hope that that's enough for us both to get Bank Accounts and National Insurance numbers. As for jobs, we've both been applying a lot on the internet. I've got two interviews with recruitment agencies who both want to place me in Assistant Manager positions. Oh how fun! I can be in Management again!! You know how much I love managing, don't you?! If not, scroll down, there's a nice post that explains exactly how I feel about it. But I need a job, and I need money so I really can't be picky about what comes my way. I'll keep you posted on what becomes of it. But for now, let me depart you with some wisdom. DON'T move to London...it is MUCH to hard to survive here, just don't do it!!!

That's all...will keep you updated on the magnificent lives we have found ourselves with :P

Lauren

ROOMIES!! Franco, Trevor, and Lauren

London's newest Bobby

Me in the London Underground

Good 'ol Big Ben....he sure is big...

FINALLY! In London!!

I am SO long overdue for an update. Well we're finally here....at last.....seemed like a dream before but it's definitely real now. The reality of backpacking is that it's hard....and I possibly forgot how hard it is. But I remember it being worth it, so that's good. It took every ounce of energy in Trev and I this morning to find our way to our hostel. After a flight where we both got little sleep and ate crappy food, we were both in a bit of a state when we finally got to the airport baggage, only to realize that our backpacks are really heavy...especially in combination with our heavy carry-ons. Oh well, I remember feeling the same way when my best friend, Kara, and I arrived in Amsterdam to start our backpacking trip. After awhile you get used to carrying around the pack....I just don't remember how long it takes, but I hope it happens soon :).

So the flight was crap (but I guess you get what you pay for). Air Transat is just fine for short flights to the Caribbean, and for those of you that have flown them there, imagine flying the exact same way, double the time, to here...London. It was bad...very cramped and it takes really bad food for me to say it's crap. The flight attendants weren't especially nice either. If I could do it over, I'd probably spend a bit extra to feel a lot better than I did this morning when we got here. Then trying to find your way around the London transport system with all the luggage on no sleep was a mission in itself....but we friggin' did it! Thank God! The worst is over :)

The hostel is located by Swiss Cottage Station in London. It's a pretty big hostel with a cool bunk bed setup I haven't seen before (I'll take pics), but they nickel & dime you for everything in hostels this big (usually). But other than that, it's clean, which is numero uno on my watch. And we should be getting everything we need sorted out in the next couple of days before we go to PORTUGAL - YAY!!!

I'll keep you posted :)

Lolly

Brrrr.....it's cold in here!

So we're still detoxing. One more week to go! I don't know about Trevor, but I've lost some weight since I started. My skin looks great. I've been happier and had more energy. So there is a point to being on this detox. I just don't want to go back to eating the same way I did before after the 21 days is up. I do, however, want to drink! I also do need to eat a good chocolatey dessert, so those two things are first and foremost on the agenda and once I've had both my chocolate and alcohol fix, I'll go back to carrots and chicken and gluten free pasta :)

Other than that we are more than excited to move! We booked our one way flights to London a few months ago. We've booked the moving van to get our stuff to my parents house. We've put a couple of our things up for sale on the web. We've canceled our Hydro, Gas and Cable, obviously also notified our landlord that we're leaving too....and she's already rented out our place to a stripper :) She shows our apartment without asking us. She came by to tell us they were turning off the water for a few hours this morning, so after she told us she'd rented it out to a "dancer," she left and the first thing I said to Trevor was "Oh so she brought a stripper into our apartment!" Sometimes you gotta love Niagara Falls....'cause that's hilarious.

We've also got St. Paddy's Day (March 17th) booked. I know it's a little far ahead, but apparently it's a pretty busy time of year so better to be safe than sorry. We've booked our flight and hotel, YAY! We're going with my good friend from high school. He lives in London now. We're actually staying with him when we get there. This is obviously before we find a place of our own (and jobs!).

Anyways, just thought I'd give you an update on our EXCITING lives! We just had the last
couple of days off of work and we've been hibernating in our warm, little apartment. Here's what we look like when we're hibernating:

Laur

Off to London Town

So we're booked and ready to fly to London on the 7th of December 2008. We couldn't be happier because we're finally getting out of Hell...oops, I meant Niagara Falls. We haven't even been here for a year but it feels like forever. Now all we have to do is sell our stuff and move what we want to keep to my parents house in Richmond Hill. We'll keep you posted once our lives become more exciting, but until then we'll trudge along, working and dying in a restaurant, scrimping and saving where we can so that we can reap the benefits later.....


Laur