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...

Just had to get some things off my chest...

I haven't written in awhile and wish I could write with good news or a fun attitude, but if I don't get some things off my chest, I don't know what I'll do. I'm at my breaking point. Living in Niagara for the last year (almost) has taken a toll on who I am and I really can't do it anymore. And yes, I know I'm leaving soon, but it really isn't soon enough. I'm to the point now where the hours on my days off seem to go too fast, and the hours I know I have to work barely move at all. It's safe to say that I severely dislike (I hate saying the word hate :) ) my job and life here. Managing a restaurant is so much harder than I ever gave it credit for. What I've learnt over the last year is that you really cannot rely on people.....EVER. You can't rely on them to ever be mature or professional. You can't rely on them to do their jobs and you can't rely on them to even show up to work half the time. What you actually can rely on...is the drama, gossip and typical "High School" mentality.

I've had to try and fill so many rolls in being a manager, and know I've done my best in filling them all, but I'm sure have fallen short in some of them. I have always treated people with respect, but I'm definitely not hard enough to deal with the inevitable confrontation that comes with managing people. To be a good manager, you need to be a friend, a parent, a technical genius, a nurse, a computer whiz, a mathematician, a teacher, a leader, a kitchen equipment repairman, a plumber, a janitor, a public speaker, a mediator, a cook, a bartender, a busser, and a server. To be a good manager you have to tell people when they're doing something wrong, without offending them. You need to maintain all equipment in the restaurant, regardless of whether or not you know what it is or even what it's used for. You need to be able to problem solve, because all you'll face are problems. If you're not already a smoker and drinker....being a restaurant manager will certainly turn you into one.

If you like being woken up in the middle of the night with a stupid question, then being a restaurant manager is the greatest job ever. If you enjoy being criticized constantly by your employees, after giving them everything they've asked for, well then I highly recommend running a restaurant. If you'd like to have the hardest and least paying job in the restaurant industry with the largest amount of responsibility, well then managing a restaurant is right up your alley.

So it's safe to say I won't be getting back into restaurant management anytime soon. I can only hope and pray, at this point, that the next couple of years of travelling are hopefully going to erase all the bad memories the last year has embedded in my brain. 8 more days of work, that will feel more like 57. It's daunting, to say the least.....

Lauren