Yesterday was a massively busy day... I got up early, as I was supposed to meet the 6th graders and my former English teacher (who I will just call RSM from now on) at Mme Tussaud's at 10am. I was a little late, but so were they.
Someone I didn't expect: Uli, a good friend of my mum's, who is also a teacher at my old school. She now knows everything about my new life in London, while my mum still knows very little, which is weird. It was nice seeing her, though. I've known her all my life, but hadn't seen her in ages.
While the kids (who I repeatedly was introduced to as "Tara Abi'05", who lives in London now.*) were still posing with the waxworks I went for a cup of tea with RSM. Was really nice catching up with her and hearing about all the changes at my old school. She's two years older than my mum, but it did feel a bit like meeting an old friend. I spent a lot of time with her during my teenage years, afterall. She was my tennis coach for 2 years, my English teacher for 5, I was in one of her theatre plays and graduated from school with one of her sons. Plus she wrote me lots of references since, which I am very thankful for. Weirdly she also thinks quitting my English studies is a good idea. You wouldn't expect that from your very organised, very strict, very reasonable former teacher, but she seems to know me even better than I thought. She says if I want to she will write me a certificate saying: "T. hat das Lernziel erreicht.", which was one of the funniest things I had heard in a while. :) So yeah, I had a really good time!
And as I also wanted to talk to Uli for a while I decided to join the group on their walk from Buckingham Palace, past Downing Street 10 to the Royal Horse Guards and Chinatown.
That walk made me remember how horrible it is being a 13 year old and why not-becoming-a-teacher was a very wise decision for me to make.
I then even had some amazing, cheap Chinese food in Chinatown with RSM and Uli, who invited me.
After saying goodbye to them all I made my way to Newington Green to get Eva's keys from the bar. Resisted the temptation of having a pint at the Oak Bar and took a bus to Angel instead, where I met Rieke, who just moved to London the other day. She'd never been here before and is very confused and a little lost in the massiveness of the city. But she has an oyster card already and is very proud of it!
We had a few pints in some random pub at Angel and then headed to Tottenham Court Rd to meet Marcell, who begged me to go to a gay bar with him for distraction from his ex. The gay bar turned out to be a gay dance club in Soho, full of half naked gay men being very gay at each other all over the place. I quickly got the impression that Rieke didn't feel too comfortable, which is understandable, seeing as it was the first gay bar she's ever been in and not exactely the gentlest introduction to the scene.
So I left Marcell with a very short bald guy on the dance floor and took Rieke to a normal, quiet pub instead. I think she was quite happy about that, but also felt a little bad, cause she didn't want anyone to think that she was homophobe. I know she's not. She's one of the people who reacted best and in the most helpful way when I came out, for example. Anyway, I was a little happy, too, cause I was more in a talk-to-good-friend-who-not-seen-in-ages-and-drink-beer mood rather than a dance-all-night-with-sweaty-gay-men-and-sniff-poppers mood. By the time Rieke got on her tube and I had had talked enough and drunken enough beer I was a little in that mood, though and went back to the club. Then realised that I was in the wrong one (they all look the same and have very similar names and all!) and ran around Soho for a while trying to find the right one with Marcell in it. That is why today I have THREE stamps saying "G-A-Y" on my wrist. That made me laugh when I woke up very hungover this morning.
Well, eventually I found Marcell, who was still with the little bald guy and we did some sweaty dancing. Then decided to go to another horrible gay bar, where we did more sweaty dancing. The only other person who joined us was a very old gay man with a beard and a belly top, who was very interested in poor handsome young Marcell. He kept grabbing my arm and pushing me into his equally unattractive lesbian friend, so that was fun. When he screamed into Marcell's ear with his very high voice "I looooove your bitch**!!", we left.
Feeling very, very rough today. And very skinned.
*RSM made it all sound like "look, she came from where you are now and has made it all the way to London" as if it was a big achievement and I wanted to shout: "KIDS, DON'T DO WHAT I DID! I AM ALMOST 25 AND HAVE NOTHING IN THE WORLD APART FROM BEER DRINKING SKILLS AND 60 QUID A WEEK", but didn't, cause I like my life a lot right now and think they'd probably enjoy it, too. Also I think they might actually believe my surname was "Abi05".
**That is me.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Monday 27 September 2010
Men
So that was another weekend in London. My 4th one since I moved here and the best one so far! I hope they will keep getting better like this!
Saturday Ros came all the way to Tooting and brought me more bedsheets and books and shoes. Then we went for a proper little pub crawl, which was a lot of fun, but when Ros had to leave I was horribly pissed already and ended up flirting with A GUY. I think. I'm so disgusting. I received a text the next day saying: "Hi there, just thought I'd say hi, I hope you have recovered since last night, Denva x". Denva! He kept texting me all of Sunday. Apparently I have a date with him tonight. Think I am going to cancel that.
So yeah, Sunday morning I felt a bit rough. I decided to cook some proper food, which turned out to be quite a challenge.
The kitchen in the place I am currently staying in is a shithole. The washing machine is broken and so is the kettle and the tin opener and 4 of the 5 sauce pans. There's no frying pan. There is exactly one spoon, one fork and one knife for the three of us. I managed to put some vegetable-pasta-thing together, though, which sorted my hangover out a little.
Afterwards I met Eva and Zuzana at Victoria. The plan was for Eva to give me her keys so that I can use her flat while she is in the US, but then we realised that she would have to sleep on the streets that night, cause she wouldn't be able to get back into her flat and I kindly returned the keys to her. Now she'll leave them behind the bar of The Oak for me.
So yeah, Eva is now gone for three weeks. Sadface. But luckily my friend Friederike moved to London yesterday! I am looking forward to seeing her A LOT. Last time we met was in Bochum about a year ago. We got drunk on Mexicana in the Freibeuter. Good times.
Zuzana is in Brighton for a few days now. I'll catch up with her when she is back and maybe go and play football or go climbing with her! She is very active, she is. And she is still amazing.
In the evening I went to meet two other volunteers with Lisa. Marcell and Marten. Marten is weird, he just sat there with his headphones on watching stuff on his computer. But Marcell, who is SO GAY HE MAKES ME FEEL STRAIGHT IN COMPARISON, is fun. He walked in and announced that his boyfriend of two months, who he just moved to London for, broke up with him on Saturday. The whole story sounded very lesbian, so I could relate to the drama. He is very heart broken, but generally a very happy chap. He showed me pictures of his single lesbian friends and told me everything about them. I think he wants me to marry someone named Jenny. Had a brilliant evening, as Marcell's uber-gayness ("I will have to see him at least once again, because he still has 30 quid which I want back and I still have his Buffy DVD set.") made up for Denva's very straight texts.
Monday will get its own post, cause monday was LONG.
Saturday Ros came all the way to Tooting and brought me more bedsheets and books and shoes. Then we went for a proper little pub crawl, which was a lot of fun, but when Ros had to leave I was horribly pissed already and ended up flirting with A GUY. I think. I'm so disgusting. I received a text the next day saying: "Hi there, just thought I'd say hi, I hope you have recovered since last night, Denva x". Denva! He kept texting me all of Sunday. Apparently I have a date with him tonight. Think I am going to cancel that.
So yeah, Sunday morning I felt a bit rough. I decided to cook some proper food, which turned out to be quite a challenge.
The kitchen in the place I am currently staying in is a shithole. The washing machine is broken and so is the kettle and the tin opener and 4 of the 5 sauce pans. There's no frying pan. There is exactly one spoon, one fork and one knife for the three of us. I managed to put some vegetable-pasta-thing together, though, which sorted my hangover out a little.
Afterwards I met Eva and Zuzana at Victoria. The plan was for Eva to give me her keys so that I can use her flat while she is in the US, but then we realised that she would have to sleep on the streets that night, cause she wouldn't be able to get back into her flat and I kindly returned the keys to her. Now she'll leave them behind the bar of The Oak for me.
So yeah, Eva is now gone for three weeks. Sadface. But luckily my friend Friederike moved to London yesterday! I am looking forward to seeing her A LOT. Last time we met was in Bochum about a year ago. We got drunk on Mexicana in the Freibeuter. Good times.
Zuzana is in Brighton for a few days now. I'll catch up with her when she is back and maybe go and play football or go climbing with her! She is very active, she is. And she is still amazing.
In the evening I went to meet two other volunteers with Lisa. Marcell and Marten. Marten is weird, he just sat there with his headphones on watching stuff on his computer. But Marcell, who is SO GAY HE MAKES ME FEEL STRAIGHT IN COMPARISON, is fun. He walked in and announced that his boyfriend of two months, who he just moved to London for, broke up with him on Saturday. The whole story sounded very lesbian, so I could relate to the drama. He is very heart broken, but generally a very happy chap. He showed me pictures of his single lesbian friends and told me everything about them. I think he wants me to marry someone named Jenny. Had a brilliant evening, as Marcell's uber-gayness ("I will have to see him at least once again, because he still has 30 quid which I want back and I still have his Buffy DVD set.") made up for Denva's very straight texts.
Monday will get its own post, cause monday was LONG.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Godley Rd.
Godley Road. That is where I work now. I am scared of it. I used to work in Dyke Road, which turned me gay. God knows what Godley Road will turn me into.
I have done two shadow shifts so far and they both went really well. In the beginning I felt a bit stupid watching Lisa do the dishes and cleaning floors for hours, but apparently I can't learn how to do one of these things when I am doing something else at the same time. It is very important that everyone does everything in the exact same way as everyone else. The Client - I will call her Loreena McKennit from now on, cause that's what she looks like - has very strict routines everyone has to stick to and she gets irritated very easily. So today I spent the first hour adjusting my handwriting to Lisa's. No kidding.
The rest of the day was fun, though, because as Loreena McKennit was expecting lots of visitors in the afternoon she had Lisa and me make houmous and bake cakes! We made a lovely Banana-Oat cake-bread thing, which I will steal the recipe of. The houmous was crap, but all organic and healthy.
The afternoon, when the guests were all there and eating the amazing banana-oat-cake-bread-thing, Lisa and me spent wheeling each other around in a wheelchair. It is a fun experience, you all should try it! It is a very interesting perspective you get on the world and the ways people react to you are diverse. There was a young girl going "yuck" at me and I found it hard to tell if it was the wheelchair or the gayness, cause it's both quite disgusting, innit. (And obviously I had my hand up someone's vagina, so she knew I was gay.)*
It was mostly me wheeling Lisa around today, of course. I am the one who needs the training in wheelchair wheeling. It is quite hard and exhausting. So I figure after a few months with Loreena McKennit I will have all brawny arms and people will finally realise that I am DANGEROUS and all.
Then, when I was walking to my new flat after my 12 hour shift at work, laden with bags full of shopping I did at Sainsbury's, I all of a sudden felt very... happy. And lonely. And home. And exhausted. And right. And homesick. And I wish I was staying with Lisa already.
Facts about Lisa:
- She loves apples more than I love potatoes.
- She has a sister who is moving to India tomorrow.
- She does folklore dancing, which I find quite cool.
- She is from Ulm, so basically: Swabian.
- She has been to Ireland twice, but managed to avoid Dublin completely.
Unfortunately I was put in a different volunteers flat for a week or so. I am currently staying with Carina and The-other-girl-who-didn't-tell-me-her-name.
They have internet, but no toilet paper. They have a washing machine, but it is broken. They have a giant balcony, but it is raining. The flat is alright. I have a sink in my bedroom, which is quite handy. And there is internet, which is always worth something (=A LOT).
Am absolutely knackered right now. Last night I met Gabby in Soho. We had a fun night, went to 5 different pubs and Marina Ices (my first ice cream (Lemon sorbet, strictly speaking) in a month - I almost cried).
I then fell asleep on the last tube back South and ended up in Morden at 12.30 am. Took a taxi back to Tooting broadway for lack of buses. Then had to get up at 7 this morning in order to go and make coffee for Loreena McKennit.
Tomorrow she will get her hair cut at Putney Bridge. So Lisa and I will take her there and also buy a new Swiffer! That shall be quite exciting, I think!
Also we have cooked tomorrows dinner already today. So we will be allowed to go home as soon as we're back from Putney. That will be around 5ish! And then I have 3 long days off! I will celebrate all Friday night (if I find a friend) and then explore all of Tooting with Ros on Saturday. Sunday I will have to meet Eva, who is going to Disney World and Florida and all those nice warm magic places for three weeks. Monday I don't know. Maybe I will go on a walking tour through London with the 6th graders from my old school.
Now: bed.
Amen.**
* Or maybe I was making disgusting jokes and that's why she said yuck.
**I am quite far away from being godl(e)y at the moment, I think.
I have done two shadow shifts so far and they both went really well. In the beginning I felt a bit stupid watching Lisa do the dishes and cleaning floors for hours, but apparently I can't learn how to do one of these things when I am doing something else at the same time. It is very important that everyone does everything in the exact same way as everyone else. The Client - I will call her Loreena McKennit from now on, cause that's what she looks like - has very strict routines everyone has to stick to and she gets irritated very easily. So today I spent the first hour adjusting my handwriting to Lisa's. No kidding.
The rest of the day was fun, though, because as Loreena McKennit was expecting lots of visitors in the afternoon she had Lisa and me make houmous and bake cakes! We made a lovely Banana-Oat cake-bread thing, which I will steal the recipe of. The houmous was crap, but all organic and healthy.
The afternoon, when the guests were all there and eating the amazing banana-oat-cake-bread-thing, Lisa and me spent wheeling each other around in a wheelchair. It is a fun experience, you all should try it! It is a very interesting perspective you get on the world and the ways people react to you are diverse. There was a young girl going "yuck" at me and I found it hard to tell if it was the wheelchair or the gayness, cause it's both quite disgusting, innit. (And obviously I had my hand up someone's vagina, so she knew I was gay.)*
It was mostly me wheeling Lisa around today, of course. I am the one who needs the training in wheelchair wheeling. It is quite hard and exhausting. So I figure after a few months with Loreena McKennit I will have all brawny arms and people will finally realise that I am DANGEROUS and all.
Then, when I was walking to my new flat after my 12 hour shift at work, laden with bags full of shopping I did at Sainsbury's, I all of a sudden felt very... happy. And lonely. And home. And exhausted. And right. And homesick. And I wish I was staying with Lisa already.
Facts about Lisa:
- She loves apples more than I love potatoes.
- She has a sister who is moving to India tomorrow.
- She does folklore dancing, which I find quite cool.
- She is from Ulm, so basically: Swabian.
- She has been to Ireland twice, but managed to avoid Dublin completely.
Unfortunately I was put in a different volunteers flat for a week or so. I am currently staying with Carina and The-other-girl-who-didn't-tell-me-her-name.
They have internet, but no toilet paper. They have a washing machine, but it is broken. They have a giant balcony, but it is raining. The flat is alright. I have a sink in my bedroom, which is quite handy. And there is internet, which is always worth something (=A LOT).
Am absolutely knackered right now. Last night I met Gabby in Soho. We had a fun night, went to 5 different pubs and Marina Ices (my first ice cream (Lemon sorbet, strictly speaking) in a month - I almost cried).
I then fell asleep on the last tube back South and ended up in Morden at 12.30 am. Took a taxi back to Tooting broadway for lack of buses. Then had to get up at 7 this morning in order to go and make coffee for Loreena McKennit.
Tomorrow she will get her hair cut at Putney Bridge. So Lisa and I will take her there and also buy a new Swiffer! That shall be quite exciting, I think!
Also we have cooked tomorrows dinner already today. So we will be allowed to go home as soon as we're back from Putney. That will be around 5ish! And then I have 3 long days off! I will celebrate all Friday night (if I find a friend) and then explore all of Tooting with Ros on Saturday. Sunday I will have to meet Eva, who is going to Disney World and Florida and all those nice warm magic places for three weeks. Monday I don't know. Maybe I will go on a walking tour through London with the 6th graders from my old school.
Now: bed.
Amen.**
* Or maybe I was making disgusting jokes and that's why she said yuck.
**I am quite far away from being godl(e)y at the moment, I think.
Tuesday 21 September 2010
Piss and Stuff
It is time for a bit more excitingness after the boringness of the last days! So, here's whot I did:
Saturday sad-me met sad-eva for an evening of feeling lost and lonely. We had pintses here and there and we also had amazing burgers at The Gate at Newington Green. When we got extra-sad we went up to Eva's flat and watched three episodes of United States of Tara - which is quite funny, actually, but a tragic way to spend a Saturday night in London. So just when we were about to fall asleep at 10pm we decided to go to Unskinny Bop, despite the lack of friends and meet new ones. Little late, tho, cause Unskinny Bop is a very, very popular night with the gays and we didn't fit into The Star anymore. Awww. Went to The Sun instead, which is a normal, boring old men pub just down the street from The Star. There I got IDed for the first time since that friend of Ros' thought I was 40 years old and also I got in a fight with a femme lesbian in the toilet.
We ended up going home quite late and then I slept for amazing 10 hours!
In other big news: I talked to my mum on Friday. She was very relaxed and didn't seem to care much, when I mentioned quitting college and emigrating to London FOREVER. She said it is all my choice and as long as I have a decent job when I am 33 she can't really complain, because all she did before that age was sorting apples at a conveyor belt and babysitting that kid Patrick, who I had to find for her on facebook a while ago (he now lives in Australia with his wife and two kids). What she doesn't know yet is that she actually won't see me for at least 4 months.
Today I also called my shop in Konstanz and quit my job there. My boss said "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", cause I was good at what I was doing, innit. She also said I ruined her Christmas and that she is happy for me. I almost cried a little, cause she was a good boss. And because I won't get 30% discount on plastic flowers and penis candy anymore.
Sunday night was the first one I spent in my new flat! I will describe my new home in a later post when I have actually moved in, cause at the moment I haven't even seen my future room, cause I slept on a mattress in Lisa's room.
Lisa is still shy and quiet and very nice, but she surprised me with dragging me all the way to Brick lane for bagels and beer on Sunday evening. Despite having worked 12 hours during the day and having to work the same again on Monday (with me as her shadow!). There was a Brick Lane Music Festival happening, but because we got there so late, we missed all the live music. Brick Lane is full of young people (=my age and younger), which is a kind of Londoner I haven't met so much before. They were all wearing weirdly patterned tights that got you high just by looking at them and most of them had hair like Amy Winehouse. I felt very old and boring.
I only spent one night in my new flat, tho, cause V. is incredibly chaotic and so unorganised that it hurts my German heart.
Yesterday I could stay at Ros' place, she made me some yummy thing for tea, dunno what it's called, but it came with mashed potatoes!
And tonight I am staying at Eva's, who is an amazing friend and my personal tiny Chinese guardian angel here in London. I met her at Farringdon earlier today to get the keys for her flat, which is ACE because it is right above a gay bar at Newington Green!
Most exciting thing that happened, tho: I saw my first drunken man pissing in the streets! And no old sweeping ladies, yet - Dream come true...
Saturday sad-me met sad-eva for an evening of feeling lost and lonely. We had pintses here and there and we also had amazing burgers at The Gate at Newington Green. When we got extra-sad we went up to Eva's flat and watched three episodes of United States of Tara - which is quite funny, actually, but a tragic way to spend a Saturday night in London. So just when we were about to fall asleep at 10pm we decided to go to Unskinny Bop, despite the lack of friends and meet new ones. Little late, tho, cause Unskinny Bop is a very, very popular night with the gays and we didn't fit into The Star anymore. Awww. Went to The Sun instead, which is a normal, boring old men pub just down the street from The Star. There I got IDed for the first time since that friend of Ros' thought I was 40 years old and also I got in a fight with a femme lesbian in the toilet.
We ended up going home quite late and then I slept for amazing 10 hours!
In other big news: I talked to my mum on Friday. She was very relaxed and didn't seem to care much, when I mentioned quitting college and emigrating to London FOREVER. She said it is all my choice and as long as I have a decent job when I am 33 she can't really complain, because all she did before that age was sorting apples at a conveyor belt and babysitting that kid Patrick, who I had to find for her on facebook a while ago (he now lives in Australia with his wife and two kids). What she doesn't know yet is that she actually won't see me for at least 4 months.
Today I also called my shop in Konstanz and quit my job there. My boss said "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", cause I was good at what I was doing, innit. She also said I ruined her Christmas and that she is happy for me. I almost cried a little, cause she was a good boss. And because I won't get 30% discount on plastic flowers and penis candy anymore.
Sunday night was the first one I spent in my new flat! I will describe my new home in a later post when I have actually moved in, cause at the moment I haven't even seen my future room, cause I slept on a mattress in Lisa's room.
Lisa is still shy and quiet and very nice, but she surprised me with dragging me all the way to Brick lane for bagels and beer on Sunday evening. Despite having worked 12 hours during the day and having to work the same again on Monday (with me as her shadow!). There was a Brick Lane Music Festival happening, but because we got there so late, we missed all the live music. Brick Lane is full of young people (=my age and younger), which is a kind of Londoner I haven't met so much before. They were all wearing weirdly patterned tights that got you high just by looking at them and most of them had hair like Amy Winehouse. I felt very old and boring.
I only spent one night in my new flat, tho, cause V. is incredibly chaotic and so unorganised that it hurts my German heart.
Yesterday I could stay at Ros' place, she made me some yummy thing for tea, dunno what it's called, but it came with mashed potatoes!
And tonight I am staying at Eva's, who is an amazing friend and my personal tiny Chinese guardian angel here in London. I met her at Farringdon earlier today to get the keys for her flat, which is ACE because it is right above a gay bar at Newington Green!
Most exciting thing that happened, tho: I saw my first drunken man pissing in the streets! And no old sweeping ladies, yet - Dream come true...
Saturday 18 September 2010
Facts from my face
- The Swedish girl from my hostel is back in Sweden, cause London was "not her thing" - guess her mystery job didn't work out.
- I know all this because I know enough Danish to understand her Swedish status updates!
- Another place to avoid is the toilet in Subway on New Oxford Street.
- I went there yesterday and am full of all the illnesses in the world now.
- You can get from Tooting Broadway to Hackney Central within an hour, even if someone tries to kill himself at London Bridge.
- You can go the same way in 2 1/2 hours but with only 2 buses and therefore for 2,40!
- Or you can walk it for free in four hours.
- Boots Strawberry Nougat bars are not half as nice as the Blueberry Yoghurt Nougat ones.
- Galia melon and Feta cheese goes amazingly well together
- In all three hostels I stayed in this month I was in room 52!
- The last stop on the Northern Line is called "Morden", which 1) sounds like "Mordor" and 2) is the German word for "to murder", which might be the real reason, why going down to Tooting felt weird in the beginning.
- I know all this because I know enough Danish to understand her Swedish status updates!
- Another place to avoid is the toilet in Subway on New Oxford Street.
- I went there yesterday and am full of all the illnesses in the world now.
- You can get from Tooting Broadway to Hackney Central within an hour, even if someone tries to kill himself at London Bridge.
- You can go the same way in 2 1/2 hours but with only 2 buses and therefore for 2,40!
- Or you can walk it for free in four hours.
- Boots Strawberry Nougat bars are not half as nice as the Blueberry Yoghurt Nougat ones.
- Galia melon and Feta cheese goes amazingly well together
- In all three hostels I stayed in this month I was in room 52!
- The last stop on the Northern Line is called "Morden", which 1) sounds like "Mordor" and 2) is the German word for "to murder", which might be the real reason, why going down to Tooting felt weird in the beginning.
Friday 17 September 2010
Legal Shit
Oh man, that was one long day at the office! I had to get through what Søs always calls "legal shit" - basically... I made an appointment for an interview to apply for a national insurance number and also I opened a bank account. But in order to open a bank account I had to get my Shad ID card done, a proof of address and a proof of employment. So I filled out 1000 forms and broke into the Balham Station photo box. 5 f***ing quid, by the way, for shit quality photos and me looking all spotty in the face. Ah well.
So now I am waiting for my bank details and bank card to arrive! That's quite exciting. I almost feel like a proper resident of the UK now!
Then I also learned that I won't be able to move into my new flat until Wednesday, which is SHIT (It means two more nights in the hostel plus lots of travel expenses to get to Balham and back...). It's cause some Nancy is still there in my room (I met her, she is tiny and seems very bored with life.) I can stay there Sunday night, tho, so I don't have to get up stupid o'clock on Monday morning for my first shadow shift!
Positive things I got out of sitting around the office all day: V. gave me a pear, which grew in his garden. And he also gave me an induction leaflet which tells me where all the fire alarms in the house are and what numbers to call when I locked myself out (very useful!) and where there's nice pubs and cinemas and lidos and cafes around where I live! I especially appreciated that the gay bar section was longer than the ordinary pub section, which must either mean that Tooting is really gay, or that the organisation is full of gays or that V.'s gaydar is really good and he put the list of gay bars together just for meee.
Next thing on my list: Meet Eva in First Out, buy her a drink in exchange for her keys. Maybe I will have a jacket potato... *rubs belly* ... but probably not, cause I had to spend my jacket-potato-money on horrible photos of my tired face. Meh.
So now I am waiting for my bank details and bank card to arrive! That's quite exciting. I almost feel like a proper resident of the UK now!
Then I also learned that I won't be able to move into my new flat until Wednesday, which is SHIT (It means two more nights in the hostel plus lots of travel expenses to get to Balham and back...). It's cause some Nancy is still there in my room (I met her, she is tiny and seems very bored with life.) I can stay there Sunday night, tho, so I don't have to get up stupid o'clock on Monday morning for my first shadow shift!
Positive things I got out of sitting around the office all day: V. gave me a pear, which grew in his garden. And he also gave me an induction leaflet which tells me where all the fire alarms in the house are and what numbers to call when I locked myself out (very useful!) and where there's nice pubs and cinemas and lidos and cafes around where I live! I especially appreciated that the gay bar section was longer than the ordinary pub section, which must either mean that Tooting is really gay, or that the organisation is full of gays or that V.'s gaydar is really good and he put the list of gay bars together just for meee.
Next thing on my list: Meet Eva in First Out, buy her a drink in exchange for her keys. Maybe I will have a jacket potato... *rubs belly* ... but probably not, cause I had to spend my jacket-potato-money on horrible photos of my tired face. Meh.
Literature
I was right... Yesterday really wasn't very exciting. I walked around Hackney for a while and bought nice food and then made Dünnele for Ros and Emma in the evening. They were yummie. I should make them more often. They had potatoes and onions and ham and mushrooms on them.
The rest of the day I spent being lazy in front of my laptop. I started a new exciting project, tho, for when I am cold and lonely and broke and all alone in a land far far away (aka Tooting) in November!
I signed up for the NaNoWriMo! So basically I will spend all my free time in November writing a novel! Exciting, isn't it! I think I will work on a story I've been thinking about for quite a while. I won't tell you what it is about, yet, but maybe some of you will get to read it one day. (Of course you'll have to buy the book at Hugendubel/Easons/Foyles/Osiander/amazon first...)
I also signed up for Wandsworth freecycle. Hope I'll find some nice things there for my new room!
Then I stayed up really late last night and read poetry. I shouldn't do that. Even though I found some new Fried poems, which are brilliant. I liked this one a lawt:
Du sagst
ich soll nicht
Liebe
und Lieben sagen
Das bringt nichts mehr
meinst du
und ist zu mystisch
und zu verschwommen
Nun ja
ich kann natürlich
auch die Zähne zusammenbeißen
und Bumsen sagen
oder vielleicht sogar
Ficken sagen
wie du
doch du weißt gar nicht
wie mich das
abregt
I can't really take his more serious stuff anymore, even though I still see the brilliance in it. Guess I've just actually grown up a little and am not the overly melodramatic kid I used to be. (Wonder if Fried really stayed a melodramatic kid for all his life, cause I think poems like "Inschrift" he wrote in his 40s and 50s.) Anyway... took a little walk down memory lane last night and then remembered that Fried lived in England and is buried in London (even though he died in Baden-Baden. I hope if I die in Baden-Baden they'll bury me in London, too. Or at least manage to get me to Konstanz, if the money's tight.)! I looked it up, it's Kensal Green cemetery. So I think I will go and visit his grave there one of these days.
Today I will be a bit busier again. I have to go to the SHAD office in a bit and learn about all their policies and get through a lecture about national insurance numbers. Hope I won't have to learn about Oyster cards again.
Then later I have to go and nick keys off Eva and then off Ros, cause I'm attempting to spend every night this weekend in a different bed. And then I will maybe meet Gabby again for more beer and madness.
PS: They can always just burn my dead body and feed the ashes to slugs of course (I guess that is what will happen. I know they will get me in the end.).
The rest of the day I spent being lazy in front of my laptop. I started a new exciting project, tho, for when I am cold and lonely and broke and all alone in a land far far away (aka Tooting) in November!
I signed up for the NaNoWriMo! So basically I will spend all my free time in November writing a novel! Exciting, isn't it! I think I will work on a story I've been thinking about for quite a while. I won't tell you what it is about, yet, but maybe some of you will get to read it one day. (Of course you'll have to buy the book at Hugendubel/Easons/Foyles/Osiander/amazon first...)
I also signed up for Wandsworth freecycle. Hope I'll find some nice things there for my new room!
Then I stayed up really late last night and read poetry. I shouldn't do that. Even though I found some new Fried poems, which are brilliant. I liked this one a lawt:
Du sagst
ich soll nicht
Liebe
und Lieben sagen
Das bringt nichts mehr
meinst du
und ist zu mystisch
und zu verschwommen
Nun ja
ich kann natürlich
auch die Zähne zusammenbeißen
und Bumsen sagen
oder vielleicht sogar
Ficken sagen
wie du
doch du weißt gar nicht
wie mich das
abregt
I can't really take his more serious stuff anymore, even though I still see the brilliance in it. Guess I've just actually grown up a little and am not the overly melodramatic kid I used to be. (Wonder if Fried really stayed a melodramatic kid for all his life, cause I think poems like "Inschrift" he wrote in his 40s and 50s.) Anyway... took a little walk down memory lane last night and then remembered that Fried lived in England and is buried in London (even though he died in Baden-Baden. I hope if I die in Baden-Baden they'll bury me in London, too. Or at least manage to get me to Konstanz, if the money's tight.)! I looked it up, it's Kensal Green cemetery. So I think I will go and visit his grave there one of these days.
Today I will be a bit busier again. I have to go to the SHAD office in a bit and learn about all their policies and get through a lecture about national insurance numbers. Hope I won't have to learn about Oyster cards again.
Then later I have to go and nick keys off Eva and then off Ros, cause I'm attempting to spend every night this weekend in a different bed. And then I will maybe meet Gabby again for more beer and madness.
PS: They can always just burn my dead body and feed the ashes to slugs of course (I guess that is what will happen. I know they will get me in the end.).
Thursday 16 September 2010
Blisters
I don't have much to tell you about yesterday. I pretty much spent the morning walking all the way from Tottenham Court Road to Highbury and Islington, which gave me blisters on my feet. Then I did laundry and cooking. Sometimes London isn't much more exciting than any other place, really, just bigger.
So since I don't have much to tell you today, I will write you a poem instead. It goes like this:
I live in London, oh dear!
It is full of whiskey and beer.
You can drink it all up
When you go to the pub,
And that's why I like it here!
Today won't be much more exciting than yesterday. I will venture out to Hackney later and see what the day brings.
So since I don't have much to tell you today, I will write you a poem instead. It goes like this:
I live in London, oh dear!
It is full of whiskey and beer.
You can drink it all up
When you go to the pub,
And that's why I like it here!
Today won't be much more exciting than yesterday. I will venture out to Hackney later and see what the day brings.
Wednesday 15 September 2010
Potatoes and Raw Fish
I have a job in London! And I have a flat in London!
I met the client I will be working with yesterday and also my future flatmate. Can't tell you much about my client, really, cause of confidentiality and all that, but I want to say that she is AMAZING.
She says working with her will involve going to lots of demonstrations, sitting around in court rooms as she is currently suing Wandsworth council, going for coffees at Trafalgar Square on sundays while she is at church and talking to her amazing mad artist daughter (who is my age) on the phone. Plus she won't make me dig around in her garden if I am too scared of slugs.
My flatmate is 22, German (of course) and very nice, but also very shy. We'll get along fine, I think. AND there is a bike coming with the flat, which Lisa (my flatmate) never uses. All is ace.
Will start doing my first shadow shifts next week!
So yeah, when I got over my initial grumpiness yesterday turned into a really good day! After meeting my client (will have to find a nickname for her...) I chilled out in Soho Square for a while until Gabby came to meet me there. We then started the mission "Drink, Drink, Drink, Rant, Drink, Drink, Slap and Spit".
Soho is weird. I think it changes magically at some point during the evening. In the daytime it is full of bookshops and smoothie places and at night it's all pubs and sex shops. We missed the transformation, cause we were having lots of Alpine pints in the Glasshouse Stores. So the DDDRDD part of our mission went really well, but then we failed with the SaS part. Maybe if you replace the "Slap and Spit" with "Sushi and Smiles" we can count the mission as a success. Had Sushi from one of those little conveyer belts for the first time and got very excited about it. Spent shitloads of money and I think I ate octopus.
Anyway, got back to the hostel around 4am, I think. And I remember something about an art exhibition with free drinks on Thursday... will have to ask Gabby what that was about again. Maybe I will get to wear something elegant and parade around with a glass of champagne like Bette Porter.
Tonight: Tamara Drewe, cause it's Orange Wednesday and the cinema is cheap, innit. Hope it is funny.
Now I am going to cook some food, cause I am starving and feel a bit sick from all the drinking and ranting last night. I bought lots of potatoes at the shop on the corner and will eat them all, cause my main project at the moment is "get fatter", cause I don't have any trousers that fit anymore and I look very ridiculous in my too big clothes. (When I am wearing nothing I look quite good, tho.)
PS: I also have a new favourite thing in the world. Boots' Blueberry Yoghurt Nougat Bar. They are a good reason to emigrate to the UK. I am sure my parents will understand.
I met the client I will be working with yesterday and also my future flatmate. Can't tell you much about my client, really, cause of confidentiality and all that, but I want to say that she is AMAZING.
She says working with her will involve going to lots of demonstrations, sitting around in court rooms as she is currently suing Wandsworth council, going for coffees at Trafalgar Square on sundays while she is at church and talking to her amazing mad artist daughter (who is my age) on the phone. Plus she won't make me dig around in her garden if I am too scared of slugs.
My flatmate is 22, German (of course) and very nice, but also very shy. We'll get along fine, I think. AND there is a bike coming with the flat, which Lisa (my flatmate) never uses. All is ace.
Will start doing my first shadow shifts next week!
So yeah, when I got over my initial grumpiness yesterday turned into a really good day! After meeting my client (will have to find a nickname for her...) I chilled out in Soho Square for a while until Gabby came to meet me there. We then started the mission "Drink, Drink, Drink, Rant, Drink, Drink, Slap and Spit".
Soho is weird. I think it changes magically at some point during the evening. In the daytime it is full of bookshops and smoothie places and at night it's all pubs and sex shops. We missed the transformation, cause we were having lots of Alpine pints in the Glasshouse Stores. So the DDDRDD part of our mission went really well, but then we failed with the SaS part. Maybe if you replace the "Slap and Spit" with "Sushi and Smiles" we can count the mission as a success. Had Sushi from one of those little conveyer belts for the first time and got very excited about it. Spent shitloads of money and I think I ate octopus.
Anyway, got back to the hostel around 4am, I think. And I remember something about an art exhibition with free drinks on Thursday... will have to ask Gabby what that was about again. Maybe I will get to wear something elegant and parade around with a glass of champagne like Bette Porter.
Tonight: Tamara Drewe, cause it's Orange Wednesday and the cinema is cheap, innit. Hope it is funny.
Now I am going to cook some food, cause I am starving and feel a bit sick from all the drinking and ranting last night. I bought lots of potatoes at the shop on the corner and will eat them all, cause my main project at the moment is "get fatter", cause I don't have any trousers that fit anymore and I look very ridiculous in my too big clothes. (When I am wearing nothing I look quite good, tho.)
PS: I also have a new favourite thing in the world. Boots' Blueberry Yoghurt Nougat Bar. They are a good reason to emigrate to the UK. I am sure my parents will understand.
Monday 13 September 2010
Zombieland
I really like hostels, usually. Cause you always meet interesting people from all over the world and you're usually on holidays, going somewhere, which is always good.
Tonight, when The Cunt's (this is what I will call him, at least until I got a bit of sleep and can be nice again)phone rang for the upteenth time, I thought that maybe I am getting too old for this.
Went to bed quite late anyway, cuz I met Eva and her friend Sophie (who is straight and still something like the Oak Bar mascot)for free game night at the Oak. Won a few games of Connect 4 (I am good at this. Eva says I should put it on my CV.) and lost a few games of pool and then went back to the hostel, where I tried to make the internet work for about 2 hours. I failed, but ended up watching "Monster" for the 5th time. I love that film, because - secret fact about me - I love Christina Ricci, especially when she is playing a lesbo.
In the end watching Charlize standing in the rain with a grumpy face killing assholes for 2 hours got me quite depressed, tho. So I wasn't in the best mood when I went to bed. And THEN after sleeping for 30 minutes The Cunt entered the scene. First of all he turned the lights on and talked on his phone really loudly until everyone in the dorm was awake, then he waved a plastic bag around for about half an hour and was generally as loud as possible while putting on his little pyjamas. Until one of the other girls in the room went: "Fucking hell..." and started crying.*
Then he stopped and left the room. With the lights on. So I got up and turned them off. And everyone went back to sleep for another 15 minutes.
The Cunt came back with a friend, talking and laughing and we all stuck out our little heads from behind our bed curtains and stared at him in disbelief. He just ignored us and when his friend finally left went back to playing with his plastic bag. So at some point I couldn't take it anymore, cause I had had a long day, innit.
DUUUUUDE IT'S HALF TWO IN THE MORNING, SORT YOUR SHIT OUT AND TURN THE LIGHTS OFF!
- is more or less what I shouted at him. Everyone else started clapping.*
He actually did put his plastic bag away and lay down to play with his phone, which apparently he wasn't able to do in the dark (for he left the lights on) or without key sounds (cause every time he pressed a key on his phone it beeped). And then... then he fell asleep (and of course he snored like a lumberjack, but you can't really tell him off for that).
So I got up to turn the lights off and lay down my little head and closed my tired eyes and ignored The Cunt's phone which kept ringing from time to time with the most annoying ring tone.
Absolutely KNACKERED today. (I bet you wonder why.) And very grumpy, too. Hope a little bit of fresh inner city London air will cheer me up. If not, Gabby definitely will tonight!
Also, I am annoyed by this German teacher talking crap to her poor students about how awful food in England is and generally everything English, while everything in Germany is so much better. Should have stayed there then, innit.
*tromps off*
So let me tell you about the long day I had before meeting The Cunt. Cause that was actually quite good!
I made my way to Belham in the morning, took the bus to Old Street and then got on the tube. The Shad office is right next to Belham Station, so I didn't have any problems finding it.
Yeah, so the interview was very relaxed, basically he just had me repeat what I already wrote in my application. Then he asked some extra questions like how I would feel about working with people of a different sexual orientation (Obviously I told him that I feel very uncomfortable working with straight people.), how I would feel about doing 24 hour shifts (Been there, done that. Hope I will get to do lots of them and then be off work lots, too.), if I am an honest person (which I found a bit of a ridiculous question, as I NEVER lie) and stuff like that. Then he told me to meet my client (who I still don't know anything about) today! Which basically means: I got the job. Yayay! If my client likes me I will be living in Tooting (yeah, I know, have been pittied lots already) by next week!
Also he signed me up for some NVQ in Health and Social Care course. Dunno what it is about, really. But it's free and why not do it.
So I am off to Balham again in a bit and then finally, finally meet Gabby in Soho for beers and ranting about CUNTS and other terrible people.
Sorry for saying the c-word so much.
* True story!
Tonight, when The Cunt's (this is what I will call him, at least until I got a bit of sleep and can be nice again)phone rang for the upteenth time, I thought that maybe I am getting too old for this.
Went to bed quite late anyway, cuz I met Eva and her friend Sophie (who is straight and still something like the Oak Bar mascot)for free game night at the Oak. Won a few games of Connect 4 (I am good at this. Eva says I should put it on my CV.) and lost a few games of pool and then went back to the hostel, where I tried to make the internet work for about 2 hours. I failed, but ended up watching "Monster" for the 5th time. I love that film, because - secret fact about me - I love Christina Ricci, especially when she is playing a lesbo.
In the end watching Charlize standing in the rain with a grumpy face killing assholes for 2 hours got me quite depressed, tho. So I wasn't in the best mood when I went to bed. And THEN after sleeping for 30 minutes The Cunt entered the scene. First of all he turned the lights on and talked on his phone really loudly until everyone in the dorm was awake, then he waved a plastic bag around for about half an hour and was generally as loud as possible while putting on his little pyjamas. Until one of the other girls in the room went: "Fucking hell..." and started crying.*
Then he stopped and left the room. With the lights on. So I got up and turned them off. And everyone went back to sleep for another 15 minutes.
The Cunt came back with a friend, talking and laughing and we all stuck out our little heads from behind our bed curtains and stared at him in disbelief. He just ignored us and when his friend finally left went back to playing with his plastic bag. So at some point I couldn't take it anymore, cause I had had a long day, innit.
DUUUUUDE IT'S HALF TWO IN THE MORNING, SORT YOUR SHIT OUT AND TURN THE LIGHTS OFF!
- is more or less what I shouted at him. Everyone else started clapping.*
He actually did put his plastic bag away and lay down to play with his phone, which apparently he wasn't able to do in the dark (for he left the lights on) or without key sounds (cause every time he pressed a key on his phone it beeped). And then... then he fell asleep (and of course he snored like a lumberjack, but you can't really tell him off for that).
So I got up to turn the lights off and lay down my little head and closed my tired eyes and ignored The Cunt's phone which kept ringing from time to time with the most annoying ring tone.
Absolutely KNACKERED today. (I bet you wonder why.) And very grumpy, too. Hope a little bit of fresh inner city London air will cheer me up. If not, Gabby definitely will tonight!
Also, I am annoyed by this German teacher talking crap to her poor students about how awful food in England is and generally everything English, while everything in Germany is so much better. Should have stayed there then, innit.
*tromps off*
So let me tell you about the long day I had before meeting The Cunt. Cause that was actually quite good!
I made my way to Belham in the morning, took the bus to Old Street and then got on the tube. The Shad office is right next to Belham Station, so I didn't have any problems finding it.
Yeah, so the interview was very relaxed, basically he just had me repeat what I already wrote in my application. Then he asked some extra questions like how I would feel about working with people of a different sexual orientation (Obviously I told him that I feel very uncomfortable working with straight people.), how I would feel about doing 24 hour shifts (Been there, done that. Hope I will get to do lots of them and then be off work lots, too.), if I am an honest person (which I found a bit of a ridiculous question, as I NEVER lie) and stuff like that. Then he told me to meet my client (who I still don't know anything about) today! Which basically means: I got the job. Yayay! If my client likes me I will be living in Tooting (yeah, I know, have been pittied lots already) by next week!
Also he signed me up for some NVQ in Health and Social Care course. Dunno what it is about, really. But it's free and why not do it.
So I am off to Balham again in a bit and then finally, finally meet Gabby in Soho for beers and ranting about CUNTS and other terrible people.
Sorry for saying the c-word so much.
* True story!
Pintses
Two eventful days later...
I don't know if I feel able to tell you in detail about everything that happened. But here's a few of the more important things:
- did three hours of food shopping for a dinner party
- met Eva and her friend Zuzana-who-is-great
- had a few pints at The Cellar
- had amazing chicken for tea
- had a pint at the Oak Bar
- walked through dodgiest dodgy area just off Shoreditch High Street
- had a pint at Brick Lane
- had too much gin tonic
- slapped someone in the face for the first time in my life
- lost my hoodie and my jacket
- lost my mobile
- lost my (left -again-) contact lense
- regained consciousness
- apologised to Eva a lot
- found contact lense in my eye
- found mobile in my bag
- had freshly squeezed apple juice and bubble for breakfast
- forgot to pay
- apologised to Eva some more
- watched City of God, which is amazing
- had horrible dirty chicken for tea
- got introduced to Derren Brown
- had nightmare involving Derren Brown
- found jacket and hoddie in Ros' room
- had cheerios for breakfast
That about sums it up. And now NOW I am off to my interview. Toodles!
*downs a pint of lager to calm down*
I don't know if I feel able to tell you in detail about everything that happened. But here's a few of the more important things:
- did three hours of food shopping for a dinner party
- met Eva and her friend Zuzana-who-is-great
- had a few pints at The Cellar
- had amazing chicken for tea
- had a pint at the Oak Bar
- walked through dodgiest dodgy area just off Shoreditch High Street
- had a pint at Brick Lane
- had too much gin tonic
- slapped someone in the face for the first time in my life
- lost my hoodie and my jacket
- lost my mobile
- lost my (left -again-) contact lense
- regained consciousness
- apologised to Eva a lot
- found contact lense in my eye
- found mobile in my bag
- had freshly squeezed apple juice and bubble for breakfast
- forgot to pay
- apologised to Eva some more
- watched City of God, which is amazing
- had horrible dirty chicken for tea
- got introduced to Derren Brown
- had nightmare involving Derren Brown
- found jacket and hoddie in Ros' room
- had cheerios for breakfast
That about sums it up. And now NOW I am off to my interview. Toodles!
*downs a pint of lager to calm down*
Saturday 11 September 2010
Balham!
So, things are happening!
Just when I was about to leave the horrible cafe yesterday my phone rang! It was V.N. the SHAD volunteers coordinator, who invited me for an interview on Monday morning at 11! I will spend the night in Hackney and then will have to make it allll the way to Balham! Might take a while, but shouldn't be too complicated. Overground, Central line, Northern line... I hope I won't end up working down there in the South.
V.N. says he really liked my application and that he has already talked to Gillian! That is awfully exciting, cause I haven't talked to Gillian in over 2 years and I have many questions. Obviously I couldn't ask him any of them, but it is nice to know that Gill is still out there. (Hello, Gill!)
V. also said that I would have to hand in a second reference as soon as possibubble.
So I wrote an email to a certain old English teacher of mine, who luckily is my friend on facebook (- that's how I knew her email address, you see). She was very pleased that I wrote to her in English and will be happy to write me another reference. Yayay! We also might go for a coffee in a couple of weeks when she will be in London with the 6th graders. Awww. I hope she won't bring the 6th graders.
Last night I watched the Ultimate Big Brother with Ros, Mathilde and Emma. Yes. I know... But you have to adapt to the culture of the country you live in to a certain extend.
It is not quite as horrible as the German Big Brother, but I am quite happy it is over and I am living in a Big Brother free country! Amazing!
Then I had quite a good night's sleep in my new hostel. BEST BED EVER. I wish I was still in it. Alas, I had to check out and am now back in the horrible cafe, drinking horrible tea. Upstairs, tho, not down in the prison cell. Here they have windows and mirrors and a TV with happy childrens' programmes on.
Plans for the rest of the day rather squishy.
PS: Innit.
Just when I was about to leave the horrible cafe yesterday my phone rang! It was V.N. the SHAD volunteers coordinator, who invited me for an interview on Monday morning at 11! I will spend the night in Hackney and then will have to make it allll the way to Balham! Might take a while, but shouldn't be too complicated. Overground, Central line, Northern line... I hope I won't end up working down there in the South.
V.N. says he really liked my application and that he has already talked to Gillian! That is awfully exciting, cause I haven't talked to Gillian in over 2 years and I have many questions. Obviously I couldn't ask him any of them, but it is nice to know that Gill is still out there. (Hello, Gill!)
V. also said that I would have to hand in a second reference as soon as possibubble.
So I wrote an email to a certain old English teacher of mine, who luckily is my friend on facebook (- that's how I knew her email address, you see). She was very pleased that I wrote to her in English and will be happy to write me another reference. Yayay! We also might go for a coffee in a couple of weeks when she will be in London with the 6th graders. Awww. I hope she won't bring the 6th graders.
Last night I watched the Ultimate Big Brother with Ros, Mathilde and Emma. Yes. I know... But you have to adapt to the culture of the country you live in to a certain extend.
It is not quite as horrible as the German Big Brother, but I am quite happy it is over and I am living in a Big Brother free country! Amazing!
Then I had quite a good night's sleep in my new hostel. BEST BED EVER. I wish I was still in it. Alas, I had to check out and am now back in the horrible cafe, drinking horrible tea. Upstairs, tho, not down in the prison cell. Here they have windows and mirrors and a TV with happy childrens' programmes on.
Plans for the rest of the day rather squishy.
PS: Innit.
Friday 10 September 2010
Madeira
So today is I-have-nothing-to-do-Friday. So you get two updates of my adventures in ponderland today.
This morning I checked out of my hostel, together with the Swedish girl who suddenly rushed off to some mysterious job she wasn't willing to talk about.
So I walked through London on my own. ALL OF IT. The WHOLE of London. For 1 1/2 hours! (My back laughs at me for telling SHAD that it was strong and healthy...)
I asked for a bed for the night at 5 (!) hostels, which were all booked out and was already getting used to the thought of sleeping in a cardboard box in Soho Square, when finally the 6th hostel had a bed for me. For 23 quid a night with breakfast. That's alright, I think. Cause it is a nice hostel with a bar and a pool table and a TV room that looks like an old wooden court room.
It's right at King's Cross, but I couldn't check in yet, I'll have to come back after 2.30pm. So I started walking around in search for a nice cafe with free Wifi. I found one!
-> I am currently in the second place that will go on my list of "Places to avoid in London". It is the downstairs seating area of the Madeira Cafe at King's Cross. They do have free wifi, but I feel a bit like in a prison cell, only there's no bed. And no barred windows, cause there's no windows at all. Only two grey pictures of fog, to cheer up the customers. I have been sipping at my cup of tea for about an hour now. It is horrible tea (and I must know, I am almost English now). I want beer. I want Gabby to be here (well not here, but maybe somewhere nice, with me) to rant at life's wrongness with me and celebrate the goodness of it. She is good at ranting and celebrating.
I have to go now. This place is too depressing.
This morning I checked out of my hostel, together with the Swedish girl who suddenly rushed off to some mysterious job she wasn't willing to talk about.
So I walked through London on my own. ALL OF IT. The WHOLE of London. For 1 1/2 hours! (My back laughs at me for telling SHAD that it was strong and healthy...)
I asked for a bed for the night at 5 (!) hostels, which were all booked out and was already getting used to the thought of sleeping in a cardboard box in Soho Square, when finally the 6th hostel had a bed for me. For 23 quid a night with breakfast. That's alright, I think. Cause it is a nice hostel with a bar and a pool table and a TV room that looks like an old wooden court room.
It's right at King's Cross, but I couldn't check in yet, I'll have to come back after 2.30pm. So I started walking around in search for a nice cafe with free Wifi. I found one!
-> I am currently in the second place that will go on my list of "Places to avoid in London". It is the downstairs seating area of the Madeira Cafe at King's Cross. They do have free wifi, but I feel a bit like in a prison cell, only there's no bed. And no barred windows, cause there's no windows at all. Only two grey pictures of fog, to cheer up the customers. I have been sipping at my cup of tea for about an hour now. It is horrible tea (and I must know, I am almost English now). I want beer. I want Gabby to be here (well not here, but maybe somewhere nice, with me) to rant at life's wrongness with me and celebrate the goodness of it. She is good at ranting and celebrating.
I have to go now. This place is too depressing.
Thursday 9 September 2010
Crrrrrazy
The Yesterday went quite well. I spent all day at The Wall of Stone being gay in an office full of gays doing gay stuff (not what you think). The work I do for them is mostly boring. I used to spend hours watching Hollyoaks and taking notes of gay references made during the show. And I used to type up spreadsheets or research contact details for them on the internet.
Yesterday I had to repeat surveys they took on paper on the internet. So basically I had to do the same online survey 150 times and pretend to be 150 different homophobes leaving comments like
"YUCKYUCK you GAYS! A GAY MAN FLIRTED WITH ME ONCE I HATE YOU ALL"*
or
"WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND PAPER I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS AT ALL"*
or
"SURVEYS LIKE THIS WOULD BE BETTER CARRIED OUT DURING SPRING WHEN THERE'S NOT SO MUCH WORK TO DO.
PS: I am scared of gays."*
So, that was quite delightful work. I spent 7 hours on it and then left, gay as a sailor at sea.
Well.
I went back to the hostel and ate more houmous ginger snaps. In my room I met a Swedish girl with massive tattoos and pears she shared with me. Turns out she just left her job and school in Sweden to live in London, even though she doesn't have anything to do yet. She's looking for work as an Aupair. And she is very confused, cause she had never been to London before. So I gave her some advices, cause I am such an old Londoner and know the city like the back of my hand, innit (For example I love saying "innit" all the time.).
Then there was another girl, who we thought was asleep, but after listening to our stories of what we are doing in London she all of a sudden laughed out loud and said: "You arrre both crrrazy." She had a lovely eastern european accent and a shaved head and massive dark eyes and I am a little bit in love with her.
Unfortunately I didn't get to know her better, cause I then had to leave to meet Eva and Sal and Cli at Angel (Still thinking about how to shorten my name so it's only three letters. All London lesbians have three letter names, I think.). In The Green. The Green is cool, during happy hour you get 2 pints for 3.70! Amazing! So we got all a bit drunkity and then went on to the Oak Bar, where I lost a few games of pool. Ah well... Somehow I found my way back to the hostel, too. I remember it involved a dog following me around for ages. I wonder if it is still sitting outside in front of the hostel waiting for me!? Bit scared to go outside and check...
* This is not an actual quote from the survey. Obv. But it comes quite close.
Yesterday I had to repeat surveys they took on paper on the internet. So basically I had to do the same online survey 150 times and pretend to be 150 different homophobes leaving comments like
"YUCKYUCK you GAYS! A GAY MAN FLIRTED WITH ME ONCE I HATE YOU ALL"*
or
"WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND PAPER I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS AT ALL"*
or
"SURVEYS LIKE THIS WOULD BE BETTER CARRIED OUT DURING SPRING WHEN THERE'S NOT SO MUCH WORK TO DO.
PS: I am scared of gays."*
So, that was quite delightful work. I spent 7 hours on it and then left, gay as a sailor at sea.
Well.
I went back to the hostel and ate more houmous ginger snaps. In my room I met a Swedish girl with massive tattoos and pears she shared with me. Turns out she just left her job and school in Sweden to live in London, even though she doesn't have anything to do yet. She's looking for work as an Aupair. And she is very confused, cause she had never been to London before. So I gave her some advices, cause I am such an old Londoner and know the city like the back of my hand, innit (For example I love saying "innit" all the time.).
Then there was another girl, who we thought was asleep, but after listening to our stories of what we are doing in London she all of a sudden laughed out loud and said: "You arrre both crrrazy." She had a lovely eastern european accent and a shaved head and massive dark eyes and I am a little bit in love with her.
Unfortunately I didn't get to know her better, cause I then had to leave to meet Eva and Sal and Cli at Angel (Still thinking about how to shorten my name so it's only three letters. All London lesbians have three letter names, I think.). In The Green. The Green is cool, during happy hour you get 2 pints for 3.70! Amazing! So we got all a bit drunkity and then went on to the Oak Bar, where I lost a few games of pool. Ah well... Somehow I found my way back to the hostel, too. I remember it involved a dog following me around for ages. I wonder if it is still sitting outside in front of the hostel waiting for me!? Bit scared to go outside and check...
* This is not an actual quote from the survey. Obv. But it comes quite close.
Wednesday 8 September 2010
"Yo t Hos l"
Living in London is a little boring.
It wouldn't be, tho (I think), if I wasn't stuck in a deserted hostel at the far end of Hyde Park with no common room, no money and hurty feet. I might drag myself to the pub around the corner later, even though it is full of very posh people, who are probably staying at the Hilton Hotel next door. They will look down on me and go: "You must be staying at the "Yo t Hos l" (cause that is what it says above the door of my hostel, innit) next to our hotel with your ripped Jeans and your worn out shoes. Get out of our Posh Pub!" And I will look up at them with big sad eyes like little Oliver when he came to London first (I imagine... never seen the musical) and they will feel sorry, cause my face is so dirty and maybe someone will adopt me!
Or maybe I'll just go to bed.
The hostel I am staying in is fine. It's clean, just very old, but also very, very cheap. I am sharing a room with three other people, who I haven't met yet, but I think they are girls and about 12 years old, according to the stuff they have lying around here.
Apart from the boringness of this evening my life as a Londoner (how lovely and weird does that sound?) is very exciting!
I have applied as a Full Time Volunteer with an oranisation named SHAD, who work with physically disabled people. I think the chances that they'll take me are quite good, given they believe the lies I told them about how I never have problems with my back at all.
I would LOVE to volunteer again, for a while! Afterall my time in Ireland still was one of the best in my life and I wouldn't mind similar experiences.
So yeah, fingers crossed!
Also I have done my first Official Food Shop as a non-tourist in London. I bought houmous and biscuits and ham and bread. So I can have houmous ham pockets or a ginger snap sandwich!
I also bought a towel at Primark on Oxford Street. Which is the first place on my list of "Places to avoid in London".
Tomorrow I will volunteer more for Stonewall. They have their office on the 14th floor of a building right next to Waterloo Station. You have the most amazing view over London from up there. And it is full of really nice people. I will tell you more about it later, maybe.
Now I will go and either get lost in Hyde Park or drunk in a pub. Cause that's what Londoners do, I think!
It wouldn't be, tho (I think), if I wasn't stuck in a deserted hostel at the far end of Hyde Park with no common room, no money and hurty feet. I might drag myself to the pub around the corner later, even though it is full of very posh people, who are probably staying at the Hilton Hotel next door. They will look down on me and go: "You must be staying at the "Yo t Hos l" (cause that is what it says above the door of my hostel, innit) next to our hotel with your ripped Jeans and your worn out shoes. Get out of our Posh Pub!" And I will look up at them with big sad eyes like little Oliver when he came to London first (I imagine... never seen the musical) and they will feel sorry, cause my face is so dirty and maybe someone will adopt me!
Or maybe I'll just go to bed.
The hostel I am staying in is fine. It's clean, just very old, but also very, very cheap. I am sharing a room with three other people, who I haven't met yet, but I think they are girls and about 12 years old, according to the stuff they have lying around here.
Apart from the boringness of this evening my life as a Londoner (how lovely and weird does that sound?) is very exciting!
I have applied as a Full Time Volunteer with an oranisation named SHAD, who work with physically disabled people. I think the chances that they'll take me are quite good, given they believe the lies I told them about how I never have problems with my back at all.
I would LOVE to volunteer again, for a while! Afterall my time in Ireland still was one of the best in my life and I wouldn't mind similar experiences.
So yeah, fingers crossed!
Also I have done my first Official Food Shop as a non-tourist in London. I bought houmous and biscuits and ham and bread. So I can have houmous ham pockets or a ginger snap sandwich!
I also bought a towel at Primark on Oxford Street. Which is the first place on my list of "Places to avoid in London".
Tomorrow I will volunteer more for Stonewall. They have their office on the 14th floor of a building right next to Waterloo Station. You have the most amazing view over London from up there. And it is full of really nice people. I will tell you more about it later, maybe.
Now I will go and either get lost in Hyde Park or drunk in a pub. Cause that's what Londoners do, I think!
Monday 6 September 2010
Down the Rabbit Hole...
I am in Ponderland. It is dirty and chaotic, full of rats and pigeons, expensive, smelly, rotten and massive. I feel at home in the weirdest, weirdest way.
Yesterday morning, wrapped in a blanket, sipping on a can of red stripe, I decided to stay.
Now. That's exciting, innit. And oh so scary.
It is mad. And I can't help wondering if maybe, maybe I am just being massively immature and unreasonable. And why I can't seem to stay in one place for more than a year. Konstanz, Cologne, Bochum, Galway, Bochum again, back to Konstanz... all since 2005. And now it is the Old Smoke. Who knows what on earth I am running from.
Thing is, I can't help it. I wasn't made for a life in a pretty German town full of old churches and red wine and old women sweeping the sidewalks at 7am on a Saturday morning. Much as I miss it when I am not there.
I like old pubs and beer and drunk men pissing on the sidewalks at 7 am on a Saturday morning better.
So I'll have to take a deep breath and tell my parents that I am dropping out of college. Again.
Last time went quite well. Here's what I blogged about it back then:
This time I want to have a vague idea of what else I could do before I tell them. So I'll have to hurry and get organised a bit. Will find hostel and look for jobses today and do some free work for the gays, cause I love them.
DEEP BREATH. Hello London!
(Feel free to let me know that I am STUPID AND MENTAL in a comment. But don't forget that some of The Best People were College drop outs or gays. Or both. I think the fact that it took Steven Spielberg 34 years to do his Bachelor makes me feel quite good about my decision.)
Yesterday morning, wrapped in a blanket, sipping on a can of red stripe, I decided to stay.
Now. That's exciting, innit. And oh so scary.
It is mad. And I can't help wondering if maybe, maybe I am just being massively immature and unreasonable. And why I can't seem to stay in one place for more than a year. Konstanz, Cologne, Bochum, Galway, Bochum again, back to Konstanz... all since 2005. And now it is the Old Smoke. Who knows what on earth I am running from.
Thing is, I can't help it. I wasn't made for a life in a pretty German town full of old churches and red wine and old women sweeping the sidewalks at 7am on a Saturday morning. Much as I miss it when I am not there.
I like old pubs and beer and drunk men pissing on the sidewalks at 7 am on a Saturday morning better.
So I'll have to take a deep breath and tell my parents that I am dropping out of college. Again.
Last time went quite well. Here's what I blogged about it back then:
So... I recently dropped out of college.
The college doesn't know yet. But my parents do.
I was really scared to tell them, afterall they spent a shitload of money on my education during the past couple of years. I felt like a loser and complete disappointment to my mum and dad, when I sobbed my drop-out plans into the telephone receiver.
My mum was cool, though. She said she still loved me and if I wanted to, she would take all the boxes with gift wrap out of my old room and I could come back home to live in it and she'd make me breakfast and a hot water bottle.
Then she said I needed to find something else to do.
This time I want to have a vague idea of what else I could do before I tell them. So I'll have to hurry and get organised a bit. Will find hostel and look for jobses today and do some free work for the gays, cause I love them.
DEEP BREATH. Hello London!
(Feel free to let me know that I am STUPID AND MENTAL in a comment. But don't forget that some of The Best People were College drop outs or gays. Or both. I think the fact that it took Steven Spielberg 34 years to do his Bachelor makes me feel quite good about my decision.)
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