Blog Action Day

Thanks to Kaili, I've heard about blog action day. According to Kaili "the point is to devote some of your blog space to how the environment affects you and what you are doing to help make a difference". Delve a little deeper here.

I think that I definitely make a negative impact on the environment due to my recent transatlantic travel and my encouragement to friends and family to visit despite the carbon emissions. However, in the city I have a small footprint. I don't own a car, nor do I see myself ever owning one in London. So my transportation is the tube, the bus, or walking. Also, because everything that I immediately need (groceries, restaurants, even some clothes shopping) is within my high street - I can even minimize my public transport travel. However, work (when I start to do that) may increase my reliance.

With groceries, I minimize shopping as my fridge is an apartment fridge that I share with my roommate. We definitely don't use up much energy there. Also, we keep the place pretty cold and use blankets or the fire instead of super heating our place. Finally, I minimize the use of plastic bags. Most meals for two days can fit into one cloth bag. And with the recent push to ban plastic bags (see San Francisco), I think that's an important step in the right direction.

That's my stream of consciousness - I apologize if you expected the regular tourist blast. Any comments about what you do?

Flying Buttresses!

Instead of a long post today - I did three shorter posts.
The past few days have been fun and relaxing. I've stayed around my borough mainly - though I did venture to Westminster Abbey (but didn't go inside) and Buckingham Palace today. I completed more job searches. I met with someone today and she had two positions that seemed perfect for me, but I guess now I have to find out if I was seen as acceptable for the job by employers - at least acceptable enough that they want to interview me. Job hunting is so much luck as skill, that I would really like some luck right now so I can test out my skills. Oh well, I can only cross my fingers so many times --- unless you would like to cross your fingers for me!

Westminister Abbey's exterior was pretty cool - but I think it's the inside that will make it fabulous. That will be a trip soon. I apologize that I didn't go with the poll but I was in the 'abbey and palace area and it just made more sense. I can't wait to have a bit more pocket money and the few days before I start a job --- I'll see everything and post probably every day. Ah, the far off dream.

Here's the abbey though: I do adore flying buttresses

I think there are better homes in London

But maybe I'm just pretending, as I'll never get to live here.
Buckingham - I finally made it down. It's definitely massive. But with all the architecture and gardens and statues in London - it's not as amazing as I imagined. St. James Park is beautiful though, and there are loads of maple trees and Canadian geese. Canada is even here, despite it being an iconic London site. However, it seemed so simple and its grandiose nature seemed lost not fitting. I admit there was an abudance of tourists, something I never love, but even with that - you didn't get this shudder feeling. It just seemed placed and stiff. Perhaps the building as taken on the personality of the monarchy. On a positive note, I loved the little crowns on the lamps. It was a great kitschy touch that made me laugh out loud. I was also there at the start of the changing of the guards. No good pictures came out of it though due to my close proximity. I think a picture does tell a 1000 words, so here's two more. One - the little crown lamps and Two- me at St. James Park. Side note - that is my real eye colour. I get asked too many times if its fake colour contacts. When the sky goes grey - my real eye colour comes out. The sky went grey at that moment.

He isn't just a man on paper

He's a statue too

Good old bulldog.
The man I studied for three out of my four years of university has a rather ho-hum statue in an optimum area. The statue is situated between Big Ben and the walk down to James Park. However, it's surroundings are poor. You can't get over to view it close up, and construction of some kind surrounds it. I understand that not everyone has a deep love for Churchill, but when you study most of his political and tactical moves (poor or not), you expect more of a show. As you can tell, I was one of those people. Considering great seamen and engineers view the South Bank and are in Victoria Gardens, why did Bulldog get the shaft on his view? I think I would rather see the trees in a slightly less visible area, then see Big Ben. Anyway, if you want to wikipedia Churchill feel free (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill).. but it's really only a tiny overview into this man's life.

previously on....

The last few days I have been job hunting. Unfortunately, that does not make for exciting posts so I'm writing about the previous visit to South Bank.
Across is Big Ben and Parliament. Being used to the Victoria and Ottawa buildings, I was expecting to see more grey within the stones. Instead, the browns are overwhelming and gilded features are a bit shocking. Side note: no vendors are allowed to stop on that bridge. Often police patrol the bridge and you can see the vendors start wandering and pretending to take a casual stroll.

Smells like home to me

I apologize for my last midnight post. I definitely repeated myself and will try to not make that a regular occurrence. This is a short post. I made it over to Trafalgar Square yesterday and worked my way into Canada House. I have to say, it was a blessing in disguise. I was hit with an overwhelming sense of relief when I walked into the building. Free internet, free Canadian papers, and friendly Canadian sounding staff. The weirdest thing of all though, it smelt like a Canadian Building. It wasn't anything overt, but just this pleasant ordour that isn't in the pubs or other national buildings.

On a side note, Canada House is a fantastic building in probably the most prominent square in the city. It's amazing that we've almost lost the building twice due to government cutbacks. It does offer a multitude of services to any Canadian abroad. From regular clubs, to networking events, to just plain help - Canada House is a place to check out. Also it has a small exhibition going on right now for Canadian designers - fashion, graphic, and architecture. Just bring your passport to check it out!

If it's not one thing, it's another.

Starting a late post today. It's technically 15 minutes to midnight, so I am still posting on Monday but I have definitely delayed writing today.
It's hard to think back and bring out quips and wonderful details over the past four days, and has slightly inspired me to blog more often. Being unemployed, I do have a lot of time on my hands in which I shouldn't spend any money so...... this is a good compromise.
I was pretty busy over the weekend. I saw some more "interesting" and touristy sites.

Below is a picture of St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a beautiful site with its grounds filled with German and some Scandenavian country tourists. I didn't enter due to the large influx of people around me and the knowledge that entering the building would make it worse. However, I do have great plans to go in *hopefully this week* and give you more of a breakdown of what makes this place tick.
Next: A cool pub that is 201 years older than Canada. That's why I love this city so far. The heritage around every alley is such a novel concept. I also found out that the tube technically started on January 19th, 1863. This city has way too much to explore!

Further along: The Temple of Mithras. Ruins from Roman occupation of London. For more details and a better summary than I could give go to: http://www.britainexpress.com/History/temple_of_mithras.htm

Finally, on Sunday night I headed to the opening of London Fashion Week. While no Paris or New York or even Milan, London Fashion Week is a pretty big deal with designers like Stella McCartney, Vivenne Westwood and Matthew Williamson debuting their spring/summer lines. While I was not able to get into the high-security/valet swanky event, I did hop over to Holland Park to see their kick-off led and balloon light sculpture. Check out hague.co.uk to find out more on the technical details. It was beautifully done with the all attached and interactive balloon structure taking off about 15 minutes past the "assigned" time.
It was wonderfully done, hard to explain without being there of course, but definitely a fantastic way to kick off with an art exhibit in the park that was definitely young, modern and different. Unfortunately, they didn't get the right communication to the park guards and everything was locked (parks have opening and closing times here) by 9:00 p.m. It resulted in having a 10 foot leap down from a Holland Park wall alongside my fellow lemmings.

Other sites I saw: Millenium Bridge. Tate Modern. South Bank. Southbank Lion. Big Ben. London Eye. Richmond. (I'll post later about all that) I also took the rail and a double decker today. Double Decker is jumpier than I would imagine. However, the rail is the best way to travel. So far, I've enjoyed Richmond area a lot and really would like to explore further. I also need to go to a West-end show. Maybe a matinee will be in the cards.

Post again soon.

The little things

On strict orders by the certain someone, I've added some pictures to this post and will henceforth add pictures to the majority of my posts. The last few days have been speeding by. I still know the schedule to way too much daytime television tv, but I'm starting to develop some routines in my daily life.

I've made some inroads into the job hunt. I was able to meet an employee in the UK office of my previous employer. She gave me a lot of insight, and (cross fingers) the ability to meet a "powerhouse" in my field. If all goes well, I will be meeting him next week. I will be studying up on all recent communication trends all weekend. Don't worry, I'll never post on something that dull. On that note though, I have no real job prospects from this week. I definitely have to keep telling myself that finding a job within a week (that's right I've been here for only nine days) is near impossible and an unrealistic expectation. As long as I'm active in my hunt, I'm hoping something will work for me.

But it's mainly the little things that have kept me busy this week. It's amazing how much you take for granted when you have lived in a country all your life. I've had to apply for my National Insurance (SIN card), register for a doctor, and get a bank account. Thankfully, all have gone without a hitch so far - but I did discover that all of this really reiterates to me that I am here indefinitely and that is not a holiday. I've had to prove my identity over and over again. To get my NIN number, I have to go through an "identity interview". In which I must bring everything that I possibly could to make sure they know I'm a real person. (passports, previous residences, mail, testing?) I'm not looking forward to it, but I am enthused about getting a reduced tax break.

Finally I got my library card. I'm super thrilled about that as the library is only two buildings over, I have free access to books and dvds. I never did get around to doing that in Ottawa, and with the building so close it will be easy to be a constant reader. Soon, with some improvements to my flat, this really will be my neighbourhood. Below are pictures of the borough.

This is my underground station - Clapham Common. All the buildings behind that station are about the height of everything in the neighbourhood.

This is my library. - The Starbucks is just to the left. I have everything I need within a 30 second walk from my flat!

My common - I apologize for the bad pic. It's also much larger than it appears.

Side note, made it to the west-end - though busy, it is stunningly beautiful with its old white buildings and sooo much theatre it makes you inspired to go everynight.

Life is... a super mario kart game

Hello All.

So I have a difference to address about Britain. The roads are similar to Mario Kart. Catering to those readers under the age of 35, as you know when you start your race on Mario Kart the light changes from red to yellow (so you can start to gear up) and then goes green. Then, you blast off at the start. This is the way that the roads work in London. It really speeds things up - and I fully enjoy the idea that I live in a Nintendo world.

Over the past five days, I haven't been able to do much. I finally feel recovered today from my cold/flu/cough. However, I did apply to some jobs (boring... and frustrating when nothing pans out quickly.). As well, Sally took me out on Friday night to see London Bridge at night. It was awe-inspiring. The city is definitely gorgeous at night with many pubs that have gardens in the back and you can see the lights of the bank region through some of the cobblestone blocks. The same night, I went into my first taxi. A couple highlights - 1. you don't really have to duck to get in. 2. You can fit five into the back. 3. I had a woman driver - she held her own.

Finally, my uncle took me to Ikea today. Seriously, it is an institution. Same colours, materials, style. The only difference - this Ikea is from an old smokestack. You could see the posts with the blue and yellow rings from about five kilometres away.

I will post again Thursday. Perhaps with pictures of more tourist things.

my first blog

To state the obvious, this is my first blog.

I gather it takes a while to clearly communicate your thoughts via this online tool, so I apologize for my ramblings, side notes and nonsensical musings in advance. As the title suggests, I am starting this blog as I have now moved to London, England from good old Ottawa. I figured this was a way to avoid sending mass emails that often include people who you thought would want to read your daily adventures, but really delete the email the instant it hits their inbox. Also I figured I could make my parents hip by telling them to check up on me via my blog. Yes, you can be hip too by reading a blog. As well, I can post pictures which allows me to not fill someone's inbox when once again, they would rather delete my name. Blogs are far more the reader's choice, and therefore fits my bill. The least intrusive, the better.

I officially live in Clapham. I have a new apartment or flat as it is called, but I already miss the old one. (It was a 10 ft ceiling one-bedroom walk-up that actually felt like a home, not just a space that I reside) My roommate is great and I do enjoy how everything is so close, but it will take a while to have it feel like home. However, I have become a hobbit in the new apartment. I have a dreadful cold and that has floored me considerably. I've watched some bad TV that is about three seasons ago. I take comfort that Buckingham Palace isn't going anywhere at least and that I can take it easy for my first few days. Also, I've become a hacker and got some security enabled internet for free.

Last night was my first venture past Clapham. I headed up to Picadilly Circus and Covenant Gardens. Picadilly Circus is just a mess of everything and getting lost is unavoidable. However, getting lost in the Gardens was far more enjoyable as I ended up at the Royal Ballet Academy. I was thrilled to see so many ballets offered. There is never a break! See the above picture for the building. I love the mix of traditional and modern architecture via a bridge. So simple.

I'm still getting settled with a constant devotion to job hunting, and used to the euphanisms, nuances, and general witty remarks that I am unfamiliar with. I assume I will have many more days to explore. I am going to overwhelm my senses and, most likely, my sensibilities.

My goal is to post on Mondays and Thursdays. I hope I can keep that up!