London

If you thought I was still in Paris, I apologise, that would be completely my fault. I am in actual fact now in London, England. The capital of the world. The most cosmopolitan, busy, eclectic, explorable and generally English speaking city in the world.. and by far NOT the most English. I love it.

St Pauls Cathedral

I arrived here October 21st, one day after the Rugby World Cup final which luckily enough (there is always some silver lining) had England in it. This made hitch hiking from Paris to London a little too easy in that we jumped in the boot of van load of English lads from London who took me one block from where I was staying in Clapham, London (andy had to take a bus.. poor kid).

Our flat. Andy found it.. and we flipped a coin to choose it, the first we saw. I was convinced as soon as we got a scoop of chips from the local.

It took one week to find a flat, two months to find a job and I am still seeking the best kebab in London. I am now well settled in a flat in Leytonstone, East London. Its absolutely fantastic. We have had many many couchsurfers sleep on our couch, on the kitchen floor and in the stairway cupboard. During my two months of unemployment I was essentially managing (read: conversing and partying) with couchsurfers. Averaged about 6 a night.

Our lounge, note the shisha on the right.. our pride and joy. and the largest thing I own (thank you Fi).

I have now got a sweet job at a company similar to my one one back home, aside from this one is 20 times bigger. WDA is in full swing with a regular crew every week. I have been able to sneak away on a few sneaky little trips, more about that in the next post (yes, I intend to post two or three times in the next few days... it may be possible). Life is pretty darn sweet. Even the English weather has been far better than I anticipated (admittedly I had extremely low expectations).



One high light in London has been having Lauren (my most awesome little sister ever) sneaking over here for Christmas. It was a cool opportunity to explore London together. I didn't realise how much I missed my family until I had Lauren here (which is rather convenient really).

I would like to give you some insight into London, how it works and what I think about it. But I am really not sure where to start. Its massive, that's obvious. Its diverse... which I reckon is the best part. We live in East London, Leytonstone to be precise, and there are more Eastern Europeans, Africans and Middle Easterner people than there are English people. In fact its quite a treat to meet a pom. I love London, you know what i mean?

I thought it best to finish with a small video clip from the banks of the Thames in London just before Christmas. You can see The City in the back ground with the 'gherkin'. I also managed to capture a 'rare' kiwi well out side its natural environment.. cutting some mean shapes. Big ups Lauren!