last sleep in London

Tomorrow night, after my last day at the internship, I go back to Cardiff. I'm pretty damn excited about it. I didn't realize how much I liked Cardiff until I lived in London for three weeks. Why am I moving to London again? Why can't the good job opportunities be in a smallish city like Cardiff?

Ok, London is fine, really. In some ways it's better than New York. For one thing, it's not nearly as hot in the summer. It's a little steamy on the tube, that's for sure. But you can get to work feeling reasonably tidy, even on the warmest days--which reach about 80 Fahrenheit. And I think if I had my bicycle here, I'd have been happier. There are tons of markets with fresh produce and really delicious Korean restaurants where you can lunch for a fiver. And also lots of lovely museums and such.

Today I was talking with my friend Emma about my fear of the next month, and it occurred to me that maybe after I drop the dissertation off to be bound and move out of the flat, perhaps putting stuff in storage, maybe Dan and I would have time to take a short trip to north Wales or somewhere to camp. Maybe not, maybe we will have a flat in London or jobs lined up. But if we don't, a little trip might be nice. The whole point of moving to another country was to be less tied down, so maybe I should remember to take advantage of moments when I am not booked. Though they are few and far between until the end of August.

In an unrelated side note, there's a guy at work who looks like Kevin Bacon and also one who looks like Jerry Seinfeld.

I am off to sleep my last sleep in London for a bit. G'night.

2 days more

2 days left at the ol' internship. Perhaps you'd like to see where I work? Well, ok, then. It is the building on the right. The water in the foreground is the River Thames.



Tonight I have been reconsidering my CV, to apply for two job opportunities. One is a trainee reporter thing at a weekly newsmag. The other is an editor for a group that manages a wide variety of educational materials. And also I am planning to tell the people at the internship that I am interested in a full-time position.

In addition to that business, I have about four weeks to finish my dissertation and move out of my apartment in Cardiff. As of yet, there are no specific plans for where/when we will move to.

Are you having a summer vacation?

internship, posh house, and Korean food

I have been in London for a week now. I am living in the posh house and working (but not getting paid) in the interactive features department of a newspaper website. It's pretty good. Some days it's hard, both to go to work for 8 hours (plus an hour each way on the tube) and also to do the work once I'm there.

See, the department (called a desk in newspaper lingo) is shortstaffed, so they are sort of halfheartedly looking for new people. And if I could really impress them, they might offer me a job. But I don't know what I'm doing in many ways. And they're all so busy that it's hard to waste their time trying to impress them. But this week should be better. I am working early shift three days, which means that I have certain assigned tasks that I need to carry out. So I don't have to ask people for work quite as much as I had to last week. We shall see.

In other London news, Dan and I ate lunch at a really amazing Korean restaurant today. The lunch special was 5 pounds, and it included kim chee, pickled bean sprouts, spicy cucumbers, rice, beef and vegetables, and soup. A much better deal than I have yet found in Cardiff.

And another cool thing is that I cross the Thames River every day to get to and from work. No big deal.

Rejection and accomplishment

On Friday, I received a rejection from a job I applied to earlier this year. An excerpt (yes, the space before the second period was there in the email):

I regret to tell you we have not included you on the shortlist. Please do not feel too disappointed . This is hugely a competitive scheme and we had an exceptional field of applicants this year.

I do not feel too disappointed, thanks. This constitutes my third job rejection (fourth if you count a work placement rejection, which I don't, because it's unpaid) since January. The important thing is that I'm trying.

I just sent my first draft of my dissertation to my supervisor. It is amazing how many words I have typed in the last few weeks. The draft was about 5,200 words in total, and my articles combined need to hit 9,000-12,000 in the end. There is a lot left to do, but I have done a lot. It's a bit like climbing a big hill. About halfway up, it's helpful to look down and see how far you've come. I suppose life is a little like that.

Next I make cookies. A friend had an unpleasant surgical procedure today, and I'm going to bring her cookies to reward her for being such a good girl at the doctor's. Tomorrow I go clothes shopping (ugh) so I can go to work next week not looking like a total jackass. And then a haircut is in order, and by then I expect to appear presentable.

Happy July 4th!

This morning we are singing "America, f* yeah!" in celebration of our nation's independence. There will be no celebration in the way of fireworks, but Dan and I are going to have a surfing lesson with our English friend Jono (and possibly our English friend Emma), and that in itself seems fairly celebratory to me. You know, learn something from the oppressors and then get the f* out.

I have learned how to make guacamole. It's not that hard, and the most challenging part is digging the avocado out of its skin. But if this is something you'd like to do, I'd recommend, after letting the avocados sit out for 3-4 days, slice them in half, then run a spoon along the inside of the skin. It slides pretty well and pulls the skin right off.

Anyway, enough of the cooking lesson. Last night some friends came over for burritos, which is why I was making guacamole. They seemed to enjoy the burritos, but appeared to be lukewarm on the guac. I suppose for a Korean, a Chinese and a Pole, guacamole is not that exciting.

In any event, I have been having far too much fun this week for someone whose first dissertation draft is due on Monday. But I'm taking today off for surfing and tomorrow and Sunday will be devoted to writing. I don't care how much fun stuff is happening, I need to finish my work.

In about ten days, I will begin my work placement/internship. I have lined up a very posh house for the three-week period I'll be in London. It's not terribly convenient for getting to work, but it will be a nice place. For those interested in such things, it's in Fulham (southwest London). Based on my brief walkaround on Tuesday, I would call it a habitat of yuppie breeders. But there is a nice park close by, which overlooks the Thames. And the house has an upstairs sundeck where I can drink tea in the morning, so it will be lovely.

Posh house: