Adventures in London: Issue 2

Well I have made it through my first week in London and what a week it was. Work has been in full force, which has been both really good and quite tiring (took me a while to get over my jet lag). So let's see what do I have to show for my first week...

On my third day of work I had a business pitch up in Manchester with a bank. The pressure was definitely on as depending on how well I present they were either going to sign or pass on us. I am glad to report that they decided to sign and we kicked off the project on Friday :-)

The work week was pretty filled with work, and socializing with various people in the Brain Drain. I met a nice group of people who are fairly new to London (moving from the US, Canada, etc) and they have been helpful with guiding me as to where I should live.

Last night I met up with an old random "friend" of mine from BU over in London Bridge. I will have to admit, as awkward as I thought it was going to be to see him again it was actually nice to see a familiar face that was non-work related and to meet other people outside of MindShare. We went to the National Theatre after dinner for drinks which was really cool - Right on the river, you have view of the the eye...(guess the only parallel that I can think of is having drinks at the MET cafe and looking over Central Park).

In terms of apartment hunting I am torn between two lifestyles. A part of me would like to do the London Bridge/ Old Street (similar to SoHo) area, which are convenient to work, and quite central to London and the sites. The downside is that the apartments are matchbox size and pricey. Pretty much going for the NYC Manhattan life style again. On the other side, I would like to travel outward to what the foreigners call the "burbs" and rent a proper size place with a terrace/ garden, modern kitchen/ bath, etc. It all comes down to who I plan on hanging out with to be honest and what my priorities are....

More to come as I continue my slow hunt for a flat.

On another note, I have come to realize how isolating London can be when you don't know people. Truly miss my friends and family today. I left my apartment briefly today to do some grocery shopping and then came back. I am still having a difficult time with just leaving the apartment to explore. I went running yesterday and I was all out of sync as I had no clue to where I was going. Had to stop every couple of minutes to check the map to ensure I was going in the right direction - if you know me you know that was quite annoying and made me quite sad.

Well I am off to prepare some dinner and watch rubbish TV.

Miss you all! Hope you are well. Please drop me a line and let me know how you are.

xoxo

T

PS: I have attached a photo of the view from our floor.
PPS: If you would like to be removed from this list, please let me know and I will...