pinky rings and dental drills

Everyday I come across one or two things that I just don’t understand or really hate about London. Here are a few…

1. In my book, this is the most important on my list. Ready? Guys wear pinky rings here, and it really grosses me out in a very extreme way. Once I see their pinky rings, I just can’t take their masculinity seriously. It’s just so smug and wimpy looking. I bet I could beat most of the pinky-ring-wearers in an arm wrestling competition. For real.

2. There are these two haunted houses themed after the Tower of London, and they hire people to dress up with blood makeup all over their face to stand outside and get people to buy tickets. Sometimes they jump out of garbage cans along the street, and Lis and I literally run away down the street in terror. These people are SO freaky… both Lisa and I absolutely hate them. And they stand in between the tube stop and our wonderful cheese market. It’s like awful bullies that stand in between little kids and the swing set.

3. The flat next to us is being renovated, and every morning at 7:30am, this guy whips out an electric saw (that sounds just like a giant dental drill) and just goes for it. Sometimes he opts for the hammer. Even on Saturdays. I work in the mornings, so I don’t hate it as much as Lisa…. She really hates it.

There are a lot of things that I like a lot. But, I just get so frustrated about those stupid pinky rings that I needed to let you know what I’m being forced to deal with here. Oh, but here’s something fun…today outside of my tube station there was this crazy guy with a wig, a fake mustache and giant glasses handing out newspapers and smoking the hugest cigar I have ever seen in my life. It was the size of a banana, and I’m not even exaggerating.
Also, send me your address. I have lots of time to write postcards and letters, so if you want one, give me your address. Actually, scratch that. If you want a letter, you have to write me one first. My address is down below this somewhere.

PS - totally got paid today. Now, I can pay my rent and finally feel settled. Just wanted you to know that I'm going to be okay. :)

I spell country k-u-p-l

Today I realized that KUPL streams through itunes radio, and I can listen to it at work! Do you know that there's an accident on Farmington Road causing a big traffic jam? And that it's going to be 80 degrees on Sunday? Do you know that McCormick and Schmick's gave away $100? And that OSU beat USC in an absolutely epic football game? Well, I do. Even better, I listened to the morning show (at 3pm my time), and imagined all the people back home listening to it on their way to work. It was a great moment that I shared with my headphones in my quiet office. :) And it was so wonderful to hear all those Portland words. And... get a brief respite from London's obsession with techno. Praise Jesus for country music and tidbits of home life. Hope you all have a fabulous, sunny weekend.

Something for you -

I have to tell you all that it’s hard for me to know what to write here. I’ve been here for three weeks, and the bright, sparkley feeling of London has long worn off. Life here is the same as it would be at home, except at home I would have a social life. J I wake up commute an hour to work, I work, and then I commute an hour back home. I pick up some milk or bagels at the grocery store, and then make some dinner. I putz around in my little flat for a couple of hours, and then I go to bed. It’s not really as pathetic as it sounds on here… I promise. We live vibrant lives on the weekend, but five days a week, it’s a pretty casual-average routine.

It’s a very strange change. I’m not used to all this quiet, alone time and it has taken some conscious mental adjustment on my end. There isn’t much to distract me from the core of who I am, and I’m being confronted with things everyday. Deep questions run through my mind constantly… what do I want? Who do I want to be? What do I love? Who do I love? I find myself internally dialoguing with Jesus all the time. It reminds me of a verse my mom told me about in Isaiah- “In quietness and trust is your strength.” I don’t have many words to share with those around me, but Jesus and I have a lot we’re talking about. He has some important things to teach me here, and I’m trying to be extra aware of what He might be trying to show me.

I’m often tired… not from being excessively active, but from the mental workout I’m getting all day long. And even when I sleep, I’m working through things in my dreams. Almost every night, I dream about something from home, or a weird situation that involves it somehow. It’s all very different. I know that it’s good… it’s hard, but good… which is as it should be, I suppose. The beauty of life is felt the strongest in the deep layers of our souls, right?

So, to put your minds at ease, I’m okay. I’m even better than that on most days. I’m struggling through some things and just processing through others. I miss home… terribly. But I’m here, and Jesus is faithful to take care of me.

Round 1 goes to Sarah

Guys! Guess what. Today at our staff meeting I decided to bring up my beef with the constant silence in the office. So, at the end of the meeting, I raised my shakey hand and mustered my voice to sound more confident than it felt. I told them that all the silence in this office is a little unnatural, and it's driving me crazy. I told them that I'm a chatty girl, and I need to ability to interact with people every once and a while, and I think it's fair that the office be a place where people are allowed to talk. The men all stared at me for a minute- not quite sure what to think about this American girl, and then one of them piped up and agreed! The big boss (who is a little afraid of me, I've been told), avoided all form of confrontation and said it would be a good idea to facilitate a bit more communication... so shazam. I win! Back to work; I'll write more later.

an honest post

I'm trying to make up my mind about something. Is not having internet access at my flat a good or bad thing? I've reached that point where I'm starting to get a little homesick… and by a little, I mean that I teared up at work yesterday when I thought about how much I'm already missing my dad… and how I don't get to see him for another six and a half months. On the other hand, not having internet access at my fingertips forces me to let go of home and wallow less than I'm tempted to do. I think in the long run it's a good thing, but that's not stopping me from really hating it right now. Is it much to ask of a mob boss to install some wireless internet? And maybe give us a kitchen table while he's at it? I really think it's a rational request.

I think I need to do some things differently while I'm here. First, I need to stop reading the newspapers they hand out on the tube. To save myself from bordom (and the constant barrage of my own thoughts), I usually flip through it on my commute to or from work. Problem: everyday there's some terror story about psychos roaming the streets late at night causing havoc. Granted, these stories are always in a bad part of town… where I never am. These horrible things always happen late at night… when I'm safely in my locked flat. But I just freak myself out anyway. And that leads me to the second thing I need to do differently… I need to smile more. Yesterday I was walking home from the tube stop, and this guy hollers out his window, "Would it kill you to smile, lady?!" I wanted to holler right back, "No, it won't kill me, but according to the newspaper something else might, which is why I'm not smiling in the first place!" Instead I just ignored him and walked faster. Jerk.

I feel like this has turned into a stressful week for me. There have just been a couple of big things that have piled up to make me feel daunted… which is one of the things I most hate feeling. On Monday, my boss told me that he wants me to do an entire marketing campaign for this office within the greater London area. He'd like it done within a couple of months. Completely impossible… even for someone who loves marketing, and that's certainly not my attitude towards it. Also, it's being difficult to get on the payroll here for a handful of reasons, and that's frustrating. Maybe a little more than frustrating... the longer I'm not on payroll, the longer I go without a paycheck. London is expensive... you get the picture. I know how to be a penny pincher and cook cheap meals, but things could get interesting here. If you want to join me in praying about this, I wouldn't complain.

So, here I am in London struggling to trust Jesus, just like I always do. Over and over again, He takes care of me, but as soon as one thing goes wrong, I panic and stop trusting him and try to do it myself. I worry and stress, and that whole idea of being laid back flies out the window. I'm trying to work on it, but it takes conscious thought, and stressing comes as second nature to me, unfortunately.

I know that I promised that I wouldn't be an emotional blogger, but I'm not sure I can hold to that right now. If I had a plethora of people to talk to, this post would have been about how much I love nutella toast and sudokus after work. But I don't have a plethora of people; I have Lisa and a blog. So, this is what it is.

But for the record, I do really love nutella toast and doing sudokus after work.

And also for the record, I miss you guys a lot. I think of you often, and that's when I smile.

I've just included a few pics here... the rest are on facebook. Or, family, the rest are with my mom. Email her if you want more. Ironically, I'm smiling like crazy in all these pictures, which doesn't really mesh with the tone of this post. However, I've been socially constructed to smile in pictures, and it's also possible proof that I am still happy here... regardless of how frustrating this week has been.

My address

Dear friends and family,

I have an address. Let's make good use of it, and send letters to each other. If you write to me, there's a much better chance that I'll write to you. :) From now on, ditch the BUNAC address and send things here:

Sarah Reid
139 Wandsworth Bridge Road
Flat #4
Fulham, London SW6 2TT
United Kingdom

Savvy, pirates?

Twelfth Night and musings

Yesterday I decided to live it big in the city of London. Lisa was at work, and I wasn't about to sit on my bum on a Friday night... so I stepped way out of the comfort box, and I went to a rock opera version of Shakespeare's Twefth Night by myself. You guys, I wish you could have seen it... words can not express how freaking ridiculous this thing was. At one point, they encorporated this giant musical number and started bringing the audience up to dance on stage. And then the actors brought out pizza and threw it into the rest of the audience. And then they started handing out maracas and these fuzzy balls that we could throw onto the stage and hit the actors who were wearing velcro outfits. And twenty minutes after that, they did a tribute song to tequila, and had a bunch of people take shots on stage while a bubble machine provided extra spectacle. It was a Shakespeare play, people. I didn't know whether to be irritated, confused, or just go with it. I decided on the last two choices, and had a stellar time. I've decided that when it comes down to it, I like myself a lot... and I can be very content with my own company. That's going to come in handy here... with my non existant social circle. :)

This morning Lisa and I slept in and then spent the day at Burough Market and Hampstead Heath. We bought some great cheese (Moto, you'd die for this stuff), some bread, and some wine. And I bought some olives, because flavor is my favorite thing on earth, and these are bursting with it. This will be our traditional Sunday evening dinner, and I think it's going to be one of my favorite London things. It was so fun to wander without an agenda... snitching samples of cheese, eating strawberries, and lunching on fish and chips.

After being in the crowded market, Lisa needed trees and space, so we headed out to Hampstead Heath. We ambled down paths through forests, and breathed clean air for a while. And then we found the best tree in the entire world... it had huge branches low to the ground, so we climbed up and sat for a while. It was good for Lisa's soul, and a good break for me.

After all the adventures, we got some cleaning supplies and waged war against our dirty apartment. That was good for my soul. :)

So I've realized something about myself since being here. Freaking out is a choice, and I have the ability to be a laid back person. After the initial trauma of landing in a new country, I haven't freaked out at all. I've approached this whole situation with a very different mentality than what I live with at home. Excellence isn't the goal... survival is. When things don't go perfectly in line with my plans, I get over it, and adapt. I'm realizing that I'm a lot tougher than I thought I was. I can comfortalby live independantly from familiarity. That's a big deal for me... the girl obsessed with routine, plans, and habit. It's just one of the many things I'm going to realize about myself while being over here.

I love it so much here, and I'm so glad that I did this. It's an adventure everyday, and I love it. I wish you could all come visit, so I could show you all the fun there is to be had. Who knows... we might be able to get tickets to another showing of Twelfth Night. :)

From the desk of Sarah Reid

Do you know what today is? It’s an important day… a day I’ve been waiting most expectantly for. Today, I have a routine and nothing else. I don’t have to go grocery shopping. I don’t have to buy things for my flat. I don’t have to go to the bank, make an appointment, or do anything else. Today, I go to work, and then I go home. It is such a welcome change.

I’m at work and so terribly bored. My co-workers think I’m writing an email to someone, but really I’m just typing this, and then I’ll copy and paste it onto my blog when I finish. Sneaky, sneaky me. I am terribly bored, and being bored is certainly more fun in London… but it’s boring all the same. On Monday when I came to work, I had someone ask me to make his guests coffee. Apparently I’m in change of that. And I’m in charge of washing the dishes as well. Not only the cups that I’m not using, but also the plates that all the men use when they eat their lunch. Are thirty year old men incapable of doing dishes? Did they seriously hire me to clean up after them? I’m beginning to suspect this.

That was pretty much it for Monday. I actually got so bored that I voluntarily read a document about AV documentation processes. Desperate times, my friends. J Yesterday I listened to thirty six blank voicemails, found the mystery-Scotch, and wore my hair down so I could sneak-listen to my ipod. Lisa and I think that the Scotch came from the person who had this job before me… maybe it was their one thrill in an eight hour day.

Today I organized two years worth of invoices according to date and stuck them in binders… where has my education taken me?! I just have to keep telling myself that everything is more exciting in London, right? I can do this!

In other (much more exciting) news, Lisa and I now have a pan, some pots (which we assembled with only the help of a butter knife), bedding, and hangers. The Godfather dropped some giant knives by, and we used those to break into our soup cans until we bought a can opener. With the suitcases shoved under the double bed (which we share) and the means to make our own food, our flat is starting to feel like it has potential to be a home. But, every woman in my family taught me that a place to live isn’t a home until it has paint or pictures on the walls. Gah, there are white walls everywhere in my flat! It needs paint… pictures…decorative plants… lamps… flower arrangements… so many things I can’t supply. Oh gosh, the strength of my nesting instincts is a little ridiculous.

I should end this now… the “email” that I’ve been writing is starting to look suspect, and I don’t want to get in trouble yet. Oh! But one thing I have to tell you. Today, the phone rang, and some poor BUNAC person called asking if the administrative position was filled. I got a smug little smile on my face, and graciously (I hope) said that it was filled. BY ME! Woo! I didn’t say that last part… but I thought it.

For you, with love from me

My dear ones,

I am in such a happy place right now. I'm checking my email for the first time in two days, I'm listening to Norah Jones, and I'm typing on an American keyboard. Praise Jesus for the simple pleasures in life... how I've come to appreciate them.

So where did I leave you? I was recently employed and about to become homeless? Well, I'm still employed, and now I have a home too! I am happily living in the flats owned and operated by The British Mofia. Let me tell you the story...

Once upon a time Lisa and I were living in a hostel with two smelly, awful roommates. Trying to live out of suitcases was NOT working while having to look professional everyday, especially when they couldn't dry their hair because of said roommates. Thus, they did what they did best, and obsessed until they found a place to live. They called and emailed more than twnety people on Saturday, and had no lucked. They were even almost scammed by a horrible man named Jude Michael... who's name is now used as a form of negative exclamation. :)

Okay, this story isn't working... I'm writing in my own voice now. So, Jude Michael is awful, but then we met The Godfather. You think I'm joking? We went to meet him after Lisa's job interview on Sunday, because he said that he owned some flats in west London we could afford. Sure enough, he and his "family" own about sixty flats near the furniture shops they own. When we arrived, he whistled and Sonny came running to be our tour guide. We liked the place he showed us, so we went to sign the lease. We asked to move in that afternoon to avoid those awful roommates, and The Godfather just whistled and barked out orders to all his workers until they had the place clean and ready for us. When all was said and done, he said that now we were family too, and he'd take care of us. We're pretty sure that we'll be safe now that The Godfather is our protector... he's an awesome man, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's packing all the time.

Do you want an update about the job? It's pretty boring, and I can't quite figure out what I'm supposed to do. On my first day, my boss sat me down at a computer and in as many words told me to figure it out. So I've been working on that... and spending a lot of time being bored. I'm also the only girl in the office, so it's a totally different environment than I'm used to. Silence... skype if you have a question... work independently... all things I totally hate. But, there is one absolutely wonderful thing I just have to tell you about. Yesterday I was browsing through the cabinets to see if ny supplies needed to be ordered, and I found... a half full bottle of Scotch hidden in the corner. Oh my gosh, I almost died... I wanted to show someone so badly, but even more than that, I want to know who hid it and is spiking their tea. So, that's the mission for the next six months... find out who hid the scotch bottle in the cabinet corner. I'll keep you informed.

That's all for now. Know that I'm starting to miss you guys... it's been a week, and my schedule has slowed enough that I'm getting some pangs of loneliness. But, I am glad that I'm here. Love to you all... drink that delicious Oregon water and smile at the douglas firs for me.

The last couple of days...

This is taken from an email I sent to Em today, but I don't think she'll mind if I put it here too.

Yesterday morning was awful. Not in the sense that things were going wrong, but in the sense that I felt wrung out, stressed out, and a bit homesick. We woke up early for bank appointments, and had to brave the tube along with every commuting business person in London. I don't like the tube in the mornings; everyone walks at the pace of a near run, no one talks, and everyone looks down. The tunnels funnel you all together, and it has uncanny similarities to how I imagine herds of cows being led to the slaughter house.
Everything at the bank was fine... accounts were opened... people were friendly... yadda yadda. Afterwards, Lis and I split up for the first time. She went back to the BUNAC office to work on job apps, and I went to hand deliver a few resumes. It's hard to describe how involved this all is. Hand delivering a resume involves getting on a tube, transferring to a different tube at a station, finding your way through the tunnel, emerging from below ground, and then finding your way through the streets. Because London is so old (which is awesome), the streets aren't on a grid system. There are streets running to and fro with little offshoots going everwhere. It's awful to find anything, and my hand map has become my best friend.
Anyway, I went off to find this man's office which meant I had to navigate the tube and the streets myself, which I hadn't done before. I finally found it and dropped off my CV and covering letter, and was immediately after mentally done dealing with things. I was so tired of being in a new place and having to play catch up all the time. I promptly headed for a Starbucks and ordered tea. I sat away from the windows and as far from people as I could... I wanted it to see as much like home as possible. I pulled out my Bible and opened to the psalms... and read Psalm 18. Read the first few verses and you'll understand why I got a bit teary. It was balm to my aching soul, and Jesus affirmed me over and over again. He reminded me of how much He loves me... how the only reason I've been able to get to London is through his provisions... how He won't abandon me now that I'm here. It was so wonderful. I haven't had a deep moment with him like that in such a long time. As cheesy as it sounds, it completely revitalized me, and I was ready to move again.
After I left Starbucks, I decided to see if I could find my way on foot to the BUNAC office to reconnect with Lisa and find more jobs. Well, I got blooming lost along the way. I came to one of their awful roundabouts with six streets jetting off in all directions. I must have been standing there for ten minutes trying to sort out my map in an almost panic.. realizing that I was totally lost in this giant city. All of a sudden, this man pops up next to me, and here's how the conversation goes:
"Excuse me, are you lost?"
Near tears, I reply, "Yes, very lost, I'm afraid."
Him: "Well you don't sound like you're from here! Wherebouts did you come from?"
Me: "From Oregon... I've just arrive a couple days ago."
Him: "Oregon! Is that near Orlando? I went there once- to go to Disneyland. Now, where are you off to. I'll show you the way."
I'm convinced that man was an angel, or at least on a divine mission from God. Brits would rather die that talk to someone new on the streets, or talk to anyone at all for that matter. It was the most wonderful moment, and I could just feel God again assuring me that all was well... that He was taking care of me, since I'm not able to do it myself quite yet.
Once at BUNAC, I made a few calls about jobs, and ended up in a phone interview with a lady who placed me at the job I'm going to do today. After talking with her on the phone, it was back off to the tube to navigate to her office to fill out paperwork. I got horribly lost on my way from the tube to her office, which was awful, but at least I got to explore a fun new area of London... it was over near Victoria and the palace gounds. After that appointment, I headed back home to the hostel in Shepherd's Bush, and on the way received a call on my mobile from the guy I had dropped my CV with earlier. He wanted me to come in for an interview that afternoon. So after getting home, it was off again to the tube station and the walk to his office. Once there, he explained the position to me in great detail, and it sounds terrifying. I told you a bit about it yesterday, but in short it's defining my own role to center around database administration, marketing, office management, and some small scale events. It'll be so hard, especially since I have to figure out what needs to be done and then do it. Without a taste of how this office (or any in the UK) works, I'll have a steep learning curve to catch up with.
That said, the job pays fabulously and I'll get 12 paid vacation days throughout my time working for them. Isn't that crazy? I'll get to take time off to be with my mom when she visits, and maybe I'll be able to cash out a few days for when I start travelling around Europe in March.
I'm still waiting to hear back from him to confirm that I've been hired. He said they were keen to have me yesterday, but I would just feel more reassured having it in writing. It's so hard to understand them when they talk sometimes!
So, that said, it was a long and tiring day. But I feel so good about everything... I was (at least I'm 95% sure) able to land a career related job within two days of looking, and BUNAC told me to not expect anything within ten days. I mastered the tube, and for the first time I felt like I was really part of this place. Granted, I can't find my way anywhere, but I'm picking up on the way things work. I'm going to be able to make it here. :)

And PS, guess what I can see out the window of the place where I'm working today! The Thames River and London Bridge. How freaking amazing is that?!

PPS, just got an email. I was hired at the snazzy job. Thanks for praying everybody... you've all been such an encouragement!

If you want to send me things...

send it here:

Sarah Reid
Incoming Programmes Dept
BUNAC, 16 Bowling Green Lane
London EC1R 0QH

You can send letters and packages there, but nothing that's being couriered. That's just an FYI, not a hint. But if you send me letters, I promise to love you more than anyone else. :)

The good things about London...

There's one good thing in particular, and his name is Peter Pan. Lis and I went to eat dinner with him tonight, and he's just as boyish and wonderful as always. It was a welcome break after waking up early and working on the job search literally all day.

This morning began with my first tube ride to Farringdon Station when we walked to BUNAC for our orientation. It was such a relief to see the offices and assure myself that this org really is legit. We had our orientation with about forty other students, and we learned all about how the British Government will tax us within an inch of our lives, but we'll survive because that's the only choice. Thus, Lis and I will get awesome paying jobs that God is going to provide for us, and it's going to be fantastic. Note the future tense... it hasn't happened yet... keep praying. :)

We also got our mobile phones today, which was another huge walk. Did I mention I did this all in heels? Yeah, not a mistake I'm making again. After that was another trek back to BUNAC to apply for jobs all afternoon. Hopefully we'll make some headway with that tomorrow.

In other news, I'm obsessed with Hyde Park. There are parks everywhere in the middle of the city, and it makes me feel more settled somehow. The pace of this place is busy and hectic, so it's nice to have green places where I can breathe a little deeper. And the dogs get free reign in the parks, so it's a hoot to watch them wrestle with each other. Maybe we should get a dog... what do you think, Lis?

I wish I had something grand and adventurous to post here, but it's all just real life. Real life that's far away from all of you.

More to come soon-
Sarah

I'm here!

Okay, I'm not sure I can describe to you how many different emotions I have felt today. Because I hate emotional blogs, I'm not going to... that's the stuff I get to process by myself. In short, I'm tired and a bit unsettled. Our flights had some long delays, and once in London we got turned around and ended up in a neighborhood an hour away from where we were supposed to be. But, we're here, and that's the important part. Once I can get some sleep under my belt, there will be no stopping me.

Pray for a job, guys. Lisa and I can't start real life until we have jobs and a place to live, and both of us desperately need real life.

In other news, I saw a group of protesters camping outside of Victoria Station with "NO WAR" signs plastered all over their tents. For a minute I thought I was home again. But then I saw Big Ben out the other window and realized that's just not the case.

I'll update again soon... hugs to you all!
Sarah