Are you ready for some futbol??

I warned you guys my posts would be few and far in between due to my new living arrangements. You didn't miss much this week. Here's a quick update:

- All settled into my flat, it's feeling like home
- I got a horrible case of food poisoning from bad scallops at a pub- rule #1 in London; never eat seafood at a pub
- It rained everyday this week and it's gotten cold, apparentely winter has decided to come early. I guess that's supposed to be nice little gift for me:)
- I had my traditional weekend outing with "V". I helped him buy a new wintercoat and then we had dinner at this new mexican restaurant in Covent Garden. You know, the kind of thing you do with your girlfriend except she lives in Turkey.
-Woking is still a shithole!

Ok, on to more exiciting news. I attended my first futbol match this weekend. I was invited to go to the Chelsea vs. Fulham match by some friends I have meet here through my friend Sahana. Chelsea vs. Fulham are home town rivals so it would be like the Lakers playing the Clippers. Being someone who doesn't care much for going to sporting events, unless I'm guaranteed a star sighting, I could have turned down the offer easily but thought I should experience a true London past time. Plus, I figured the stadium would be full of men, so the odds would be in my favor. So, off we went to the game, but not before a stop at the local pub (where I stayed away from any type of shellfish) for a drink and some food. The stadium's here don't offer much in the way of food and you can't drink in the stands due to security reasons, so everyone goes to the pub first, then the game.


Suprisingly, the game was really entertaining. Futbol (soccer for you Americans) is a really fast paced gamed so you really can't get bored. And the best part is they only play 2 rounds, each 45 minutes long with a 15 minute intermission. I'm convinced that a women made these rules. It's the perfect amount of time to watch a game without getting bored. I'd have to say the best part of the game was the fans. People here LOVE their futbol. The term "fan" is taken to a whole another level. The spirit these people have for their teams is amazing. The entire game they are chanting, singing, on their feet, rooting for the team. I attempted to capture the magic on a short video using my camera. It is like this the whole game, they don't quit!

I definitely plan on going back to watch another game. Maybe next time I can figure out what the hell they're saying and join in on the singing! I did understand all the foul language though, I've never heard the f bomb used so creatively in my life.

Eight Weeks and Counting!

I've arrived in home #2 as my first month in London comes to a close. It was hard saying goodbye to my place in Chelsea. I had grown quite accustomed to my little flat and the 10 flight of stairs it took to get up to my front door everyday. The hardest part was saying goodbye to the area. I feel in love with Chelsea from day one, hence the reason I'm living their permanently! My flat was right behind Kings Rd, which was the main drag in Chelsea. I had already established my favorite stores, restaurants and hangouts. Before the cab came to pick me up I took one more stroll down Kings Rd. The nice thing is I'll be back eight weeks from now to enjoy it all again.

My new digs are located in Woking, the town where my offices are located. It wasn't my first choice to come to Woking but it turned out to be the best option. The biggest draw back was going to be how far away I was from the city. I would probably liken Woking to living in Bakersfield, sorry T if you're reading this! When the cab driver tells you that the place you're about to spend eight weeks in is a shithole you know it's not good.

While the town itself blows my apartment is great! I was pleasantly suprised when we pulled up to the complex. It's a brand new complex, built last year with all the modern amenities. Here a few pics of the inside.

Not too shabby. The best part of my apartment is the balcony pictured above. The view is beautiful. I love sitting outside and just staring at the trees. Good thing, considering that's the most exciting thing to do here! Here's my view.

And they say the sun doesn't shine here. Let's just say I plan on spending the least amount of time in Woking, aside from work, these next eight weeks. I still can catch a train into London it just requires more of an effort and planning on my part then it did when I was in Chelsea. I already went back last night and had dinner with "V". We seem to be doing that a lot, I keep asking him when we're going to go to a club! He promises me we will next weekend.

Since my life may be a little tame these next eight weeks I probably won't be blogging as frequently. Wish me luck in Woking.

Liquid Lunch

Nothing like drinking from 1 until 10 at night. Yesterday my work threw a going away lunch for the girl whose job I'm taking over. We went to this private club called the Soho House, that my boss Jennelle belongs to. It's a members only restaurant/bar. We ordered a couple of bottles of wine at lunch and after lunch was over the team decided to grab a drink at a bar near by. Soho is the gay area of London full of great shopping, bars and restaurants- go figure. We sat down at a bar called La Boheme and the bottles of wine just kept coming. I couldn't keep up with my co-workers. They were puttin it down like I've never seen. The best part of the night was bonding with the girls on my team. They reminded me a lot of the girls at Taco Bell. We had a lot in common, more than I realized. They are really fun and we've already made plans to do a ton of fun things in the coming weeks. After our sixth bottle of wine, yes six, I stumbled home on the tube. The only bummer of the whole night is I didn't pull. New term for the week by the way. It's british slang for talking to a guy and getting his number. When you're hanging out in gay town there's a ton of browsing but no purchasing to be done :)

I move to my new flat today, in Woking. Far from the city but close to work. I'll post some pics of my new digs tomorrow.

There is a God!!!

The last couple of days I've been working from our ad agency's office in the heart of London rather than in the burbs' where our offices are located. Our ad agency is what most of you would imagine an ad agency to look like. The office is extremely modern with very cool furniture, an open layout with flatscreen after flatscreen, the inside is all glass walls so you can stand in the lobby and see all three floors. They even have a free coffee bar inside. I'll have to take some pictures, I'm not doing it justice.

Today, we finished up early and I had some time to kill in order to wait out traffic on the tube. Because the offices are in the heart of London it happens to be on the most famous shopping street in London- Oxford Circus. I figured shopping would be a good way to kill time :) I'm not sure how many of you have heard of a store called TopShop, I hadn't until I came here. It's similar to H&M. Everyone kept telling me I had to go the TopShop on Oxford St. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. NOW I DO! This place is my mecca. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. I spent four hours in there tonight and I barely scratched the surface. This is there flagship store so it's got everything. When I say everything I don't mean accessories, shoes, and clothes, that's childs play. I mean a nail bar, a place to get a blow out, a candy shop, a grooming salon, a concierge, and a restaurant. I was amazed, this place was a one stop shop! You could get your nail dones, get your hair done and find a fabalous outfit all in one place. Whoever designed this store is a genius! It's every girls fantasy, including mine. Don't even get me started on the clothes. Four levels of the most fashionable coats, dresses, pants, shirts, shoes I've ever seen. It took all the will power I had to not max out out my credit card in this place. I walked away with only a scarf (cause it's getting colder each day) and a pair of tights. But give me two months and I'll be the poster child for this store. Bye Bye Banana hello TopShop!

Brrr!!!!

Today was officially cold in my book! I walked out of my flat this morning and saw the air coming out of my breath. All I could think of was the warm California sun. Everyone was bundled up and ready to brave the cold except me. All I have right now is a thin jacket. All of my stuff is still in storage damn it! I would have given anything for my wool coat, scarf, and gloves. To top it off when I get to work everyone tells me this is nothing?? Help me!!!!!

Sunday Funday!

This was one the best weekends since I've been here. The weekend started out dim since I had no plans to speak of. Then Saturday night around 8ish I got a text message from this guy Neel who my friend Tenielle (girl i went to UCSB with) had introduced me to. He and I went out in an area called Balham/Clapham South. Very young, fun crowd and tons of bars! My kind of town. Our first pub was called George. Nothing special as far as pubs go but it was a good place to start the night. We watched a little rugby, which is quite the violent sport! From here we headed to a great bar called Clarence. It was voted Bar of the Year. It was very vintage looking, had great music playing with tons of people inside and out. Four vodka tonics in I noticed Neel and I starting to flirt. Funny, what a couple of drinks can make you do. I kept thinking I'm in this bar in London, flirting with someone who is practically a stranger, and having the best time. This is exactly why I came here! After the bar kicked us out I was ready to head home but not before Neel and I partoke in some late night munchies. At home, that would consist of Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, whatever fast food joint is open. In London, people go to these really shady fried chicken and kebab houses for their fix. Let's just say a kebab is a sure fire cure for a hangover.

Today, (Sunday) I spent the entire day with "V". It was the perfect day- dim sum, shopping, a walk in park. What else could a girl ask for! We started out with dim sum in the Baker St. area of London. This place had delicious dim sum, it reminded me a lot of the places I've been to San Francisco, which in my opinion is the best dim sum ever! From here we decided to catch a movie. Whatever you do, do not go see Shoot Em' Up. It has got to be one of the worst movies I'v ever seen in my life. I blame "V". I wanted to see Bourne Ultimatum. "V" then suggested we go shopping so I forgave him for his bad movie choice. We walked along Regent and Oxford Streets which are the major shopping areas in London. Every store you can imagine is on these two streets. I was loving it. The day ended with a walk through Hyde Park. We walked by this one area of the park called Speakers Corner. Basically, it's a forum for people to speak their minds. They get up on a stool and start saying whatever they want. It could be about religion, government, entertainment, war, whatever.. It was fascinating to watch. And then, we feed squirrels. Who does that?

It was a bit of a surreal moment for me, as I was walking through the park with "V" today. I'm not sure why but this feeling came over me that my life was beginnning to change and I was starting to change as a person. I guess I should feed squirrels more often :)

Fried to the Bone!

I don't think I've ever worked harder in my life then I did this week! Whoever said frying chicken was easy, was wrong! Did anyone even say that? Maybe it was me...?? I was assigned a KFC restaurant inside one of the biggest train stations in London- Victoria Station. It's essentially in a giant food court with a ton of other eateries. Naturally, we're next to a McDonalds. Here's a picture of the outside.

The goal is for me to train on every facet of the restaurant for the next two weeks. Day one was centered around what we in the biz call the back of the house. Basically, where all the magic happens. If you've ever wondered what it looks like in a back of a restaurant here's a glimpse.

After getting a brief overview of the Back of the House I learned to make all the sandwiches on the menu. Here in the UK they call them burgers even though they're all made with chicken not beef. By the end of the day I was master at making Zingers, Fillet Towers, and Mini Fillets. See I can cook! After day one I was ready to pass out by the time I got home and I did. Being on my feet for 8 hours straight was no small feat. I'm so used to sitting at a desk all day that my entire body was drained of all energy.

The next couple of days were focused on the chicken, the bread and butter of the business. They prepare the chicken from scratch everyday from start to finish. After I was trained on quite an extensive process of how to prepare the chicken, beginning with how to make the seasoning to using the fryer I was ready to do my own batch. By the way I'm now privy to the Colonel's secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices! Let's just say it was 10x harder than it looked. Look at me go!

My batch turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. After one batch I was ready to turn in the towel. I personally didn't enjoy handling raw chicken, having to break bones, and dealing with the blood. I was ready to move onto something new. Their is one crew member in the restaurant who does this every single day(M-F) for 8 hours. What amazed me was how much he geniunely enjoyed his job. He takes pride in making the chicken and wants the customer to get the best chicken possible. I really admired him for his attitude and work ethic.

By weeks end I was exhausted. I still have one more week to go. Monday, I tackle the front counter. It's all about serving the customer and learning the cash register. Let's hope I don't screw it up.

P.S. A lot of you have been asking me what's going on with "V". We went out to dinner earlier this week and tonight we're going out again. He's been a great friend, I'll leave it at that.

First Day of Work

I thought the day would never come.. I was dying to start work after being on hiatus for two weeks. It's funny how not having a routine can make you wish you did. For some reason I thought I would love being lazy, but that only lasted 3 days.

Those of you that know me, now how much I detest public transportation so you'll be surprised to know that not only do I take a train to work but a bus too!! And I love it.. There's something carefree and relaxing about having someone else take you somewhere and not having to worry about traffic. Every morning I walk two minutes down the road to my bus station, catch the 319 to Clapham Junction, then I take the overland train to Woking. From the Woking station I walk to my offices. Door to door it's about 40 mins total. The train here is really well maintained. It's clean, air-conditioned, and has really comfy seats. I listen to my Ipod and the time flies. I'm so metropolitan! I just need the giant glasses and the big purse.

So work itself.. It's not Taco Bell but I knew it wouldn't be. The office itself is like any corporate building. The only difference is they don't have traditional cube like offices. It's more like an open classroom setting. The only people who have offices are the executives. My desk is out on the open with everyone else so there is zero privacy. Not even a divider.. So something tells me I'll be getting to know my co-workers quite well and vice versa. Speaking of my co-workers the entire team is all girls except for one guy Luis, who coincidentally works for me. All the girls are around my age and very sweet. Everyone is friendly, which doesn't surprise me since this entire nation is.

The most difficult thing at work has been starting over.. It's been over six years since I started a new job. I forgot what it was like to be the new girl. I have such a learning curve to overcome thse next few months. I went from knowing so much to now being completely lost. It's a hard thing to accept. The other piece is not having friends at work. I went from having an incredible group of friends who I went to lunch with everyday and chatted with throughout the day, to watching everyone else chat with each other and go to lunch without me. It's like the first day of school all over again. Overtime both these things will get better, but getting through this part is never easy. If anything this makes me appreciate Taco Bell even more than I already did. There's nothing like it. If any of you are reading this I miss you!

Tomorrow, instead of going to the office I start in-store training. That's right ladies and gentleman, I will be serving fried chicken to the lovely people of London. One of the requirements of this job is to work in a store for three weeks. At first, I thought it was a joke they were playing on the rookie but when my uniform arrived on my desk I stopped laughing. Don't worry I won't let you guys miss an opportunity to have a few laughs at my expense. I'll be taking plenty of pictures to commemorate this once in a lifetime experience and will post them on this blog.

By the way, everytime I pick up a new word out here I'll be sharing it with you. Today's word- WONKY! Don't u love it.

Mission Accomplished!

My goal was to start making friends and I did just that today. Before I left California my friend Desh introduced me to his friend Trishna via email who he met during his undergrad days . I emailed her earlier this week and we made plans to meet up for brunch today. She suggested this placed called Caramel in the town of Victoria-it was only one tube stop away from my place! It was a great place. Very quaint, great menu, and affordable. It reminded me of brunch places I had been to in New York. Trishna and I ended up talking for fours hours. Turns out she is originally from San Francisco and went to Berkeley so we have mutual friends. Small world! Immediately I could tell we were going to be friends. We had a lot of common interests and we related quite well to one another. She was also a great resource on tapping into British culture. She is married to a Brit so she shared with me some great insights on people's values, choices and essentially the reasons they do the things they do.

When Trishna and I were talking one of the things that we discussed was how increasingly difficult it becomes to make friends as you get older. At this point in my life I have had friends for so long and they know everything about me. The good, the bad, all the history and drama. Therefore the nice thing is you dont have to spend time getting people up to speed on your life. They get you and so when you say certain things or do certain things there's no explanation needed. The question becomes do I want to start investing in people or will people want to invest in me knowing that I'm here for a limited time? At the end of the day if I don't make a circle of friends here I know this experience won't be the same so I have to be willing to invest. Maybe I need to make a Cliff Notes version of my life.

Last (Wo)Man Standing

My mom left today so now it's just me. These last two weeks really flew by. I can't believe it's already September. I had mixed emotions about my mom leaving. Part of me was ready to be alone because it had been so long since I had "lived" with my mom. She was driving me bananas. Now I know why I moved out over 10 years ago and will never move back home. The other part of me knew I would miss her because it's so nice to have someone to come home to or someone to talk to or watch TV with. And I would be lying if I didn't say someone to cook for me :) Her and I had gotten into this routine over the week and it had felt nice. I promised myself I wouldn't cry when she left and I was okay until she started crying. For those of you who know my mom, she never cries. So , seeing her breakdown like that made me awful so I started to cry too. The poor driver who was taking my mom to the airport was quite uncomfortable. He was just hired to drive to the airport, not take care of two sobbing grown women on the corner of the street. I know she was crying because she would miss me and is worried about me being here alone. I kept telling her to stay strong and I would be fine. I'm more worried about her being alone then me. I have never been more than 2 hours away from my mom. We talk to each other everyday, I see her at least 2 or 3 times a month. That is what she used to and has relied on. That is all going to change now. I really want her to make a life for herself and be more social. I'm praying she doesn't get depressed and retract from the world. She's not the best at reaching out to people but I kept reminding her while she was with me in London she should call people and make plans when she gets back. I realize I can't force her to do this, it's utlimately up to her.

I thought I would feel weird being alone in my place but I don't, rather I feel a sense of calm. I have a feeling that will all change by tomorrow. It hasn't hit me that my mom's left. So friends, be prepared for some phone calls! I'm not riddled with plans for the weekend which is unfortutunate, but I am going to try and do my best to stay busy. Although, I do have plans to meet up with a friend of a friend for brunch tomorrow which I've very much looking foward to. My goal is to establish a friend circle as fast as possible. That's what I need to be happy so I gotta get to it!

A Familar Face

I realize I told the majority of you that I knew no one in London.. that wasn't entirely true. Turns out I know one person but before I tell you about him I need to give you all a little backstory.

Let's take a trip back in time to 1997 on my first day of classes at UC Santa Barbara. It was Day 1 of Economics 101- gag! I had just walked into this huge lecture hall on campus and I spot this cute guy in one of the rows so naturally I proceed to sit myself right in back of him. Cause you know the view was so great. Seriously, was I always this retarded when it came to guys???!! So I stare at the back of his head all through class cause I could care less about the theory of demand and supply. Two days later I'm walking into section for that class and whose sitting front and center but cute guy! I was ecstatic that he was in my section. I plopped down right next to him. All I remember from class that day was how smart he was.. cute and smart! I had found a winner :) Naturally, being the player I was I played dumb and told him how hard this econ stuff was and that I was going to need a study partner... and thus the relationship began. For the next two years cute guy, let's call him "V", and I began a great friendship which started with economics. I ended up having two boyfriends through college but V and I always had a close bond and I secretly had a crush on him. He would fill in for my boyfriends when I needed dates for my sorority functions, we would meet on campus for lunch, he would tell me about his girl problems, we would shamelessly flirt, it was the perfect friendship.

Fast forward three years.. "V" graduates college and moves to LA. By the way, he was two years younger than me. We end up hanging out post college quite a bit, hitting the club scene, etc... making out once.. ooops did i let that slip! Again, just friends but the school girl crush remained plus I had a boyfriend. The last time I heard from "V" he was off to Oxford to get his MBA. That was three years ago.

Now the present day.. I had found "V" on Linked In, that social networking site, so i reached out to him a couple of months ago hoping he might still be in the UK. Turns out he was, living and working in the city. We agreed to meet up once I had moved to town. Well, last night we finally did. You know when you're about to see someone you haven't seen for a long time the first thing you start wondering is do they look the same? Are they just as cute? Did they get fat and bald? Do I look fat and bald? Those thoughts were spinning through my head as I walked to meet him at the tube stop. Let me just say the man did not disappoint. Out walks this tan, dark haired slicked back, Hugo Boss suit wearing god! On the inside I was hyperventalating and naming our two kids, on the outside I was as cool as a cucumber. We walked to a bar and proceeded to catch up for three hours. It was so nice seeing a familar face in a new town. I immediately felt like I belonged. It was also great to hear about his experiences when he first moved to London and how they were so similar to what I was going through. It was nice to hear the shin splits and the back aches I was feeling were not my old age but signs of walking around so much. During the course of the conversation the topic of our love lives emerges. I tell the depressing tale of being single, J/K! and he casually mentions he has a girlfriend whose not in London. I immediately try to figure out a way to sabotage the relationship. J/K, not really.. Turns out his girlfriend lives in Turkey and is some hot model/buyer for Harvey Nichols. Just my luck! Who the hell can compete with that? Anyhow the night ends with him asking me to go to dinner the next night which I can't cause moms is still in town so we make plans for early next week. He's already agreed to introduce me to his friends, we've talked about traveling Europe together, going to his favorite rests, etc.. Basically we're right back where we started, great friends who are shamelessly flirting. Except this time he has the girlfriend and I'm single... Let's see what the future holds.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it was too good to cut short. I will say last night was my first night going out to a bar in London and it was fabalous! I think I'm going to be very happy here :)

Housing Update

Sorry, the posts have been so far and few between.. The last couple of days have been hectic with my sister leaving and figuring out my housing situation. Last time I posted I had my heart set on a cute flat in Marleybone and had actually won the bidding war. The place was as good as mine. Not so fast, between then and now one of my co-workers who is getting married this weekend offered me her place for rent. She decided that it was best that she and her husband should move to the country but she was keen on keeping her flat in the city. Even though my heart was set on the flat in Mareleybone I figured I would go check her place out, it couldn't hurt. Boy was I wrong, it hurt quite a bit... Her place was perfect. Awesome neighborhood, great commute to work, she had recently re-done her kitchen and bathroom, and the biggest plus of all was the boatload of closet space!! Let's not forgot the 1000 pounds I would be saving living at her place. She was willing to charge me nothing. However, since I had won the bidding war on the other place I was asked to put down a deposit for one week's rent then and there. So, now I had money on the line and my word to this landlord. On top of that, turns out my co-workers place wasn't available until November 20th. I was so confused!!!

I had to discuss all these details with my HR director and realtor. After numerous phone calls, several negotiations, and losing out one week's rent I've finally found a home. My permanent residence will be in Chelsea- my co-workers flat. I've come full circle. For now I am still living in my corporate apartment in Chelsea and will be moving out in two weeks to another permanent apt for 2 months until I can move into my flat. I can't wait until I have a home. Living out of suitcases gets old.

Other then that, I've been shopping, unfortunately not for clothes, but for electronics, I went to a pub today and had fish and chips (delicious!), and my mom and I hit a huge museum. I plan on hitting the town tonight, I know, it took me long enough!!! Let's hope it makes more a great post tomorrow.

Today I was a Tourist!

Even though I'm offically trying to blend in with the locals I was convinced to go sightseeing today. London has a lot to offer in the way of tourists attraction so my mom, sister and I decided to hit them all in one day. My sisters friends Sarah who lives here was our tour guide. It was another gorgeous day in the city if you can believe that, at times I was sweating! I know this isn't going to last long but I'm getting used to the nice weather. I'm sure it will rain eventually....

We took a bus (that's my prefered method of travel by the way) to Picaddilly Circus, which is essentially the Times Square of London. It was bustling and loud just like Times Sqaure. Shops and cafes galore, not much else. From here we walked through a beautiful park, London is full of parks, towards Buckingham Palace. Although the palace was beautiful I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think I was expecting something much more grander and majestic based on what I had seen on T.V and in movies. Don't get me wrong it was really pretty just not what I expected. From the palace we went to Trafalagar Square. There was a festival for disabled people being held in the square so it was complete chaos. We took a couple of pictures and headed to the London Eye. This was my favorite part of the journey. We walked across a bridge with the Thames River underneath us towards the Eye. On both sides of the bridge were skyline views of different parts of London. There were loads of people out lounging on the grass or walking along the river. It was very much like Venice. Street vendors, people playing guitars, people dressed up, etc.. The London Eye was spectacular! The line was way too long though so after a brief rest, we decided to keep walking. We crossed the river again, this time on a different bridge and visited Big Ben and the Parliament House. Our last stop was Westiminster Abbey. I can't even describe this building in words. It's breathtaking.

At this point I thought my legs were going to fall off and we had seen every top attraction so we hopped on another bus and rode home. All in all a great day as a tourist. Now it's time for me to find some local hangouts!