Well, I've foraged and eaten and realized that if I wait for myself to be perfectly free of jet-lag and disorienation, then you might all have to wait until early 2007 before getting another post out of me. So!
I've decided I'll file all but the most epic or relevant of Canada/U.K. differences at the bottom of my posts so that only those who are fussed (or planning to travel over here) have to read them. I think I shall use an appropriate heading to split things up.
Right then, it's early afternoon and I am doing my best to break out of the jetlag malaise and get rolling. The equivalent of a SIN number over here is an NI (National Insurance) number and so that is my top priority in the short term, as you cannot be employed without one. Last night I managed to read a local paper cover to cover, something unusual for me in Ottawa (just try and bear with the Sun's many, many grammatical errors and horseshit journalism....I dare you!). Two things stood out, which I thought I'd relate.
One is that Tottenham recently had a "Peace March" which had nothing to do with overseas wars. It was a community thing where churches of all shapes and sizes opened their doors to all others of any shape, size or colour. Where large throngs of people made a point of being friendly in formation and local politicians took the time to establish their stance on horribleness being "no good". It's a nice idea, but I cannot help wondering if I should be alarmed that such a thing is considered necessary. The jury is still out on what kind of a neighborhood I've moved into, crimewise.
The other is that, thank God (I know I don't believe in him, but "Thank the unconfirmed possibility of something bigger than us" is too much of a mouthful, unlike this overweight addendum) there seems to be a decent supply of office jobs for which I am overqualified...but they do not ask that I speak "French" or have security clearance. This is what I pretty much knew all along, but it was nice to have it confirmed. So hopefully, even my "just get a steady income and then keep looking" job will actually be a step up from the bloody Comic Book Shoppe or data entry at Pearson.
Not long before leaving for England, I did something up for my pal, Shawn MacLean, to help pay him back for numerous favors. I took a pen and marker, then outlined all sorts of interesting downtown locations for him to explore on a big map of Ottawa. For a laugh, I outlined the airport and wrote "Progress to next level" or something similar on it. Little did I know how this image would come hurtling back to the forefront of my mind within the first minute of sitting on my flight. I don't know if this is a Zoom airlines thing or if all airlines do it now, but on the big television screen at the front I was treated to a pixelated map of the northern hemisphere with a little plane on it (sitting over top Ottawa, of course). There was a dotted red line leading to London, which became solid line as the plane went along the path. The screen would rotate between this and a series of stats on how fast we were going, how long until we got there, how many kilometers we had to go and so on. In-between movies we were treated to little updates and when we were descending into London, a glowing green diamond formed over Gatwick's location. To a fellow who grew up on world management computer games, it was pretty weird!
No sleep was had, of course, but luckily I didn't have to wait too long before my cousin Daniel showed up to help me get from way down South London all the way up to North-East London. After having been up almost 30 hours at that point, I wasn't quite up for pulling the task solo. Even with a good buddy, I was hell of paranoid about running into trouble as I had all of my possessions (not including the many boxes I left in Carp, love you mom! love you dad!) in but three bags as well as all my money in the world. I really felt in touch with my primal, caveman ancestors who had naught but the contents of a crude leather sack to carry with them. As I rode the tube. Sitting across from some kid fiddling with his iPod Nano.
Ahem.
What with all the lack of sleep, I was happy just to eat the meal Dan kindly cooked up for me, then sleep for many hours and then read the paper before going back to bed again. After I post this, I see a small nap in my immediate future - followed by another exploratory walk around the neighborhood. Luckily it seems that Suzanne is quite savvy about where she buys a home, as I am but two blocks south of a busy market street with many places to explore. According to Google Maps, there is a good sized park a little ways North-West....but let me just say that the simple act of trying to get home from the supermarket with one of their printed maps made me lose a good deal of faith in the bastards.
In other news, the last technological hurdle has been jumped and so my trailer for "Tonight We Fall In Love" should be up on YouTube within less than twenty-four hours.
More later!
They are not quite like us! We are not quite like them!
1) Garbage bins are much harder to find. Get used to stuffing candy wrappers and tissues in your pocket for later disposal, instead of just walking eight feet as in the good city of Ottawa.
2) Street signs are rarely found on top of poles. They tend to be posted on the wall of a corner building, about twelve feet up. Assuming the stupid thing hasn't been vandalized or removed - in which case keep an eye out for chalk or painted substitutes....or nothing at all.
3) Google maps can bite my arse. It is sort of accurate, but leaves out every fifth side street and occasionally blurs two streets together. Sometimes it is just plain wrong about a street name. I'm sorry people but the shit just is not infallible.
4) Taxes are included in the listed price of items, which made grocery shopping way the hell easier to budget this morning.
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2 comments:
As someone who has played the secret Japan level, I can assure you that the pixel airplane map has been a standard since at least the late 90s, I believe. There is nothing more trilling than watching where exactly over the bloody Pacific ocean you are in a 12 hour flight from Vancouver to Japan. I am so fucking sick of the Pacific. You spend half a day staring at the bloody screen and realizing that you've been flying for eight hours and still are stuck over the bloody middle of the ocean, trapped in a plane with drunken Brazilians.
Anyways, how have you taste buds adjusted to the wonderful world of British crisps? Have you enjoyed the succulent flavours of honey-glazed ham, roast beef and onion, or prawn cocktail yet?
Were are you exactly located exactly in London, anyways? The closest thing to Tottingham I could find was Tottenham up north in Greater London.
So far I haven't been too exciting in my food purchases. The most English thing I've purchased would be the base ingredients for making my own Shephard's Pie (Ma Brackenbury style).
I know I passed by aisles of Indian food and ham flavored chicken, but I'm going to go in from the shallow end as far as new food goes. As most people know, I'm a picky bastard who is trying his best to improve.
Honestly, I was well pleased that I ate the entire "chicken" sandwich they gave me on the plane. Right now I'm fueled by a thin, oven-cooked pizza (Double Pepperoni) and a glass of Shiraz I'm steadily working on.
That being said, I plan on an expedition into the west end of the neighborhood tomorrow. I thought I might grab a cheap breakfast at a place I saw. Now my childhood instincts tell me to stay with the chips, egg and sausage. But I am going to don my lucky drawers, Fresh Prince style, and give the chips, egg and bubble a try. Whatever the flying fuck "bubble" is.
It's not exactly the first meeting of Columbus and the Native Americans, but it's a start!
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