...but what the hey. The Movies is definitely something in which you can easily make pure schmaltz with the greatest of ease. I've definitely enjoyed learning it's strengths and weaknesses over the past few days but in the end, I would of course prefer to have a bunch of my own footage and the latest edition of FinalCut Pro. It's a damn shame that programs like that are made so prohibitively expensive for the average lad or lady at the very beginning of their career. All the more reason for me to hurry my ass back into London so I can start finding subsidised arts collectives like Ottawa's own SAW gallery.
Meanwhile, I just got my first haircut in England WOOOO!
Uh...
Yeah, so things are trundling along nicely. Sorry I haven't had any big, photo-worthy adventures lately! I wish I had! But mostly I've been a writin' and a jobbin' these past few days, in-between butting my head against numerous catch-22's present within the process of getting myself integrated into The System. Lord knows I'll have some useful advice for anyone who chooses to move to England once all this is said and done. Though it isn't all bad, I was pleased to find out that the government has a means by which you can get them to cover your transit costs to an interview - so that saves me 17 quid on trainfare for this Monday's excursion to Barking.
I've started to make my plans for Christmas and that, of course, feels a little odd in that they won't be in Canada (as I doubt I need to explain, it's not really an option yet). Little things like that and the way most people my age in England speak about snow (a distant memory from youth, wiped out by good ol climate change) has rendered this December fairly surreal for me when viewed through the lens of holidays and weather.
Ah well!
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2 comments:
would it be possible for you to post some of your advice on your blog?
Well, sure - I'm just not quick to as most of it is kind of dull?
Like, honestly, before you even unpack your bags upon arrival you should set about getting your drivers licence exchanged for an English one. The post office, not the DMV (or DVLA as they call it here), will provide the paperwork for free. It takes super-long to get this sorted - I mailed my finished paperwork almost a month ago and I'm still waiting.
Meanwhile, a National Insurance number is important but temp agencies will provide you with a sort of holding number to allow you to work. Unlike the regular National Insurance number, a temporary one only entitles you to work - it won't help you get a bank account or rent an apartment.
An NI number also takes hell of long. They will want at least three pieces of proof that you are job hunting and that is nonsense since it's all done over the phone and email. So my advice is to get a small, short term temp office job doing ANYTHING even if only for a handful of days. Then you can use evidence that you HAVE worked to get a proper NI number.
Don't put off calling to arrange an NI appointment by even one damn minute though, as the line up is LONG. I have to wait until Janurary 2nd before I could get an appointment at 9am in an office ten miles out of Reading. The next available appointment was at noon on January 20th at an office on the other side of London.
AND THIS SHIT IS JUST FOR STARTERS.
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