Name:
Location: London, United Kingdom

Saturday, September 16, 2006

London Calling!

I have been in London for one week now. I’m happy to say that I’m getting on with relative ease, though have found it difficult to adjust to the time difference – my body does not want to go to bed at 3pm Vancouver time! Luckily I had those two weeks in Ontario to move my internal clock a couple of hours ahead.

I know you’re wondering what I’ve done since I’ve been in the city. Surprisingly, I haven’t spent a lot of time sightseeing, as I’ve been spending a lot of time online searching for a flat, updating my CV (look at me being all Britishy!) and viewing online job vacancies. No luck yet on either a flat or a job, but I think that will all solidify when I return from my travels in late October.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time wandering around the West End/Soho area. The West End is where most of the theatres are, and Old Compton Street in Soho is the equivalent of Church Street in Toronto or Davie Street in Vancouver. I wasn’t sure that there would be any real “gay area” in London as I’d heard that bars and such were very spread out. It is true that the discos and pubs spread out over a very large area, Compton Street has many pubs, shops and restaurants catering to a gay crowd. Nearly every night I’ve headed over to The Compton, one of the busiest pubs I’ve ever seen. The only reason I even stopped in the first place was that there was a huge mass of people (a discerning eye quickly noted all of them were gay) standing outside, enjoying a pint. It was odd to see people with full glasses of beer right out there on the street! Doesn’t happen in Canada.

Anyway, I’ve also checked out G-A-Y, one of the discos, on their Friday “Camp Attack” night – 70’s & 80’s retro plays on an enormous, packed dancefloor. It was a weird mix of danceable retro tunes, and other not-so-danceable pop hits from the same time period. G-A-Y wasn’t my first pick as I’d wanted to go to Heaven (don’t we all?) instead, but Heaven, where they were playing commercial dance tunes, had a line so long and unmoving that I decided to leave it for another day. And Heaven was worth the wait (make whatever theological argument you wish to now). I ventured out on a Monday night, and danced to some of the best dance music ever. The place was packed full – a massive warehouse space, and was chockers (that’s chock-a-block) full of scorchingly hot men. Waaaaay too many straight people making out and showing their heterosity (We get it, you’re straight. Now piss off you sad twat!) But seriously, it was a hotfest from beginning to end. I’ll be back there next Monday!

I'm also beyond thrilled to discover that I was so very wrong about the men here. See, I thought they'd all be, well, snaggle-toothed pasty white boys. Boy was I mistaken! There are hotties galore here... pin-striped suits, trendy boys, sport kit lads... a type for everyone (and I'll take one of each!) Absolutely delightful eye candy. And apparently they've embraced the North American body image obsession full on. Buff bodies abound.

I of course haven’t mentioned my first night! I went to the opening preview night of Wicked, starring Idina Menzel (Maureen from RENT, Elphaba from the original Broadway production of Wicked). The show was amazing, and the audience was the most enthusiastic I’ve ever seen at any show, full stop. It was like the six year olds at the Britney Spears show I saw many years ago, only in a theatre. Anyway, the production was fantastic and it’s so great to see a show where everyone is so into it. I’m sure it was an amazing way for them to kick off their London run.

Speaking of theatre, I have a ticket to see Billy Elliot (based on the movie) this afternoon. Really looking forward to that as it’s been very well reviewed. Will & Grace flew all the way to London just to see it (don’t you remember? That’s when she meets up with her ex-husband and has the quicky that leads to her having a baby and eventually reuniting with him? Thus affecting her relationship with Will, only to reunite with him later when their children meet at college and fall in love? But I digress.)

Today, I went to an open recruiting session for front-of-house staff at the Palace Theatre, which will be housing the upcoming production of Spamalot. Unfortunately, they open right when I’m off on my Euro-travels and they needed people that could start now. They did however encourage me to call when I return (I have the number for the stage door entrance now!) to see if there is anything available. It would’ve been kind of cool to work there, as Spamalot is a huge hit on Broadway and will be a big deal for London theatre. I figure it could also lead to meeting some stars, as they all show up to the premieres, etc. Ah well.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of London. I went to see a flat in Lambeth (Me & My Girl, anyone?) yesterday (didn’t work out), but on the way back across the Thames I had the most magnificent view of Parliament and Big Ben. The sun was setting and I mentally took some photos, which I hope to actually take with my camera soon. The buildings here are unbelieveable – so much character! I love the feel of London’s architecture. I promise to post some of the pictures I take when I upload them.

In spite of the fact that I am currently living 2 blocks from Hyde Park, I will choose to make this my Speaker’s Corner and rant about a few things:

- People and their Mobiles: I have had the urge to bitch-slap the phones right out of many people’s hands. It is a common occurrence to walk behind some wanker texting on their mobile, not watching where they’re going. London streets are insanely busy, and getting on is hard enough as it is. Get off yer mobiles you silly cows!

- Drivers and crossing streets: I was informed (only after getting nearly run over – and I mean it – I came so close to being hit I was nearly inside the car when it passed by) that drivers have the right-of-way here. And boy, do they take it! Drivers do not give a bleedin’ piss if you’re in their way or not – your presence only makes the drive more interesting. That, combined with the fact that I haven’t completely adjusted to the left-side driving lane, are sure to cause me no end of grief for the next while.

- Tea at Starbucks is ludicrously expensive. Now, don’t go arguing that London is just a more expensive place, because I get that. However, many things are still in line with North American prices, or maybe just a little bit more. But not Starbucks tea. A venti tea is £1.75, which converts to $3.76 Canadian. Bite me if you think that’s reasonable, because I will never be okay with that price. Especially considering IT’S LONDON!!! THE BRITISH AND THEIR TEA, RIGHT? If my latte can be within the same price once converted (£2.84 vs $4.82, not so bad), then why is my tea, which come on, has to be like 2p for them, so bloody expensive? I just don’t get it. This upsets me more than anything. I need my tea. And while I'm on it, what's with the "eat-in" charge? Why does it cost me 50p more to eat a muffin in side (thus bringing the cost to $4.00, thank you very much) just because you put it on a plate? I don't get charged a drink-in fee on my tea, so why do I have to pay more for the accompanying pastry? All's I'm sayin, is I just don't get it.

- People can smoke in bars, cafes, train depots and the like. I wasn’t expecting that, and it’s hard to adjust to someone lighting up in a café next to you. Thankfully Starbucks doesn’t allow smoking in their stores, so I’m safe there. But everywhere else it’s a different story. Luckily, that’s all supposed to change next year.

- City planning here is an oxymoron. While quaint in a certain way (like all the nooks and small side streets), it’s incredibly confusing sometimes to get around. Compounding that is that streets can have nearly identical names, so you have gto be especially careful when walking. You might think you’re on the correct street, but it turns out you’re on Craven Terrace instead of Craven Mews, or Craven Road. Or Craven Hill. All in the very same area.

- Not a rant, but an observation: There are people employed to hold up large plackards, advertising a particular store or service nearby. They look like picketers, only with tall signs with arrows on them. These people litter the busier streets letting us know that an internet café nearby charges only £1 per hour in that direction. Or that this particular restaurant is only £5.95 for their lunch special. More interesting to me are the people employed to handle this task, who bring a new level of apathy to the daily grind. They are usually leaning on the sign poles, chatting with another signholder, smoking a cigarette, or staring off dead-eyed in no particular direction. Not that I blame them; I couldn’t imagine having a job where I stood holding a sign all day, advising people of where they can have the hair removed from their asses. No thanks!

- Another observation is that barkeeps in pubs don’t get tipped. I was so surprised by that, because I know so many bartenders who make amazing livings by the tips they make. Apparently they receive a higher wage, but still, I can’t imagine it’s anything like what they’d make if tipping were employed.

- Oh, and possibly the funniest thing ever: I was sitting at dinner with my roommate and some of the others in the hostel. My roommate was boasting that he’d gotten to shake David Hasselhoff’s hand at Virgin Records today, and several of them (all about the same age of 21) were going on like this was the greatest thing in the world. They were talking about how he was one of their idols and Knight Rider was the shit to them as recently as 5 years ago – who knew? David Hasselhoff must *love* it over here. Hi-larious.

Well, that’s about enough of that. I’ve posted enough to keep your eyes blurry for one day, and promise to try to post more regularly. I miss you all terribly and hope you’re doing well.

Cheerio!

3 Comments:

Blogger Jenn's Yarn Addiction said...

OMG how excited was I to see that you finally posted! Thank goodness I get my Mike fix! Glad to hear you are assimilating well into the Brit-culture over there. I think tea should be parctically free - do they SERIOUSLY mean to charge you for hot water and a wee mesh bag half-filled with herbs and such? Bah! On another note, I hate you for seeing Idina. And Billy Elliot. And all the other wonderul shows you will see! Me = jealous. And on another note: YOU'RE GAY!?! Love you miss you and write on your blog more you twit!

xoxo,

9/18/2006 06:10:00 PM  
Blogger Heipel said...

Billy Elliot, the play! My favourite movie ever on the right day. Please write a review of the play.

9/22/2006 03:42:00 AM  
Blogger Paul said...

I stumbled across your blog, it's looking good! Welcome to London!

9/22/2006 09:11:00 AM  

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