15/10/06
A big week in London!
Monday passed uneventfully. But, on Tuesday, I got a phone call from the Institute of Education bar manager, asking if I was still interested in working. Yes, yes I was! My first day was Thursday, from 3:30 to 7pm.
Wednesday I woke up bright and early to "model" for Toni and Guy Salons - aka get a free haircut. It took hours. The girl who did my hair has been a stylist with Toni and Guy for 2.5 years. So basically, I got a professional haircut for free. Hearing all of the technical terms about cutting hair was definitely an eye-opener. I didn't know that there was a whole vocabulary connected with it. Despite it taking 3 hours (!), in the end it was one of the best haircuts I've gotten, even if the guy examining the girl who cut my hair was quite harsh.
Wednesday night I was supposed to go to Yo! Sushi with some friends from Dinwiddy and meet up with my Irish friend Des around 9. However, like typical university students, we didn't get our act together in time, so I ditched the dinner plans and headed down to Chinatown to meet up with Des and a friend of his at O'Neill's. O'Neill's is a fake Irish pub that plays lots of cheesy '80's music and has cheap drinks. Luckily I arrived at the end of the football game they were watching. After a slightly unnerving encounter with an overly friendly bouncer named Luka, I found Des and his friend Declan, and we passed a fun few hours reminiscing, talking about London, what we've been up to for the past few years, etc. Funny moment of the night:
Me: I like living in Dinwiddy but once in a while I get sick of the 18 year olds.
Des: You know 18 year olds?!
Me: I live with a 17 year old!
Des: Can you introduce us?
(joking, I am choosing to believe.). In any case, we got home late and poor Des had a hard day at work the next morning.
However, I had nothing to do on Thursday until 3:30, so I laid about and tidied up, then went to the bar at 3:30 for training. It was overwhelming at first but I quickly caught on, and by the end of the shift Claudia, the manager, was quite impressed. I really like the pace of bartending - there's always something to do, and it's fun talking to the different customers. For instance, someone ordered a drink and making fun of his friend for not ordering a proper drink or something, mentioned Jesus. So, of course, I ask him why he's bringing Jesus into it. He then proceeds to say, "Ah, you must not be one of those Bible Belt Americans. You must be from one of those godless places, like New York!" Dead on, cheers, sir. Anyway, turned out the non-drinker was going to NYC that weekend, so I gave him some recommendations of where to go.
When I got back that evening my French flatmate had made delicious quiche, and my flatmate Will and his friends Fasir and Ousman had made spontaneous plans to go to Brighton, which was quite exciting, except that they accidently booked the biggest gay hotel in Brighton, and there were three of them staying in one room. I'm still waiting to hear the aftermath of that adventure.
Friday was class, and I went to Hyde Park with Leah to walk around and see the Serpentine. Hyde Park is beautiful, and I should have taken pictures. Alas, I did not, but I'm sure I'll go back. That night was bartending again, and there was a party going on with a good band and a pretty awesome DJ, until he stopped spinning because apparently, he was drunk. Haha. Came back from bartending to talk to Vicky, because she had a cold, then reading more of "We wish to inform you..." and went to sleep.
Saturday, I was out literally ALL day! I went to Camden Market with my extremely gay friend Trevor, and it was wild. So many tattooing and piercing shops, and rows upon rows of vendors selling clothes, food, shoes, etc. It was really cool. I'm going to go back during the week when it will be less crowded to look for boots. Then immediately after I got back from the market, I ran out again to meet Leah and Vanessa for drinks and dinner. I ate very delicious ginger chicken udon noodles. Then we went to Kings Road, which is in the Chelsea and Kensington area (very posh). We did a bit of a pub crawl, including a bar on a boat. Then Vanessa left and we went to Collideascope, a sort of indie music club, which was really fun. When I got back I ran into a drunk Sunniva (my French flatmate). I got back at 2:30, saw Trevor do a cartwheel, and fell asleep by 3.
Sunday is your typical clean-up day and attempt to catch up on schoolwork, while simulaneously typing a very long blog in the pursuit of procrastination! Cheers til next time. I'll try to post pictures soon.
Monday passed uneventfully. But, on Tuesday, I got a phone call from the Institute of Education bar manager, asking if I was still interested in working. Yes, yes I was! My first day was Thursday, from 3:30 to 7pm.
Wednesday I woke up bright and early to "model" for Toni and Guy Salons - aka get a free haircut. It took hours. The girl who did my hair has been a stylist with Toni and Guy for 2.5 years. So basically, I got a professional haircut for free. Hearing all of the technical terms about cutting hair was definitely an eye-opener. I didn't know that there was a whole vocabulary connected with it. Despite it taking 3 hours (!), in the end it was one of the best haircuts I've gotten, even if the guy examining the girl who cut my hair was quite harsh.
Wednesday night I was supposed to go to Yo! Sushi with some friends from Dinwiddy and meet up with my Irish friend Des around 9. However, like typical university students, we didn't get our act together in time, so I ditched the dinner plans and headed down to Chinatown to meet up with Des and a friend of his at O'Neill's. O'Neill's is a fake Irish pub that plays lots of cheesy '80's music and has cheap drinks. Luckily I arrived at the end of the football game they were watching. After a slightly unnerving encounter with an overly friendly bouncer named Luka, I found Des and his friend Declan, and we passed a fun few hours reminiscing, talking about London, what we've been up to for the past few years, etc. Funny moment of the night:
Me: I like living in Dinwiddy but once in a while I get sick of the 18 year olds.
Des: You know 18 year olds?!
Me: I live with a 17 year old!
Des: Can you introduce us?
(joking, I am choosing to believe.). In any case, we got home late and poor Des had a hard day at work the next morning.
However, I had nothing to do on Thursday until 3:30, so I laid about and tidied up, then went to the bar at 3:30 for training. It was overwhelming at first but I quickly caught on, and by the end of the shift Claudia, the manager, was quite impressed. I really like the pace of bartending - there's always something to do, and it's fun talking to the different customers. For instance, someone ordered a drink and making fun of his friend for not ordering a proper drink or something, mentioned Jesus. So, of course, I ask him why he's bringing Jesus into it. He then proceeds to say, "Ah, you must not be one of those Bible Belt Americans. You must be from one of those godless places, like New York!" Dead on, cheers, sir. Anyway, turned out the non-drinker was going to NYC that weekend, so I gave him some recommendations of where to go.
When I got back that evening my French flatmate had made delicious quiche, and my flatmate Will and his friends Fasir and Ousman had made spontaneous plans to go to Brighton, which was quite exciting, except that they accidently booked the biggest gay hotel in Brighton, and there were three of them staying in one room. I'm still waiting to hear the aftermath of that adventure.
Friday was class, and I went to Hyde Park with Leah to walk around and see the Serpentine. Hyde Park is beautiful, and I should have taken pictures. Alas, I did not, but I'm sure I'll go back. That night was bartending again, and there was a party going on with a good band and a pretty awesome DJ, until he stopped spinning because apparently, he was drunk. Haha. Came back from bartending to talk to Vicky, because she had a cold, then reading more of "We wish to inform you..." and went to sleep.
Saturday, I was out literally ALL day! I went to Camden Market with my extremely gay friend Trevor, and it was wild. So many tattooing and piercing shops, and rows upon rows of vendors selling clothes, food, shoes, etc. It was really cool. I'm going to go back during the week when it will be less crowded to look for boots. Then immediately after I got back from the market, I ran out again to meet Leah and Vanessa for drinks and dinner. I ate very delicious ginger chicken udon noodles. Then we went to Kings Road, which is in the Chelsea and Kensington area (very posh). We did a bit of a pub crawl, including a bar on a boat. Then Vanessa left and we went to Collideascope, a sort of indie music club, which was really fun. When I got back I ran into a drunk Sunniva (my French flatmate). I got back at 2:30, saw Trevor do a cartwheel, and fell asleep by 3.
Sunday is your typical clean-up day and attempt to catch up on schoolwork, while simulaneously typing a very long blog in the pursuit of procrastination! Cheers til next time. I'll try to post pictures soon.
posted by shannon at 1:54 PM
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