A new home away from home

Coming to you live, via wireless broadband from our new flat in london, the lauren-and-cameron-round-the world-saga continues...

This week's episode has seen us gather all of the stuff that we have collected and accumulated since leaving Sydney, (almost 7 months ago now) somehow cram it into our backpacks and drag it on one overland and three tube trains here to our new home, Willesden Green. (Can you believe Cam's shoe collection has grown from three pairs to EIGHT!!! and they say women are bad!)

We have managed to land ourselves right smack-bang-in-the-middle of London's largest Aussie/Kiwi community - without even trying! We even have an Australian shop here that sells all the comforts of home - cherry ripe, vegemite, tim tams etc etc.

Speaking of food... our week seems to have been mostly filled with eating typical London fare. Our first night here we had our first (of many to come I am sure) Indian takeaway. It was quite a novelty for me - I've never eaten much Indian before and it was truly awesome! (did you know that the Indian fast food industry in Britain is bigger than British steel???)

We've also hit China town with my Australian work mates, where the hilarious waiter kept calling us "you Kiwis", and on Saturday night Cam and I had the traditional on-the-way-home-from-a-night-out kebab from the local turkish takeaway. But this wasn't your average shaved meat with hummus job, it was the real deal shawarama chunks of meat with proper cooked onions, mmm garlic sauce.

By and by the way I have also managed to get some retail temp work. Which means I am now no longer a bum and can afford to do things, like eat and pay rent. I am working for Burberry in their stockroom, preparing for a big sample sale that they are having - and this week I have an interview for a permanent position supervising at the Disney Store in Oxford street.

So life seems to be working itself out. So much so that I am half considering taking another year of leave from uni, and staying on here to truly experience all the amazing things this country has to offer. Calm down mum, I did say half, after all I've had my thermals on for 2 weeks now, and winter has not yet even begun!

So that is it for this week's installment. Life here is chaotic, fun, busy, crazy, and at times trying. I miss home and everyone who is there, but I'm still not ready to come home.
But that's nothing that the coldest predicted English winter in 100 years can't fix, I'm sure.

Everyone take care!

Lauren xoxo

Well, this will be an abbreviated entry (I hear you all sighing with relief) for several reasons -

firstly: I wrote a slightly more positive an upbeat version of the last entry but Cam accidentally deleted it off the lap-top

secondly: I managed to ruin our internet connection at Poppa's so now I am back to my hour-a-day in the library

thirdly: I need to pull my head in - stop wasting time and get a job

fourthly: I am working on a small project with Cookie (JJJ winner) doing the design for a zine he is starting up - and thus am a bit distracted

so anyways

Much has been happening. Most importantly Cam has gotten a job (after 6 months of sleeping in - and catching planes) - and this job is in London which means we finally have a real reason to force us to move to the city.

Meanwhile I've been doing depressing housewife things - like yelling at him for coming home late and ruining dinner (no - it really happened - scary but true) and handwashing, since we still don't have a washing machine at Poppa's.

Anyways decided yesterday that after 2 weeks of moping around watching bad American sitcoms and thinking how terrible my life is (having all my things stolen etc etc) I have decided to do something about it.

So I am about to post off my insurance claim for everything that was in my bag - which comes to a whoping $4000 AUD!!! (Never realised how valuable that bag was till yesterday!) - and was harder to compile than my Year 12 4 Unit English thesis - truly - I mean collecting evidence for every single thing in that bag was nothing short of a challenge (cheers to Kath for spending 3 hours on the phone digging through every reciept in my bedroom!)

And once the insurance claim is done I am looking for a place for us to move to in London... and then ... I am going to find a job in London that pays more than 5 quid an hour - else I will never be able to afford Africa.

Nice plan hey - now let us wait and see what exciting things the universe decides to throw my way.

But truly - I am having a great time. The last 6 months have been full of challenges (each slightly weirder than the one before) but it's defenitely making me a stronger person - and I know this because the way I reacted to losing my bag was nothing short of a re-invented Lauren.
I was actually calm - can you believe it - crazy irrational Lauren - calm?

But - moving right along after much thinking about hurricane Katrina and everyone in New Orleans - and what all of those people have lost - my loss seems pathetic in comparision. I am extremely lucky for the life that I live and this wonderful opportunity to come here and see all of these things, and I'm so glad that I did.

Anyways must run - flats to find and jobs to apply for - hope all is well at home - I hear it's hotting up in Sydney - where as my eternal summer is coming to a quick end. These people think that 18 degrees is warm - oh my - I think I am in for a shock!