Sunday, August 22, 2010

Adventures / Misadventures

The past week feels like it has been a month… So many things have happened that I can’t even contemplate that it has only been one full week. During the day, I continued to look for flats online and then visit them after work.
On Tuesday evening I did a round of “Speed Flatmating”, which entailed drinking with people and trying to decipher whether you would make good flatmates. I met a group of four people that had a flat nearby, and they were some characters! They consisted of three guys and one girl, who were chatting about movies and “takin’ a piss on” each other. (‘Takin’ a piss on’ someone means that you are teasing them in a friendly way.) Wednesday after work I went to see their flat along with one other. I cannot even describe how opposite the two flats were… The first flat with the three guys and girl was tiny and smokey, with the smallest little room. They were friendly and easy going but apparently not very tidy and clean. The second of the flats was actually a house. The woman was a 33-year old Brazilian woman that had a “wall of rules” hanging in the common area. The rules included never having more than two people over and any time someone had a “night guest” they had to pay her FOUR POUNDS! The questions is whether she knew that she made it sound like a brothel…
So after doing some very unsuccessful flat hunting, I met a friend out for a few drinks. Upon my return back to my hotel, I got a little lost and then finally found my way by the McDonalds. I was so angry that it took so long to get home, and I was starving! I got back to my hotel and woke up the next morning to my wallet being missing from my purse. I couldn’t find it anywhere and had used it last at the McDonald’s. Therefore, it must have been lifted from my purse… I spent most of the day Thursday canceling my credit cards and stressing over how someone had gotten my wallet. My company was nice enough to advance me some cash in a bank account that I couldn’t access until the following Monday. Belton once again came to my rescue and loaned me some ‘quid’ (aka cash / bucks) for the weekend.

Friday night I caught up with a girl I hadn’t seen in 14 years since 6th grade, Athena Simpson (who had been known as Ashley Simpson 14 years ago). She saw my facebook status and contacted me. We had a great time at a tapas bar and went to a really fun whole in the wall bar named Bradley’s with a jukebox. It truly is a small world after all!

Saturday, I finally found a flat! It was relatively cheap for London at £170 a week, but the room is extremely small… The taxi driver on the way to my new flat, said that I was a "Tastey Burd" and that my new flatmate "must be avin' fun wi that'".  (It was a nice compliment =/)  My new flatmate is Gary who is from northern England, 30, bald, and a Systems Analyst for MTV. The flat is located in Bayswater which boasts a fun mall and many restaurants and pubs. I moved in on Sunday and bought all new bedding (you do not want to know what the mattress looked like…). Sunday evening I received a call from the Citadines, my old hotel, because my wallet had been sitting at the front desk for a few days but no one had bothered to open to verify who it belonged to. Therefore, the one thing that made this week so awful was entirely not an issue.

Here I am on Sunday evening praying for an uneventful week, but I guess only time will tell =)!

2 comments:

  1. Taking the piss "out" of someone :-) though I think I like your version better!!! So good to catch up with you and glad you got moved into your flat, we're in the same neighbourhood!!!!

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  2. Another Bald Guy...August 25, 2010 at 2:44 AM

    I like how a descriptor you used for your flatmate was that he was bald.... Haha

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