Wednesday 30 May 2007

Update

I, Tomasz, went to training yesterday.

Training = Muay Thai

It was in this shadey little gym near a train station. But it had character and the guys there went rough. It was tough but fun.

Mare spent the night relaxing at home. She is currently looking for a new job and its going very well.

My job is ok. The company is great, working on the trading floor is cool, I getting paid, but the work is not that interesting.

We have a trip to Paris coming up. Mare and I are excited. We will get to see Paris and my parents! They are gong on a ten day trip to Paris and we will spend a weekend sightseeing with them - my dad is now an official Paris tour guide after reading and memorising about 7 trvel guides to the city in about 3 months.

My friend Nate, fromSanta Cruz is passing through london, which is also exciting. He is on his way to Rwanda in Africa, or is it Uganda, I dunno. But it sounds like an adventure - he's the one posting random comments :)

And now its 5.30pm and time togo home - thank you Barclays Capitl

Take care guys,

Tomasz

Friday 25 May 2007

London on the go-go-go

There are a few things in London that show you just how much of a hurry people are around here.

Theres the rush for the tube in the morning and afternoon. But thats probably the same in all cities, except in London the trains come every minute - literally. The longest you will wait for one in the morning or arvo is 4 minutes - literally. Sydeny trains pride themselves on service every 20 minutes. The things that shows that people are in a hurry is that people still get stuck in the clossing doors as they try to jump into the train. Its as if that one minute is worth getting severed in half. We saw an old lady get stuck half way and had to have the doors pried open, not by Mare or I - we were standing there in shock - and then laughed.

Theres the packaged pre-prepared food. You can get anything from an single packaged apple to a refrigerated gormet thai curry you put in the oven for for 15mins - which we have done many times ..mmmm yum And I dont mean frozen salt packed McCains meals.

Theres the popularity of online grocery shopping - no time to waste walking up and down isles.

Theres the store which has everything from homewear to gardening equipment in an instore catalogue. You go to the store, get the products referance number out of the catalogue, pay and wait for them to get it from the store room. No time to waste on looking around. Its also very cheap because they dont have to spend money on displaying things -its all out back in the store room. - something I hadnt heard of in Oz but tell me if they are around.

.... I did it again - I started writing an article all inspired, at work, had to leave it for another day, came back to it and forgot where I was going with it - I can't work under these conditions! I am an artist and need my space! (Insert french swear word here)

Wednesday 23 May 2007

The gym here is the shizz

Its not a gym, its a health club.

So you get a pool, sauna, sunbed room, weights gym and classes included - ooooh ye.

Mare and I went yesterday for a class. I did some weight the day before :) Feels good.

But before Mare tells you the wrong story, my knee was sore so I couldnt go to Muay Thai with our housemate. Instead I decided to go do a class in the pool so that I could work out the knee blah blah blah - I have never seen so many big ladies in the pool and Im not going again. It was a great work out though.

There's a long weekend coming up here. THey call public holidays 'bank hoildays' here. On the sunday we are going to an RnB club - should be fun.

That reminds me - we had a big night on saturday. Met up with mare's bro and his friends at a club called Tiger Tiger. It was like a big club in Sydney and a lot of fun.

Back to work for me,

Tomasz

Monday 21 May 2007

Mr Nathaniels interesting comments

Yo Mr Nata,

thanks for the comment! You made a few good points which I have thought about while over here.

(Mr Nate is a great friend from Santa Cruz who I lived, travelled and surfed with in Central and South America. He made a comment on my last article - check it out)

Ye the Britsih Empire where the biggest colonializers. They 'had' India, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Wales, Scotland among many others... and interestingly, the Americans came from there too. The english speaking world have a lot to be grateful for, although as Mr Nate mentioned - its on the back of thrid world expoilation.

The thing is that I did not expect to see all these 'benefits' in such great amounts over here in London. There is a lot of wealth. There is also a lot of diversity. I dont know the numbers but from looking around, there are many Indians - or should I say Brownies cause they-re from all over that area, there are a lot of black and eastern europeans, but not as many Asians as I expected. But coming from Austral-asia, it makes sense that Ozland will have more people from Asia. All this diversity also setmes from the old colonial days and shows where the British have been and brought back people.

Do remember that we have only been in London, which is a huge city. And as most large cities in the wetsern world go, there is a lot of diversity ther. But as for the county side - I dunno.



The wealth distribution seems to be as in most anglo nations - the white and the coloured/ethnic/Polish doing the cheap labour....


Well I started writing this a few days ago all inspired, but now I forgot where I was going and I was then and still am now at work. So I gotta get back to serving the financial giants in making people money - which is not all bad.

Tomasz

Friday 18 May 2007

London is all about the Monet

Not the artist - but the Mo - ney.

And no one denies it.

I have never seen so many Bentleys, Lamborgines and Austin Martins driving around the city. And the Australian 'european car' like the BMW or Audi is a local over here with one on every corner - it is the richest city in Europe after all and thats where the European car is from.

Mare and I have been to some afluent cities like LA, New York and off course, Sydney, but none compare to the rich/posh feel there is in many parts of London. There are of course the shadey poor areas and we've been to them too (thats another story in itself). I guess the truth is that the word 'posh' originated in London and so it is fitting that people want to be, do and own posh.

If I think back, the British Empire was the origin of many economic booms and trade. So it makes sense that its capital city, London, would be well off. For example, there are places like Mayfair which has the most expensive real estate in the world, the Harrolds department store, all the counrty clubs, the Buckingham Palace and the Bentley which is popualr with rappers in the US but was originally a Bitish hand made car. And then theres the currency, the pound - £1 = $2.8Aussie - now thats a nice exchange rate.

Anyway, many of the people we have met here are after money and lots of it. Sure, many of us are too. But we seem to find a balance between that and the rest of life. Most of the people I know at home are not as driven by the simple goal of money and poshness - either that or the Londoners are just honest about it. Many poepl have told us that thats what London is about. I didnt know that.

Then again, the people we have met in London mostly work in the Finance industry. London is now, and some say always has been, the finance capital of the work - not New York. So the home of finance - finance is about the Mo-ney - so it makes sense that there is so much wealth here.

Hey, I cant complain. We're making the pound and things here cost pennys.

Tomasz

Thursday 17 May 2007

A Nation Obsessed with Virgin

I’m talking about Richard Branson Virgin.

This country’s economy would fall to pieces if Richard Branson wasn’t so prevalent with his Virgin Empire. There is:

Virgin Media (Pay TV)
Virgin Internet (Broadband and wireless etc.)
Virgin Active Health Clubs (Gyms)
Virgin Trains (Cross-country / international)
Virgin Atlantic (International flights)
Virgin Blue (Domestic flights)
Virgin Holidays
Virgin Money (Credit Cards)
Virgin Unite (Charity organisation)
Virgin Books
Virgin Brides
Virgin Wines
Virgin mobiles
V Festival (concerts etc.)
Plus many many more!


Unbelievable – such a company can do so many things! For me, as a Generation Y woman, advertising is directed towards me and the deals are great! Tomasz and I are going to join Virgin Active – the health club today! My prediction is that before we realise it…Virgin will be much much bigger in Australia….

There are many more weird observations here in London.

The women here LOVE their big fashion labels. Everyday on the day I cannot tell you how may Prada handbags, Gucci shoes and Luis Vuitton items I see. It may be because we work in a very corporate area – not sure. Very jealous!

It’s cold – but everyone here thinks its hot. People think I’m cracy because I am wearing a scarf and gloves. Note: It was 15 degrees yesterday…I have resorted to drinking tea regularly and peeing every 5 minutes.

Free ATM withdrawals in London – Why do Australians not have this service for free (you would think a few billion dollars profit a year – the banks would give us Aussies something for free in the land of Oz)? We are so behind the world.

Kate Moss is in the paper everyday. Get her off our papers/magazines! She is a twit with a rake as a body. Not encouraging a very good body image for young British girls.

Ruby (what the Brit’s call a Curry) is the national ‘drunk and its 3am’ dish. In Australia it’s a Kabab or macca’s – in England it’s a curry. Kire (my brother) is still carrying on the Australian tradition though….

Hope all is going well for you guys back home or wherever you are around the world (particularly Nate in Santa Cruz– Love the comments dude – keep them coming!). Let us know in the comments section if there is anything you would like an article on … and if I like it I’ll write about it ;-).

Take care,
Mare xxx

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Mmmmm Lunch

They love their sandwiches over here!

Loooove their sandwiches!

There are two gormet sandwich chains devoted to selling fresh made, healthy and preservative free sandwiches and salads. And they are always packed with people.

So why do I mention this? Cause I like their sandies too.

Its definatly part of living in London. Sandies and Jacket Potatoes. The Jacket potato is ... you guessed it, a potato, a big one, heated up with the skin on, sliced open and filled with a variety of things. The craziest I seen is one filled with melted cheeze, tuna and cottage cheese - apparently its 'the ultimate comfort food' - that was what one of my mate colleagues said - he's from a posh part of the country and is very polite.

Another thing about English cuisine is the Cider. This is a bubbly, alcohois drink made from apples or pears. Its like drinking alcoholic apply juice. Some of them taste pretty good. Mare and I got a range from the supermarket and had a taste testing session on the weekend. We found that some are good and others are nasty. One tasted like sour, slightly off apples, but it started to taste a lot better after we had a few :)

Well Im at work right now and nobody's here. Its also time I got back to work.

Some quick news is that Mare and I are looking for a gym to go to - Virgin has its own chain of gyms competing with Fitness First. We are meant to get a fridge, washine machine and internet on wednesday - hopefully some couches too. Oh ye and a land line telephone too

Take care,

Tomasz

Sunday 13 May 2007

A tour around where we live

Hello guys,

After finding our new place and settling down a bit, we can give you some photos and a little tour of our part of London.

The first photo is of some houses around where we live. They are very british. We like them a lot and get to walk past everyday on our way to the station.





This is the view from our bedroom window. Its a courtyard for the whole flat we live in but no one ever uses it. And we have two chilli plants growing strong. THey started off as little babies and are growing up fast.

Here is a view of our room from the door. There is a lot of space. And yes we are sleeping under our sleeping bags :)



This is from the window - lots of cupboard space.













London Bridge! This was on one of our first days in London. We went on a long walk along the south bank of the Thames river and ended up on the surprisingly tiny bridge - its only got two lanes, one in each direction - nothing like the Harbour Bridge in Sydney.







Westminster Abbey - this thing is HUGE and so detailed.











London Bridge.


Mare's brother Kire and Claire
For the Macedonians - this is the most delicious Graff you will see.
This one's for mama Jordanoska. Kire and Mare together near the Buckingham Palace
And Polaska representing on a graffitied wall - with the dancing girls above it :)
There are sooo many Poles in London. There are convenients stores that sell Polish food, free polish newspapers and supermarket sections dedicated to Polish food. I've heard people speaking the language all over the place. They work hard here and save money - hey, just like me. I was at the office where we get out National Insurance number (which is like a social security nmber and is needed if you want to work in the UK) and it was packed with people getting their number. And at least half the people there were Polish - they came in one after another. Its so easy to spot a polish person. I spoke to the guy there and he said that they usually get 400 people per day thru there and the majority are polish. I' m just shocked at the amount of us Poles going to the UK. Not to mention all the Aussies here... but its been great so far.
Til next time,
Tomasz
PS The Eurovision song contest is a crack up - we watched it last night and even the Brits laugh at it. This year it went to the lesbos and there were plently of them there :)

Tuesday 8 May 2007

We have a home!!

We finally moved in to our own room yesterday! It seems sooo big and strangley similar to my room in Santa Cruz - the resemblance quite freaky. So that means we have a postal address, room for visitors :) and house mates.

We live in the north of London in a town called Archway. If you want the address just email us. The area is very british. The houses are like out of a movie but the train station not so much. Check it out on the map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/colourmap.pdf

Mare and I both work in Canary Wharf which is the south east london (on the map above too) so we travel by train everyday for about an hour. It doesnt feel like it though cause we change trains a couple times and we are together - oooooooooh - plus the ride is always interesting.

So the room is a good price, newly renovated and the housemates only recently bought it. SO they are getting all new furnicher and appliances - the emphasis here is on 'getting' - in that we dont yet have couches, dinning table or a fridge hmmmm. Plus no internet connection and we cant get into hotmail at work cause they're tigharses about that here. So Im writing this from an internet cafe. We wont have regular access to internet until the 14th which means that until then we will be checking our mail speradically. In fact, the housemates had so little in the house that we thought they they were squatters and were going to run off with our deposit and advance rent!

Nah, the housemates are cool. Its a couple - girl is an artist with a half Burmese background (Warbie, there are others like you out there!), the guy works in finance has a jamaican background and is into muay thai - which means that I have a gym to check out. They're a friendly BRITISH couple. We were staying away from the temptation to live with Aussies or travelers, even though they are everywhere.

Ok thats all for now. Its time to get back and relax and sleep.

Tomasz

Saturday 5 May 2007

Photos for you



















Hey guys,


here are a few initial photos:


Mare at the Buckingham Palace, The Natural History Museum, and one from the front of the Palace.
Love,
Tom and Mare

Working In London

Its saturday and the first week of our working life in the country has come to a relaxing end.

Mare started working on Tuesday at Citigroup in Canary Wharf. To those who are not familiar with London, its in the south east- very new development made specifically for offices and apartments for those who work there.... oh ye - we have a place to live. We've been on Mare's brother's living room floor up unitl now and have finally got a room of our own.

We will be living with another couple in north london - a place called Archway. The houses around there are very british. And the other couple seem really cool. We move in on monday.

Monday is a public holiday (or as they call it here, a bank holiday) and we have no plans for the long weekend except to relax. This last week has consited of work, footbal and sleep. The football Champions League is coming to an end and the games are getting intense. THey are CRAZY about soccer over here. The Champions league consists of all the best teams from around europe.

Anyways, my new job at Barclays Capital - its on the trading floor which means that there are about two hundred people sitting at really long desks, with like 3-6 computer screens each (why? I dunno). There are stockbrokers from various markets like foreign exchange, interest rates and others. I have three screens and work with the foreign exchange guys. Its like a movie minus the screaming and yelling. Occassionally they yell but its more subdued. My job its more simple - as a temp its transfering a number of clients from one computer system to another. But being there in that floor with all those peole, computer screens and people from all over europe - so many different accents - its pretty cool. THe pay isn't half bad either :)

We ve been noticing a lot of interesting things about London and the way of life here and we'll get into that soon.

Tomasz