Happy Halloween!

Being a lady of leisure, I easily mix up my days and dates- and didn't even realize today was Halloween! Oops! Upon realizing this morning about what day it is, I promptly changed into my selected costume- the Starbucks dwelling lady of leisure outfit- jeans, trainers (athletic shoes), long sleeved shirt, and a jacket for the autumn weather. For a touch of splash I even put a brush to my hair to look decent for my barista friends.

Joking aside- we are into week five and I have news: I got a job offer yesterday. It is to be a graduate recruiter at Credit Suisse. http://www.credit-suisse.com/uk/en/ It is a strong bank, and I would be working in the investment banking group hiring analysts. I am still not sure if I am going to take it. I know, I've been complaining for weeks that I need a job, and I get an offer and I'm not sure... Without going into the long saga that is my brain working in overtime.... There are a ton of pros to the job, along with some cons- so I'm weighing it out and hoping to buy time while waiting to hear on another job I'm interested in- one with Alexander Mann Solutions. http://www.alexandermannsolutions.com/ I hope that in the next week I'll know and no longer have to go on interviews... All in all I have interviewed 13 times in the last 5 weeks. That is a lot! I feel like one of my candidates from my old days at EY. It is no fun being on the other side!

Many of you who read JP's blog know he is in Amsterdam for a few weeks. So, I fly solo now- fun! (note sarcasm). This is a new lesson in self sufficiency. I have kept myself busy - I joined a gym (very nice gym- the Virgin Active...) and am keeping busy with all these interviews. This weekend JP comes home and we are going to Bath for the weekend with another couple from GEP- that will be super fun.

The London Film Festival concludes tomorrow and we got to enjoy a couple films. We saw Grace is Gone on Saturday afternoon. If you are a John Cusack fan like I am, you will like it. Warning though- it is a tearjerker. It even moved JP, which we all know is not an easy feat. Then last night I took another GEPer - Chris- with me to the east side to see a movie called City of Men. You can check out the other films and trailers for these films on the site: http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/lff/. The film I saw last night was on the east side of London- let's just say it was not a nice neighborhood. I walked by myself on some interesting streets at a quick pace- and made it safely. I had an escort back to the tube station. There is definitely a difference between the east and west side of the city. Seeing movies here are fun- they are usually in old theaters and you can drink alcohol in them (well, you can really drink everywhere here) and you also select your seats when you purchase your tickets. You don't have to show up to the theater 30 minutes in advance as a result. It is nice.

The weather is turning and it is definitely autumn (they don't call it fall here). It has been clear this week, just a little chilly. Soon enough it will be Thanksgiving! I need to figure out how to cook a turkey - never done that before. Any suggestions send my way.

Thanks to all of you who keep e-mailing me and keeping in touch. I get so excited to get your emails. Hopefully one of these days I can get a phone set up in our flat so I can actually call people and not feel so disconnected.

Until next time, enjoy the week!

Pictures of the new flat!

Ok everyone, I promised pictures, and today I remembered to bring my camera out with me as I make my daily trip to Starbucks for internet access. Here goes:

View of our living room from the entry hallway. There is tons of storage space and built in bookcases that we hope to fill with stuff once our shipment arrives next month. We also have big windows all along the front of the living room and kitchen- making the space very bright!

Here is our bedroom. It is pretty big and has more tall windows. We have two closets and this weekend we bought bedside tables and assembled them together. It was a great moment in JP & Angie togetherness- assembling furniture is great for any relationship. (note sarcasm).

Here is another view of the living room from the kitchen- Again, note the big space and tons of bookshelves/storage! Here is the kitchen- it is red- super cool color. :)

Here is a goofy picture I took of JP as he poured his John Smith beer the other night. We toasted to the one and only Jon Smith that we know and miss.

We've hosted our GEP friends over for dinner a couple times already. All of us are without TV and internet, so passing the down time together makes it more bearable. I'm the only one who really likes to cook. Last night it was vegetable lasagna... this lady of leisure thing is making me so domestic! (Pictured from L-R- Matt, Stuart, JP, and Jamie- sitting)

Those are really all the pictures that I have for now. More to come in the following few days, we'll get ourselves out and about and take some more pictures of London.

Confusing on so many levels

Greetings Friends.

We are in our flat. It wasn't pretty- but we are settled, and our clothes are hanging up finally! In the last four weeks this new flat marks the 6th place we've slept in since we moved out of our condo on September 17. (Special thanks to the Komors and Glenner for putting us up in the OC)I will have pictures up soon, I forgot my camera and am sitting in a coffee shop right now (explanation below).

We heard from everyone how hard this would be, and in many ways I think we couldn't truly internalize the difficulty of setting up here until we experienced it for ourselves. Everything takes time- the phone line, cable, internet, etc. To date I've spent 8 hours on the phone with British Telecom- or BT- the phone company in this country. 8 hours. Think about all you can do with 8 hours. It takes 2-4 days to set up a phone line even where one exists (meaning, all the company has to do is flip a switch....) We are right now totally disconnected from the world at home, but hopefully that will change soon. Right now I frequent Starbucks in all neighborhoods for an internet connection to stay up on e-mail and to keep occupied. That is super fun- doing your banking and blogging with the Starbucks soundtrack in the background. Oh well, it is life for now.

Our new flat is great. We moved in on Friday and went the weekend without heat. The thermostat was broken, and most people don't work on weekends here. So, we layered on clothes (it was in the 30's outside) and kept moving around to stay warm. Our heat was thankfully fixed yesterday after the nice maitenance man joked with me saying "we can't have our Americans cold here love." I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me, but either way we have warmth and I can feel my toes again.

In search of sushi restaurants to (hopefully) celebrate a job offer tomorrow- I've run across a sushi/latin restaurant. Since when did people decide to combine the two? I just want to go to my favorite place- Wasa- what I wouldn't do for a spicy scallops roll or my favorite yellowtail hand roll about now. Peggy and Pam- please make a special trip for me and say hi to Ben.

I had my first burrito in London with a girlfriend today and it wasn't bad. The two of us (the last of the trailing spouses to secure employment- until my girlfriend got her job offer while we were out!) were craving Mexican food- and so we went and found the one place that most expats have recommended- Mexicali in Nottinghill. Surprisingly, it was good. It wasn't Javier's or anything, but it did the job. Now, my last lady of leisure friend will go to work soon. My job is coming, I know it. In the words of the Secret- I am willing that s**t to happen as if my life depended on it! (Peggy- put out the positive vibes for me please! And, Mary, stop making fun of me!)

On another note - I've had time and a lot of silence to reflect on the life we had back home and what we've given up to come here. I am surprised at our resiliency to live without what had come to be everyday modern conveniences. We are actually living the next 18 months without a clothes dryer. Isn't that crazy? It is part of life here, and while some places do have a dryer, ours doesn't. The clothes dry fast, especially with a little drying trick one of our friends showed us. I won't bore you- but it isn't as bad as we thought. Also, we have a dorm like refrigerator. It has a tiny little freezer- so no more keeping frozen foods or even ice. We used to buy frozen things all the time (um, hello- frozen pizzas?!) but now we buy fresh every day for dinner. It is interesting. Finally- no bathrooms here have electrical outlets in them. So, I blow dry my hair in my bedroom. The cord is too short for me to be near a mirror, so I just go off of memory and pray it looks ok.

This is all a good test in patience, resiliency, and most of all humor. It is comical that such a forward thinking country has such poor infrastructure. However, it is all part of the experience. One of the gals who is here already couldn't put it into words when we spoke before I came out here- she just kept saying "things here are different. not better, not worse. Just different." I am finally able to understand what she means.

Best of all though- for JP and I- it has meant a different type of growth as a couple. Indulge me for a minute as I get deep- but when you only have each other and are experiencing the same joys and frustrations it definitely bonds you in different ways. At home we had fairly separate lives and our "together" time came on the weekends. It is nice now, our together time is now in larger doses and we've suprised each other in how much we actually like each other's day to day company. Good thing that worked out! Additionally- this is the first time in my life where I've had actual alone time. My old life had me in a job where I was always in front of people, after hours I was working out with my groups or going out with friends. The only time I had to myself was in the car (where I was usually on the phone to someone) or when I went grocery shopping. I've learned how to keep myself busy and enjoy these quiet days. It is good for my personal maturity and growth (I guess I have to say that!)

I'm finding myself rambling so I'll end things here. Without a phone line I can't call my friends, it is killing me to be disconnected. I feel like this is an open ear, so I can just chat away.... however many of you have jobs and life, and I'll let you get back to it.

Next posting promises pictures and hopefully a job update. (They keep putting off the decision by a day, ugh!!)

To my SoCal friends- stay indoors and breath easy- hopefully the fires will cease soon.

Moving West

Week three has officially come and more of the same ensues. I read my husband's rant (I thought he was going to redo some of that as it was purely a low moment) but in reflection of the highs and lows of the last month or so, I'd like to report that things are looking up. Why? Two things:

• We're moving to West London this Friday! No more construction at all hours of the day (not sure if we've shared that- but directly across the street from us there are HUGE construction crews who start EVERY morning at 8am - saturdays, sundays, no difference and jack hammer until 6pm every night). No more hour long tube rides to meet our other friends out! We can unpack our stuff and settle in!


• I am pretty close to getting a job! I have a couple prospects on the table, but the one I'm most interested in is looking very good. I'm hopeful to be reporting in a few days that I am gainfully employed in the UK- imagine that!

Here is a picture of our new pad from the outside. How cute does it look?

We are the second floor (well, here we are considered 1st floor) of the last doorway on the right. Those two windows on the second floor are ours. The place is nice, it has two bedrooms, a big great room with an old fireplace, high ceilings, hard wood floors, and a kitchen with so much cupboard space we will have no problem packing away our Costco supplies when it arrives next month.

The best part of the place is it is in a more central part of town, closer to our friends, and much bigger than our efficient corporate housing.

Also, we have a lot to look forward to. We've planned two weekend trips in the coming 6 weeks- one weekend away in Bath with another GEP couple. Then at the end of November we'll hop a flight to Nice, France and experience a couple days of the French Rivera. Yeah, life is terrible. :)

Our first visitor has claimed her bed in the new casa- Anneliese will be visiting the Menendez/Sciammarella B&B in mid-December. She comes a week before the first London Family Christmas will take place with Gracie, my sister Nikki, and her boyfriend Dan.

(Pictured left- Chris, Michele, and Dave- Chris & Dave are GEP, Michele is a trailing spouse like me)

On the friend front- we are meeting lots of expats. The GEP community is a lot of fun - there are couples and singles who are always up to go out for a pint. We've also been introduced to other expats through friends in the US and have been setting up different times to meet them. To those of you who have sent me a random email here or there telling me to email so and so for a drink- you bet I've done it! The more friends we meet, the better! However, we've been warned that it will be a long process to make friends with a native here. The cultural consultant here issued a challenge to us to determine success here in the UK- get yourself invited to the home of a native for dinner. If you can do that, you've made it. Imagine that. This whole experience has made me sensitive to the plight of expats in the US- those RSP's who used to come into EY during busy season who we would just pass in the halls. I think in the future I'll make more of an effort to be friendly.

Today is a nice day- sunny but a little chilly. With the sun comes my favorite thing- running outside! We are close to the Thames river here with a nice running path. I might as well take advantage of this lady of leisure thing and get myself back in shape. I'm off to run- tootles until next time.

Trailing Spouses Day Out!

On Thursday, one of the trailing spouses, Michele, planned a little ladies day out. For those of you unfamiliar with this terrible term- Trailing Spouses is the name that EY gives to the spouse of the GEP participant. (Couldn't they think of a more positive, affirming term??) This year, the spouses were all wives from the US, and all of us are in very much the same boat- job seeking, home making, and incredibly fantastic wives. (from left to right: Kate, Jamie, Michele, Nicole, and me)

Michele- pictured in the middle- planned for us a day at the Tate Modern Museum http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/ and lunch to follow. We got incredibly lucky- we had a CLEAR day and saw the sun- nice!

Tate Modern is much like any other contemporary museum. They have some interesting collections of art that makes one muse on their own ability to replicate and sell "art" made up of pieces of old furniture and such and be revered and famous.... but nothing that made us ohhh and ahhhh. The biggest thing on display was a huge crack in the floor. Yes, a crack. I even took a picture for you. Michele even put her finger in the crack... yes, girls can have teenage senses of humor like boys.

Following the Tate Modern, we enjoyed a lunch of mini portioned Greek food at a fun cafe along the Thames river walk. We had a splendid view of St. Paul's in the background as we dined.

From there, we continued on back to Borough Market- can't get enough of that place. We then went on to a pub to wait for the spouses to get out of their trainings. Many Strongbows (a fun cider I've taken a liking to) and glasses of wine later, we met the boys for dinner at our new favorite budget locale- Nando's!

All in all, we had a fun day, worthy of writing about and sharing pictures. This weekend we'll be heading to Notting Hill to spend some time with some friends who have been here for a year on GEP, and then also we'll be shopping for things for our flat, which we move into next week.

Enjoy the sun and the great weather, think of us as you bask in the sun!

UK TV and a few translations

As a lady of leisure, I'd like to take a moment to comment on the television options here and then will end that short rant with new translations on words and phrases we have started to use.

The TV here is in a word- Terrible. I may have a different opinion once we get set up in our own flat with another cable/sattelilte option- but our temporary housing options are just not happening. Many of you reading this I know are thinking- why is she complaining? She doesn't have a job, why is she not out sightseeing? Shopping? Well, I ask you all to think for one moment on how you'd fill 8-10 hours a day in a foreign land day after day while your significant other works. You can only shop and sightsee so much... I digress... Some observations:

1. The commercials here are so odd. I think they are supposed to be funny, ironic, etc. but they make no sense at all. There are gorillas playing drums to a Phil Collins song that is supposed to make you want to buy and eat cadbury. There is a man dressed up as a squid who is selling a mobile phone. There is a couple having a row (fight) in a kitchen that is selling appliances. The list goes on. JP and I just look at each other and giggle while trying to figure out what it is the advertiser is selling.

2. There is no set TV schedule here- shows start at 5:10pm and go until 5:35pm and then another show starts. They have one channel that plays a series of shows, mostly old reruns, and the next channel plays the same thing, just an hour later. I'm not sure on the purpose.

3. I understand why the English hate us so much. The shows they watch here from the US do not do us justice. I hate to think of people judging me based off of the most recent episode of Laguna Beach that aired today. They don't have The Hills here- they are a few years behind on all that.

4. They have UK versions of our shows (or, it could be that we have US versions of UK shows, and I just didn't know it). Supernanny (yes, I know that was a UK show) is over here as well, only she counsels bratty brit kids instead of American kids. The Today show here is called GMToday (Good Morning Today) and it makes me miss Ann Curry and Matt Lauer SO BAD. The soap operas here are funny because in the US the soaps have all beautiful people who can't act. Here, the people can't act, but they also aren't at all attractive. I believe they took a random sampling from the tube stop by our flat to cast these shows.

A couple thoughts on words and spellings. I still can't figure out if I should be replacing the Z in all our words (organization, realization) and putting an S to reflect the UK spelling- it causes serious anxiety everytime I email a recruiter here.

Also, they say the word "Zed" for the letter Z. So, when I spell my last name, I should be ending it by saying "Zed" instead of "Z". Yesterday on an interview, I spelled my name the way I would in the US, and I ended up with a nametag that read Angie Menendeg- nice huh!

Finally, here are some translations for your enjoyment....

UK word US Equivalent
Row Fight
Solicitor Lawyer
Assessor Interviewer
Mum Mom (there are only "Happy Birthday Mum cards here!)
Flat Apartment
Straight away Right away
CV Resume
Mind the gap Watch your step
Car Park Parking garage
Details Business Card
Answer Phone Answering machine/voicemail
Cheers Thanks
Mobile phone Cell phone
Toilet or Loo Restroom (they have no restrooms in the UK)
Diary Schedule

A couple things that you DON'T say here- the word fanny (has negative connotations equivalent to our "C" word) and to "cruise" such and such street or area (cruising means looking for gay people)... not that we say fanny too much, but coming from SoCal, I'm used to cruising to see my friends... :)

There are many more, I'll include in future postings.

And contrary to our cultural training- they do ask how are you and how you doing here upon greeting- thank goodness!

Now off to do more of the same, until next time...

Sightseeing and Job Seeking

Greetings friends.... second weekend down and everyday we feel more and more official.

(Picture here of the horseguards at the PM house... no smiles from him.)

On Saturday we did what every self respecting Londoner stays far far away from.... we boarded a bright red double decker sightseeing bus and went for a 2 hour spin around this fine city. It was fun, a fine old English chap pointed out the sights, referenced various meanings behind design and placement, and told us all about the great fire of 1666.

Most of you know JP and I to be brilliant planners, but in this instance, we failed to charge the camera battery. That meant that the first 15 minutes of our day was photographed, and the rest committed to memories that we can share with the literal word. I will say, it was super fun and something that you must do when you are here. You really do see all the sights and do it much faster than it takes to walk this city. (Picture here is of the Tower Bridge from our rooftop seat)

We also visited the famous Borough Market (http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/) and walked around the maze of yummy goodness- you name it, this place had it. We plan on going back with an empty stomach next time.

Yesterday some of the GEP (Global Exchange Program) wives (or, as they affectionately call us- the "trailing spouses") took a field trip to Harrods and browsed around. It was fabulously busy and fun and beautiful. I can't wait to see it at Christmas!

For me, this week will include much of the same- job hunting! I have some interviews lined up, and there are plenty of opportunities out there. Things here just take more time than I am used to.

Until next time my friends... Have a GREAT week!

First week posting...

Hi all, this is your favourite Londoner writing. This is being spell checked on UK Word so you may see some funny misspellings. Well, I’m officially done with training and reported to my business unit today. There are about 35 of us here in the Capital Markets group mainly from the United States and Canada (also known as USA Jr.). The office here is fabulous. There are EY employees originating from over 70 countries and they speak more than 130 languages. Talk about diversity!

For those of you who haven’t heard the word, Angie and I found a flat in the West Kensington / Sheppard’s Bush (tee hee) area of West London. It’s a fabulous 2 bedroom 1 bath and should have ample space for “guitar hero flat parties” (by the way it just took me two minutes to find the “ on my keyboard so I hope you appreciate it).

At every pub I’ve been to I keep in mind whether or not it can accommodate a BarLympics. Unfortunately, I have not found an establishment yet that can cater to the hard core sporting events that we’ve come to know and love. Not to fear though, Angie and I will keep looking in our new neighbourhood for a suitable location.

I’m seated in a window seat here in the office and its absolutely brilliant outside. I can see the London Bridge and the London Eye from my cube. I can see a bunch of other stuff too but I don’t know what it is (it looks really old and important though). Literally nobody in the office gets a proper office. We’re all in cubes which have very low partitions. It makes things difficult for the Americans because we have no idea who is a partner and who is an admin and furthermore you can’t even fart without someone knowing.

Last night I also came to the realisation that beer hits you harder here. First and foremost you get a larger beer than you would in the states. Second and secondmost there is more alcohol in their brew. This may not be true, but it’s the rationalization I came up with to help myself not feel like such a girl for feeling tiny from so few beers.

Well, that’s it for now. I'll try and get some pictures up soon after this weekend. Hit me up and say hi when you get a chance.

One week in

We've arrived! Last week went well and we are slowly getting adjusted (the jet lag is killer!). Everything has gone great so far- the only hiccups we've encountered have mainly to do with the process of signing up for the gym to work out, and our washing machine is broken. Who needs clean clothes anyway?

We've already lined up a flat in an area called West Kensington- near some friends who live here already and very near shops, pubs, and a few different high streets. We move on October 19. It has two bedrooms, the second room nicely sized for visitors!

John started work yesterday and I am on the job hunt. There are some prospects out there, so I'm hopeful I can line up something soon. The sooner I start working, the sooner we can start travelling! John's office is really cool- in the London Bridge area of the city- see here you can see part of the bridge in the background. It is super modern and huge- 6,000 employees sit in that one office. They all seem to dress smarter than we are used to- so John is happily looking for more suits to wear.

We are currently staying in a neighborhood called Canary Wharf. It is the financial center (or centre) of the city, with high rises and loads of people during the week. It is pretty quiet at night and on the weekends. It is like a newer version of downtown LA- with no homeless people. We'll be ready to move out of here to someplace with a little more character and people around.

Some overall observations after week 1:

1. People walk everywhere here. Such the opposite end of the spectrum from California where we drive to the store 1/4 mile away.

2. People are in a hurry here! I naturally walk slower, but you nearly get mowed over here if you aren't careful.

3. The food isn't as bad as we thought. Due to the prices and Angie's current unemployment we cook in a lot- but on the occasions we've eaten out is hasn't been awful- it's been quite good. I even made salsa last week. The jarred salsa they sell here is not very good.

4. The people are nice! Customer service wise, it isn't the same (but CA keeps getting worse and worse at restaurants and stores anyway) and people are so helpful and nice. I haven't run into anybody yet who has been the dreadful brit we were warned against- altho I know that day will come.

So friends, the sooner you get out here, the sooner you can see for yourself all the fun things we are talking about. Book your tickets soon for Chalet Sciammarella/Menendez on the West End to explore!