My Busiest day in London so far

I had meetings today; meetings which I had planned and set up a week ago. I had one in the morning and one in the afternoon. But one of the agencies I contacted yesterday came back with 2-3 leads and one of them wanted to see me today after 5pm. The problem is this company is in a place called Richmond (a town just outside of London – in fact it is not include in my mini map) and the last appointment I have (3pm) is in central – about 45-60 mins away.

Assuming my 3pm lasts for an hour and potential congestion in the tube, etc, then I was told that the soonest I can see the company in Richmond is probably 5.30pm and even that is very tight. So I’ve set a time for 6pm.

I did make it. In fact my 3pm finished around 3.30pm and I was able to avoid the rush in the tube. Got to Richmond just after 5pm. So I spent an hour looking around the town. It was a very nice town and it turns out to be a rich people town. There is an “old palace” there and I’m not sure who it belongs to. There were also lines of luxury cars on the streets. There were some squirrels…

Anyway at the end of the we went to meet another old friend – an ex-pat kiwi and had some food in Leicester Square (Chinatown). It seems to be a nice happening place. There are lots of people and the pubs are filled. We went to this pub afterwards called “Waxy O’Connors”. Nice pub! Inside was well designed with a catholic (Irish) theme. It’s been a few days and from what I can see and what’s I’ve heard so far, I’m starting to see the so-called “London-life” my colleague had warned me about. There could be nothing wrong with it but there seem to be a good proportion of people here going to work and almost everyday they go straight into a pub, have a few pints, and go home around midnight. Then waking up and leaving for work again 6-7am the following day. Although I’m not sure how effective they are in the mornings and I’m not sure how their body can handle it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this lifestyle causes them to age faster.
I’ve also been told that a lot of people live on so-called “Pub food”. Today for lunch we went to place called “Slugs and Lettuce”. It is a franchise pub and the food has been graded as “mild” pub food. It was quite good. But I’m still not sure what real pub food is really like so I’ll save that for another post.

At the end of today, if I felt like a small fish in the sea in NZ before….NZ is only a puddle compared to here…I’m not sure what it is…is it feeling home-sick? Is it the uncertainty of being homeless and jobless? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, out of place and somewhat depressed. Definitely out of my comfort zone.