Friday, December 15, 2006
Realised I forgot to say anything about where I'm actually living. Have been staying with friends in the Kilburn/Queen's Park area (northwest London), with one weekend in Acton (west London). Today I am moving into a place in Willesden Green, which is also NW, with my friend Emma from NZ. We are house-sitting for about a month for some friends of friends of hers - rent free, yay!!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Living in London
I've been here now for just over a month (that went quickly!) and I've been working this week and last week. I was starting to panic about finding a job and then ended up getting three all in the space of two days!! Don't worry - two of them are pretty flexible so I can work HEAPS if I want to or just normal hours otherwise.
The main job I'm doing is teaching assistant work through an agency. So schools ring up an agency when they have someone call in sick or something like that and they ring me up and I go to work. There are some longer term ones available but at the moment I'm just doing day-to-day supply. I've worked in the same school in Hackney for this week (and Thursday last week), in the reception class. That's kids aged 4 and 5!! They're very small but they can be trouble! We've pretty much only been preparing for their Christmas performance, which was today. The parents came to watch. We got them all dressed up and they learnt a poem about the nativity story and recited it with some actions and songs thrown in too. It went really well!! And they looked so cute in their costumes :-) It's been quite nice being with the same class for a few days because I've gotten to know them a bit better and they actually pay attention to me now! The first day I was there I was left alone with half the class for a bit and they just ran riot and wouldn't listen to me. I've probably also figured out the best way to get them to behave now too :-)
Last week I had one day at a special needs school with a class of primary school boys in wheelchairs, most of whom couldn't really speak. I actually quite enjoyed my day there but it is a very different experience to what I've been doing this week.
Job number 2 is working in a cafe called Bullet Espresso in the Snow + Rock store in Covent Garden. It's owned by New Zealanders and there are three of us who work there who are all also New Zealanders. So when I'm there it pretty much feels like I could be in New Zealand apart from the pounds in the till and the English customers (although lots of Kiwis there too, the word is spreading about how good we are!).
I work there in the weekends and at the moment I'm pretty much just doing the till and dishes although I will get some coffee training at some point (I just need a refresher and to learn exactly how they do it - every cafe is different!) and I think I'll be making the sandwiches every Sunday. It's really fun and generally pretty cruisy and we had a Christmas do the other night (the only one I'll get)!
Went to a restaurant in Covent Garden called Belgo where they had lots of mussels dishes and a really wide range of beers. I got mussels with chorizo in a tomato-y sauce with potatoes. It was really nice but I never realised that the mussels over here are so small!
After the dinner we went to a Comedy Club on a boat on the Thames and saw three comedians plus the MC who was a New Zealander! It was a really good night. Especially since it was all free :-)
Anyway, the third job is working for a company called the Esprit Group who provide wait staff for functions. So the work can be walking around with a bottle of wine or champagne topping up people glasses, walking around with a tray of canapes, serving meals and clearing plates at a function with 500+ people, working in the coat check (usually before doing food service), and/or silver service. So far I have worked in a marquee (for a Christmas function), in a small art gallery, at the offices of a client (a consultancy doing Christmas drinks and nibbles for their client), at Tate Britain, and at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. They also do events at Buckingham and Kensington palaces and at film premieres - all sorts really! And there is no minimum requirement of work - you just ring them and say when you're available and they will usually have something for you, especially at this time of the year. It seems so far like quite a good London job to have because I will get to go to lots of places I would never have the opportunity to go to otherwise. And the people I've worked with so far have all been pretty cool :-)
That's enough for now. If I'm not in touch with you personally before Christmas have a good one wherever you are!
The main job I'm doing is teaching assistant work through an agency. So schools ring up an agency when they have someone call in sick or something like that and they ring me up and I go to work. There are some longer term ones available but at the moment I'm just doing day-to-day supply. I've worked in the same school in Hackney for this week (and Thursday last week), in the reception class. That's kids aged 4 and 5!! They're very small but they can be trouble! We've pretty much only been preparing for their Christmas performance, which was today. The parents came to watch. We got them all dressed up and they learnt a poem about the nativity story and recited it with some actions and songs thrown in too. It went really well!! And they looked so cute in their costumes :-) It's been quite nice being with the same class for a few days because I've gotten to know them a bit better and they actually pay attention to me now! The first day I was there I was left alone with half the class for a bit and they just ran riot and wouldn't listen to me. I've probably also figured out the best way to get them to behave now too :-)
Last week I had one day at a special needs school with a class of primary school boys in wheelchairs, most of whom couldn't really speak. I actually quite enjoyed my day there but it is a very different experience to what I've been doing this week.
Job number 2 is working in a cafe called Bullet Espresso in the Snow + Rock store in Covent Garden. It's owned by New Zealanders and there are three of us who work there who are all also New Zealanders. So when I'm there it pretty much feels like I could be in New Zealand apart from the pounds in the till and the English customers (although lots of Kiwis there too, the word is spreading about how good we are!).
I work there in the weekends and at the moment I'm pretty much just doing the till and dishes although I will get some coffee training at some point (I just need a refresher and to learn exactly how they do it - every cafe is different!) and I think I'll be making the sandwiches every Sunday. It's really fun and generally pretty cruisy and we had a Christmas do the other night (the only one I'll get)!
Went to a restaurant in Covent Garden called Belgo where they had lots of mussels dishes and a really wide range of beers. I got mussels with chorizo in a tomato-y sauce with potatoes. It was really nice but I never realised that the mussels over here are so small!
After the dinner we went to a Comedy Club on a boat on the Thames and saw three comedians plus the MC who was a New Zealander! It was a really good night. Especially since it was all free :-)
Anyway, the third job is working for a company called the Esprit Group who provide wait staff for functions. So the work can be walking around with a bottle of wine or champagne topping up people glasses, walking around with a tray of canapes, serving meals and clearing plates at a function with 500+ people, working in the coat check (usually before doing food service), and/or silver service. So far I have worked in a marquee (for a Christmas function), in a small art gallery, at the offices of a client (a consultancy doing Christmas drinks and nibbles for their client), at Tate Britain, and at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. They also do events at Buckingham and Kensington palaces and at film premieres - all sorts really! And there is no minimum requirement of work - you just ring them and say when you're available and they will usually have something for you, especially at this time of the year. It seems so far like quite a good London job to have because I will get to go to lots of places I would never have the opportunity to go to otherwise. And the people I've worked with so far have all been pretty cool :-)
That's enough for now. If I'm not in touch with you personally before Christmas have a good one wherever you are!
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