Fire! And Being Tourists in London

Last Tuesday someone tried to burn our building down. Yep, someone tried to kill most of the London employees of GT. It all started with an innocent little fire alarm that we all thought was a drill b/c they tend to run these a few times a year (yes, we have fire drills like we're in 3rd grade - quite practical actually, not sure why the US doesn't take part in these little excuses to waste a few minutes of the day, keep everyone from nodding off at their computers, you know), but when we had all trooped outside I noticed a few maintenance men doubled over like they were struggling to breathe and one was holding a cloth to his mouth. Then someone said, "Is that smoke?", and sure enough, smoke was coming from these vents beside the building that lead to the basement. The fire wardens came round and told us that it was a real fire and to just go ahead and go to lunch, since it was about noon. We went to our little local GT pub called the Jollies, and that kitchen probably hasn't seen so much action at lunch time in years. We were told that we could head back to the building around 12:45, but we didn't actually go back until 1:45. The building smelled faintly of smoke and the lights weren't working - not a huge deal since we still had daylight (and no one has actual offices, remember?). Then about 3:30 the fire alarm went off again and when we made it outside the smoke was pouring out of the basement vents. We headed back to the pub (not a bad Tuesday all in all), and they told us around 5 that no one was allowed back in but they would escort groups of ten at a time up to get their things if they needed them. The people who went back said that the smoke was so bad in the building that their eyes were burning and they could feel it in their lungs. Later we heard rumors that it was arson, and sure enough, the next day the head of the London office said that there was a police investigation regarding the fire! We've all been speculating who it might have been (one of the people made redundant last year??), but apparently there is now a member of the security group who is a suspect. Scary - one of the people who's supposed to protect you is trying to kill you. Maybe this will teach us a lesson to be polite to our security guards and wish them a good morning and good night. So now we have increased security (? - assuming they're not all bad I guess) who simply stand there and watch us tap in and out of the gates going into the building, making sure we each have a pass to get in. Quite creepy actually. So with a major snow storm two Mondays ago and fire last Tuesday, we're all wondering what's going to happen this Wednesday. MJ thinks it's going to be zombies. That would be an interesting email - "Due to the undead roaming the streets, please refrain from coming to the office unless you are ensured of your safe journey both to and from home." I guess we'll see tomorrow. And girls - the "hot fireman" steryotype is true in Britain as well, but also like the US, the live versions are generally disappointing.

MJ and I went to the same pub after the second fire drill and it was slightly thrilling to have to sit across the table from each other and pretend like we barely knew each other and engage in idle chit chat. We were two of the last four and ended up leaving together, but I'm almost positive one of the two already knows about us, and the other was too drunk to notice.

Wednesday MJ took me to dinner for his VDay and my 'it's just Wednesday' dinner. He had told me about this restaurant that he always took girls to for dates, and I told him that he had to take me there sometime, just so I could see what his "game" used to be. Well, I told him to surprise me this Wednesday, and he took me to this place. Good game, MJ. It was actually pretty good - one of those gourmet pizza places. Except apparently the British are too cool to cut a pizza up for you (well, the nicer places at least), and they give you a table knife to cut it up yourself. I think I spent as many calories cutting the damn thing as I took in eating it.

On Thursday I tried to come into work early (meaning 8 am - we start at 9 am here - I know you all in the States are jealous), and was slightly delayed due to the arrest of a woman on the bus that I was riding. I was bopping away with my headphones in, and when we stopped for an unusually long period of time at a bus stop, I realized (I just had to go back and correct the spelling of that word - I spelled it 'realised' first - I'm finally integrating!) that there was a bit of a commotion going on behind me. When I stopped my music I heard this man shouting at a girl to give him her information, and when she kept refusing he shouted down to the driver to let the rest of us off and transfer us to the next bus. I assumed that he was a police officer with the way that he was ordering the driver around. So I never actually saw her get arrested but if not that was an overly aggressive way to get some digits. Either way I couldn't help but smile - you never know what's going to happen in London!

Speaking of, I don't know if I ever told this story, but when my grandma was here with me the first two weeks we got onto the tube after going to a show and there was a man slumped in one of the seats, passed out, with vomit covering the front of him. It smelled so awful we had to move carriages at the next stop. Ah, London.

Thursday was my brother Tim's 20th birthday and I got to Skype him to tell him happy birthday - I love skype so much - it's magic! The rest of you should get on and find me - we could talk via webcam, it's the best!

Also on Thursday I went to dinner with MJ again, this time to meet some of his friends that I hadn't met before. They were really, really lovely - much better than Ben let's just say. There was Brinda (Brin) and Bal, who are married, Charlotte and Niko (dating) and Charlotte's sister Lizzie who was visiting from Manchester. Not sure why I felt compelled to tell you their relationship status just there, like this is facebook or something. I'm such a dbag sometimes. Anyway, they were all very warm and funny and welcoming and I could tell that they all had really good hearts. And they seemed to be ok with Americans, which is always a plus. We ate at a Latin American place, and it was SOOO delicious! Real Mexican food - exactly what I've been craving all this time! I ate so much I thought they might have to roll me out of there.

Last Friday MJ sent me the following text: "Three months ago today we met for the first time Knoxy. And I'm still crazy about you. xxx" I literally swooned! He's amazing.

This weekend Denisse was in town from the States - my first visit from the US!! She was here for work, but stayed over the weekend to see me and tour London a little. On Friday we went to eat dim sum with Dasha and her friend Ruth. I also got to see Denisse's baby bump for the first time (she's 5 months prego with baby #1) and it's so adorable!! For those of you who don't know her she's a beautiful, tiny Latin American girl who is going to be all belly in about a month I bet. Saturday we went to Portobello Road, which I hadn't been to since I was a tourist to London in 2005, and I completely fell in love with it! I'm totally addicted to that place now - it's so beautiful and busy, but not too crowded and hectic. Just bustling, if you know what I mean. They had some really unique clothes there too, which is the main reason that I'm addicted.

We met up with MJ for lunch around one at a warm little pub, and we all had bangers (sausages) and mash - a very English meal for Denisse! Then we did the super touristy stuff - Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Trafalgar Square. Both MJ and Denisse have those giant cameras with the titan lenses, so we were incredibly conspicuous, but that's part of the fun, right? The photo posted above with Denisse and her camera and I and my map is my favorite from the day b/c we look like such tourists! It turned out to be a really lovely, albeit cold day, so we walked everywhere mostly. After all of that walking we went back to my flat so that she could see it, and rested for a bit, then went and had Thai at one of my neighborhood pubs. They had decorated the place for VDay - it was so cute! And they had two very old men play love songs on a keyboard and drums while the owner sang along. And he walked around and gave roses to all of the ladies in the room. When we left the owner said through the mic, "Now you've got them all liquored up..." and MJ gave him a big smile and a double thumbs up. So embarrassing.

I was quite depressed on Sunday after Denisse was gone b/c it made me miss all of my friends back in the States. I have friends here and all, just not as many as back home, and the making of these friends seems to be more slow going since there isn't a built in social network like college, and the office is so big here it doesn't lend itself well to making friends very easily. I know it will just take time, but it does make me sad to be without my friends back home.

Well on that uplifting note I'm going to say ta ta for now, but not without a new word:

pootle = amble

Miss you all, love you!

Heather

January

I'm trying to make up for my lack of writing this past month by writing twice in one week - I hope I still have some readers left! January started off pretty tame since my flatmate Dasha was out of town in the States on a little Christmas time holiday to see friends. The first week back was full of MJ, yoga, and getting over jet lag. Also getting back in the swing of things at work. I think it wasn't until Thursday that I could legitimately say that I cared about work again. But good thing b/c it got really busy the next week. I started my first UK audit at this time, and went to Sheffield last week and the week before for the bulk of the fieldwork. Sheffield is a city about two hours north of London by train, and everyone was telling me how awful it was, saying that it was ugly and rather economically depressed. I guess it used to be a big steel town in years past, and it just doesn't have much to offer now. So I wasn't looking forward to a stellar time while away from home, but then I guess that's pretty on par with the away jobs from Kansas City to Small Town USA. When we got to Sheffield though I was pleasantly surprised! First of all since it was a bigger city we got to stay in a nice hotel, instead of, you know, Best Western or Country Inn and Suites. We stayed in a cute little boutique hotel within five minutes walk of the client, both being in the city centre (I guess Britain's word for downtown). The city centre was actually really lovely - I was told that they had just remodeled everything in 2005 or so, so there were pretty fountains and nice shops and restaurants everywhere. The people who told me that it wasn't nice must have been talking about outside the city centre. Or maybe I just have low expectations... Anyway, the audit is going well, just pretty busy. UK audits and US audits don't seem to be that different actually, I guess it's all GT in the end right? They just put extra Us in words and esses where zees should be...


My weekends in January were pretty packed as well - Dasha, MJ, Andrea, and Dasha's friend Natalia all went to this fantastic house party a few weekends ago. There were loads of people there but it kind of felt like we brought the party - we had two giant bags of beer, an Ipod loaded with a killer 80s playlist, and a good chunk of the party. The flat was a multi-level place with the kitchen on the lower level, and part of the party was there while the rest was on the ground floor. We ended up staying in the kitchen all night and when we finally ventured upstairs there was no one left, even though our half was still going strong! Not surprising though, I mean Dasha and I did rock out to Africa by Toto at least four times - who wouldn't want to stick around for that?? We've been on this 80s music kick lately - seems like every Friday night we end up coming back to the flat, turning 80s music up loud, and having dance party central in our living room. So lame but so damn fun. Last weekend Dasha disappeared into her room when we got home and emerged wearing lycra head to toe, with legwarmers and a sweet headband! So awesome.


The weekend before the house party I went with MJ to his friends' birthday dinner at a hibachi Japanese restaurant and it was very entertaining, as those places usually are. Another slightly big step for me, but I can't seem to help it anymore, I'm falling for this MJ guy pretty hard. He's one of the sweetest men I've ever met and one of those people who you can just tell has a truly good heart. And he seems to really like me which is an extra bonus...he's very attentive to me and dotes on me. What more could a girl want? Well this cynical girl, at least. He asked what I wanted to do for Valentine's Day and all I said was, "Can we please just not celebrate it?" He looked a bit taken aback so I had to explain that I do like romance, just not the kind that's contrived b/c Hallmark says so. He still seemed a little disappointed - such a romantic, I love it! We had actually planned to go away this weekend to the Cotswolds (an area of London known for its quaintness - think 200 year old cottages with thatched roofs and antique shops on every corner), but snow stopped us from going. So he has now convinced me to go to dinner on Wednesday for dinner "just b/c it's Wednesday" - not a V Day dinner. Likely story. Oh well, I guess if he wants to take me to dinner I won't object...twist my arm. So far any time with him is good time.


Except one bit - which wasn't even his fault. Do you remember when I wrote about meeting some of his friends for the first time and there was one guy that had just returned from living in the States who wouldn't stop giving me crap for being American? Last weekend we went to a party hosted in his flat, and MJ and I arrived a bit later than most people but jumped right in chatting and playing random drinking games that I'd never heard of but were fun all the same. About an hour into said party, Ben (this is America-hating friend) announces that it is time for boat racing, and begins to fill a pan with water. He and another girl at the party demonstrate how this "game" is played and lay on their bellies at either end of the pan and try to blow a match from their end to the other first. I think this whole thing is pretty odd, but dismiss it b/c many things in this country are odd to me. The demonstration ends and new volunteers are sought. I am somehow volunteered (actually come to think of it it was Ben's gf who volunteered me - even de-nominating her friend and suggesting me in her place. Perhaps she's not too keen on Americans either), and not one to be a party pooper, I accept. My opponent is some guy I've never met before - as are the rest of the people at the party except Ben and his gf. So the 'boat race' begins, and just before the race ends, Ben slams his hand down into the pan and completely soaks both of us with water. I might as well have taken the pan of water and chucked it into my face - my hair was wet, the entire front of my shirt was soaked, mascara was running down my face. It quickly dawns on me that this was the entire point of this whole production. Let me clarify - I go to a party of mostly professional adults, and the highlight of the party is to play a mean trick on two unsuspecting people, one of whom is brand new to the group. I can't say that my reaction was much more mature than the incident to begin with - I simply got up and went into the bathroom to dry off, locking the door behind me. I was furious. I wanted nothing more than to leave and never see or speak to Ben again. But he is one of MJ's best friends so I tried to stick it out for him. It was pretty obvious how upset I was and Ben was apologizing the rest of the night, but I generally ignored him or was just a downright bitch to him. I'll admit I didn't handle it in the best fashion, but other girls will attest that sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us. I mean really though, at least the worst thing we do to people in America is make them buy a round of drinks or, I don't know, a keg stand or something.


This Sunday it started snowing - giant, sticky flakes, and it continued all through the night. Monday morning we awoke to a winter wonderland! It was still snowing that morning and in the end we got about 12 inches. London never gets this much snow - they said the last time was 18 years ago, so the city is completely ill-equipped to handle the situation. The tube was down, no buses were running, and there was hardly a taxi to be found. Fortunately the head of London audit emailed that morning and told us to stay home unless we could guarantee our safe journey to and from the office, so I stayed at home. "Un"fortunately the internet receiver on my computer wasn't working so I couldn't connect to the VPN at work, so I could only do about 2 hours of work. The rest of the day I napped and watched some program about the Earth's magnetic core. At least I was kind of engaging my brain, right? Towards the end of the afternoon my flatmate Andrea and I went to Primrose Hill, a park about 10 minutes from us to go sledding on the giant hill there. When we got there I was blown away by how many people were there! Since snow isn't common in London hardly anyone had a proper sled, so everyone was using anything they could get their hands on. Andrea and I brought our air mattress which didn't end up working too well, there were several people with metal road signs (pretty sure that's illegal but it was brilliant), trash can lids, pieces of tarp, I even saw an ironing board! We ended up using a To Let (i.e. lease) sign that was laminated cardboard so it flew over the snow (which by the time we got there was a mixture of ice and mud). It was so much fun - I felt like I was 6 years old again! We also made snow angels and tromped around the park, looking at every one's snowmen and snow forts. Someone was even working on a proper igloo! Well, not blocks of ice, obviously, but the basic shape was there. Someone else had built a headless man sitting on a bench, so you could get behind it with your head on the neck and take a picture - so clever! There were people with proper skis and snowboards going down the hill, there was even a guy dressed in a penguin costume (wtf?)! It was such a good day and everyone was in such good spirits. Snow makes the cold worth it. They're calling for snow again tomorrow morning and Monday again so I'm crossing my fingers! This is also why MJ and I couldn't make it to the Cotswolds - they're still getting it there. Apparently they've run out of salt as well. Oopsie.


Ok well must sleep (stayed up entirely too late again writing this one - I just get so carried away!).


xoxo,
Heather