hello from london [part eighteen and a half]

hello peeps

this is only half an update because i do not have much news to report, more a question. i am not meeting my parents in vietnam for christmas anymore [you know, credit crunch and all] but i can use my return ticket to come home for christmas for two weeks instead. half the reason would be to see everyone, the other half would be to get some sun on my face, go to the beach, eat good food, and to cram as much of my stuff [sitting in storage] into my second suitcase as possible. i am going to umm and ahh about it until friday. i do not feel i have been away long enough to be visiting home already but oh oh oh i do want to! will anyone be in town from 20/12 to 03/01? fingers crossed one of you will be [like a certain someone with a baby]!

i went to see vampire weekend last night. they played an amazing show! each song was a winner, no duds. but let me tell you about the english audience. jon explained it to me like this, they want to be entertained. they are not there to encourage or lend support, they want their monies worth. and it is true! the two support acts finished their sets and everyone is buzzing waiting for vampire weekend. we are all clapping encouraging them to come on and then people in the crowd get bored of this and start booing very loudly instead. the band come on straight away and i mean straight away. is that not strange? and then some idiot in the front throws a bottle at the keyboard player and gets him on the head but he does not miss a note. then someone throws a bottle at the lead singer but he dodges it. the band are so cool about it. they did not mention it once, just kept on playing a great show. also they are very friendly and talked to the crowd.

on saturday night jon and his housemates hosted a very trashy halloween party. you had to come dressed how you died.

i died in my sleep,

liz and jon were pecked to death by birds,


pete died at the blade of a chainsaw,

and so on!

take care, you.
olivia

hello from london [part eighteen]

hello friends!

now that i have this full-time job, i miss you even more. when will i see you again? i have to come back sometime in august because i bought a return ticket [i thought i would only last a year here]. i think i will visit for three weeks, you all better still be there! let us countdown til then? august feels very far away. you feel far away! sometimes it makes me very sad to think about it. the other night i could not remember what my old bedroom looked like. 

i started work at e k on monday and it looks like my lucky run of dream jobs is continuing. who knew? not me! it feels so good to be working in industry again. i am already in love with my direct boss. she is very easy to work for [super calm and collected] but the true test of our work relationship will be during peak production when we are both under pressure to [in the end] deliver on time with the least number of problems. i cannot wait! also, just for the ladies reading, i found out today i have a clothing allowance per season [at wholesale price]! i seriously had to control my face and stop my eyes popping out when i was told. i have already placed an order for a skirt, two pairs of shoes, seven pairs of socks [as surprise gifts for peeps], and a pair of stockings [for you know who]. what have i been doing to earn such a perk? so far i have gotten all the spring summer samples ready for the press office, double checked sales orders, and packed samples for an exhibition in japan next week. it almost does not seem fair [for them].

what are you doing this weekend? lazing about on the beach? eating at the night noodle markets? generally basking in sydney's greatness? oh you spoilt people! i have three days left at liberty and then the weekends will be mine again! i am going to a halloween party on saturday and seeing vampire weekend on sunday night. yay!

feed me news! feeeeeed meee! feeeeeeeeed meeeeeeee!!!!

love
olivia

hello from london [part seventeen]

hello peeps

how are you? i am well. i had the best day yesterday. i called in sick at tatty devine and did cultural things instead. i had lunch at borough market with my friend, pete. it is a fresh organic fruit/ vegetable/ food market. i had a haloumi pattie on a bed of three salads. yum! for dessert was a slice of toffee and pecan cheesecake. die! then we went to the british film institute to see the all-seeing eye [a visual art work by michel gondry and pierre bismuth based on the concept of memory and memory loss]. i wanted more than a room with a video projection, good thing it was free. then i made a very big mistake and went to b store to see/ touch/ fawn over the new bernhard willhelm autumn winter range. i tried on a dress, looked at the price and started stamping my imaginary feet again. oh so unfair! i completely bored poor pete's ear off about it on the way home calculating how i would have to not pay rent or eat for a month to afford it. i think i am allowed one 'it' dress per season. oh london, why so mean! but everything was better again because we went to the winter entertainments club in bethnal green and played bingo, conkers [a game where two people try to break each other's nuts and whoever does it first wins. hehe haha! you people are so rude!] and we all vied for a raffle prize. i went home with a book on classic craft. london is very much into the wholesome night out, not like sydney where everyone has to be drunk all the time.


the venue! the people! the place looks like a church hall from the outside but a den of gambling and bingo inside.


these were the raffle prizes. the young gentleman is joseph and he djs.

umm, what else? oh yes. are you ready for it? are you are you? i got the job! yes i did! you are looking at eley kishimoto's new production assistant! yay! hurruh! high five! i know it is only production work but it means so much more than that [like i can keep paying rent, eat, buy that bernhard willhelm dress just kidding]. it is a foot, even a whole leg in the door! you know that means they like me enough to possibly sponsor me. can you believe it? i rolled around on the floor crying after i read the email. now i am going to run around the park, kick piles of autumn leaves, and chase squirrels. people will think i am crazy but really i am so happy! i am going to hand in my notice at liberty too. yay!

ok now to the photos.


this building is across the road from liberty. i looked up at it and thought it looked like a giant christmas bauble but in the shape of a building.


there are news and magazine stands like this one littered through town. i love the organised mess of it. you always see these in the movies. i know for sure i am in the big smoke now.

save your dollars and come visit me! i am stuck here a year now!

love
olivia

hello from london [part sixteen]

hello peeps

this getting-a-job business is a long process. thank you for coming along for the ride. on monday i was well prepped to talk shop with mark eley but all he wanted to do was get to know me. he let slip five people [from two hundred applicants but i do not know how many they actually interviewed] were called back for a meet-and-greet. he asked me what i do on the weekends, if i drink, do drugs, who is my favourite musician/ artist/ designer. he completely caught me off guard and i had to turn on the charm. we had a good conversation about bernhard willhelm, going red after a few drinks, and gossiped about sydney people. i am not sure how well i won him over because he talks a lot and only gave me two seconds to respond to questions but he won me over completely. do you know he describes designing for cacharel as his money job to fund his baby, eley kishimoto? i love that. i want this job even more now! we joked about sponsorship. he said it was not an issue because if they employ me i can set up their online store and fund my own sponsorship. he even suggested setting up a sponsorship fund in the office, next to the credit card machine. i swear, if i get the job i will probably make them lots of money just from buying excess stock. they could half pay me in clothes! damn i should have said that.

but if i do not get the job [i find out on friday], what will i do? i aimed pretty high getting an interview with the #1 company i want to work for in london. sigh. i found a job asking for creative people to ice biscuits. i am thinking about going for that or i could start a retail career at liberty [even though i hate it there] and work my way up or i could beg richard nicoll/ b store/ tatty devine for a job. double sigh.

enough doom and gloom! the weather is doing a great job of being gloomy all by itself. do you want to know what else is going on? you have to check out the bethnal green working men's club, which night should i go to? i am definitely going to the winter-themed games night tomorrow and i love the idea of the birthday party on friday night. i have a dinner date with my friend, bahbak, on friday [i am making roast vegetable pizza] and i hope he wants a birthday party for dessert! on saturday i am seeing my friend, corey [of arch m fame], play the ica [the sydney equivalent is the mca] on a night called tv party. i cannot wait for tomorrow to start!

this cat lives next door. it likes to sit in the back garden and sun itself. it is very moody but so cute! look at those eyes! 

the wall is at edgeware road tube station. i like the lines. 

i have the flu and can blow my nose for a very long time and stuff still comes out. it is very bizarre. where am i storing it all?

i will write to you on friday. oh oh oh the suspense! will there be tears of joy or disappointment? oh!

lots of love
olivia

would you like to a liberty loyalty card with that? from london [part fifteen]

hello friends

it is a beautiful day outside so i will keep this short and sweet. i really should be out there doing something cultural.

i started my job at liberty yesterday. i work on the christmas floor, it is filled wall-to-wall with glass baubles and decorations. the christmas food shop is next door and it is a candy wonderland. i have never been so excited about christmas before! the floor is very festive and happy and there are many lovely decorations to buy [the customers gobble them up like glass candy]. pretty pretty pretty. but i feel like i have made a mistake and i hate my job already. did you know i worked in myer once? i quit on my fourth day. i really have to stick this one out if i want to pay the rent. there is no sense of job satisfaction and my supervisor is a witch. oh cry! but the floor staff are friendly and funny and i do a lot of unauthorised visual merchandising to keep myself entertained. if i have to put a bauble back and i cannot find its place, i put it on one of the christmas trees. yes i am seriously giving it to the man with that one.

my other news is eley kishimoto called to ask me to come in for a second interview. monday 5pm. wheee! the design room manager said they liked me as a candidate. hurrah! i do not have a plan b so they better give me the job! but they are concerned about my visa [i can only work for a year], i am going to research sponsorship and sell it to them. fingers crossed, everyone!

on saturday night jon and i hit the streets of shoredith looking for a dancefloor worthy of our moneymakers. i chose a place called straight to video [they only play music from films]. it is called straight to video for a reason, it was a dud. we want madonna! 80s! something pop to dance to! so back out on the street, we spy two boys. one is holding a dj case, the other is dressed in a bright kaftan and printed leggings. we look at each other, we are thinking the same thing. if anyone knows where to go, these two do! they start walking, we start walking. we follow them through hoxton square, down a few alleys, past a mixed business that claims to have the best food in the world [i took a picture of this but it was blurry]. do you know where they went? home. yes we followed them home. embarrassed, we turn back and call it a night.

love
olivia

ps i know i ask for this often, but any news from home? i am greedy for news! tell me!

hello from london [part fourteen and a half]]

i am at jon's having dinner with his friend ameena. i made a moussaka [thanks dave, it has been a winner every time] and salad. we are drinking snowballs [an egg yolk drink with lemonade] and ginger ale with rum. i am a little bit tipsy, we are going dancing after. so jon is showing ameena and i moves to get out of a rape situation and how to deflect a knife attack using ju jitsu. ameena is on top of jon between his legs and strangling him and he is explaining step-by-step what to do. you grab onto the wrist from around your neck, palm the person in the face, roll your body away, swing your leg onto their neck and get them in a head lock. jon is demonstrating this but ameena will not let go and i am on the floor laughing because it looks like a sexual position i have never seen before. this situation is so wrong right now.

over and out
olivia

hello from london [part fourteen]

hello friends

how are you? i am well. i know it is boring to talk about the weather, but it is so icy here i have already broken out the bernhard willhelm coat. i shudder to think what winter will be like. if one more person mentions the hot weather sydney is having, i am going to cry.

how did the interview with e k go, you ask? i feel good about it but it is difficult to tell what they [the production manager and design room manager] think of me. i wowed them with my production knowledge and they like that i previously worked for a company of a similar size. i had a small fan moment at the end when they asked me if i had anything to ask them and i said the position is very exciting and i know i can fulfill it, i would love this opportunity to work for a company i admire blah blah. what i really wanted to say was i love eley kishimoto! this is the #1 company i want to work for in london! if you do not give me this job i do not know where i will go from here! please please please! but i bit my tongue and smiled instead. i find out on thursday if i get a second interview [with mark eley, oh i will have to keep my fan moments in check]. ameli, one of my bosses at mad cortes, has already briefed me how to wow their socks off at the second interview with impressive descriptions of how i can save them money with my skills in quality control resolution or something like that. i will have to memorise the lines the night before. the only down point was when i explained how my visa works, that i am here for two years but i can only work for one and if they like me, they will have to sponsor me after that. i could see the wheels turning in their eyes and i could not help blurting out “but i am worth it!” and i am. i hope they give me the chance to prove it.

earlier on thursday i organised an interview with liberty, for out-of-towners, it is a beautiful department store [the merchandise is evenly spaced out, it has polished wooden floor boards, french music with an ethnic twist is piped through the store, it is a bit posh]. i applied for a christmas casual job and i got it on the spot. i told the h r lady my particular skill is in gift-wrapping and she was well impressed. she said she will mention it to the christmas floor manager. did you know gift-wrapping in a department store is one of my life-long dream jobs? i am serious! but for what they are paying me, that is all i am willing to do. the minimum wage here is £5.25 per hour. i am getting £1 more, it only covers rent and food. sigh. my poepke days are definitely over. i have mixed feelings about this liberty job but at least i can support myself.

i made the mistake of going down to the womenswear floor and trying on clothes for fun. i do not know how much longer i can keep the hungry hungry hippo who wants to buy clothes at bay! when i was still in sydney and trying to save for this move, i was telling andy how proud i was of myself for not buying anything new. he asked how i was doing that and i said it was because i am too poor to afford anything. he said that was nothing to be proud of. that moment still makes me laugh. when i was browsing the sale shoes i got very angry at why i was too poor to buy anything. this is so unfair! this would not happen at home! i was stamping my imaginary feet. for a second i resolved to find myself a sugary papa and he can buy me shoes! now! sometimes i cannot believe i am twenty-seven, such a baby. actually no one believes i am twenty-seven. a few weeks ago jon and i went to the corner store to buy cigarettes for a friend who was minding our spot in the park. the man behind the counter eyes me and asks if i am old enough to buy these. i say yes i am twenty-seven and he does not believe me so jon has to buy them.

do you know who is getting me through this london experience? the cure! they are so good! if my skill is gift-wrapping, theirs is writing pop songs. i borrowed their greatest hits from the library and i feel i am listening to them for the first time.

ok if you have read this far, maybe you can read one more story? on the way to richard nicoll’s studio in shoreditch, i walk past a shop that sells beds. outside there are bedheads on display leaning on the shop front and signs that read “rad covers”. for weeks i thought rad covers meant, you know, radical bed covers. sometimes i am tempted to go in just to see how rad these covers really are. i finally worked out what rad covers mean. do you know? radiator covers! oh the english are weird! they do not know what a capsicum is. they call it a pepper! pants are undies here. if you say “i like your pants” it means you like their undies.

ok ok just a bit more.

this is a my owl family.

the little one is mine, the two medium owls are for my landlady's shop down the street, and the big one is for jon's friend. 

just for the ladies, i bought the three tatty devine bangles for £13. jealous?

i raided their bargain bin. i can have a look in the bin for you too if you want.

did anyone else notice i missed hello from london [part ten]? old news now.

love 

olivia