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
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