So. It has been a month since we arrived in the UK. We have managed to do all the settling in stuff so it is smooth sailing from here which is good.
Work is going well. I have just been given an entire 40 unit apartment building to work through with one other guy. Yes, just he and I. I have to get the drawings out by the end of July so that will be a mission. Should be fun though and if I do well with it I should enevitably be looking at a promotion. I think they have given me the project to test the waters so to say, so I will be pulling some long and busy hours to get my head around it all.
Last weekend was a massive one. caught up with a few old universtity friends and we partied at a bar directly beneath the swiss re tower (the Gherkin building - Im sure you know of it). That was fun. The next day we went out in Soho and had a massive one, starting at around 4 or 5 to celebrate a friend of ours birthday. That Sunday was the actual celebrations so we all hopped on a river ferry and travelled to Greenwich to do some bar hopping. The ferry was really cool and the guy on the boat knew heaps of facts about all the buildings on the water, especially the pubs. He had done some in depth research into those pubs apparently.
It was fair to say that by the time I got to work on Monday, I was fairly haggled. The computer screen was blurry and eminating a soul destroying white glow. It was at 5:30 that my boss offered me a ride home, as he lives over the road from me. I gratefully accepted and skipped out of work half an hour early and knowing that I would miss my one hour ride home on the tube in favour of a much brisker 25 min car ride.
We drove past heaps of places in London I didnt even realise were famous. Like the fact that about 300m from my work is a massive building that marks the spot that William Wallace was killed. And that the gateway I walk under every day to work is around 800 years old. I also noticed that when I get to the next street across from my work, St Pauls Cathedral looms over me with its grandoise brilliance.
We pulled into my bosses driveway and I was like "Wow, thanks for the ride. That was awesome". and he was like "well, are you going to come in for a drink". So, nervously, I accepted.
That night was the biggest of all the 3 nights preceeding it. I got smashed with him and his wife. Renee came along later and we all went out for Indian, which I have discovered is considerably more spicy than back in NZ. I had the spice hiccups straight away and I checked my tongue in the mirror and it was blood red.
I found out that I am actually working in a bloody good office. My boss was one of the 40 under 40; a term describing the top 40 architects in the world under the age of 40. His practice that he had before this one had 200 people working under him. Now he has 17 but they have just received a massive contract and looking to double that staff number in the next month.
It was good to hear what he had to say about architecture, though I didnt remember it. I walked into work the next day purposefully early and asked him how he was feeling. He replied "Fine" rather nonchalantly, which basically meant that he wasnt hungover at all, so I quickly replied "yeah Im fine too" and painfully sat myself down at the computer screen.
Just watched the Black caps win against Sri Lanka in the world cup last night. Good stuff. Hope they do well this tournament. Was supposed to be going to Salisbury and Stonehenge etc this weekend but the weather is crap so we have decided to wait and will go shopping on Oxford St instead. Maybe watch Ironman 2. What am I saying 'Maybe'. Definately.
I need to buy some more undies too.
