Greetings from London!

Hello guys!

I am now 1 week into my stay here in London and am settled in quite well.  Some random thoughts thus far

-My flight-

The flight here wasn’t the greatest. The plane was basically full, there were no tv screens on each seat and no chargers for electronic devices on each seat. And the movie everyone had to watch was Hugo which I already saw. So I was going to be very bored for 7 hours. Not a great start! Also, the seat spacing was very tiny. I passed out almost immediately upon takeoff but when I woke up about 1.5 hrs later, I got really, really claustrophobic. I needed some space IMMEDIATELY! Luckily, a few rows behind me was the emergency exit row where:

-There is a lot of space to accommodate the emergency exits

-The people sleeping in their seats in that row were not stretched out at all

As such, I made the floor there my temporary home. Having some room to stretch my legs and have a good lie-down helped a ton!

Also, the food was terrible on the flight. I miss KLM…

-Where I am staying-

 I got very, very lucky. Through the facebook group for Canadians in London, I got connected with someone. And not just anyone! So far, things have been awesome:

-My roommate is super chilled out like me

-She has a business background like me

-The flat is in central London

-The flat is super nice

 However because this is London (in a nice flat in central London no less), it is pretty pricey but 100% worth it in my opinion,

-Food-

As you guys know, I am a foodie. So of course, I had to check out the food scene here….SO AMAZING!!! I’ll write more about food in London on my food blog (bsgk.blogspot.com). One thing I am especially happy about is most of the food I eat in Canada is available here at reasonable (by London standards) prices. So I don’t need to sacrifice much. This was not the case when I lived in Amsterdam, where a lot of North American grocery food didn’t seem to make it there. 

-Work-

I am only a few days into my job but it is pretty cool. I will basically be doing marketing and strategy for my employer (rainmaker-gbd.com). I am also helping organize and run the Canada Day celebration here in London (http://www.canadadaylondon.com/). Given the insane demands put on us from Sep-Apr, I am pretty comfortable with the pretty demanding schedule I am sure to have this summer. Bring it on!

-The Tube-

My old boss spent many years living here so I used to tell him how I wish the Toronto subway was like London’s to which he remarked “No, the tube sucks.” I can see why he complained- every day random parts of the tube system are broken or shut down for maintenance. As such, planning alternate routes to work is super important. I am lucky that to get from my flat to work, there are several routes I can take on the tube so if one line is messed up, getting on another isn’t a bit deal.

Finally, some of my Rotman friends are here for the summer too. I already got to see one of my Rotman friends the other day which was pretty awesome. I am so excited to hang out more with them here on the other side of the atlantic! It should be a fun (but very busy) summer!