Lost in transit

Six years ago today . . .

. . . I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, flashed my British passport and found myself alone in a foreign country for the very first time. I was 29 years old.

Considering I really didn't have any grand plan in mind, bar a 15-day Contiki trip through Eastern Europe, it amazes me that I'm *STILL* here and that things worked out so well.

Of course there were some major downers, like the time the Nazi landlady in Delamare Terrace kicked me out after three days (apparently I was "bonding too well" with her other tenant and, shockingly, had used her living room without asking. "I have been meaning to tell you about the house rules," she said, as she was virtually pushing me out the door!)

Or the time when I had to wait two months to get paid and was living on 29p cans of baked beans because that's all I could afford. I learnt very quickly that publishing companies might be great at producing magazines, but when it came to doing financial paperwork they were SHIT. Budding journalists, take note.

But, on the whole, I'm grateful for all the good things that have happened to me on this side of the planet.

> I met the lovely Tim, although it took me awhile to realise that I didn't hate him after all;
> I have worked for two magazine companies, on two leading titles and written/subbed/sent-to-press more pages than I could ever tot up - I've also accumulated a LOT of grey hair as a result;
> I have travelled to some amazing countries, including Iceland, Italy and Ireland, and taken six-trillion photos, which I STILL haven't organised or put in photo albums;
> I have met and worked with some lovely people;
> I have also met and worked with some complete twats;
> I have acquired a whole new vocabulary of British swear words (have you noticed?);
> I have learnt that the words "thong" and "pants" do not mean the same things as they do in Australia;
> I have discovered that Marmite DEFINITELY DOES NOT taste anything like Vegemite - and don't let anyone tell you otherwise;
> I have gone from being a tenant forking out large sums in rent to owning a "shoebox in the sky" and forking out large sums in mortgage repayments;
> I have discovered that beer tastes better when you drink it out of pint glasses (as opposed to pots - it's a Victorian thing);
> I have discovered that bottle shops are called off-licences, and drive-thru ones just don't exist

Yes, it's been a pretty amazing and revelationary six years!

Posted by kimbofo at August 4, 2004 11:01 PM