I'm alive!!!

Hi everyone!! I'm so sorry for the MASSIVE delay in posting... I don't have that much motivation to write in here because I'm never sure if people are actually reading this and there's always so much going on that I don't know where to start!!!!! I really miss you all so much and I thought I'd update you all on what's been going on in my life since I've been living in London.

I got a job on the 17th August with the Bank of New York Mellon, which is made up of two American investment banks that just merged in July. My job titles is "Sales Support", which basically means that I help out the entire sales team with anything they need to be done. Since everything's so crazy right now with the merger, though, there's just so much going on that I've not only been helping out the sales team but also marketing, client relations, etc - basically everyone!!! I'm not sure if anyone's interested, but I'll run through a typical day for me so that you all know what goes on in the life of Emily!!

I wake up at 6am to shower and get ready for work. I usually leave around 7.15 - 7.30 to get to work for around 8. I've been working from 8 - 5 so that I can work 40 hour weeks and make more money!! I get into work and immediately go and get breakfast from the cafe in our building, where we can buy food by putting money on our security passes and swiping the card. Amazing!!! Then I go up to my desk on the third floor and start my day. I do so many different tasks throughout the day that I wouldn't know where to begin! I sit in on meetings and take notes, do people's expenses for them, distribute the post, answer the phones, book meetings, etc etc. It's obviously not very mentally challenging which can get me down a bit, but it can get very busy and fast paced which I like. The people I work with are absolutely fantastic, and that makes the job so worth it! I've made great friends with a bunch of people in the office, including Anna, Mel, James and Cristina, among others, and we all go out for drinks quite often after work. My boss, Fiona, is quite possibly the nicest woman I've ever met (except for you of course, mom!!!!!!!) and she's so lovely to work with. I never feel like anyone is looking over my shoulder and she's always there to help me with anything I need help with, whether it's finding a flat, figuring out how to pronounce someone's name, transferring money to Canada, etc!

Every week is different - last week I was out every single night except for Friday, when I finally burnt out from exhaustion. I spent most of the weekend lazing around the house, except for Saturday night when my flatmates and I went out clubbing in central London - where we met Jude Law!!!!!!!!! We were walking down Shaftesbury Avenue when Katie suddenly said, "Isn't that some actor guy....?" I looked over and it took a second to register... Jude Law was standing right there on the side of the road about to get into a van with his kids!!!!!!! Of course, I couldn't pass up this opportunity so I walked over to him and said "Hi!!" (reminds me of someone I know, i.e. Nana!!) He said hi back but was too preoccupied with arranging his kids for conversation, so I walked away and waved to him from the sidewalk - and he waved back! He's just as gorgeous in person as he is in the movies! I was so excited that I called my mom right away and yelled into the phone about my fabulous conversation with Jude Law.

As for my living arrangements, I'm living in an old Victorian townhouse in East London, just a 5 minute walk from the Leyton tube stop. It takes about 15 minutes to get into the city area of London, where all the big businesses have their offices. I live with 7 other people (!!!) - a French guy, Ben, a Portuguese couple, Catia and Daniel, two British guys, Ian and Chris, and then myself, Katie and Andrea, the Canadian girls!!!!!!!!!!!! We're all around the same age and get along really well, which is a relief. I was worried that we'd end up living with some sketchy people but everyone's turned out to be great. On Sunday night we had a 'family' BBQ where we lay two cardboard boxes on the floor and covered them with a bath towel for a table, and BBQ'd up a storm with chicken, sausages, etc... it was amazing!!!!! We only have one bathroom between the 8 of us, but surprisingly we haven't had any issues with shower times. We think it's because half the people living here are guys and they take short showers!

That's pretty much the update for all the major stuff... one other thing to report is that Andrea and I took a bus to Bristol, on the southwest coast of England, last weekend just for the day and really loved it. We were on the bus for a total of 5 hours that day and only spent 4 hours in Bristol, but it was worth it! We did a 1.5 hour bus tour of the city and it's so much more beautiful and historical than I thought. It has a huge gorge with a suspension bridge going over it right in the middle of the city - kinda like Vancouver but literally in the middle of the city!

Katie and I are hoping to get to Paris in October for a weekend, and possibly Amsterdam. Next spring I'm hoping to do a driving tour of the west coast of Scotland, so hopefully that pans out. I am coming home at Christmas, which I'm VERY excited about!!! I'll be home for 2 weeks from the 22nd of December to the 4th of January. Then I'll be coming home again in March for my old roommate Kristine's wedding - you guys will be sick of seeing me by then!!! I'm just hoping that I don't end up coming home and getting so homesick that I don't want to leave again!!! We'll see what happens!

That's about it for me - I'm going to spend tonight reading and hanging out with the flatmates, then tomorrow I'm hoping to go to a yoga class at the gym down the road from my work that I joined. Thursday Katie and I are going to Avenue Q, a musical comedy involving puppets, and Friday night I'm going out with some of work mates as they say.

I hope everyone is doing well - please keep me updated on what's going on in your lives - I hate feeling like I'm missing out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you and miss you all so much,
Love,
Emily