Tuesday 12 May 2009

Just the beginning

Typically, it is a good idea to start a blog such as this at the very beginning of the journey but I'm not typical and quite honestly, it took some pestering for me to finally decide to take on this blogging thing! Before I get started, thanks to my dear friend Jenn who taught me all about blogging through her wonderful and touching blog, The Kamienski Chronicles, and thanks to my cousin Jackie for creating my new moniker "The Temporary European."  I so loved the name and the notion that I felt compelled to use it in some way -- thus, a blog is born!

You may wonder where I'm living during my 3 month stay here in London, and I'm wondering the same thing! It appears that my coming over three days prior to my office start date to acclimate was a complete waste; I've come to discover that the area where I'm staying is a bit shady after dark and I've requested to be moved. Before you start thinking, "The American Diva strikes again," let me list some important details that will assure you that my concerns are real and non-diva-related:
1) In a gated complex, I was woken up at 12:30 AM by the shouts of a Eastern European man at my flat door. "PAULA!" he stated sternly as he banged on the door. At least he was kind enough to leave when I assured him through the closed door, that no Paula lived here
2) None of my native London colleagues knew where the heck I was staying (never a good sign)
3) I witnessed a drug deal at 10:30 PM directly outside my complex door
4) When the Global Creative Director of my company (translated = Big Wig), found out where I was staying he shouted through the phone, "Get her the bloody hell out of there!"  

Now let me interrupt this by saying, until number 4 occurred, I was keeping a stiff upper lip (very British of me) and not mentioning 1 & 3 to my London colleagues -- after all, I did not want to be deemed the American Diva.(I'll get into their nickname for me in a later blog...) Never mind that I go to bed at night with a chair propped under the doorknob and don't open my beautiful 9 foot windows due to the scaffolding that calls out to intruders throughout the night, I was not going to make a fuss!

So, here I am at day 12 of this adventure and I am  unsure of where I'll be living in the next week and dreading learning a new neighborhood while in the midst of trying to wow my British colleagues with all my spectacular writing and strategy skills!

I will keep you updated on my progress but in the meanwhile, please pray for my safety, sanity and creative brilliance, as all are sure to be in a state of flux until I find a new place to rest my head in jolly old England.



1 comment:

  1. I am certainly honored to be your inspiration and mentor and I am even more honored to be your very first comment! I can't wait until the book and movie come out. Looking forward to the next post - trust me it becomes addictive.

    ReplyDelete