Clissold Park

Moving to London has been one of the best things I have done. I love Australia, don't get me wrong, it will always be my home and I can't wait to return but having this change has been so delightful thus far. It really is the gateway to Europe. 

However, don't forget that you still need money to travel and as Winter approaches, the days certainly are getting shorter and the odd feeling of homesickness begins kicks in when people ask the unanswerable question (When am I coming home), I found that to shake this off I have to stop and take the time out to remember why I am here and think of all the great things London has to offer- Clissold Park being one of them. 

This park is located literally around the corner from my place. When I arrived and first walked through this park I was immediately bombarded with childhood memories but now that I've settled in and repeated myself enough times to stop reminiscing for a while I have begun to appreciate the beauty of this place and its many uses. This park is the most used park in London per square metre (beat that Hyde Park) and it is beautful. There is something magical about walking/running through this place at any time of the year. Whether it was seeing the baby chicks grow around the lake in Spring, the countless children playing sports and people picnicing in Summer or the majestical leaves falling from the trees in Autumn an soon- the snow blanketing the ground in Winter this places is wonderful.

Although its getting a bit too cold for daily runs (joined the gym!) in the park its still nice to come here each week. They have deers, chickens, squirrels, tennis courts, a skate park and a massive playground. It even has one of the oldest cemeteries and Church in London next to it. 

Still wanting to travel means I have to work and save so in order for this to be successful I cant be going to the pub every weekend and there is only so much sight seeing to do. I've turned a new perspective and look forward to doing as many 'free things' as possible. This being one of them-and a favourite. Stay tuned as I share with you more 'free things' and develop a 'London Bucket List' to keep the excitement of London living alive throughout the Winter. Christmas is here and the vibe is something different over here- something I can't wait for!

Enjoy the pics of the beauty of Clissold Park

London Living

My goodness time goes quickly! This week will mark one month since my whirlwind European adventures came to a halt and just how much has happened in the month is crazy! To begin- I LOVE London and everything about it. I guess because I have family and partly grew up here I can say it really is a second home for me.

My frist week back was filled with catching up with family, sight seeing with friends, going to a job interview and many goodbyes from those fellow travellers whom made their ways back to London in order to fly home. Danielle and Nat were here for a week and saying goodbye to them was rather hard. When you travel with people for so long you really do become a family and even though I was looking forward to being grounded, having routine and some long-awaited alone time you still do miss having them around all the time and suddenly you start to feel lost for a few days whilst you adjust.

So now the 'holiday' is over it is time to start turning that decrease in my bank account around to an increase! In order to do that I need a job. Toma and I were on the ball and sadly got straight into resume writing in our final weeks. Within days we had job interviews set up. Being a teacher I had no problem as they are always in demand for Aussies over here and there is plenty of work. Toma, on her life-altering adventure went with a recruitment agency called Reed and they helped her set up plenty of job interviews within the travel industury. Wanting a change from the typical travel consultant role it took a few interviews to find something suitable (and with the right pay-some job prices are ridiculous) for her. So whilst I pretty much went straight into work, Toma managed to still sneak in some relaxation time and plenty of lazy sleep ins.

I went with Vibe Teaching Agency, a predominately Australian-based agency and was guaranteed supply work (Mon-Fri) until Christmas when we will then review what is on offer for me. Many people have asked me what this is like and are intrigued about the schools in London. Firstly- they aren't as bad as everyone thinks (although I have seen some rather odd things) and secondly it is quite different in many ways yet still seems to be easy to manage as a supply/casual. Yes i do go to a variety of schools (5 so far) however there are two schools that I go to regularly. I choose to do supply as this means I don't have to take work home and can enjoy weekends yet there are some days when I crave the consistency of my own classroom. This agency is great and aims to be consistent in where they send you, allowing you to build professional relationships with the staff and students. The curriculum is relatively the same- much more structured than NSW and it is just the history and geography which is different- mind you I've hardly taught any of that yet.

The kids are a little more 'wild' but nothing too draining and each classroom has a teaching assistant which have all been absolutely wonderful and extremely helpful when you have no clue about the school's procedures or daily structures. As a beginning teacher this seems to be rather good for me. The structure means that everybody knows what we are doing, it is clearly set out and once you've got the idea it is easy to follow. However the only downfall is that from what I have seen, Australia has a bit more flexibility and creativity in their lessons/planning and school structures. Yet as always there are going to be pro's and con's in a job/environment change.


It seems that a lot of people struggle when trying to 'live' in London and its a wonder how many two-year visas get wasted when it comes to the crunch. As we travelled through Europe we saw plenty of people who gave London the brush in the hopes that they will return back to Australia, save up and come back for the 2013 European Summer, believing that they can earn just as much, if not more back home. That is true-I believe that if i went home and saved I would return with more money next Summer but I also know that if I return home now I might not come back next Summer and instead choose a different destination. Plus for me, its not so much about saving and living but more so about enjoying the time I have with my family over here. Toma and I were lucky enough to return to London with more money than expected so this has been put away for a 'rainy day holiday decision'. For now we love London, are excited for Christmas and NYE (as cold as it will be) because having a 'proper Christmas' means a stronger Christmas spirit and mostly...a change of scenery for us.

We are both adjusting to 'life out of home' as we each receive our weekly paychecks (finally off Aus dollar and onto the pound-no more conversions) and manage our money between bills, a new wardrobe to acclimatise to the weather and going out for 'catch-up' or 'farewell' drinks. One thing for sure is that it is safe to say that London NEVER stops drinking- we couldn't wait to have a break from this and it is always in our faces! I've joined the gym (hoping to lose what Europe latched on to me) and am finally back in the kitchen making healthy dinners full of all the foods we missed-mainly veggies!!

Each week we get asked when we are coming home about four times from various people and each answer is always different (almost like a therapy session). We definitely have our days where we miss home and begin to contemplate possible return dates but for now it is safe to say that there is no return date as of yet and we 100% are here until at least January, battling through the brute of Winter but enjoying a different Christmas experience. My cousins 18th birthday on Christmas Eve, a big family occasion on Christmas (and I'm sure lots of skyping/vibering) and a relaxing Boxing Day. New Years Eve is still in the decision-making process.

We have the hopes of booking a holiday soon and jet-setting somewhere for a quick 'break' from the London life so stay tuned!

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest!! That time of the year where everyone drinks beer, even if you don’t like it. Until Europe, I never drank beer but before I left Sydney I tried to get used to it. There wasn’t a point because the beer is much different over here (wish someone would have told me that back then when I was ‘trying’). I like the beer over here, much nicer. However, I will admit one thing….I still think Prague had the best beer! But lets not get into that.

We arrived in Munich the day before the festival begun, missing the hundreds game (which I completely forgot about and would have loved to watch) and upon our late arrival we raced around town to find the cheapest outfits. Apparently they don’t even put the prices up and instead remain the same 100-200 euro always yet we managed to find a small little store selling basic costumes for 50 euro…more so our budget, wanting to spend more money at the festival. We met up with everyone for Mexican and drinks but soon called it an early night, saving ourselves for the early alarm clocks and the long wait tomorrow.

6am and we struggled to get up, dressed and meet everyone out the front, knowing that we had to wait until 8:30am when the doors opened and then 12pm until the first keg was smashed and the festival officially begun. We got to the doors by 7:15 and trust it to start raining on us. With skimpy jackets (knowing we will lose them) we struggled to stay warm and our tummies were rumbling so we all huddled in and managed to share the few food items that Lozzy remembered to bring (savior!). As the time drew nearer we worked out our game plans; those who were the fastest would run in and secure as many tables as possible for us. How that failed! By 8:30am we realised that we had been heavily tricked and directed to a side door, as many others had and the main door was just over the fence so before we even registered that we mightn’t get in Danielle was already over the fence and pushing her way in, next was Larissa and once I had thrown my camera to Toma I soon followed. We jumped right to the front door and pushed our way in, securing three long tables. Angie soon followed and told us that everyone had made their way to the entrance and were coming. Celebrations all around for scoring such a good spot however it was now time to wait. Three hours with no alcohol and everyone was already stinging. Instead opting for breakfast from one of the many food sellers as well as soft drink to ease the thirst.

A few of us ventured off to find fellow travellers that we had organised to meet in this tent (Hofbrau) and soon found them. Beau, Renee and Katie from our Turkey trip, as well as the boys from Corfu and Croatia Sail. Everyone was in such a happy spirit and we even met new friends that some of us other girls had met too along the way. It was one big party and everyone was going off, singing songs, smiling and catching up. By midday everyone was revved up and as that hammer smashed the keg cheers of joy and excitement filled the air. The bar maids got to work as fast as they could and within minutes our drinks were here. It is insane how these girls can carry so many at once (10 was our highest recorded=10L). It wasn’t long until we saw numerous people attempting the ultimate litre skull, for those who succeeded a massive cheer and those who failed a long a deep boo. A few girls even got up and gave it a crack and Becky, well Becky did so at half litre and let it trickle all down her chest-but she got the cheer so well done!

Time goes by so quickly when you have no need to leave a tent. The toilets were a death trap and resembled something more of a riot scene once everyone had broken the seal, but there was no stopping of drinks, they just kept coming and we soon had quite a collection. Of course glasses were smashed from those oh so strong cheers we all made, photos were taken (it didn’t happen unless there were photos remember!) and everyone slowly began to talk more and more rubbish or become hopeless romances with someone else (best people watching moments here). By 8pm someone called the after party at Stoke Travel’s campsite and we all slowly made our way back into the cold, leaving our beer covered jumpers on the floor and swinging by the hostel for new ones. En route Toma and I found Del and we ordered a half metre sausage-insane! Once at the campsite we instantly thought of the bull run and whilst we were semi spewing for a second that we chose not to camp it worked out just as good because we still gained entry into the campsite and free drinks yet by the end of the night had a warm bed to go back to and decent showers- best of both worlds. Semo was working as a DJ and Tully behind he bar so what better mix for a good night. We caught up with all the boys that remained at the campsite to watch Souths lose (yes!) and missed out on one messy day! Dancing the night away we managed to call it quits eventually and regain strength for day 2 of 3.

This time we all slept in and made it to the festival by midday. Struggling to secure massive tables today some of us opted to try out the Lowenbrau and managed to find a table outside in the sun. We ordered chicken and pork knuckle whilst trying out the new beer and enjoying the rays but eventually went inside for some unexpected sing-a-longs. The drunken songs were out and everyone thought that they were the next Oktoberfest idols, hugging their beers in one hand and the other over someone else’s shoulder we all swayed as we belted the tunes and tried to record some of the moments. This festival was great and nothing like I had ever been to before! Before the night wasted away and we got too drunk we somehow managed to score a decent team to test out the rides. We chose the best of course- a 5-looped rollercoaster! Normally I would get sick on these things but I had way too much excitement to even let it get to me. This was crazy and such a great ride. We wandered around for a bit and enjoyed the atmosphere and scenes. Back to Stoke for yet another excellent night. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to last another day.

For our final day at Oktoberfest we had lost half our team. Too many were hung over and a few had only managed to just squeeze Oktoberfest into their trips and were already at the airport ready to fly out (right now I wished I was there with them) but we powered on and gave it another go. Today, a little more suttle but somehow the messiest of them all. Whilst nothing major happened we all seemed to just sway today, so drunk that we couldn’t do much more than drink and order some more! WE managed to shove some food in to sober us up and when Dani and Nat headed to Maccas and home Toma and I opted for the roller coaster again and grabbed something to eat from the stalls. We headed home to change and meet everyone at Stoke but my next memory was in my pyjamas and in bed. My body had said no so unfortunately that was it for me. How people do this for the whole festival I don’t know! They are crazy.

Oktoberfest you were great and really showed us how to have a crazy send off party with all the friends we met along the way. That’s it. Summer is over. Done but not anywhere nearly dusted. There are still so many places that I want to visit and living in London makes it a hell of a lot easier. Until next time Oktoberfest!