ducey

I have the day off today. It's raining and gray outside, and I've wanted to just stay inside in my pajamas, which surprisingly I've managed quite nicely. I started a new job on Monday. It's a personal assistant position for a woman named Janet, she owns a bar called Janet's Bar. She's American but has been living in London for 17 years with her husband and 14 year old daughter. Her husband passed away last year and she told me that she's ready to move on, so she's redecorating her victorian mansion-house in Chelsea. I love this job because it provides me the opportunity to walk around this part of the city...Chelsea, South Kensington, Notting Hill, to name a few boroughs in the area. I'm basically a professional errand-runner, which is actually pretty fun. Yesterday I had to walk to a grocery store called Partridge's which carries a lot of American foods that most stores here don't carry. Janet's daughter Cordelia is having a birthday party this weekend and she wants a homemade cake, so I had to go buy Betty Crocker mix. Partridge's is about a 20 minute walk, down King's Road, a very high class shopping district. I was literally being paid to window shop. Amazing.
Last night I went to orientation and training for a catering job. Four hours spent learning the professional way to hang a coat, clear a plate, and pour the perfect glass of wine. This company advertises at Bunac for employees, so several of my hostel-mates have worked here, I was expecting a room full of Americans. Instead, the other trainees were mainly from England and South Africa. For the first time since I've been here I was the only American in the room, it was great! On the tube on the way back into the city I was talking to Tim, one of the guys from training, and from the southern tip of England. He asked where I was from in the states, I said Colorado, he looked a little confused, I said , "have you ever heard of Vail or Aspen?" This made sense to him and he said, "ahh, Assspennn." I kind of chuckled and then said, "have you seen dumb and dumber?" he was impressed that I knew what he was quoting, and we spent the rest of the train ride quoting the movie. It was by far my best tube conversation yet, it's reassuring that no matter where you are in the world there is someone who can quote bad Jim Carrey movies.