This city does funny things to us all…..
First thing its funny how work can turn on its axis so quickly. One moment you loved the work the next……well……..
Let just say that the project is going like a old game you play as a kid. You pass the ball around while music is playing, and if you end up with the ball you are the sucker. Guess I now just have to time it well and have something to cover my ass. Having said that a month travelling around in Europe is not a bad idea if things go sour.
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Friday night I was invited to Srinath’s leaving do. Last time I seen Srinath was a couple of years ago and my memory of him was pretty much the same as the guy I used to know from high school. Quiet, shy, smelly and nerdy Indian guy that people used to pick on in school. He arrived in London last year and in all honest truth Friday was the first time I seen him and my god didn’t London changed him! Gone was the low self-esteem introverted nerd, now in his place is this outgoing social butterflies that everybody wants to hangout!
We met up at the Porterhouse pub at Covent Garden for a drink. The turnout for the night makes me envy that there will be the same amount of people at my Birthday. See for the first 6 months of his stay Srinath lived in the hostel like me and that experience really changed him. It became even more evident as the night progress he were chatting to different girls in the club. He sure reap the benefits of a life in London and now he is giving me tips on talking to girls. Wow! I got a few things to learn from him! Who would have thought this is the case?
Anyway as much as he is so successful with girls in London, hes leaving it all to go back to India to marry an Indian girl. As far as I know its not an arranged marriage and from Srinath’s point of view he always wanted to marry an Indian girl anyway.
*sigh* A year in London makes me alot more independent and self assured, I still needed a bit more work in terms of having courage to chat up random girls.
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Well here’s something different: Kate, Alan, Jimmy and Juliette from the hostel moved out together and found a flat in Shepherd Bush!! They now share a three bedroom flat/house with a kitchen/living room and a little yard. After all these years they finally have it with the hostel and moved out to have a room of their own, well done guys! On saturday night I went over to their place and stayed for a drink.
Its awesome to see that they are all so proud of their new place, I am also very happy to see my friends in a place where its different to the hostel! I wished them the best of luck as moving out of the hostel is a big step. When I first moved out I found it hard to motivated the hostel crowd to move out of the safety of their social environment.
When you have a core group of people to socialise you become more “attached” to this sheltered group and “detached” from the rest of reality. People will pop in your world so you getting the feeling that you are constantly meeting new people, but at the same time it doesn’t give you incentives to venture outside your little pond and see the rest of the world.
Now that the guys moved out they will experience change in relationship with some of their old friends. One thing I learnt over the last 6 months of living alone is the people that are really your “friends” are the ones that will make an effort to contact you and join you for your company. An normal acquittance will not make the same effort as a “friend”. I was initially disappointed when some of the people that I like to keep in touch made no effort to do so. Now I am starting to think those that maybe those that “fell off” are not worth keeping in touch after all.
As my friend said: “In due time, you found out whos a waste of space…….”
Now I have more reasons to go to Shepherd Bush, another friendly house I can visit in this vast metropolis!!
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A year on, someone else has decided to follow the same step I took a year ago.
Kuma like Srinath is an old school friend of mine, hes in London for a few weeks doing a bit of a “fact founding” before deciding whether to moved to London or not. While he was here we went for a cocktail on Monday night and a tour of the British museum on Sunday.
Kuma’s current intention is to return to Sydney first and decided whether he wanted to make the move or not. He would love the safety net of a job so that he doesn’t fall behind on mortgage payment. Something that I still don’t have yet. It be good to see another familiar face on these shores.
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Final London effect: when it comes to bike security, you are always on the losing end. As part of buying my mountain bike I decided to buy a good lock to go with it. One week night after my gym session someone pinched my seat!! Them bastards!! If they stole my bike than I get some money. Stealing my seat just means I have to spend 60 quip in replaceing it. To all the bike thieves in the world: You guys are morons!!!
