Five years ago today Genevieve and I stepped off a train at Liverpool St station in the heart of London's CBD with a suitcase and an address. I'll never forget just how overwhelming and exciting that moment was. Hundreds of sharp dressed business types side stepped us and our luggage as they hustled between the office, the tube and Pret à Manger. Dodging tourists is of course a routine part of their commute, one that became second nature for me pretty quick.
Those first couple weeks in London were a blur of grimy short term rentals, sight seeing, and forming a bitter relationship with letting agents. We would have taken a place just about anywhere in the first 4 zones, but the one we did just happened to be in Wimbledon. I absolutely loved it there, the little village had excellent pubs, transportation was great and the atmosphere was relaxed and quaint. The tennis notoriety was alright too. Most people we met were in Northeast London, Hackney mostly, where there were a lot more poor young people and the cool restaurants and venues that go along with them. As inconvenient as the hour long double decker rides home at 3am were, I'm still really glad we chose Wimbledon, I'll always have a soft spot for that little piece of London.
Finding work in another country opened me up to a level of vulnerability I'd never experienced. I had a number of people try to get me to work for free, or miss payments, or ask me to cut corners and deceive clients, or lower my pay after a week of work. Despite having nothing to fall back on I forced myself to stick to what I thought was right and fair and made some difficult decisions on when to tell people to fuck off and walk away.
I eventually took some courses and got my British certification and with a bit of luck and good timing got a decent job for a legitimate company working on all kinds of interesting projects in central London. I worked with a bunch of great guys, Aussies mostly, saw so much of the best parts of the city, ate lunches in vibrant city parks, drank after work pints on the sidewalks outside pubs, and snuck off mid day for various Olympic goings on. I was even running my own jobs after a short while, which was a needed turn of events after the first couple shit shows.
A lot of people end up working outside their field when living abroad, with no contacts and unrecognized skills and qualifications it's no wonder. I'm pretty proud of the way things went in London, it was difficult at times but I managed to make things work and I learned how to respect my value and stand up for myself. I was in way over my head at times, especially when the first job had me wiring 200 year old houses with techniques, rules and devices I'd never seen before. I've never learned so much so fast as I did on that job, and it's experience I look back on often that shaped the worker I am today.
I've never had much desire to live in Russia, but after the back to back excitement of Vancouver and London I was feeling a serious void in my life during Sochi 2014. It was never an intention to follow the Olympics to London, just a happy coincidence. I had such an incredible time during both, it's such a blast to see your city transform into a party for the world. I don't care what anyone says I hope Calgary wins a bid to do it again, and I may need to plan a trip to Tokyo.
A big part of why we chose London was rhe proximity to Europe, which we took advantage of at every opportunity. Being from a country as vast as Canada it's so amazing to be in Paris or Amsterdam after an hour on a train, or be landing on a Spanish island in as much time as it takes me to get to work. When we started our Micra adventure we had driven through 3 different countries before stopping for lunch in Belgium on day one. I can't wait until the next time I'm behind the wheel in Europe, it's an incredible change of scenery and variety of cultures and histories in such a compact region.
I love having such a personal relationship with London. Someone is often talking about a trip they took, or one they're planning, and I really enjoy the opportunity to reminisce. For such a short time in my life I have so many stories and memories. Some, like meandering along cobbled streets through villages of thatched roofed homes, feel like a dream. Others, like eating a Tesco sandwich deal in Green Park on my lunch break, are as if they were yesterday. I feel like my life is distinctly separated as before and after London, the experience shaped the person I am today more than anything else. Which seems weird when I consider becoming a father, but by the time Eli came along I had already figured myself out, and London played a key role in that.
I'm fortunate enough to have so many people and places that I miss so much in my life, especially when the alternative is to have never had those experiences. There is, however, no city that enters my mind as often as London. I know it wouldn't be the same now if we were still there, but I wonder how it would be. I miss my daily commute on the Tube, or down Oxford Street or past St Paul's Cathedral, I miss walking along the Thames in Richmond, I miss shitty food and cheap pints at a Wetherspoons, I miss the skyline from Greenwich, I miss the television and newspapers, I miss a 1 hour flight to the Mediterranean, I miss the dinosaur hall of the Natural History Museum, I miss skating at Southbank, I miss working in 200 year old buildings, I miss West Cornwall Pasties, I miss English accents, and English friends. I miss so much more and I miss it almost every day, but I'm so glad that I do.
