So much to update & it’s a race against time! ‏

I have to find an English power converter for my laptop, I forgot to get one in Turkey.

I haven't updated in a few days so just to quickly fill in the gaps. I wasn't going to apply for jobs in England till I got here but I had a quick look on the net when I was in Istanbul to see what was about and there was one that really jumped out at me, so I had to apply. My boss wrote back saying I sounded like just the person for the job & told me to come on up as soon as I arrived in the UK. I flew into London about 8pm local time on Friday night (2hrs diff from Turkey) got to a hostel near Victoria Station in London about 10.30pm, woke up early & caught the 7.30am bus to Hanley, Stoke on Trent, a 3.5hr bus trip & started learning the ropes about 12pm & got to sleep about 1am this morning.

It's such a fantastic place & I'm so glad that I'm here. The bar & grill is one of the best I've seen. It manages to encompass 3 different styles of establishments very, very well. That of a fantastic restaurant with great food & a menu that changes daily; that of an awesome chill-out coffee shop with big comfortable sofas; & that of a pub. At any one time you can look around & see people involved in any one of these activities, very happily. The owners are really cool, too & everyone gets along fantastically. Needless to say, I'm very happy. I wasn't too sure what to expect when I got here. I thought that I'd have to sit down & go through an interview etc, but nope, I just got straight on in there.

The other thing that I'm really pleased about is that I will be doing a bit of everything. Bit of prep in the kitchen, dishes (I'm very weird – actually enjoyed doing this yesterday) & serving at the bar. It's all set up so well, the till system is computerized, food orders get sent electronically to the kitchen, & now it's just a matter of me getting super quick at using it. I've mastered the coffee machine. Still have to get the tap beer names down pat. I've never heard of them before – John Smith, Bommer, Miller & there's about 4 others as well. I'm getting the table numbers, slowly, & most of the drinks are straight forward, except things like bitter shandy & wine spritzers. I thought I knew how to do most things! Oh, the wines, too. Got to master them. They make it so easy, though. Everything is so organized!

I was so happy to go to sleep last night! My last night in Istanbul (Thursday night) I ended up going out with several guys from the hostel. Joel & Nick (who are from Bristol) & Craig (Aussie from Bondi), & only had about an hours sleep before I had to get up, pack & check out of my room. Friday night I didn't sleep very well, either. It was a 6 bed hostel room & people got up at 3am, as happens in dorms. I can't tell you how happy I am to be settling down somewhere for several months (just hope it stays that way, hehehe).

Sunday we're ("we're", hehehe) closed but everyone meets up for Sunday lunch. I believe today it's roast Lamb. I'm going to get fed very well here! Last night it was an awesome Shepard's pie. So good to be eating normal food again. The other thing that I think is quite cool is that I won't be living on site. I'll be about a 5min walk away, but they pay my rent. So the deal is I take home a minimum of £170 per week (over $400au) with no expenses, accommodation & food are included. They are even going to reimburse me for the bus ticket to get here.

Umm what else, I'm still kinda in La La land. I don't think that I expected things to happen quite so quickly but I'm happy they have. I wonder how many times I've mentioned the word happy in this post. Do you think I could be pleased? ;o)

A few more things I forgot to mention. They have broadband internet set up there & I can be standing at the second bar area behind the counter using a wall mounted screen to check my email or internet. Plus! I can get a wireless card for my laptop & have access anywhere in the establishment! So the things that I generally spend money on – Accommodation, food & internet now no longer cost me anything!

Oh & my tongue is doing well – on to solid food. Didn't get to go back for a smaller bar on Friday. Didn't have enough time. So I'll have to find one here. I'll also get a pre-paid sim for my mobile here, too. Oh & Monday they are going to help me open a UK bank account (which can be very very hard to do here, believe it or not) & help me organize tax numbers etc. It's all just too easy!

Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent – England, Sunday 26th September 2004, 11.20am