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England - For Queen, Empire and Colony
After the rigours of six weeks of travelling through the USA, it was time to plant my feet for a while, and what better place to do it than home. But not home as in the sense of where I was born, but a greater meaning of home. The home of my family, going back as far as history will allow us, to the dawn of the modern age of civilisation: England.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoffrey Campey
> Sent: Wednesday, 23 January 2002 8:04 PM
> To: Almost_evri1
> Subject: The Mother Country
>
> If I can sum up England in one word, it would be
> 'dark'. Flying out of New York at night is fantastic,
> I recommend it to anyone. Flying into London in the
> early morning is also nice, because at 6:40am, it is
> still pitch black. It doesn't even start to get light
> until about 8:00am. It is silly!
>
> Other than that, I am liking this place. The people
> all seem very 'pleasant'. I don't know, that is the
> best word I can come up with. It is a massive city,
> with lots of people (all the rich ones seem to live in
> the neighbourhood where I am staying) but they all
> seem to get along. Very comforting.
>
> I must be off, going for my first British ale very
> shortly. I hope you are all well, keep sending me
> mail, I am slowly getting through the backlog :)
>
> Regards,
> Geoffrey
>
It is quite funny to read this email again - I can't believe how polite I was. I had only been there a couple of hours and already the English manners were rubbing off. Pity I didn't stay there longer, I might have actually turned out alright :)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoffrey Campey
> Sent: Monday, 28 January 2002 5:11 PM
> To: Almost_evri1
> Subject: London Pt 1
>
> Well, the first week is over, and today was the most
> glorious day that I will ever experience in London,
> weather wise. To wake up in the morning to glorious
> sunshine is something that I was prepared to have to
> wait for until I got home, but sure enough, this city
> surpirses me once again and there I was, walking
> around in sunshine all day.
>
> It is difficult to get out of the "holiday" mode and
> into the "you are really poor and need to get some
> money" mode. Job hunting in London is a lot of fun,
> lots of phone calls, and lots of interesting jobs
> whose ads don't really corrospond to the work that
> they are offering. It makes it even more fun to try to
> explain that I will be leaving in 6 weeks but then
> coming back again. But things are looking promising,
> and hopefully by the next mail I will have a job (and
> not the clinical trials I was offered this afternoon
> :)
>
> I had a massive morning/day/nite/morning on Australia
> Day, spending many many hours drinking and dancing and
> shouting, lots of fun, but I am paying with it with a
> very sore throat at the moment. It was really funny to
> see how patriotic people become when they are away
> from home (includng myself). It was interesting that
> in 14 hrs at various Aussie establishments, i didn't
> see one fight. Very amusing.
>
> Lastly, I now have a mobile number here in the UK,
> which people can SMS me on (if their network supports
> it). The number is +447985325936. I still don't have a
> permenant place to stay yet (will sort that out when I
> have work) but the hostel is a lot of fun and always
> interesting to meet people.
>
> I hope you are all well, I am still trying to catch up
> on the email, so thanks for writing and no, I haven't
> forgotten you :)
>
> Regards,
> Geoffrey
>
Little did I know that finding work in the city was a little harder than that. After a couple of days of trying, I went for the default position for an Australian in London.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoffrey Campey
> Sent: Sunday, 3 February 2002 11:56 PM
> To: Almost_evri1
> Subject: I have cash!!
>
> Sorry for the delay in replys (again) but I have been
> out of London, and yes! I have a job!
>
> I am working in a small (and I mean SMALL) pub in
> Walthom Abbey, about 25kms north of London. It is just
> far enough out of London that I am not living with
> Australians and its much cheaper, but it is also close
> enough that I can get back pretty easy to London
> (which i have done tonite).
>
> I am having trouble going back to the "standing on
> feet for 7 hrs a day" work routine as opposed to the
> "oh god, do I have to get off the comfy desk chair to
> get a cup of tea" office work. Serving bar is pretty
> cool, but it is amazing how different some of the
> drinks over here are, and yes, I have had to actually
> "pull" a beer, that is draw it from the cask with the
> hand pump. Very old fashioned, but very cool. The beer
> itself isn't too good, but it is warm so that isn't a
> good start.
>
> I am slowly mastering the art of dechipering "pissed
> people" speak, something that hasn't taken me nearly
> as long, due to my long hours of practise at speaking
> it myself :) Add in the english accent, and a "1 and
> 1" sounds like the person is propositioning you to
> lord know what. Anyway, I now have another skill to
> add to my resume, apart from flipping hamburgers.
>
> thanks to all of you have sent me mail, and I will be
> spending all nite at this net cafe trying to catch up,
> but keep me informed in what you are all doing, its
> great to have news, particularly from home.
>
> Anyway, off to write some more mail and see some more
> of the sites of London tomorrow. I hope you are all
> well, and behaving yourselves :)
>
> Best regards,
> Geoffrey
>
Now, before you read on, I want to warn you that the following email contains the details of one of the most shocking incidents that I have been a party to in all my travels. Please, be kind to me when you judge me, for it was my damn turn on the computer!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoffrey Campey
> Sent: Sunday, 24 February 2002 10:36 PM
> To: Almost_evri1
> Subject: Mothers can be so rude!
>
> Ok, people have been asking if I am still alive, so I
> guess that means it is time for another email :) I do
> take it as a compliment that people think about me
> when I am not around though, it is nice :)
>
> Anyway, working in a pub is very mindless and not
> terribly enthralling work, but I have met some really
> nice people who all have some really interesting
> stories. One of the best is the guy who went to school
> with Sir Cliff Richard (he grew up about 5 minutes
> away from the pub where I am living/working).
>
> On the celebrity note, I ran into Craig Charles at a
> Noodle Bar in Covent Garden the other week (he played
> Lister in "Red Dwarf" for those who don't know). Nice
> guy, had some of the traits of his character, which
> made eating next to him slightly uneasy but anyway.
> Score 2 for Geoffrey in the Minor Celebrity Spotting
> contest.
>
> My friend Mark from home got very lonely without my
> wit and charm and decided that he must fly all the way
> around the world to come and visit me. So he is here
> in London and it has been great to have someone to run
> around the Science Museum who will back me up when I
> get into an argument with an 8 year old over whose
> turn it was to play with the computer (some mothers
> have no sense of humour either! :)
>
> I am returning to Australia for my Graduation on the
> 12th March and will be coming back to London on the
> 25th March. It will be a very short trip and I will
> try to see everyone I can while I am home, but if I
> fall asleep on your couch and start drooling please
> don't be offended, Red Bull can only do so much.
>
> I hope everyone is well, and the sun is shining on you
> whereever you are in the world (I know it can't happen
> to everyone at the same time, but you know what I
> mean). I look forward to hearing from you all.
>
> Best regards,
> Geoffrey
>
Little was I to know that the next day I was to have an interview at SoftLaw in London, which was to dramatically alter my career for the next two years.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoffrey Campey
> Sent: Tuesday, 26 March 2002 10:00 AM
> To: Almost_evri1
> Subject: Canberra? Employed?
>
>
> Hello all out there,
>
> Some people have been asking when I will be returning
> to London. Well, as it happens, it won't be for a
> while now.
>
> The last two weeks have been a very hectic, exciting,
> exhausting, and fun time. I came back to Australia,
> drove up and down New South Wales (about 400 miles
> each way for the people overseas) and ended up
> graduating from university, getting sunburnt, having a
> devestating hangover and winding up with a job.
>
> I have taken a job with a company called SoftLaw in
> Canberra (Australia's capital city) and started
> yesterday. It was too good an opportunity to turn
> down, so unfortunately there won't be too many
> travelling Geoffrey reports coming out in the near
> future.
>
> I hope all of you are well, whereever you are in the
> world, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon
> (especially those in the USA and England :)
>
> Lots of love,
> Geoffrey
>
Basically, they made me an offer that was too good to say no to, and so I stayed in Australia. And thus ends the English working holiday, a measly three months complete out of 24. But NYE London would happen!
