London Update

As much as I am meaning to finish the other half of my Germany blog, I also want to update everyone on how London has been treating me so far. So here's the latest:

I started working at Theo Randall restaurant this week, which is at the 5-star Intercontinental Hotel in London. It just won the Top Italian Restaurant award last month, which means its been really busy, and Theo is quickly becoming a celebrity chef. I am the assistant sommelier working with Alvaro Marcos Garcia, winner of the 2007 International Sommelier Challenge. He has been teaching me lots already, and I am excited to be working with someone who gets as excited as myself when it comes to food and wine pairing. Being that this is my third job since arriving, I am happy to say I have found what I am looking for here. I have been faced with a few challenges so far, but its nothing I can't handle, and I look forward to leaving my mark on this place. In my first 4 days of work, I have already gotten to serve Hall of Fame NFL player Jerry Rice, and drink Dom Perignon out of the bottle! Off to a good start...

At the beginning of October I moved into a new flat with two wonderful roommates. I have a big kitchen and my own bedroom, and I have felt much more at home this month than last. Just tonight I had my girlfriends from the hostel over for dinner, and it made me so happy and grateful to have a warm home to share with them. I have really come to love these girls and would not know what my experience would be like here without them. The three of us all traveled from around the world to London by ourselves, so we have been experiencing a lot of the same struggles at the same time. It is hard to explain to someone who isn't here what it is like to try to start a short term life in a huge city where you are completely alone. There are so many days where crying seems like the only solution, but in each other we find a common ground to share and we lean on each other for strength. This has helped all of us to find the positive in being here, which we all know is there hidden behind our homesickness and our loneliness. I smile so much more knowing I am not alone in this journey, and that at my hardest times I can easily find a hug.

In other news, things are starting to feel more normal here. Part of me still feels hesitation to get too settled because I know I am not going to be here that much longer. But another part of me is starting to embrace London and really immerse myself in everything that is here. That can be difficult considering I work nearly every night, and don't get a chance to go out often, but I have been finding time to do the things that make me feel happy and contented with life. I have been reading books I have wanted to read for years, which makes me more happy than I can say. It makes such a difference not to be reading textbooks that are required for school but have no real interest. I read everywhere I go too; I put on my headphones on the bus, the tube, the train, and get lost in the music and the writing. I've been reading Steinbeck and I love reading about
California through his eyes and eloquent and incredibly descriptive writing. It has even inspired me to start working on my own novel. While ideas are still coming to fruition, I would love to turn my travel journeys into a wine experience novel for other people to read and share in my joy. I have not yet decided if I should base it strictly on my travels and winery visits, or if I should add a more personal angle and even possibly make parts of it "fiction". If you have any tips, pass them my way.

I have also been working on my future business venture as well, putting in many hours to make sure all of the plans are worked out to the finest detail so I am able to start working straight away upon my return to California. I constantly get more excited about having my own company and being able to do what I love everyday! Plans are to have the website up and running by the end of the year, and be doing events by February 1st.

Well that's all for now. More updates to come along my journey. Write soon to let me know how you're all doing at home!