 |
 |
| email me at: |
| Click here for a full history of Bugsy's travels |
 |
|
 |
| Capozz, Myself & Little Dreens in their flat in Bayswater, London before my Contiki |
| 10/12/02 - Edinburgh Hello All, Just thought I would leave a message just to let you know that I have found a job! I was a bit worried after a week or so because there was no accounting work out there, but then all of a sudden I was getting interviews left, right & centre and in the end I only went to my first interview and got the job a couple of hours later! As my mate Sam once said, "When it rains, it pours!" (When quoted at the time he wasn't referring to employment but success with girls but I am sure you get the idea of the analogy in regards my employment search!) I am working in the finance division for Morrison Corporation who are a large residential building company in the UK and Ireland. I will be preparing the quarterly and year end accounts for all their Scottish and English joint ventures and be a main contact for the external auditors. So should be good. Just happy I will be earning some pounds so I can curb the ever increasing visa debt and put to bed the idea of working at Burger King! It will also be good to start putting some money away for the big Caribbean trip in April 03 with the Uni Footy Lads! Start the job tomorrow (11th Dec) and fingers crossed I think I will be attending both the Finance Department Christmas show and the whole company Christmas Show which should be awesome! It will struggle to beat some of the Fennell, Allen ones I have been to in past years where we even had a streaker last year, (not me!) but I am sure I will enjoy myself. The last few weeks I have just really been settling in and nothing too exciting has been happening. I am playing some 5 a side soccer and scored a hat-trick in my first week! It is nothing to get excited about because with scores like 22-15 most people do! Have been really getting into the soccer and I am a bit of a fan of Manchester Utd and Newcastle. The lads are telling me you cannot be supporters of both, as these teams dislike each other, so I am going to have to make a decision soon. Big game last weekend in the Scottish League between Celtic v Rangers and these sides make the Crows v Power rivalry look very timid. Their supporters do in fact hate each other, apparently you just don't go to a game because it is that scary! Also went and saw my flatmate Coco (Colin) play Rugby Union and his side Dunbar apparently played their worst game of the season in losing 25-0! They were that bad I think they should be a sister side to the Adelaide Uni Scum team! Also ate Haggis a week or so ago and it was a lot better than expected and have found a bit of a cure for a hangover being a local soft drink which tastes like creaming soda called Irn-Bru! Have also been doing a fair bit of cooking and after being sick of pasta have even successfully negotiated cooking a roast chicken with roast vegetables and gravy for the lads! Came out very well and not as hard as I was expecting! And starting to pick up a little bit of the slang as well: Ned = Bogan/Feral Ken = I know/understand Reeking = Drunk I = Yes Mingin = Disgusting Well that's about it. I am heading to the Scottish highlands with my other flatmate Billy (Graham) to his family's house in Fort William for Christmas which should be great and then back to Edinburgh for Hogmany/New Year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Ciao, |
| P.S. A quick congratulations to Fras on passing his final year Medicine exams and hope all goes well at the Royal Adelaide Hospital next year! Well done Doc! |
| 2/01/03 - Edinburgh Hello All, Hope everyone is well and recovered from a great new year! Since my last entry quite a bit has happened but most importantly for me I received my first UK pay cheque before christmas for the first few weeks work I have done! Most of this money should have been put on my visa card but it has ended up being spent in various pubs in and around Edinburgh and the kebab shops surrounding those pubs! Am also getting paid for all these recent public holidays and also had a few days paid annual leave! How good is that! I did not realise when I moved to Edinburgh but a friend of mine, James Malcyha (Mal), who I became mates with through the SPOC Tennis Club where we formed one of the most unbeatable doubles combinations in Division 4 metro lawn history (maybe a little bit of an exagerration) is doing his 5th Year medicine placement in Edinburgh! Mal is having a great time over here and lives in a house with 16 other people, 11 of whom are female!! The house is crazy and great fun but I don't think I could live there permanently! So I have had a couple of rather large nights out with Mal in particular one night which started with a drinking game involving Jenga where I did not play to well and had to put on lipstick on about three different occasions as well as various skulls! That night we also went out and did a bit of pub crawl and ended up having a sit down meal at Pizza Paradise with a bottle of red at 3am in the morning! Thought it funny the next day that It was 3am and we were having a chat, eating Pizza with a knife and fork over a glass of red! Was also funny that night as we were earlier lining up to get into Espionage, Edinburgh's version of Joplins, with Mal and his flatmates, and one of the girls was up ahead in the line and chatting to this guy. We get into the pub and I say hello to this guy and it is bloody Randy Andy, mentioned in previous instalments, my roomate on my contiki tour! Very freaky! Work has been going pretty well but I think it has been a bit quiet as everyone is "winding down" before Christmas. Am finding it strange actually working, and working somewhere different Go back to work tomorrow (3/1/02) so am expecting it to be pretty busy from now on. In my last instalment I was hoping to go to both christmas shows which I did succeed on attending. The first being on a Wednesday night for the whole organisation. It was held at Dynamic Earth which is at the bottom of the famous Royal Mile. Was a great venue with free drinks and dinner, and with 150 people attending it was a big show. My plan as I had only been there a week was to have a few drinks but in the main take it easy. I had done some preparation before I left so I would not get too drunk being a bowl of pasta followed by a banana smoothie which I am addicted to at the moment to line the stomach. I had also placed a large glass of water next to my bed to be drunk before I go to sleep so the hangover at work the next day would be reduced. Well everything did no go according to plan, I got drinking with one of the guys in my division and as there was no one else drinking red on our table there was plenty to be consumed which I did. I did take the opportunity to get a couple of things sorted. Firstly the printer I have to use is not working so I introduced myself to the IT guy, and although drunken, politely told him about the problem! Also had a big chat to my boss, the financial director and got talking about cricket and "sounded" him out about me taking a few weeks annual leave in April/May so I can go to the Caribbean. He said that would be fine which is good. I just hope he remembers the conversation! Then my night becomes quite sketchy with me waking up on the floor in my room the next day. Apparently it consisted of a lot of time on the dance floor and a cab ride back with two girls from my division where I was giving the cab driver directions and phone call to my old work in Australia! If you are wondering why I woke up on the floor it was actually because that glass I had early placed next to my bed was knocked by me drunk from the bedside cabinet onto my bed!! So all that preparation counted against me! Felt terrible the next day at work but somehow managed to struggle through. The other christmas show was for our building and was pretty tame with us just having a few drinks in the boardroom. My favourite night out so far has probably been the birthday party for my flatmate Billy (Graham). The theme for the evening was Caribbean as we were eating at the Caribbean Connection restaurant. We didn't quite go authetic Caribbean but myself, Billy and Coco were wearing Hawaiian shirts with massive sombrero (spelling?) hats! I also found this cricket jumper in awesome condition at the 2nd hand store which I wore when outside being a West Indies cricketer. I looked ridiculous but the hat came in very useful for the walk home when it was raining! Was a great meal and finished with us going to a cuban bar across the road from the restaurant. Was a really fun night with everyone in top form. Christmas in the higlands was great and Billy's family were great fun. I have never eaten so much food in a 48 hour period! Even got a stocking from Santa with pressies!. How did he know I was in Scotland? Went for a drive and a walk around on boxing day where I saw the United Kingdoms largest mountain Ben Nevis and walked to Steel Falls which was awesome and is a walk which has been done by Prince Charles! Recommend the Scottish highlands highly, is really worth visiting. Well that brings me to Hogmany! Atmosphere there was amazing. Two hundred thousand people partying on the main street of Edinburgh! It was apparently a bit quieter this year because of the worry of terrorists. Started with dinner with a few friends at a chinese restaurant then found a great spot to watch the fireworks from and then spent a bit of time at the street party and then went to a party with Billy (who was wearing his kilt!) and then I went onto Mal's and ended up getting home around 4:30am. Last night got straight back on it as the 2nd of January is also a public holiday (how good is that!) and was drinking bloody marys watching the mighty Newcastle beat Liverpool! Ciao, |
 |
| P.S. Congratualtions to Dima and Roberta on their engagement! That is great news! Secondly to Bianca on the purchase of a house! |
| 24/04/02 - Edinburgh (Draft) Hello Loyal Fans as if you are reading this you must be because I haven't written for a while! Hope you had a great Easter. Things have been going well in Edinburgh except for a visit to the Dentist in January where I won "jumpy patient of the week" after having a root canal done. Enjoying the last few weeks with the end of winter and some sunny days. We have a courtyard at the back of the flat and have even had a couple of barbies and I had a hit of tennis last Saturday! We alot of has happened the last but the main events have been the following: Newcastle v Blackburn Game: |