Getting back to normal

I am in my 'hood at the budget hotel (they gave me a triple room to myself, which is nice for spreading out all my stuff) and have already finished my first day of work, although the word 'work' is used lightly. I arrived at the Accenure Fenchurch office for 9:30am and walked through some intro materials with the HR rep until about 10:30am. She introduced me to my 'buddy' - a peer to be my primary point of contact for questions, etc. His name is Bill, and I actually have already spoken with him before I transferred; he is one of the other Americans who has been living here for two years and officially transferred himself a year ago. He introduced me around and answered various questions, and then it was conveniently lunch time. We went out with another colleague and by the time we were back, it was 2pm and I had already done all the admin work/phone calls I could do without a laptop, so I left to pick up my last piece of luggage from the other office, Old Bailey, and cart it back to Clapham before rush hour on the tube.

[My laptop won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon, end of day, so I'm a bit useless, however I've already expressed interest on potential projects for a Netherlands client and a Nigerian client. Both of those projects would be mostly conducted out of London, although a week long trip to Nigeria might be in order; that would be awesome...]

While standing in the lobby of the Fenchurch building looking lost (I couldn't figure out which direction St. Paul's Cathedral was, because I still don't have a London map) I ran into a friend of mine who I met at St. Charles, IL for Core Consultant School. She's an Aussie who transferred to London last year, and I already have plans to go out to dinner with her and some friends on Friday night after my work happy hour.

I got back to Clapham early, and did a grocery shopping run at Tesco. Tonight I'm going to have a Bourdeaux wine, with spaghetti, meatballs, sauce, green beans and Stilton Cheese for dessert. Yum! I also had to buy some cleaning supplies, plastic utensils, and a set of cheap wine glasses for the heck of it because this kitchen at the hotel is sorely lacking in basics.

So that's pretty much it! Nothing too exciting, but I'm glad to have started to meet colleagues and to get integrated into what will be my daily life here in London. And, I know I don't have to say it again, but to everyone - please come visit!!!