london vs. vancouver

(last snapshots of London - Natural History Museum - not a huge fan of taxidermy, but one of the most gorgeous buildings)

As some of you may know, there were 3 reasons why we came to London.

1) my birthday
2) we haven't been here in 5 years
3) we are playing around with the idea of moving here


(natural history museum inside)

Yup. My mom doesn't even know this (hi mom!). We are booked to work the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and are thinking of moving to London for the 2012 Olympics. Do we have jobs here? No, but we do have access to an unrestricted Visa which would allow us to work whereever we wished in the United Kingdom as well as own our own business if we choose to. So here we are, trying to decide if we can see ourselves living here.


(natural history museum inside)

I have been through a range of emotions with this City. When I got off the plane, it felt so good. I really felt like this could be home. As we got into the second week, the amount of people started getting to me. Holy! People everywhere! It got to be a little too much. Then when I got sick, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed with my cat and go home. I really contemplated about moving my flight up and just flying home, but then, who wants to fly when you are that sick. Of course, to make it even more confusing, when we returned to London for our last week, it felt so good to be back again. The shower was just right... the bed was perfect ... not the same as home, but it was so nice.


(Mimi - E&M's cat from Cambridge enjoying a snack)

So, what to do? What to do?

My biggest concern is what would I do here? Call me crazy, but half of me wants to work at a hotel. As a coordinator in the events industry, I have always worked closely with venues and hotels, but never seen it operate from the other side. That would be fun and interesting right? Plus, you get 3 weeks holiday to start off and if I work at a hotel, that means discounts on holiday! I have heard of some not so nice things from hotels i.e. long hours, chefs yelling(?) and I have noticed an odd working tier system where everybody seems quite departmentalized. It would be so different to go to work, do your stuff, go home and that's it. Oh, and if you are wondering, I would be looking into a Catering / Banquets position where I would assist people with their weddings and events - i.e. booking venue / planning their event. More or less what I do now, except in one venue.


(Christmas display on Regent Street and Oxford Circus - watch this video to see the event behind the lights)

Downside to this, is that I have not worked in an office or specific hours in over 5 years. Being tied to a desk and having to have permission to go on holiday does not appeal to me. I would probably also have to wear a suit and gah, heels? Ew.

Here's the other plan ....

Craft my little heart out. Take my crafting seriously and do more shows, contact stores, set up the Etsy store, etc. On the side, I would do DMC (Destination Management Company) work on a part time basis leading up to the Olympics. DMC work would familiarize me with the City, provide me with experience on new venues and set up, good pay, flexible hours.. it could be a good thing. Not to keen on the whole uniform thing though. Maybe hold Got Craft in another country?


(Display at Hamleys)

In Rob's words, what we have learned in 5 years can be done over there in a shorter time as we are now more experienced. Everything that we have always done, has been us jumping into it with both feet and sometimes, jumping a bit naively. No regrets. Learned / learning so much... met so many wonderful people ...


(Harrod's Christmas lights. 11,500 white bulbs changed into green ones for the Wizard of Oz anniversary)

This trip hasn't pushed me one or the other, but to be honest, I am leaning towards Vancouver right now. This may be partly due to the fact that I have not 100% recovered. I love what I do here, but I have to make sure that it's not fear / idea of not knowing that is holding me back. We have no family and only an acquaintance or two in London. Change is scary... but.. ohhh, exciting too!


(not sure what this is called.. a little bakery in a shopping arcade across from Fortnum and Mason... tiny little place, but the whole thing looks like a gold cave a la Snow White and the 7 dwarves... filled with macarones of all flavours)

Looking at the pictures, this is what I miss / love about London most. Museums... markets... exploring... M&S... cheap trips all over Europe...

I'll even take the fact that sometimes people don't understand my Canadian accent and I don't understand their British accent or when they advertise "insert TV show here" back to back episodes that they play the same episode.. the fact that corn and shrimp is an acceptable topping for a jacket potato, but not sour cream ... decisions, decisions ...

PS. Excuse the babbling... this post was started shortly before 4:00am! Jet-lagged plus sick in bed = crazy sleep schedule!
PPS. Don't worry. lotus events will still continue in Vancouver! :D