Letters From London- Part Two: My digs and my job

This is a long one with hardly any pictures, but I thought it was a good read that tells a lot about the job I had in London!

Top of the morning to you!

Okay so actually it is nearly 8pm here.  So I started my internship yesterday.  It was very interesting to say the least. 

Let me first start with my first shower in the AT house.  It was the strangest experience I have ever had in a shower.  You go in and the light turns on because it is motion detecting.  Then there is one hook for you towel and that’s it.  The floor is disgusting and covered with hair and there is no temperature gauge.  You only have the option of pushing a button for the water to come out of the faucet.  However, once the button pops out the water turns off. It only takes about ten seconds for the button to pop out.  So, to get a constant stream it is best to keep your hand on the button or push it repeatedly.  The good thing is the water pressure is the same throughout.  It will take some getting used to, but on to my internship. 

A and I walked down to the tube and got on, however, as we did we were notified that the tube would not be stopping at the stop we needed to get out at.  So we got off at the next stop and had no idea where we were.  Luckily we left 45 mins early.  We pulled out a pocket map book that they gave us at check in and eventually figured out the way to go.  About a mile later we had made it to the tube stop we were suppose to go to that conveniently was closed our first day of work.  The pain I was feeling in my heels was excruciating, but I didn't want to walk into the office on the fist day limping.  Before we went in the doors we both checked to see how bad our heels were.  They were only bleeding a little on one side but I had a blister as big as a half dollar on my other heal that had popped along the way and was now only fresh skin and plasma. Ouch!

Finally at work, I was in for a more interesting day.  It is one of the most unorganized offices I have ever seen... and that includes my room.  However, it has a closet that I am incredibly envious of.    The closet has everything from Matalan products (which is like the UK's Target, and with decent quality goods) to Max Mara (which is a sister company to BCBG).  We have items worth about £2 retail up to £800.  And in the very back is a small room with a computer and filled to the roof (literally) with crap.   

We began the day learning how to do ship outs.  Ship outs are clothes that have been pulled for a magazine story.  These magazines include Elle, Vogue, Harpers Bizarre and many many many more..  We have to scan each item and create an itemized list, bag the items and address them to be picked up at various times throughout the day.)  Meanwhile, I met some of the people I would be working with.  J is from France.  She is very brash and emotional.  She hates her job and is only there to work on her English, which she has a ways to go.  She is hard to understand and gets frustrated when we don't understand her... but no one can. 

Our next big task was to organize the back room.  A and I took over and got the other girls to follow our directions.  Now it actually makes a little bit of sense.  By the end of the day I had gotten a work out from lifting so many boxes and I was exhausted.  However, the perk of the first day was getting things ready for donation to charity.  They asked us each if we wanted a purse and of course we took them.They were not worth the blisters.  The tube station was open on the way home, but by that time I had crushed my heels down over the backs of my shoes and wore them as slides for the rest of the way home. After lunch we learned how to do book in's (which is booking everything that has come back in, back into the system)  One of our bosses came back and told us that we had obviously mastered the back room so next week she would train us to make calls to the magazines and do some things up front. (unfortunately that never happened).  Then we stuffed some envelopes with look books for the fall and sent those out.  And finally at the end of the day they informed us that all of the boxes that we had packed for charity we could look through and take whatever we wanted.  And of course I did.  It was like going shopping with all the excitement of new clothes and none of the cost. 

I miss you all and I wish I could talk to you all on the telly.

Then at the end of the week, I had this to say.

So I have finished a week at my job and there have been some ups and downs.  First off, my boss (who was on vacation last week in Spain) is most comparable to Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.  Not to that extreme, but kind of.  She walks up to me and says things like, "Where's the dress", and seems completely shocked and appalled that I have no idea what dress she is talking about.  Then she replies with "you know the one I gave you the other day".  What other day?  What dress? What did it look like?  Why did you give it to me?  What should I do with this dress when I find it?  Was it a send out or a book in?  What brand was it? All these questions go through my mind as I painstakingly ask, " what did it look like?". 

Frustration comes over her face and she replies, "the black one".  Oh good, because that really helps when there is about a million black dresses in the closet.  So in an effort to not frustrate her anymore, I say "I'm not sure where it is, but I will look for it and let you know if I find it.”  I tell and she asks me if there was any further description and I say no.  We look for about thirty seconds and decide that hopefully she will either forget about it or provide us with a better description.  Fortunately, today it was the former.  Later in the day she pulls a pair of pants from a rack that we have not touched in the week we have been working and comes into the office somewhat rudely and says" I have told you girls a million times to not use hangers with stickers on them." A says " I know" and I say that it wasn't us.  And she looks confused, as if she didn't know who to blame and just walks away.  Then finally she asks me to arrange purses on a table.  Then she proceeds to repeat herself and re-describe the task saying, "you know place them on the table for people to see."  First off, I am neither stupid or deaf or unable to understand the language.  I guess because I asked questions about a vague description she felt like blatantly obvious and easy things must be explained in full detail. And L, the French girl is just annoying. I feel horrible for her even through my frustration. She can't understand anyone and no one can understand her.

(Side note:  There is a girl sitting next to us and she has dropped about 347 F-bombs in the 3 mins she has been talking to a friend on the phone.  She is using it to replace the word um.  I mean I know it is bad speech to use the word um, but I am not sure fuck is a better alternative.  A lot of people do that here.  Especially at the office they say it.  To each other, to the phone, to the newspaper... I think it is more common than the word 'the'.) 

The food at lunch time is really good.  There are a lot of options around where I work and they are mostly small cafes.  And the whole office shuts down for about 15 mins for tea and cake break.  Dinners are nothing too great thus far.  I am still loving it here in London.  For the first time, I have a daily schedule and I like it.  There is always something to see, even if it is just a run over rat in the middle of the road.  I have never seen a real live rat before...Not that I really wanted to and I guess it wasn't really alive.  But still, everyday has it's own interesting part to it and I love that.  I go to bed really early and I have finally been able to sleep on a regular schedule.  And to satisfy my hunger for celebrity gossip and such I get two free newspapers everyday as I walk onto the tube.  For the most part besides little things that remind me of people and things at home I am loving it here. 

Okay kids, the rest of my letters from London will be about places I went and things we did.  It was a packed 3 months so be prepared for picture overload!