Andrew Aigner-MuehlerLIVING OVERSEAS from my eyes.. ON ARRIVAL IN LONDON
January 26th 2008 04:58
ON ARRIVAL IN LONDON
On the first flight out of Dublin on the 6th June 2001, on the carrier Ryanair, touching down at Luton airport a short time after. Luton airport is a fifty or so minute drive from London, which I was dropped of at Marble Arch and hopped on the underground to Holloway road where I was starting a job the Temple Bar. I was living in the staff quarters, which were just down the road in Islington.
It was quite hard for me at first in London, even so I had been there on previous occasions, but now I was planning to live there for a couple of years and the only people I knew were Megan ‘Megsy’ Traynor, Lisa Henderson and Mark Plaskitt who were my housemates in Dublin. I was just in London four weeks prior to leaving Dublin, just passing through on the way to Amsterdam, at the time I had brought over half of my gear that I stored at Megsy’s place, just to save me from bringing too much across when I finally moved.
I think I worked three shifts until one day the boss called three of us into the office for a meeting. At that meeting I found out I was being transferred to the Alexandra bar down at Clapham Common.
One week into living in London, I found myself going out clubbing for the first time, it came through the newly promoted assistant bar manager taking us guys into Camden Town for a few drinks. Not knowing where he was taking us, he took us to the Blackhorse bar in Camden, and when we entered, us guys noticed something different, the difference being there weren’t any girls, just guys talking to guys with a different way of talking. We didn’t buy a drink, kept closely together and I think we lasted no more than five to ten minutes in the bar. Just to say we weren’t feeling comfortable.
So, what a start to my going out in London, the first bar I went to is a gay bar. Mind you, there isn’t anything wrong, with being gay, but it isn’t for me, I like girls.
Anyway the following day I found myself relocating to Clapham Common, which I started that night. While working at the Alexandra I was working with two Polish guys and two Polish girls, and that is where I got my bad impression of the Pols, rude ignorant people who don’t smile and doesn’t matter what you do you can not make them happy or you can not do anything right.
Anyway I managed to last four weeks there when the boss called me down stairs after closing one Saturday night, and said to me he was letting me go, his exact words to me were “there is nothing wrong with you, it’s me, you’re not what I’m looking for, I’m looking for someone who can run the bar when I’m not around” but he never actually sat down with me and discussed things, I thought I was there as a bar tender, not going there for a audition to be manager. I also tried to get a few answers out him, why is firing me when there is nothing wrong with me, but received no response. Maybe it was a good thing, because down the track everything worked out well.
Anyway that weekend a Canadian guy Jeff Fingler was coming to stay with me for a night or two before heading back home to Canada. I met him while on the Stray tour of Ireland, I told him when he arrives in London too give me a call. That night just happened to be Canada day so we went along to the Maple Leaf in Covent Gardens, which they had closed the street.
Also while working at the Alexandra, I had met a kiwi girl Chantal, who had given me a number for some friends of hers out in Acton, who were looking for a dosser. She must have knew I was getting sacked later that night, or something. Anyway I gave Linda and Soren a call, and ended up in dossing with them for a few weeks, while looking for a new job and somewhere to stay. For those who don’t know what dossing is a dosser is someone who crashes on the couch or floor for a small price and have no say in what happens in the house. While staying with them I managed to start a new job in Piccadilly Circus at a new bar called Southern Junction sports bar café, which is an antipodean bar managed by two Saffas Rick and Tony.
After three or four weeks dossing with Linda and Soren, they politely asked me when I was leaving the house, and within days I had checked out a place, I thought at the time was a fair way out of town, that place being Brent Cross, which was actually Golders Green. On the night of checking the place out Pete (Love) and Sarita (Creese-Smith) showed me the room and said they’ll get back to me after they talk to their other house mates. That night Pete rang me up while I was at work and said the room is mine if I want. The next day I moved in.
The other three house mates were Steven Gabriel, Sarita’s boy friend, Martina Klost, Pete’s girlfriend and also Duane Wilson, Duane beingthe person who I shared the room with, and you may as well also add Melanie, known as Mel who was Duane’s girlfriend, who actually lived around the corner but crashed at our place most nights.
While working at the Junction, I met and worked with some good guys. I was lucky to be there for the grand opening, the day before one of the biggest sporting days in the UK for Aussies and Kiwis the annual tri-nation series, I still remember that Saturday we had queues up the street, which the police had to be called in, so many pizzas and beer was bought that day and night. I even appeared in the New Zealand news, because they needed a guy wearing an Aussie rugby top for a photo. Anyway after two or three months later the Junction was suffering, wasn’t doing the business they expected and was lucky to do the trade, and I was very lucky to get 10-20 hours a week. As we know with that many hours, it just pays your rent, if you’re lucky.
At that time I was in London for just over three months, and I hated London, and I mean hated London. Ask anyone I know they will tell you how much I hated it. I telling everyone I was off to Spain, maybe Madrid, maybe Barcelona, but two girls I was working with at the Southern Junction Kate and Anna who were from Sydney in Australia, who were just on a holiday themselves, who were working illegally in London, talked me out of leaving, and told me to leave the Junction and go out to get another job maybe a office job. They even gave me a Spanish Peseta, the coin with a hole in it, apparently if you give it to someone while they’re traveling; it’s for good luck.
Anyway I found a job, I quit the Southern Junction, which they understood why I had to leave, and then I tried to start liking London. This ended up being the best thing I ever did, as you will find out next.
By the way that Spanish Peseta I still have got, I carry it around everywhere on the same key ring Kate put it on. It means a lot to me, and gets pissed off fairly quickly when someone takes my keys as a joke. So Kate and Anna, I never got he chance to thank you, so here it is ‘thank you, the things I had done since then, I may have never done, if it wasn’t for that talk, I will always remember you both, thanks again’.
And that was the beginning to the life in London.
On the first flight out of Dublin on the 6th June 2001, on the carrier Ryanair, touching down at Luton airport a short time after. Luton airport is a fifty or so minute drive from London, which I was dropped of at Marble Arch and hopped on the underground to Holloway road where I was starting a job the Temple Bar. I was living in the staff quarters, which were just down the road in Islington.
It was quite hard for me at first in London, even so I had been there on previous occasions, but now I was planning to live there for a couple of years and the only people I knew were Megan ‘Megsy’ Traynor, Lisa Henderson and Mark Plaskitt who were my housemates in Dublin. I was just in London four weeks prior to leaving Dublin, just passing through on the way to Amsterdam, at the time I had brought over half of my gear that I stored at Megsy’s place, just to save me from bringing too much across when I finally moved.
I think I worked three shifts until one day the boss called three of us into the office for a meeting. At that meeting I found out I was being transferred to the Alexandra bar down at Clapham Common.
One week into living in London, I found myself going out clubbing for the first time, it came through the newly promoted assistant bar manager taking us guys into Camden Town for a few drinks. Not knowing where he was taking us, he took us to the Blackhorse bar in Camden, and when we entered, us guys noticed something different, the difference being there weren’t any girls, just guys talking to guys with a different way of talking. We didn’t buy a drink, kept closely together and I think we lasted no more than five to ten minutes in the bar. Just to say we weren’t feeling comfortable.
So, what a start to my going out in London, the first bar I went to is a gay bar. Mind you, there isn’t anything wrong, with being gay, but it isn’t for me, I like girls.
Anyway the following day I found myself relocating to Clapham Common, which I started that night. While working at the Alexandra I was working with two Polish guys and two Polish girls, and that is where I got my bad impression of the Pols, rude ignorant people who don’t smile and doesn’t matter what you do you can not make them happy or you can not do anything right.
Anyway I managed to last four weeks there when the boss called me down stairs after closing one Saturday night, and said to me he was letting me go, his exact words to me were “there is nothing wrong with you, it’s me, you’re not what I’m looking for, I’m looking for someone who can run the bar when I’m not around” but he never actually sat down with me and discussed things, I thought I was there as a bar tender, not going there for a audition to be manager. I also tried to get a few answers out him, why is firing me when there is nothing wrong with me, but received no response. Maybe it was a good thing, because down the track everything worked out well.
Anyway that weekend a Canadian guy Jeff Fingler was coming to stay with me for a night or two before heading back home to Canada. I met him while on the Stray tour of Ireland, I told him when he arrives in London too give me a call. That night just happened to be Canada day so we went along to the Maple Leaf in Covent Gardens, which they had closed the street.
Also while working at the Alexandra, I had met a kiwi girl Chantal, who had given me a number for some friends of hers out in Acton, who were looking for a dosser. She must have knew I was getting sacked later that night, or something. Anyway I gave Linda and Soren a call, and ended up in dossing with them for a few weeks, while looking for a new job and somewhere to stay. For those who don’t know what dossing is a dosser is someone who crashes on the couch or floor for a small price and have no say in what happens in the house. While staying with them I managed to start a new job in Piccadilly Circus at a new bar called Southern Junction sports bar café, which is an antipodean bar managed by two Saffas Rick and Tony.
After three or four weeks dossing with Linda and Soren, they politely asked me when I was leaving the house, and within days I had checked out a place, I thought at the time was a fair way out of town, that place being Brent Cross, which was actually Golders Green. On the night of checking the place out Pete (Love) and Sarita (Creese-Smith) showed me the room and said they’ll get back to me after they talk to their other house mates. That night Pete rang me up while I was at work and said the room is mine if I want. The next day I moved in.
The other three house mates were Steven Gabriel, Sarita’s boy friend, Martina Klost, Pete’s girlfriend and also Duane Wilson, Duane beingthe person who I shared the room with, and you may as well also add Melanie, known as Mel who was Duane’s girlfriend, who actually lived around the corner but crashed at our place most nights.
While working at the Junction, I met and worked with some good guys. I was lucky to be there for the grand opening, the day before one of the biggest sporting days in the UK for Aussies and Kiwis the annual tri-nation series, I still remember that Saturday we had queues up the street, which the police had to be called in, so many pizzas and beer was bought that day and night. I even appeared in the New Zealand news, because they needed a guy wearing an Aussie rugby top for a photo. Anyway after two or three months later the Junction was suffering, wasn’t doing the business they expected and was lucky to do the trade, and I was very lucky to get 10-20 hours a week. As we know with that many hours, it just pays your rent, if you’re lucky.
At that time I was in London for just over three months, and I hated London, and I mean hated London. Ask anyone I know they will tell you how much I hated it. I telling everyone I was off to Spain, maybe Madrid, maybe Barcelona, but two girls I was working with at the Southern Junction Kate and Anna who were from Sydney in Australia, who were just on a holiday themselves, who were working illegally in London, talked me out of leaving, and told me to leave the Junction and go out to get another job maybe a office job. They even gave me a Spanish Peseta, the coin with a hole in it, apparently if you give it to someone while they’re traveling; it’s for good luck.
Anyway I found a job, I quit the Southern Junction, which they understood why I had to leave, and then I tried to start liking London. This ended up being the best thing I ever did, as you will find out next.
By the way that Spanish Peseta I still have got, I carry it around everywhere on the same key ring Kate put it on. It means a lot to me, and gets pissed off fairly quickly when someone takes my keys as a joke. So Kate and Anna, I never got he chance to thank you, so here it is ‘thank you, the things I had done since then, I may have never done, if it wasn’t for that talk, I will always remember you both, thanks again’.
And that was the beginning to the life in London.
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