Nordic Knitwear

When in Scandanavia, wear Scandanavian Knitwear...








Country Road cataloge 2007.

A Swedish Christmas

So, I was lucky to make it. The fog in london effectively shut down heathrow for about two days and luckily lifted just enought to let us fly to amterdam, where i got my connecting flihgt to Sweden. Even amsterdam proved tricky with our flight being delayed by an hour due to fog and late connections. In a scence reminicent of a similar flight from miami to san jose. I was late to board the flight because i was eating pizza. You'd think I learn, but I do like to hear my name over the airport PA system.



And here is Uppsala. Malin's home town, the 4th largest in Sweden and the old capital. You can see the cathedral, where we went o mass at idnight on Christmas Day. Which was interesing, considering it was all in Swedish. They dont seem to do that bit in 'oh come all ye faithful' where you whisper either. Unfotunetly I didnt manage to catch up with all the cranbrook boys at st marks this year, but I managed to ind some old lady I decided was Sweden's Jesse Fawcet.




As for Christmas, hmmm. Interesting traditions to say the least. Everything is done on Christmas Eve and Santa actually comes and visits you and hands over the present. Present opening is pretty much the same world over, but i have never seen such a massive pile as what was under the Hellman family tree. It took about 4 hours (litterally, no exaggeration) to open them all. You also must rhyme on the card and give a hint to what it is. I gave chris a green knit. My rhyme went something along these lines....
"Im done with wearing mine,
I hope the size is fine,
this rhyming stuff is shit,
What the hell, its a green knit."
Poetic, i know.





We ate lots of pickled herring, gloog (spiced warm wine) and ham which looked like lamb and lamb which looked like ham. We also drank. The beer was kept in the freezer. Here is me going into the freezer...



And here is me in the freezer getting beer. It is so cold outside that they just keep food and drink out there. Notice how they do actually shop at ikea.



Oh my gosh! After the mildest christmas in 75 years, it started to snow. So cool. I think they thought we were freaks dancing (more like prancing) around in the snow.



I didnt manage to get photos, but we went to swedish aerobics. It was surreal. 100+ middle-aged swedes dancing around to pop music with this crazy lady screaming at them for not being good enough. Uber-weird. I am still sore 4 days later. It hurts to breathe, or move, or type. Argh. We did have a sauna after, the one in Malin's bathroom. Now that, is Swedish.



On Boxing day we went to Stockholm, which is about an hour and a half away. Its a nice city, on the water. We saw some sights including a very funny changing of the guards, lots of russian tourists, urban outfitters was closed and we missed the train. Here is stockholm.






Here is a man fishing in their national dress, the range jumpsuit. At first I thought John Fischer had came to visit me in stockholm, but did not say hello. Freak.



You are foced to enter the world of winter clothing this high up in the world. Here is how we entertained ourselves on the train back to Uppsala. Along with talking to Malin's 16 year old sister about hair and boys (separate issues), this kept us amused for about 1hr30min. Malin was not impressed.





What would a trip to Sweden be without a few drinks. What would any trip of mine be without a few drinks?
Here is us drinking. These photos come from a night we had out at a uni-bar type place. You never get what you order, but its ok, because it is so cheap. It is in this massive old house so the place contains rooms as if it were still a manor. With a giant winding staircase at the enterance and balconies and the like. Lots of fun, the walk home however not so fun, rather cold and even-more slippery/icy than usual.




So that's sweden. Thanks to Malin's family for letting me invade. Was great.

Work Christmas Party

WOW! Massive day and what a difference from last year. First we went around angel on a pub run, the entire office dressed as reindeers. Slightly weird, but alot of fun. The good thing about living in London is that no-one knows who you are, so you can run around the streets in a reindeer suit without any worries. Then we went to this amazing restraunt that only exisits for a month. Aptly named 'Reindeer'. Increadible, housed in a car park, it was a winter wonderland with real fir-trees and log cabins, all covered in snow. And the best food Ive had in a while, except my rack of lamb of course. Night gets shady after the meal. Except for when I turned up at work the next day at 10.45. Here are some photos. One is of the Secret Santa Siobhan gave one of the guys in the office, it was 3 Jason Donovan records.








Im off to Sweden now (hopefully, assuming the fog rises and heathrow re-opens).

Angus

Dinner & a house party

So last saturday I decided I would cook a bit of a feast for my new friends before we headed out to a house party in north london. Having run errands all day I found myself at Sainsbury's running around 1 hours before my guests arrived trying to find all the ingrediants I needed. Everything but rosemary and the key rack of lamb. NO RACK OF LAMB! What was I to do? It was the only recipe that I had printed off at work and dont know how to do anything else. I remembered where a butcher was, I went to him - only to find the line to get in was half way down the high st. Casually shitting myself about not being able to fulfill my promise of lamb to my guests I hopped on a bus and went to Tesco at Brixton. I figured people from Brixton wont eat Rack of Lamb. Tesco Brixton is foul. Its a massive warehouse like building where people will push you out of the way just to get that last bag of pre-mixed lettace. Gross. No Woolworths Double Bay I tell you! I look around, no lamb, I looked more, no lamb, I asked the man who was sorting the meat.... "man..got any lamb?" Yes, down there... i ran and snagged the last two racks of lamb. Read that aloud. It rhymes. They were pathetic pieces of meat that I had to take a mortgage out to purchace. Cool story hansel.

Anyway, here is my rack of lamb, slow-roasted balsamic vinegar tomatos and garlic mash. Brilliant dinner.









After that we went to Andrew's house party. It was fun, live music and too much alcohol. All this cooking and running around wore me right out, and hence I fell asleep. But fun night.

CH£AP$KATES

All I think I need to say is this:
Wednesday night (making thursday very difficult), 80p Spirits, £1 bottled beer.



This is me and Lisa, one of the girls staying in Chris' room.



Me and Siobhan.



And our new little crew. Siobhan, Me, Lisa, Jess (the other girl staying in Chris' room) and Mike, our new small British friend, who just moved to London and has no friends, like us.

Sarah's Visit

Big weekend with sarah last weekend. We went out on frday night, very very cold outside. We ended up shivvering and drinking very thick hot chocolate and convincing a hot dog man to give me one at a discounted price. Anyways, we woke early on saturday to venture up to Camden Markets.



After many a phone call from my sister (who was out with my friends in sydney) we found some vintage clothes and played drees-up. We both purcased - sarah got boots and I got a velvet jacket and a very nordic knit. Uber cool. Some strange people in london, including this very beige couple. After a few tourist photos we headed back south.



Ive spoken before about drinking on the tube, well he is me, drinking on the tube. We have started drinking the Jager Red Bull out of the can, pre mixed at home.



That night we went out to Walkabout - gross - because sarah had met a girl that was having a farewell party that night there. It was like going to uni bar, only in london and full of much older people. We lasted a few hours before heading to metro, our new spectrum.





Eventually got home. Rolled out of bed the next morning to take sarah to heathrow (see her blog for that story). Came home and scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom clean with bleach. Oh my god, that stuff is amazing. I have never seen our place gleam and sparkle. And BAM! Dirt is gone.

Calm down people, I'm not dead. You try moving to another country.

So, its only been 2 months, but I suppose a fair bit has happened in my little life over here in the UK. It takes time to set up your life in a new country, be it securing a job, trying to meet new people, decorate your new house with things other than Ikea and still remain a little healthy. However, finally, I seem to have begun a routine.








So... lets break it down. Let's start with the main reason I'm here:



MY WORK... IT HAS A BALL PIT.

I had never actually had to look for a job before in my life, so why not start looking for one in London. Armed with my beautiful new portfolio, a bagful of youthful exuberance and a commemorative plate we gave to them once the interview was over, Siobhan (my writer) and I started seeing agency after agency. Digital ones, tiny financial services ones, automotive agencies (I cant even drive a car), big ones, far too uber-cool ones for their own good, and one which we used to watch from our office in Sydney over their web cams and always dreamt about working for. This last one was most exciting... we went for the interview and totally hit it off with the Creative Director. He offered us a job, we said we had got other offers (which we had) and so began two weeks of him wooo-ing us. We agreed to a few month freelance work with them. And now, three weeks in, I am a full-time working art director for an agency called CRAYON. Clients include brands like BT (British Telecom), Arsenal Football Club, a British weight-loss program. Check the agency out at www.crayonlondon.com The offices are really cool, we have a pool table, cocktails mixed by the managing director on friday evening and best of all, we have a ball pit. One of the photos is of our view from our rooftop terrace.








3 AVENUE HOUSE, CLAPHAM

My house is going well, we're keeping it clean and getting on well. My original flatmates were Chris (my mate from uni), his Swedish girlfriend Malin, Tom (a guy Chris met at a catering job), and Linnea (Malin's friend from Sweden). However, Tom effectively lives with his girlfriend and is a bit of a psycho so he decided to move out and Linnea went back to Sweden, so we had to find two new people. They have come in the form of 2 brits named Mike and Katrina. They are both Bar managers in London and seem really nice, relaxed people. They usually work nights or midday to 9, so it means the bathroom doesnt get bombarded and the kitchen packed, all wanting to use them at the same time. Its a bit bland at the moment, but give us a bit more time and we will spruce the place up. We do have a few special features.... possibly the best shower in London, a reclining seat we call Red Boy that Chris found on the street, a swinging elvis clock, a souvenier plate of Sydney we found in a charity store, and digital television - the easiest way to waste hours watching bad british reality tv and two years worth of Home and Away. Chris and Mailin are visiting Australia at the moment so two of his friends from back home have moved into their room. Two really fun Aussie girls named Jess and Lisa, been out a few times already with them and had some great nights. So, in all, a good flat in a good location (opposite and cheese and cask wine factory) and hopefully some great new flat mates.












A NEW BAR (ALMOST), EVERY NIGHT

London is definitely not just about Royalty and tea.... its also about beer. Its so cool when you go out, because every place is new and a night out always has a good structure that keeps you moving. In Sydney, you get bored because you stay in one place the whole night really, but it works differently here...
Generally, we start drinking at home, few beers, glass of wine over chicken burgers. We take a few drinks for the ride on possibly the world's fastest bar, the Underground! You'd be amazed how much socialising and drinking goes on on the tube, meet people, make new friends, get propositioned. Once you get into town, you go to a pub first (stand around drinking and chatting) until it shuts at midnight. Then you go out to a bar for a while (more drinking, some music). Then you head to a club where generally you either start drinking a Jamaican canned beer called Red Stripe, because it is cheap or Jagermeister and Red Bull because you need a bit more energy. Then, if you are still up you could end up drinking Jacob's Creek out of the bottle at sunrise on the banks of the Thames.

Another cool thing is Sunday roast. Most pubs serve you up a massive roast dinner on sundays, so good. Few beers, big feed, great way to end the weekend.
















SO, I'M STILL A TOURIST

Essentially, Im still a tourist in this big old town. So every weekend we try and do something 'London'. Be it go to Borough Markets, the Tate Modern, Portabello Rd, or running through Battersea Park (Chris tended to walk more than run). I figure that if I do one london thing a weekend, by the time my visa expires and i have to move on, then i will have seen everything.







So yeah. That's it. Hopefully now I will start posting properly about specific things I do. Hope this brings you up to speed on it all! WooooOOOOOooooo.

PS. I'm having a great time. Sometimes I just walk around and go... "how cool is this? I live in London". Its friday night Im at work and had a few drinks. Later, I'm off to party with Aitken now.

Angus