~ ANNE! ~

Good news all around, thank heavens. It was about time! First of all, found a place. It's not much but it's cheap as dirt by London standards (which means about 5 times what I'd pay for a similar place back home). But hey, I leaped at it, because my choice is that, the slum from yesterday or the hostel. And neither of the last two are particularly appealing.

So I'm living in Bethnal Green (Canrobert Street, off Bethnal Green Road) as of tomorrow, about four blocks from the Tube station. I think it's within walking distance of work, too, and pretty sure there are busses. If I can in fact walk, I'll be living super cheap compared to most of London!

The place is a 5-bedroom, with no living room or lounge but a decent (if small) kitchen and a bathtub. I haven't met the other roommates, which worries me a bit - but again, had to make a spur-of-the-moment decision so I went for it. My room is small, very small, but on the other hand bigger than the one I looked at in the same area (where I wasn't allowed to use the living room). Guess we'll see how it goes though.

The other piece of good news is that Steph got her job, not that anyone ever doubted it. If anyone can ace an interview it's her. Don't know why she bothers stressing about it. Anyway, glad to hear it and hope it works out well for her. And annoyed that she's probably making a million times more than me! ah well.

Work was much more interesting today. I've started entering visa applications, which is entertaining if only because of the odd things people write on (or leave off) their visa applications. I've also found that I get along extremely well with Kate, my closest co-worker (literally, when we sit at our desks our elbows almost touch) and the person who's training me. Which is really great, seeing as if I hated her I probably couldn't stand the job. The supervisor's okay too, although he's very picky about "standards" (except in dress, again thank heavens!) so I will have to be careful. But they've already started teasing me about my Canuck accent (particularly "about" and "house") so I think I've been accepted!

So from a low ebb yesterday - okay, about the lowest so far - things are finally looking up. A few small qualms (not sure, for example, that I can get at enough money to pay rent & damage deposit, as I can only take �100 at a time from the bank machine) but at least I have somewhere to stay and a steady source of income. Could be much, much worse.