London 4am

London 4 am

Yeah it is early. 4 am. To be precise it is 4:27 am. but the blog title stays at 4 am as this was the time I reached the bus station from where the Stansted Express starts. Or lets say where I entered the bus. Armed with a coffee and an almost empty trolli. (the hand luggage not the bus in Tallinn) My flight is at 7 but I could not sleep and decided I go more early and take the “safe” bus which brings me much too early to the airport. And all this to spend some hours in Tallinn. So no sleep, several hours travelling… sounds likea good deal. After all it is Tallinn. Ok it is not so much a fun weekend, I have to get to Tallinn for some administration stuff and of course to meet my CTO to discuss further details about getsGlobal. The goal is to launch the Alpha phase in the next months. Several monthes as it looks like. But more about that in the highly recommended getsGlobal blog. (blog.getsglobal.net)

I wanted to talk about London. London in the morning. London is a hugh town, a megacity in my eyes (please keep in mind I lived in 400.000 inhabitants Tallinn for 5 years before i moved to 12.000.000 London…) and still, at 4 in the morning it shows the same tpicture: empty streets in the changing shine of numberless trafficlights, empty or almost empty nightbusses, a few taxis, and of course some people. A few drunken guys who called a poor fellow and started singing in the microphone with more enthusiasm than talent next to tired looking ones who either come from or go to work. Interesting enough that it is not easy to see who is who, both look with grey faces and empty eyes in the early friday morning. And I am not sure who I predfer to be, a home or a work goer. I think all in all I prefer to go to work during the day and sleep in the night. This is something I tag as news as this was different years ago. And to make it even more confusing the fav. time of the day is 9-11 bin the morning. Never said I am easy to understand.

Lets get back to London. (infact the bus just in that second left London and turned to something I would define as a motorway… or just at least a street with more and faster traffic and less lights left and right. And more cars towards London than leaving so I stick to my guess it is a motorway. London is a strange town in my eyes. I still do not like it a lot but i get used to it. I even like it a bit meanwhile. Went to bars and cinemas meanwhile, met some more people. started an interesting sport (chinese (kick)boxing) where my trainer is a 6 dan black belt who is additional to this very friendly and motivating. The latter is important for a not extemly with sport skills blessed 36 year old who feels a bit intimidated to be one of the only newbees surrounded by black and brown belts. I had my second training session only but I already feel less muscle piain after the sport than the first time. Just I have to admit that the first football match after my training start was a desaster… worse than usual for those of you who have seen me playing football already.

A change of topic. It is faszinating that London weather is unusual to me. ok weather is the wrong expression. But I have the feeling that it the sun rise is later now than it was some weeks ago. I remember the mornings where more light when I came back after new year than now. Wonder if this is just my imagination or a real fact. However my colleague Richard told me the same so maybe this is not just me. Ok I leave it here, the bus should be soon at the airport. Cannot wait to have an expensive airport coffee.

2012 wishes

It is a tradition.

Well actually it is a bunch of traditions. On new years eve people express their wishes for 2012 and swear with a glass of champagne in their hands how they will change during this year, what they try to achieve and how they wanna live in the next months. The next tradition which is directly connected to this one is to give up these wishes.

Typical wishes are to stop smoking, make more sport, be more nice to the spouse etc etc.

I am more realistic. My 2012 wishes are more simple and therefore more achievable. And I will share them with you so you can check on me and ask me if I fulfill what I promise to myself.

1) Make more sport (stop laughing!!!)
First announcement: next monday I will start my Chinese Kickbox training. Lets see how I feel about that on tuesday.

2) Put more effort in learning

I feel I was too lazy last year, I should try to concentrate better and learn new things and facts.

3) Start getsGlobal

Do I have to say something about this?

4) Use Twitter for work

Twitter is a secret for me, but the more I read about the usage of Twitter in the recruitment process the more interesting it gets to me. So I decided to use it more. So far my account was mainly to announce that I have a new blog entry… not satisfying. The sub-wish in that context is to double the amount of people following me. At the moment I have 57. What is realistic, 57 new contacts in 3 months?

5) Enjoy London

I was and am skeptical about London, but maybe I should give it a chance. After all I will live here this year and London could be nice (not Tallinn but still…)

 

So, these are my 5 wishes for 2012.

Air France – disaster what else can I say?

I admit that I am not known to be the most patient one sometimes. But as I just learn only those who stand up and refuse to accept bad treatment or poor service.

 

It all started yesterday when I entered the Air France flight from Munich to Paris and short before the flight someone or something turned off the entire electricity in the plane. A sign maybe because the rest of my journey to London was everything but smooth. I am not sure if we had a delay in Munich what I do know is that we arrived late in Paris. When I entered the bus to the terminal it was 20:25, the boarding time of my connection flight to London. No reason to worry I thought, didn’t the stewardess give me a plan of the airport and explained me – without me asking anything upfront – how to get to the gate for the London flight. However, the longer the bus was driving around, the more I started to worry. And after we finally entered the terminal my bad feeling did not find a

reason to cheer up. It took me 10 min walking, jogging and running to make my way to the new security check alone. And there I faced an old French guy who obviously enjoyed it to let me wait. After I opened the hand luggage and gave up to expect a friendly word from that officer who just stood there and refused to move even a bit more than he had to (of course he spoke French only), I walked through the metal detector. No problems here. And I waited. And this because that idiot did not move my stuff through the x-ray but talked to another passenger. The supervisor to whom I complained about this delay and showed my ticket to proof that I was in a hurry said something in French before he stumbled a” no worry no worry”. Hell I was worried. On the screen my flight showed the not helpful “final boarding” message. After finally I got my hand luggage back, I kept running to the gate and arrived 1-2 minutes late. They tried to call the plane asking to open the door again but I had no luck. After all they gave me a hotel voucher and a new ticket to the first flight to London the next morning at 7:30. An upgraded ticket, as I should mention. And I should mention that as I right now sit in the economy class right behind this stupid curtain that separated the two classes.

But let me follow the story. I met a Chinese British guy who had the same problem and also got the hotel voucher. They also explained us how to get to the bus shuttle. The explanation was simple, the way there wasn’t. Could have been of course but the unfriendly French airport staff did everything to make it harder. The border control then examined my Estonian passport to an extend that was close to discrimination. Although we were told that we would need only 5-7 min, the whole way to the bus took more than 20. The bus was full but at least our hotel was the first on the line. A fact that was not unimportant as the restaurant in the hotel closed half an hour after our arrival. With the early flight everything called breakfast was cancelled for me and I enjoyed a Cafe late at the airport for only 3,80 EUR.

After all the flight was on time, or at least the boarding. In my case to pass the ticket check took a bit longer as I was given a new seat. From 15e to 19a. Why this I understood only when I was in the plane. When they upgraded me to business class in the evening, I was downgraded again.

 

So let me summarize:

I missed the plane in Paris and arrived totally sweaty after running through Paris Airport, had to spend a short night in a low class hotel, woke up at 5, could not change my clothes and am now on my way to London, where I will go with my suitcases through London Tube rush hour to the office instead of taking a train in the night home. My upgrade to Business Class was taken back. So all in all what I got was a delay of 8 hours, an unpleasant feeling, a short night and a bad impression of Paris Airport staff (does anyone there speaks any English btw??) and of what Air France calls “customer service”

 

So, dear reader, do I have a reason to be upset?

Driving home for Christmas

Why do I chose this title for my blog? Well maybe because I like the song. Maybe because it is the truth. Maybe both. But to be totally honest it is not the entire truth. Because i am technically not driving but flying. I still will drive, from the airport to my parents place. So the part “home” is kind of true again. If you define home as the place where you lived as a child. Normally I define home as the place where i spent most of my nights. What would be London these days. Since a few months at least But although I live in the capital of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland for some weeks now, due to the fact that my bed there is closer to my office, what comes in handy in the morning, I am still nit totally there Too many things and thought remain in Tallinn Not that london is not interesting and fascinating – it offers so much, mostly long transport ways if you go from lets say whitechapel to westminster. The Londoners accept that, what can they do, and they accept also the the Tubes are full in the morning and sleeping in the night so bar hopping requieres the way home by night bus or taxi. I am blessed, I live central and brick lane and shoreditch are just some minutes by foot. 20 or 30 so in London Terms just around the corner. if the walk is less then 10 minutes it is called “just down the street”. The expression: not far means basicly everything within zone 1 and 2. so people take the bus for a short trip although the bus system is rather good- and although on the roads are extra bus lines the speed is low. if you want it fast you take the tube – sounds easy to say it. But It takes a while to find ones way through the Undergroundsystem in London. What lines u need to take is simple, but experienced tube user know after a while very well which line is faster at what time and what station is better to change. So in a group a conversation as we know from comedy movies playing in New York where two people start discussing what is the right road to take at this time, is known in London either. The author does not participate on such talks. The author uses rhe overground mostly to get to and back from work, fast, empty and only one station to go for me. Suits well And in summer i willl use one of the s called “boris bikes” if I dare it to bicycle through the massive traffic and fight my way down against cars and busses. The longer I think about it…. well anyhow.
but lets come back to the tubes. Because there is something what one has take in mind specially when you try to get home with the last possible tube after discovering some bars in south west of london ( or where ever ) The important thing is to keep in mind the long distance you have to walk between two lines. What can be massive. And the queen of all tube stations is Bank where several lines cross, central, disrict, northern and circle. Additional you can get access DLR. This amount of lines obviously makes it necessary – according to Bank station – to build a hugh labyrint ot tunels, corners, stairs up and down, more crossroads and on the middle of thousands of pushing and silent swearing people and tourists wandering around often musicians who play more or less good to entertain the locals and to encourage the tourists and newbes to keep walking and not losing faith in their way. I still wait for fhe first guy who sells drinks aside the aisle or offers chairs for the old and tired. Ok that is maybe a it excellerated but in fact it is highly possible to walk 5 or more minutes just to change the line. The humble writer of these lines assumes that this is because the long time of the growth of the public transport system which is designed maybe to transport a few million people every day – surely not the over 12 million who travel everyday crisscross London. Another reason why i take overground

But this ia all behind me, the second part of my travel triology just started and i get closer to Munich and – well lets call it home for the moment. It was my home for many years, but for many now it is something different. not a home more like a save harbour which is always there for me while I am strolling through Europe. And this is a giod feeling to have.

Still I miss Tallinn a lot. It was mine, I knew it, I knew it strenght and its weakness, its limits and its possibilities. It challanges and it threats.
But lets be fair to London, i did not treat me bad but it was no honey licking also. Tallinn is my home, Munich my past and London my challange. Lets see what my future is.

My first Xmas market

… in London. We have the 2nd advent (do english people count that also or is this a german thing only?), or lets say December 4th. The german community meets at Hydepark to have Glühwein (I know it is translated hot or mulled whine but I like the sound of the german word more) so I decided to go there and maybe meet some nice people. Mostly because I lack friends in this town and maybe i am more lucky with other expatriots as so far i do not know many british people. My fault of course, it surely would help to go out more often. But be it as it may. So i walked to Whitechapel station, went upstairs to get to the underground insteat of downstairs as I do normally to reach ths overground. (i know i do not understand it also) Now I sit in the District line on my way to South Kensington where I change to Picadilly line. This change of tunes is still weired specially as normally one has to walk quiet a while within the station to reach the other train. This is worst at Bank, i soon shall film the walk there or descrribe it detailed, I think in Tallinn old town one walks less from Drink Bar to Hell Hunt. Anyhow.

It is not the weather for Xmas market really, not warm. it surely far from minus degrees and miles from any kind of snow. Still it will be my first Glühwein of the season and so i look forwar to that. And also to see the Christmas Market at Hyde Park. Normally i would have taken my camera wirh me but i am afaid it is to dark and to crowded to make good pictures and would be afraid all the time that something happens. and in case i see something nice i still have my iPod. St.James Park. Next one is mine.

Stupid me… too early now i take victoria line to green park and then picasilly to hyde park. funny that this way i only have 2 stations insteat of 4. still i lose time. good that i started my walk early.

*way home*

i am out of cigarets. not the biggest problems as it just interesting that one cannot buy them on the christmas market. ok i know, that a christmas market in germany does normally not provide these kind of goods, however in this case it is strange. Because, when in our head the christmas market is a picture builded by your experience – and as i assume the majority of my readers are either from estonia or germany – you would be surprised or disappointed. Because the christmas market in Hyde park is slightly different. the beginning already is a bit strange as the gates are guarded and we had to wait quiet a while for allowance to enter the market but that was maybe ok because of the amount of people inside and outside of the market area. Maybe not necessarily needed but then again an act which is understandable. The mose disturbing part was and is what one finds inside the market. the first houses werd rather normal, Glühwein and hot chocolate, different kind of sausages and beer, candies and wodden ties. but the more you walk in the more – or lets say the less it looks and feels like a christmas market but like a small version of Oktoberfest. It got really unreal when we arrived the bavarian village with popmusic, beerstands (including Masskrüge) and rollercoasters. Yes, rollercoasters. On a christmas market. In case you do not belive me chek the ipod pictures i made.

all in all i have to say it was a nice evening, talking with interesting people, rather expensive all in all (4 pounds for a Glühwein) and not christmas market-ish at all. But it was nice and i had a cool evening. Too bad that I have an important meeting tomorrow and therefore need to go home at 21 o clock already. well i will be home at 22 only. And I still have to eat something (only had a grilled sausages so far). So… nice after all but I miss the Xmas market as I know it.

Merry Christmas.

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11 reasons why I miss Tallinn…

1. My friends

2. the lovely old town (in winter as in summer just fantastic)

3. My friends walking through the old town with me

4. The bars and clubs

5. My friends having drinks with me

6. My appartment with sea view

7. My friends spending time with me in my appartment

8. The good Estonian beer

9. Having beers with my friends.

10. My friends calling me asking me out for a drink

11. …and again my friends

 

… I miss you all so much!

Über mich

Wenn man sich im Netz so umtut, kommt man in aller Regel nicht darum herum sich hin und wieder auf einer Seite ein Profil anzulegen, und dann kommt immer irgendwann unumgänglicherweise die  “Über mich” Seite. Schlimm sowas.

Wenn ich das schon lese… Über mich…
Ich hasse “über mich” Seiten. Was sagt man übers ich (und nun ratet ob das ein Tippfehler ist oder nicht)? ….gute Frage…. Über mich… Was wird hier erwartet? Sowas wie ein Lebenslauf? Oder mehr eine psychoanalytische Darstellung? Eine Auflistung von Schwächen und Stärken? (wobei ich da ja immer sehr spannend finde was manche Leute als Schwäche und Stärke definieren. Leider ist ja nie jemand ehrlich bei sowas, aber wie auch, man würde ja in der Luft zerissen werden. Anderes Thema.)

 

Grundsätzlich gesprochen sind solche Analysen also für die Katze. Zumal die eigene Sicht natürlich immer unterschiedlich ist zu der Sicht anderer. Was kein Wunder ist, man hört was man sagt aber man weiss was man meint. Das ist wie ein Film in fremder Sprache, nur das der eine Untertitel hat und die anderen nicht. Wen wunderts, dass beide den Film unterschiedlich sehen. (Hm schönes Beispiel eigentlich ) Aber das macht es jetzt nicht besser. Das schöne Beispiel, denn das Problem besteht. Und es ist meiner Meinung nach nur schwer oder eigentlich garnicht lösbar. Nun soll man ja positiv denken und also eine Lösung suchen oder zumindest so tun als ob. Eine Option wäre sicherlich wenn andere einen beschreiben. Aber wer kennt einen? Ok, man kann seinen besten Freund (ich bitte um geschlechtsneutrale Lesart da ich grundsätzlich jede Art von “innen” Schreibung ablehne…) fragen. aber würde der eine realistische Wahrheitsgetreue Darstellung liefern? Ich meine, man will ja Freund bleiben. Und wenn man dann schreibt “naja, der Erik kann auch mal nett sein wenn er net gerade seine 5 Minuten Phase hat…. 3 mal in einer Viertelstunde… “… nein sowas was würde ein Freund net schrieben. Ok mein bester Freund wohl schon aber das ist ein anderes Thema

 

Manche listen in solchen Seiten ja gerne auch mal ihre Hobbies und Interessen auf.

Wie doof ist das denn? Macht das ein Bild von einem menschen wenn man schreibt: Ich mag Kino. Wer mag denn Kino bitte nicht? Es kommt ja immer drauf an was für ein Kino und was für ein Film dort gezeigt wird. Nicht jeder der Kino mag mag dann auch jeden Film gucken… ich zum Beispiel mag Kino natürlich, aber eine Filmmatinee mit unbekannten französischen Neoklassizistischer Impressionsfilme aus den frühen 60er Jahren ist nicht unbedingt das, was mich bei Wind und Regen aus dem Haus treibt. (Ok, ehrlich gesagt kann ich mir gerade vorstellen, dass das eine nette Idee sein könnte. Mist, ich widerlege mich selbst…) Aber ich denke ihr versteht was ich meine.  (Was echt ein doofes Beispiel, ich überlege gerade ob es sowas wohl gibt hier in London, nennt man das nicht Programmkino? Ich schweife ab)

Also was schreibt man? Ich denke am besten man schreibt einfach was man so denkt, zensiert die schlimmsten Stellen ein wenig, beschönigt die Sache und hofft, dass der geneigte Leser mit guter Stimmung und hellem Geiste an den Text geht und versucht es positiv zu verstehen.

 

Wer dies tut darf sich auch gerne um Kontakt bemühen

 

What about London

I am not exactly sure what to write about London. I do not even think i know what I feel about London. What I do know is that i changed a bit. So is due to several reasons my first drink in the morning tea. It is more healthy, for sure, and it has a pretty good taste also with milk or lemon, so that is one of my reasons. Health. And the enourmous lack of a coffee machine in my kitchen. So i make myself tea in a not so much boring looking as slightly leaking adidas thermo cup  and walk out of the door my short walk to whitechappel tube station, enjoy the fact that i do not habe to cross the hugh road and then stand more or less excited until bus 205 has the honour to be announced and sometimes it even stops and allows humble passangers to enter. sometimes. and i am not always sure on the reason and the motivation of the bus driver, who can be shockingly rude. i already got the idea that former London bus drivers become doormen in clubs in germany.
good school.

aside that i like London. not as much as i like Tallinn but still. i am planing my first weekend back home, ahould book a flight though. i lack some unfriendly estonian service in bars in here bartenders and waiters are friendly. did not even know what to say when first time in a bar the waiter apologized for the fact that he needed 5 min to bring my beer.

but well, I arrived in the office. another day of work. somethings are the same everywhere.

blog.getsglobal.net

So, I can proudly announce that from this moment on the offical blog of getsglobal.net is officially online.

Please have a view: blog.getsglobal.net

flat hunt end

it was tough. it took almost 2 weeks. it cost me 10 gbp and a lot of time and worried me a lot. but the flat hunt came to an end as it looks. i will check out one more place but i got on green light already for a houseshar in whitechappel. not in a Jack the Ripper street unfort but after all a nice house with a big red bathroom ( ok i dunno if i get that of the two rooms but still) and a nice flat mate. a doctor from scotland just i did not understand what kind of a doctor he is. but he is a couchsurfer and that is often good ( i said often not always! but my grandma said it better ( insight joke)) so now i just wanna have a look at the last flatshare, 5 people if i remember right but the pictures were awesome and i really look forward to see it. both locations are not ideal for me but acceptable- direct bus to the office. maybe whitechappel looks a bit better than haggerston. but it is a bit closer to the office. of course a bit further away from the river so that is pro whitechappel. in fact one flatshare – a luxus one is still pending. 2 google sales men bit nice and friendly chaps. i think we could get along too. but that place is free only from november and that sucks. plus of course they did not call me back yet so this discussion is academic. but it is a good feeling that i have one and till tomorrow i shall call him back. i would have told him directly yes but i really wanted to see the other place. ah and i found a 2 bed room…. ok 1,5 bedroom place for 1400 per month where i could move in at once but it has some downsides. that black stuff on the walls i.e. in german we call it Schimmel. no idea what it is in english but it is awefull. and expensive. on the other hand i could offer friends a ( really small) bed if i get a visitor. bit well that is not exactly my main decision point in choosing

well i will see in 1 hour i go to the other flatshare and i hope on my way home i know where i will live the next time. i canno say the next year one never knows in london but after all it is a start. my start. And i need a start finally since i still xid not understand fully that this here is not a holiday or a short time project but it is for a long time. indefinate or how this is written. anyhow since julia robert ends notting hill with that word it is burned in my memory.

sometimes i wonder what associations i have with london. different actually, sherlock holmes, jack the ripper, big ben, miss marple ( ses i know not london but still), the old edgar wallace movies ( which were made in germany) , the fog, the poorness of the workers in the factories, bit also the monarchy and aristocracy, gentlemen and the famouse clubs… so many different aspects and none of them seems to be right when i walk through the streets of london. it os a fast moving international business town with many old small houses which appear like a left over from a time far fat away. bit it is reality not just history. in my eyes london is a left over from old times with the pride of centuries and at the same time looking to the future and is proud enough not to change itself – what makes it an even faster moving town in slow motion. it changes it grows but it stays in itself the capital of the long gone empire of the last century. i am not sure i can make clear to you, dear reader, what i mean and i am not even sure if i know myself what i want to say. because so far i still did not understand this town even a bit. well after two weeks what can u expect but thiz is not what i mean. every town has its flair ( ok except Hannover) and every town has an image. London has several flIrs, has severL images and it is not based on its size, it can change completly just because you took the right and not the left corner and suddenly you are in a whole new town. maybe that is the flair of london, that you are never suee where you are what to expect. that you never know what town expectd you when you leave home and step through the front door out on the street. and maybe this is what one has to understand when he lives in london. that ever tube station offers you another town within london.
and maybe this is the key to like this town. i hope so.