Perhaps that's slightly dramatic but I did have a somewhat creepy encounter yesterday. I met up with my friend P yesterday afternoon and we headed out to a place called Shepherd's Bush to look at an apartment (P is moving to the UK - jealous!). On the way we got a little lost trying to find the address. P said "I'll ask this guy" - a guy that as soon as I saw him I got a bad feeling about. He looked a bit meth-y: not that I really know that well what methamphetamine-riddled people look like, but he just seemed cagey and scattered and was glancing around in a paranoid way. He also had a recent cut on his face that looked to me like it could have been from a knife slash. Before I could say "not him!" P called him over. His response regarding directions was to suggest we follow him into an alley to ask someone there (we could clearly see there was nobody in the alley - well unless he had friends hiding). Thankfully P shouted out "that's OK we're in a hurry" and we ran off.
Kidnappers: 0, Lozzz123 (and P): 1.
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| [via IMDB] |
Anyway P liked the apartment once we found it and is planning to apply for it. After that we had dinner at a pub in Notting Hill (the movie was actually on TV here the other day and I totally stayed up til 1am watching it - I'm such a rager).
In other news I've now had three meetings and a phone call with another person about future research work here in London. Everyone has been so nice and helpful, which is really encouraging considering I'm a total stranger to them. Nothing concrete has been determined job-wise, but two of the people seemed willing to help me write an application for funding to come research here, and all said they'd keep me in mind if any positions came up. One did remind me though that in the UK they're cracking down on hiring non-UK/non-EU people which sucks.
Today is the first day I don't really have any plans or meetings to study for, so I'm really going to try to do some thesis work and also prepare for my course next week (there are SO many readings to do).
Obviously since I'm writing this, so far not so good.
Glad your meetings went well! I am not too far from dipping a toe in the waters of academic jobs, and it all seems quite daunting. Good work not getting kidnapped in the alley!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear things are starting off well! (Other than almost getting kidnapped!) Best of luck to you today (actually you're probably done with your day by now ... so I hope it went well and best of luck tomorrow!)
ReplyDeleteDidnt you post before leaving about watching a movie about being taken hostage or something? Very creepy!! Glad you didnt go in the alley. My eyes popped open when i read that and my brain started screaming DONT GO IN THE ALLEY... like when i watch a horror movie and the main character follows them in the alley. So good job being smarter than the ppl in horror movies :)
ReplyDeleteYour academic adventures in the uk sound fun and exciting. Enjoy the writing!
It sounds like your trip has been productive already! How exciting! I hope you've managed to fit in some exploring and lots of adventures! All the best with the course (and the thesis too!) xoxox
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