Another Week, Another Office

So I've been at my new job for about a week now, and things are looking pretty good. It's a lot different from my previous stint in Canary Wharf and mostly in good ways.

First, the office is in Holborn, my old stomping grounds, so nothing is too unfamiliar and I know where the closest Starbucks, M&S and Pret are located so I'm all set in terms of life's essentials. Second, the office is pretty relaxed in terms of when you need to be in the office so I go in when I like and leave when I like so long as I do a requisite number of hours each week. Sweet! Third, the office is on a pretty busy street, and we're only one floor up and I sit by a window that actually opens! It's really relaxing doing work with a breeze on my back and street sounds floating up. At my old place, I felt like I was in an air-conditioned cocoon on the 25th floor of a skyscraper where the plush carpet absorbed all the sound in the universe, it seemed like.

There are some bad things, but they're very few and far in between. One is that I have to work at least 40 hours a week, and 60 hours are encouraged. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. Second, I have to take the Central line, which is pretty much the hottest Tube line ever. It's only saving grace is that it's not as packed as the Jubilee, and I always have the option of taking a different route with J (albeit a lot longer) if I really can't face the Central line another day. J really enjoys it when this happens since we get to hold hands and walk to work together. I find it all very amusing when we're strolling along in our corporate attire and holding hands like some teenage couple.

The most significant difference about this new job is the variety of people. Everyone is a qualified lawyer, but they're qualified either in the US or the Commonwealth, which includes the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The room I'm in has a sprinkling of each, and you'd be amazed at the different accents one gets to hear in a day. The one I'm most unfamiliar with is the South African accent - I can't even begin to describe it. I sit next to a Brit who's originally from Sweden, and I near about fell out of my chair laughing when he called me a "jive turkey." He's also attempting to teach me to speak like a proper Eastender, but I somehow doubt it's going to take.

All in all, not bad. Not bad at all.