Taking my leave of London

Posted on July 4, 2007
Filed Under - leaving the rat race |

I’m recovering from a whirlwind of leaving do’s, phone calls, messages etc over the last few days. It has been great, actually - an opportunity to meet up with people I haven’t seen for a while and bring different groups of friends together. Like Giles and Arvind here, who have never met before but are doing as men do - having a laugh over chips and beer.

Speaking of beer, it was also an opportunity to get a lot of drinking done! My ’safe’ drink is vodka; I can drink it till the cows come home…the next day. Because the weather has been so wet this week, my grand ideas about picnicking and having fun in the sun had to be revised and I resorted to the old stalwart of ‘drinks in the pub’. Not the most exciting idea for a leaving do, but it has the advantages of simplicity, common cultural understanding and relative immunity from the vagaries of the weather. How very English!

My work do was in the bar across the road from the office. I had a joint party with a colleague who was leaving on the same day. She is going to work with young people in east London on conflict resolution. And I’m…er..going to hang out at the beach. Ah well, I guess the world needs both types of people! My leaving gift from colleagues was a sixty quid voucher for a surf shop in Newquay called Tunnel Vision. What a great present!

My other leaving do was in the Garden Gate pub in Hampstead, a regular haunt. I did well, lasting from 3pm until closing time. Various friends came and went and I hope a good time was had by all - I certainly enjoyed it. These two in the picture, Jasmin and Stewart are getting married soon, and the next time I see them will probably be at their wedding. How exciting!

It was particularly nice to see friends from different areas of my life meeting, mingling and getting on. I always worry about things like this - will people be cliquey? Will they be bored? But things seemed to go well. I did feel a tad wistful however, as I will miss my London friends. Yes I’ll make new ones, but it takes a while to build up those shared experiences and understanding that you have with people you have known for a long time. My tactic is to lure as many of my friends as possible down to Cornwall to visit!

Stumble it!

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