Tying Loose Ends

12-12-2008

For my last day in London, today was rather uneventful. Partly because I forgot what wine hangovers do to me. Slept in till about 10am and still had a pulsating headache.

My boss reminded me last night at the party of my final task to perform for Bang Radio, one final blog. That’s what the remainder of my morning entailed. I thought it was quite sentimental if I do say so myself. I’ll spare you the link:

It’s my 99th day in London. Tomorrow, I fly back to the land of beer and cheese, my home state, Wisconsin. The past one hundred days have been an absolutely incredible experience. Much of that has to do with this amazing city.

Taking daily jogs in Regent’s Park, hopping on a bus down to the West End for a show, shopping for things I’d never find at home in Camden, seeing bands that I’d have to travel all over the states to see, taking in history and art at the many London museums, and of course the tourist sites of Big Ben, London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and the list goes on. This city has made my experience unforgettable.

As time went on, I got to know the city better than the average tourist. I was fortunate enough to discover Brent, specifically Harlesden. There’s an almost small town atmosphere in this neighborhood, even though it lies within this monster of a city. An atmosphere where people seem to care for each other and help out one another. The diversity in this area also makes it extremely special to London and to me. Where I’m from, there are a lot of the same people. But here, there’s a wide variety from all over the world sharing themselves with Brent, making it all the better. Brent has made my experience unforgettable.

Every weekday (well except for my touristy Friday’s off), I got off the Bakerloo Line at Willesden Junction or got off the 18 bus at Park Parade and walked down Harlesden High Street to BANG Radio. Here, I not only volunteered to assist the station in going where it needed to go, but I also took a lot from it as well. Not that I robbed the place when no one was looking, but I took away professional experiences from a community station that is making leaps and bounds in London. Being a part of a station as it goes through the many changes Life/BANG has over the past couple of months definitely taught me a thing or two… or 22. As much as I gained professional work experience, I also learned many “Life lessons” (pun intended). BANG Radio has made my experience unforgettable.

Most importantly though, I’ve come to know some wonderful people at BANG Radio. In the short 90 some days that I’ve worked with them, they’ve helped me develop as a professional audio engineer and also as a person. In their own unique way, every person at BANG Radio has taught me something. There’s no way I could every properly thank the whole team for the experience I’ve had there. So I guess this blog will have to do. Thank you all. The people at BANG Radio have made this experience unforgettable.

I hope this is only a short hiatus with London and not a final goodbye. Only time will tell. So until that time, cheers!

After the blog writing, I packed the remainder of what I had to pack. Then to ISH where I spent my last £2.30 on my lunch staple of a turkey and cranberry baguette and Sweet Chili Kettle chips (I’ve gotten complete hooked on these by the way). I said my goodbyes to Issac and Zorra, two of the café workers who brightened up my breakfast every morning.

I took my lunch to go and walked up to Camdentown where I told Chad and Kim I’d meeting them for one last hookah, or shisha as it is known here. With my bonus from work, I figured I’d treat mis amigos, but they were picky. Kim wanted strawberry shisha, Chad wanted mint. Being the amazing facilitator that I am, I compromised: strawberry shisha and mint tea to warm our souls on this typically damp London afternoon.

We walked about Camden for a while. This is definitely one part of London I’ll miss the most. Free spirits uniquely expressing themselves through art, clothing, and music, I can only imagine what this area of London must have been like during the swinging 60’s.

From Camden, I stopped by Harlesden to drop off some luggage at Gabriella’s place, as I’m storing it there while I’m in the Canary Island of Tenerife for the next week.

Upon returning to Westminster, I stopped by ISH bar to see who was around. Surprisingly, Issac, who is not a big drinker, was there and we had a chat and an email exchange over my last pint of ISH Carlsburg, which had become my beer of choice in London.

That one beer was enough for me since it was already 11:00pm and I had to be awake in 4 hours.