I've Been Neglecting You. Part I

Wow!

Wow!

It's been 10 months since I last updated my blog. That is SLACKING!

It's been a crazy (in a good way) year for me. This time last year I was sitting at home in Holland, my dreams of doing an awesome internship at the Clinton Foundation were shattered, my plans of moving back to the UK were on hold, it was a testing time. But testing times are why box sets, movies and Mad Men reruns were invented. With the support of my amazing brother Daniel and my super-dad- Dad, I think I had a pretty rewarding year. I may not have advanced professionally, but spiritually and personally it was a blessing. 

Fast forward to January 2012, I'm sitting on a couch, playing with a little child in a little house in a little village in western Germany. The kid is transfixed by The Gruffalo playing on the TV, so I take the time to check my e-mail. I see this:

Dear Julian, 

Thank you for your application to the role of Consumer PR Internship (CWCONINT12a) recieved 23 Dec 2011. We would like to invite you to discuss the role further at our main site in London:

I felt like this inside

But I wasn't in my own home, so I couldn't let the full crazy excitement out, so I just did this:

That e-mail was from Cohn & Wolfe, London. Pretty big deal in UK and Global Public Relations. I had recieved rejections or no replies from other companies I had applied to, so when I got this e-mail I knew I had to grab the bull by the horns (or is it balls?..anyway, I knew I had to be on my GRIND)

Three days later I was saying goodbye to my Dad and Bro, heading on a flight from Amsterdam to London and reading up on 'How to ace an interview'. 

I had a week of solid preparation, lots of advice and prayers from friends and family, and a lot of sleep! Then the day arrived, put on my suit (looked like a black Don Draper) and headed off to Cohn & Wolfe towers to GET THAT JOB!!!......and did I get it? You BETCHA!

Part II coming soon (Wimbledon break)

I'm coming home again!

So, just finished an amazing five weeks at redheadPR, sad to be leaving, but brother and pops are lonely at home so I'm on my way. Help is at hand.
Just got myself a new mp3 player, can you imagine, I've been rolling with a 128Mb till 2008, my day got me the 128Mb Samsung I think in 2003 for 99 Euros, and I got this 2Gb today for £29. Times change.
Got myself some massive headphones, only downside is the cord is 6 metres...i have to figure out how to shorten it.
Also got a green keffiyeh (bought a white and black one a month ago)
Anyway..my flight is at 8:30, landing in 'Msterdam at 10:40, so by 13:30 I should be in the comfort of my room.
A month to go before uni restarts and the daily grind re-begins.

This is London

Août, I always think that's the weirdest month in French. Anyway, it's August, it's England and yes you guessed it it's raining.
The week ending July was fine, and the beginning of August was sunny, but now the winds are cold, the rain is unending, and the wind has already claimed a life, felling a tree on a car at Clapham Common.
I'm still hustling, having to wake up at 6 (Yes I'm complaining, in Uni the average wake up time is 10) travel for 1 and a half hours, watching folks go about the daily grind in the City known as London. Get on three different trains, commute with hundreds of people, all minding their own business, reading a copy of the Metro, white earphones hanging from their ears, some have their music turned up too loud, but nobody says anything. We are in London, no time for small talk, people only react in case of an emergency, we are arguably in the capital of Europe, where you are guaranteed to hear a foreign language spoken on the trains. We are in London, each person to himself, busily shuffling to work, and at five shuffling back. Oyster cards swiping, tickets entering and ejecting, people mutter on their cell phones, some divulging rather personal information.
We are in a city, networked with what must be miles and miles of rail track, Underground and Overground, countless engineering works, and many fatalities on the track.
We are in a city deluged with tourists, you can spot them, all sorts of cameras in their hands, walking slowly looking at buildings. Some go for large high-tech Canons and Olympuses, other prefer compact versions, while some snap away on their phones.
I love this city, I loathe this city. It's brilliant, and it's boring. It's uniting, yet also very fractioned.
I've been giving a lot of thought into moving to London when I gruaduate next year, surely working in PR in the capital would be many people's dream, and it is mine, yes, one of my dreams, but I'm stuck in a paradox, there is something appealing and unappealing about big city life. The drone-like routine bores me, the choreographed commute, the lifeless souls. I don't know if London is for me, but time will tell I guess.
An island is what I always dreamed of, a small island, not like Britain, a small island like Fiji, like Bermuda, Barbados...but if I lived on a small tropical island I doubt it's public relations I'll be doing.
This is just the ramblings of a young man, currently tuning his dial to the final frequency at which his life would be set at for years to come.....I'm still tuning

In London..Again

Yeah, been here for two weeks now, it's been fun, stressful, busy, tiring. Moved from centralish London to Middlesex so commuting is a bit of a bore, but I persevere.
It's Friday today, bringing the end to a long week full of calling up journalists. I'm goint to the Canary Wharf Jazz festival tomorrow- its Free!
Today someone died on the train tracks so trains were a bit delayed- I hate train delays, but I made it.
I've seen Heathrow Terminal 5, actually I've been in it- its massive and amazing- havent been beyond security check of course.
Anyway, I went with Sophie (the camera) to Soho, Chinatown..Piccadilly Circus area last week, it was fun, Went to the National Portrait Museum- spectacular- everyone has to visit!
I went to KFC and ordered wayy too much chicken that the cashier couldn't believe it was all for me- I couldnt eat it all of course, so I stuffed it in cups and went home. Everyone at KFC was giving me the side-eye like 'This Dude can't be serious'..lol I thought I was till I realised that I was jiving myself, my stomach is not a bottomless pit.
yeah, having fun doing PR, hoping to do more London photography tomorrow.

PR in London

Just finished my placement in London...picked up a few things on the way

PR is unpredictable..very unpredictable

The Guardian journalists are on permanent coffee breaks

The Times journalists don't exist

A certain Mail on Sunday journalist gets on my nerves

PR frims can push-out about 200+ e-mails everyday

The phone is always ringing

Whenever you wanna go on your lunch break, the elevator is always going up

You never really finish for the day

Homeward Bound

I'm still in London, I should be at home in Arnhem but I missed my flight. No...not my fault, it was heavy traffic in North London. The coach crawled through for about three hours...my flight was at 19:35, and I got to Stansted at 19:10, so naturally I missed it...I went to the check-in place to be sure tho! and the easyjet woman (who seemed really bored) told me it was TOO LATE!
Rescheduled the flight for 7:00...arriving Holland just after 9am. And it's Home Sweet Home.

...Olympic torch analysis coming soon

In Londres

Yes, I'm in London, since Wednesday. I had a work placement interview with top PR firm Taylor Herring. They handle the PR of popstars Robbie Williams & Leona Lewis, they have done work for Virgin TV, MTV....they are one of the best.
And here I was; suited and booted, in a black pinstripe suit, cufflinks and tie-clip, holding the Metro newspaper in my hand (I should have bought my fav: The Guardian), sitting in the foyer of a Portakabin, yes this prestigious PR firm was based in a portable building. I looked around the busy offices, almost everyone was chattering away on the phone., one thing then dawned on me: I was severely overdressed. Everyone else walked about in jeans, hoodies, dirty sneakers, and there I was, looking like The Godfather.
A lady came up to me and handed me a preliminary questionnaire. I looked at it and gasped...it was full of British popular culture questions: Who is Amy Winehouse's husband?..What channel shows Britains Next Top Model?? What was Robbie Williams' last album called?? What was the headline on today's Sun newspaper??...I managed to answer a few..I sat there with my glass of water, staring into emptiness. I was then called in, and the interview process began.
Actually, it wasn't really an interview, it was just a short chat about my daily routine, magazines I read, hobbies, I guess they were trying to assess my intake and awareness of popular and celebrity culture. It was then I understood what my PR lecturer meant by 'Taylor Herring are not people you go quoting PR books to'
In about 10 mins, the chat was up, and I was told I would be informed about the result in the next three weeks.
The interview was over at 11:00....and I was in a suit..what was I to do??..I had an idea: Go to Canary Wharf and walk amongst bankers, stock brokers, insurance folks...and just have a feel of 'The Life'...and I did just that, hopped on the Underground and went to Canary Wharf, where I blended right in, people in suits and ties walking about, talking about money, eating bagels and drinking coffee, talking about profit, sipping organic juice and crunching apples, talking about capital.
I walked with them, my head aloft...I was one of them..I was a Yuppie!

New Year, New Julez

Yes Yes Yes, Guess who's back in the town, Me. I just spent Christmas over at my cousins in London, spent most of it: waking up at midday, eating chocolate, turkey,chicken, and beating Christopher in PS2 boxing...till my thumb couldn't move. Christmas was lovely. New Years Eve wasn't!
Mos Def William was over in London and we were supposed to meet up at the London Eye to watch the great fireworks. Well lets just say I've never seen so many people in my life, the streets of London were packed with people walking in different directions, mostly going toward Big Ben or The Eye. I was on the tube, hoping to connect and meet up my friends, only for the driver to announce that the following stations were closed due to overcrowding. Dammit!! Damn you Murphy, Damn You!! So I get out, it's about 23:30, I start walking towards the Eye, thinking I'll just stroll through, Oh how wrong was I, all of a sudden I was met with a sea of a thousand heads, English, American, French, Nigerian, Japanese, all of the world had gathered in different parts of central London to welcome the New Year. But I don't wanna see a darn clock, I wanna see fireworks!! There I am, unable to move any further, it's 23:50 now..I am by Big Ben, If I attempt to go toward the eye, I'll be welcoming the New Year while walking down a lonely street.
I had to concede, I texted William, told him I couldn't make it. I brought up my weary head and watched as the Hand struck twelve. Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008. The crowd were jubilant, champagne and beer were sprayed. Children and infants were in the crowd, they got their first taste of alcohol.
As expected the police presence was heavy, but fights erupted. Crowd + Alcohol = Fighting.
The fireworks started, I could only hear sounds and see a bit of light. I brought out 'Sophie' (my camera, I changed her name, since 'Shaniqua' was too 'ethnic') and took a few shots of Big Ben.
After that disappointment, I walked back to Victoria to get a bus back home, long story short, I waited for 2 hours to get a bus. Finally got home at 4.00am.

That was my New Year. The next day I met Mos Def and his friends and we went to an Italian restaurant, after much debate whether to go Italian or Indian...see the two restaurants were side by side, and we stood outside, debating if Rajeev or Antonio had better food. We settled for Antonio, and it was Goooood!! Run by real Italians, not British counterfeits (and they had accents!!..lol) anyway the food was great, my starter was a bunch of small dead fishes....I'll post the pics when I get my hands on it.

And here I am, back in the North East, back in cold Sun-derland. My laptop cord is acting up, have to get a new one tomorrow.....work begins again!