Update 5: France

To follow shortly ...

Update 4: The King Crustacean

Hello all, and hope you are all keeping well. Thank you for all the emails, support and responses to my agonised sms's asking for references, shoulders to cry on, doggy news and the like. You are all great!

I have just deleted my entire previous draft of this email by mistake - pages long - so this version is just going to have to be short!

2 Key pieces of news;

1. I now have a home. For those of you who want to write to me snail mail, or visit me while you're in London, I'm at [x] in Finchley, London, N3.

2. I am now permanently employed. I still can't quite believe it happened so quickly! I am a Secretary (stop laughing, you lot!) at [x] near Covent Garden. Lovely people, lovely offices, 30 mins away from home via the Tube. And nice pay too!

Things at home have been somewhat turbulent. Last week we had CRISIS THURSDAY (remember Crisis Sunday, Bons!?), when N the raving drunk got locked out of his bedroom by mistake, which caused him to drunkenly fall over and hit his head, and land unconscious in the street (don't ask). The stripper called the paramedics and the cops, so we had all these strange people in medical outfits rushing up and down the stairs, while V was crying on the phone to India, being dumped by her boyfriend. At the same time, I lost track of my mobile phone (typical) and rushed back to the office to look for it. There it was.

However, in complete contrast, we had huge fun the next evening. After a serious heart-to-heart with the raving drunk we all ended up all comparing our most eccentric shoes. Yup, shoes, folks. DMX had a pair of yellow trainers and Kaushil a weird square shaped pair of Indian slippers, but N won hands down when he came out on a pair of old 1960's roller skates, and proceeded to twirl very professionally up and down the length of the kitchen.That meant everyone had to have a go, and when K - who has never been on roller skates - finally got on and had to be half carried like a baby by the raving drunk, the rest of us just about dissolved in helpless fits of laughter.

At work, the team is really great. Very formal, very professional, and really nice. One of the IT guys is going to a theme party on Saturday night - everyone has to come dressed up as a Tube Station. Well, that had all of us going for the rest of the afternoon. You could come dressed as

- A Womble (from "Wimbledon")

- Late and Stoned ("Leytonstone")

- A Slow Hound (from "Hounslow")

- A Priest on Pot ("Parsons Green")

- A Hairy Shepherd ("Shepherd's Bush")

- Statue of Liberty ("Monument")

But I must say, his final choice was absolutely the best: He decided to wear a Crown and a Giant Prawn Suit and go as a King Crustacean (for "King's Cross Station"). Hysterical!

Also, nearby work we have a homeless couple living on the street, and they have the most DIVINE doggy. He is a beautiful Labrador called Hooch, and I get to say hi and give him a big love every afternoon on my way home. He is in tiptop condition (more than I can say for his humans), and is a dreadful flirt. Loves to be hugged and I must say it really helps with my own "Dog Withdrawal Symptoms". Hope Zeus and Scooter are doing well at their new homes, and that Francis and Anita are happy and that everything is going swimmingly - let me know if you can ...

I took a train trip to Poole this weekend, on England's south coast, to see K at a Wedding Show she was doing. It was so lovely - blue sky and warm and lovely to see the green countryside, and the sea and people flying kites. We 3 - K, G and myself - also had a lovely dinner at an authentic pub deep in the heart of the countryside in a little village called East Meon. Chicken and asparagus melt-in-the-mouth pie, then heated pre-election political discussion in the couches in front of a roaring log fire, with coffee and Glenmorangie. Now that's the way to drink whisky, GG and S!

I'm off to France this weekend - expensive, but looking forward to it! So I'll be back online next week Tuesday or Wednesday. You can also try emailing me at work (dunno what they are letting through at this stage) .

Missing you, thinking of you, and love you all. I will reply to each email separately.

Don't forget me!

Update 3: Not Just To Want

Hello everyone and thanks for all the emails - keep em coming!

I have found a home and a wonderful one too. I'm at [x], if you want to come visit, send letters or money ;-)

It's a huge old rambling house, with 7 bedrooms and only one shower (arrrgh terrible). But my room is a huge gorgeous ground floor place, with my own private little glass conservatory attached, with French windows leading right out into the garden - like my own personal sitting room. It has a wonderful spirit and energy - all mauve and blue and white.

My housemates are a real mix - some good, some bad, which can be entertaining. First the 3 English - we have N, the raving drunk (but after a huge explosion on my second night there, he has been very well behaved), G the Invisible Man (comes home, goes straight into his room, and we never see him again, except for the occasional sighting as he flits past into the bathroom), and R - a fab girl. She is our resident "exotic dancer" - yes, she's a stripper, and a really cool girl too. She has turned her room into a stunning Aladdin's cave of treasures - glitter, sparkles, lights, mobiles and gorgeous dance outfits ...

Then the rest of us travellers - there's Y, a young sleek good-looking smoothie, very nice. And K, a very quiet accountant - he and I have got into the habit of watching tv soaps together - Coronation Street and Eastenders. And my other fave is V, a stunning young Indian girl, we get on like a house on fire.

Five of us - Y (and his best mate, DMX – don’t ask where that name comes from, I couldn’t tell you - who is dossing with us at present - we love him, and a mean pool player too), K, V and me - went pubbing last night round Finchley. We had a FANTASTIC time, and I didn't feel my age at all, and we all got on like long-standing best mates, and just had a wonderful time.

I did some gardening in our lovely little garden yesterday morning. (People were gobsmacked.) I was deeply proud of myself - although I'm not sure if I've killed anything yet. I mowed the lawn, cut back the ivy, dead-headed the roses and revealed some new daffodils (still to flower) tucked away in a corner. Then I sat out with my coffee and enjoyed the sunshine, blinking in the light like a mole just come up for air ... hahaha

It was more wonderful than you can imagine, after my first week of working so hard, to spend the day out in the sun, have a day off, and explore my surroundings. It took me some way out of my deep depression and homesickness, and brought me back to myself a bit.Work has been really hard - the discipline of commuting for 80 mins a day on the tube, and then sitting in an office for 8 straight hours, bound to a desk. You leave home in the semi-light, and arrive back home in the dark. It's really tough. And the work is mind-blowingly boring - stuffing envelopes, typing bits and pieces, answering phones, photocopying and binding.But I simply have to put my head down and apply myself for the next 8 weeks, just to get my finances sorted out. I will be hitting a serious cashflow trap in week 4 of my budget, I'm just hoping I can get away with paying my rent a few days late :-0

Otherwise, the first wave of homesickness has passed. It has been surreal, as if I am dreaming a very real, very detailed dream of London. I feel as if I'm travelling in my dream on the tube, up the escalators, through the pathways of London, and in the morning I'll wake up and look out to the bushveld in Ruimsig, where my dogs will be playing on the green lawns.Now of course, that feeling has passed and it is reversed. I dream of my dogs (no longer really "mine"), and of the cottage in great detail. Wistfully, although it all feels so very far away. Not only in miles but in time. It's only been 2 weeks, yet it feels like months. And 8 months is a long time still to go - a long distance to cover.

But everywhere I see small signs = a statue with the word "fortitude" - and it speaks to me. A horoscope tells me "not just to want, but to grab the opportunity to COMMIT". Yes, that's what I have to do.

I refuse for the moment to believe that I am here for ever. It doesn't feel like home. Africa is home. But I can make plans. And my round-the-world trip in 2009 is really something great to plan for. And I have decided that one day I want to own property in London. Another goal. Feels like I'm coming back on track ...

I think of you all lots, and miss you more than words can say.

Update 2: Purple placcie bags

Hello all!

This is coming to you from an Internet Cafe at Waterloo Station, which may well become my "local". Things are happening, good things and I just had to let you know:

1. I have found a place to live. It's in a dreadful part of town - Lewisham, but it's got a buzzy vibe that I just love; lots of Caribbean spoken (London English with an indescribable accent, which makes it sound like total gobbledegook), close to the Docklands Light Rail (that's the DLR to us locals), right down the road from my fave spot - Greenwich - and it's in Zone 2, which for those of you in the know, is really central.

Sadly, that was the good bit. My room is right at the top of about a million narrow, creepy stairs, in a house that could best be described as "shambling", with a choice of "a single bed plus a little room space", or a "double bed plus NO space at all to move". hehe. But it has a big window and it's really cheap with no deposit (reminds me of Asterix "NoDepositOnElSodaSiphon" - Asterix in Spain, I think). And I can move in tomorrow (tonight, I hope).

2. AND I have found a job. YES, I'M GAINFULLY EMPLOYED. Well, for 4 days anyway. It's a start though, don't you think? I walked into the Recruitment Agency at 2pm, I tested at 75 wpm typing (wow) and she called me at 4 to start me on Monday ... so things are looking up, and this has made me realise that there's lots of work to be had here, just got to pursue it. After this, I'll be hoping/looking for a long temp job, or a permanent one.

3. Otherwise, I have simply been enjoying being back in London. Travelling all the hiways and biways of tubes and trains have reminded me of all the pleasures of this incredible World City.

- When you see the blue sky, you really appreciate it
- When it snows, you have fun too ..
- Out of 155 Exhibitions listed in the Guardian Guide, the best one I saw was "Knitting Taken to The Extreme" hahahaha. (And that list didn't even cover all the clubbing, theatre, dance, comedy and kids events)
- Another article in the Guardian discussed at length and in detail the phenomenon of "Club Scum", or that stuff that ends up smeared all over the floors of clubs everywhere, toxic enough to melt shoe soles and the ends of your jeans. There were even percentages of how much cigarette ash, alcohol, spit, poo and other stuff is in it. Yeeeeugh.
- New phenomenon here is also the handy "placcy bags for shoes". Yup, you can buy these cute little see-through plastic bags that fit over your shoes and protect 'em. I saw them in action the other day on this HORRendous woman. Thin as a rake, sticky-out blonde hair, made-up to death, and the thinnest highest purple stiletto heel boots (in the tube, for god's sake!) safely tucked in her "placcy bags" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Faaahbulous daaahling.
- Another good one: A new band of right London lads on the Top of the Pops called "Kaiser Chiefs" - waaaahahahahahah. The palest bunch of New Romantic pretty boys I've ever seen; do they even know who the real Kaiser Chiefs are?! They sang their new breaking title "oh my god". Yes, my feeling exactly.

4. Other than that, all the usual adjustments. I need proper walking shoes, but the ones I have now are semi-ok for all the walking. Learning to keep stuff stored in pockets, so you can whip out your Travelcard and whizz through the Tube Barriers quickly. Handy A-Z map book in bag, learn your Zones 1 to 4, read the signs and MIND THE EFFING GAP!!!!!!!

I'm thinking of you all in your autumn phase down there. Missing my dog dreadfully, but I hope Anita and Scooter, Francis and Zeus are settling in nicely and loving each other to bits ... I guess the bit I miss most is that tangible sense of stroking and hugging a warm dog; do it often for me, guys!

Can't wait till Andrew gets here - a familiar face from home to go to the Pub with !!! And thinking of Mathew and Laura and your Bethulie plans -I do hope all works out well with your tenant. Anita - how's your new home? Lizelle, how's the blue Caribbean sea? Any gorgeous guys yet? (I got my> hand kissed by a cute (but rather drunk) Englishman today heeeheeeeeeee)

Keep your emails coming guys, and thank you for all the help with references etc (you know who you are!)

Till next week,
Lotsa love

Update 1: Snow at Heathrow

Hello there its me :)

I am sitting at the desk in my room in Surbiton, updating my emails at home on some wireless broadband internet connection thingy that I have yet to understand, but is magic, cos its so convenient.

So - Update on Margo. First of all, I am simply filled with joy to be back in London, though yesterday was incredibly strange. I felt very disconnected and alone, wondering what my purpose was, and missing the familiarity of home very much. The flight was ok, I actually slept, although they had these things called Seatbelt Checks every now and then, so they could have the pleasure of waking us all up while switching on the light of the mini screens right in our eyes etc etc. Buggers. I did sleep - got at least 5 hours which felt good. Then Heathrow, and the lovely soft-falling snow - magic! And of course, going smooth and quick through Passport Control was just bliss :D meandered around Heathrow for a couple of hours, then took 2 hours and 2 buses to get to Surbiton - fuuuuuck its cold out there. The backpack wasn’t a problem at all - I just bought a little set of wheels, and wheeled the damn thing around. Perfect!

Malissia and Quinton have been wonderful, and their flat is a beautiful light place, in a quiet suburb filled with trees, green grass and a Bird Sanctuary. It was bliss to walk the High Street yesterday, and have lasagne with them in a little Italian restaurant round the corner last night. So London! Today I'm off to see a possible room in Forest Gate, north of the River, and then meet Karen at Waterloo and head off to spend the night with her and Glen in Winchester. They have a friend they want me to meet - Steve -please God they're not trying to match make. Tomorrow I will be focusing more on finding a home and work; but just reading the Loot newspaper etc you realise there are thousands of opportunities, and I am really positive and upbeat. I KNOW I will be working soon :) Other than missing you lot, and missing my family tons, and missing the dogs last thing at night before going to bed, I am doing BRILLIANTLY :)

Some of you already know that one of the last things I saw at home in Jo'burg was a huge snake winding across the garden. It was incredible to watch, and chatting to Malissia yesterday - she said it could be a symbol of 'feminine renewal'. I loved that, and as Gerald said 'Im reinventing myself'. That's the way I feel, and it feels good.

Love you guys lots, and think of you so much

Margs