I have almost been in my work placement for two weeks. On Friday the 24th October I was in Belgium handing over to my relief, right up to the wire and on Monday the 27th I was in London beginning an induction into a new and exciting world of banking. New and exciting for me and, for some people, possibly a somewhat unattractive profession given the events of recent years.
I am working in the area of Finance and in particular in connection with compliance and controls, for good reasons I cannot go into any details but I have found it an eye opening experience and it is offering me the opportunity to learn new things and meet new people.
Due to the infinite kindness of my best mate, his wife and his young son, they have allowed me to lodge for the six weeks of the placement. I am occupying the spare room and trying to do my best to fit into the routines and cause as little disruption as possible. I traveled over from Belgium on the Sunday evening, in a bid to spend the last few hours with An. By the time I got round to my mates house it was after 19.00 and I had yet to get myself settled in.
In terms of kit I brought 5 shirts, 3 suits, two pairs of shoes, four ties, sports kit, badminton racquets, wash kit, a towel (just in case), my laptop, iPad, Kindle, 3 books and some ancillary stuff. My preps for the following day was to iron the shirts, a change from the white ones to a variety of colours, now I have to co-ordinate my wardrobe!
Bathroom time was my first challenge and also assessing how long it would take to do the commute. The other challenge was to determine the best type of ticket to buy for the travel. In the first case it was not so difficult as both my mate and his wife did not need to use the bathroom first thing in the morning, now however, I am settled into a routine of getting up at 6am and then being clear of the bathroom by about 6.25. This gives me time to get my breakfast and then read my Kindle newspaper. I now set out at around 7.30 and this gets me to work before 8,30 which is half an hour to spare if needed. My mate gave me a top tip, which was to buy a monthly season ticket, this is a considerable saving and cost me £142 (I have been allowed £228) for the days that I travel but this ticket allows me to travel at the weekends too. I would recommend this as an option (it is based on zones 1-3 in my case but it is a clear winner.
The actual commute is not too bad, very crowded and a bit warm, with all of those bodies generating heat. I also walk fairly briskly and so I heat up quite quickly. I need to strike a balance especially now the weather is turning a bit colder. I have to change once, which is a matter of crossing a platform most of the times. I find the commute an opportunity to read although initially I did not find it easy to do. What I am not looking forward to is the round of coughs and colds that must be inevitable from travelling with so many commuters in close confinement. I do occasionally look around and try and work out what people are like. I note the details of their books, shoes, expressions and reactions, it passes the time.
So far I have been to badminton twice and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have not really begun to get into a proper fitness programme but there is time. I have also bought more shirts, in fact my first pink one, which I quite like. So far I am due to come home to Belgium twice and once to my native North East, so almost every weekend is planned, not much time to rest and it comes at a cost too!
Hopefully I will have a job to show for it at the end but if nothing else it is a nice decent time to spend with my mate!
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