So...i had my first day at work at KPF today..cos atm, im livin in a zone 4 area and the office is in Covent garden which is zone 1...it meant havin to wake up just a little earlier than im currently used to...so out of the house by 8:45am and dashed for the oncoming bus that drove past me...I'm really lovin Oyster cards...jus how efficient and somewhat quite stylish it is to fip out ur card wallet and slap it onto the machine thus opening the train gates...
Luckily, the office is situated coveniently across from Covent garden train station so i arrived outside the doors at 9:30...a good half hour before i needed to go in...half awake..i trudged around and found a Cafe Nero where i bought a regular sized cup of tea...where i managed to burn my tongue...tea has never been so hot...and i should know..cos im a big tea chugger. So..with my numb tongue i went into the office...I did some research yesterday and the floor that i first saw was quite cool...a warm, laid-back atmosphere with maybe 20-30 or so people workin. i thought to myself "yeah..cool...not that many people...not too intimidating..this should be fun.."
fast forward today: i find out architects alone...nearly 200 of them! add on the marketers and the rest...we've got huge numbers...all on that one floor u say? ah...wise one...they occupy 3 floors! and 2 other floors on a building opposite! the image of myself as a small fish jus got even smaller when the lady told me.
So, ive been placed into a project involving LSE and their student accomodation with cafe/bar. Oddly, it seems to me that I am the only one makin this section of the model...didn't quite dawn on me till this morning considerin the other model makers are doin other projects... Yeah, its hard atm...everyday is hard slog...not only i have to deal with the ever changing demands of my bosses on how things should look, i actually have to go and make it...properly. Originally, i thought my model was just a simple model for them to prod at and see where they can make edits..but its startin to sound like they want it to be a presentation model...more stress...
So... I'm off to London to do nearly 2 weeks of work experience at a company called KPF... I'm excited but at some level a little nervous because they don't usually take up first years so it will be a little intimidating...hopefully my life skill for making useless small talk will come handy..
So I will be train-ing it tommorow afternoon and stay a family friend's place till Friday then move to Adnan's place hopefully... I'm not a London freak but I like big cities so this will give me a taste of it... things will be alright...
Apologies to Bert and Phan because I do want to be around and be as much help as I can. I'll be back to help you move your "Abongaboogas" (I don't know what they are called..Ikea comes up with weird names) up your stairs in your new home. I pray everything goes alright.
So yes... London. Here we come. Treat me well. Otherwise you'll get an earful from my mom.
I'm Currently Listening to: "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne
It's been awhile since i last posted on here..i dunno, with everythin thats gone on i jus havent found the time nor the space to sit down and write it out. with facebook and emails really takin up most of the time im online...especially facebook and its quick efficiencies, i guess ive found less and less reasons to blog...hmm...but to blog about what? sure...i can tell u bout my great love for pizza but i have difficulty tryin to put down words how I am with God.
I've latched onto this lyric sung by Modest Mouse; "And we'll all float on ok"
for some reason i kinda like that line. i think its not too optimistic and its not too pessimistic. i think optimistic in the way that you aren't drowning in trouble but pessimistic that ur barely surviving. i guess there is a bit of hope in it. i like it, i tell myself that everytime in in a spot of bother nowadays..heck, i even say to people who talk to me.
"Ah..you'll float on..."
i guess its jus earthly me tellin myself things will be fine when really they are more than fine. things are great. i guess i jus choose not to see it. u dont see the things u have until its gone. im startin to figure that out now. God has my back, why do i feel like im jus floating? the mind is a complex thing.
In other news, i managed to secure work experience in London from the 12th - 22nd of June which is great...Praise God for that one. I am kinda lookin forward to it cos hey, its work experience and its somethin to put down on the 'ol CV but at the same time, i do really want to see what being an architect is about..have all my late Plymouth nights drinking substitute Red Bull a similar replica to the real thing? i hope not. I guess a part of me still wants to be in brum and help Bert out with his house or somehow get more involved in church. i dont know what it is. but a part of me still wants to stay. only natural i presume. Oh, and MuteMath are in Birmingham on the 21st too..how convenient(!)
Verse 1: Come like You promised You would I want to surrender for good I know that I need You And I don’t want to keep living life alone
Chorus: So take my heart And make it new And make it true And make it like You Take my hands I lift them high They’re Yours not mine to do Do what You will, do what You will Do what You will
Verse 2: I feel like a blind man in Your sight I know that I’m wicked in Your eyes So wash me and make me shine like Your Son I want to tell everyone that You’re the only One
Bridge: I’m ready now, I’m ready now I’m ready now, Do what you will I’m ready now, I’m ready now I’m ready now (Do what You will) I’m ready now, I’m ready now I’m ready now, Do what you will I’m ready now, I’m ready now I’m ready now
All you need to know is that im praying. hard. prayin that i can get my essay finished..praying for guidance...praying for peace...praying for the spiritual and metal war ahead.
So...im feelin much better...mentally stronger and happier and also physically more awake..! this is the first time in a long time (6 weeks) where i can finally relax for only a little while..call it my mini holiday before the holiday. We've had to design 3 buildings on a proposed pier which is part of the forward thinkin of re-generatin Plymouth as a city (or is town?). We were placed into teams of 3 but we were marked individually for our own buildings. 3 choices: Ferry Port, Shops and Restaturant. After much discussion with my tutor, he decided for me it would be best to take the Ferry Port as usually the building itself would be placed at the end. The ferry port had to contain not only 4 toilets (dont ask!), a waiting area and a managers office but an exhibition area for art, a performance area for festivals and concerts and generous outdoor deck area for waiting...
the past 6 weeks have been hard...jus tryin to keep calm and jus get on with it even tho at times i cant even lift my eye lids...a prime example was last week...i spent the entire Saturday drawing all my plans,elevations,cross sections and perspectives. i completed it on Sunday morning with the thought that i could take em to the studio and photocopy them for backup. i put them in a cardboard tube and was off. the journey didnt take long. i live 5 minutes from the studio. i got there and opened the photocopier and i opened my tube..only for the tube to be hollow. my work dropped out as i was walkin to the studio! i dashed out and searched and to make things worse...it was hail stoning. that was heart wrenching. tbh, it was heart wrenching cos i dont think ive ever felt that way about my work before...throughtout my school career, i dont think ive ever cared bout work like i did when i was lying on the floor looking under the cars. i shed a few tears..whined for a bit...bought a Whopper meal to make myself a lil happier (the first time i actually went to BK to eat cheer myself up..) and got back to re-drawing everything again on Sunday afternoon till the early morning.
I presented my work yesterday and hopefully things went well. i got very good reviews from my tutor and i pray that my grades will be ok. he said that the drawings were beautiful, the building itself was realistic enough that it was 'buildable' (any other buddin architects out there reading this...always aim to get a word like 'buildable' as a descriptive for ur building!) and privately, he said if my team as a whole worked to my work rate, our designs wouldve been one of the best designs. Praise God!
i know my spiritual life has been dry and at times i feel disconnected and at times quite angry at Him (the losing of my drawings)...He still pulls me thru...and He pulls me thru comfortably. i call losing my work "God testing and shaping me". i havent lost the faith. ive grown a little stronger for it. since that day, the work load altho just as intense, has felt effortless in my mind...thanks God. :)
PS- watched 300 yesterday...i thought it was good...a solid 8/10. the CGI was just beautiful, simply stunning. altho it is hard to look cool in tight speedos. the helmet made up for the speedos. :)
I'm Currently Listening to: "Match Box" by The Kooks
