Great Expectations

I think I am now at a point where I start to feel that I’m living in London. I have been sexually assaulted on a bus, said hello to my neighbours and tried out every supermarket nearby. My everyday life has a routine now. This is good. And bad. I’m feeling stuck. If I don’t change something, this routine of going to lectures, studying at home, reading in libraries and occasional nights out will be equal to the routine of my life in Berlin. Although, I’m usually not studying so much and working more (or at least trying to).

So it’s time to get a job and get to know some more people. More money, friends and drinks. I think if I would be asked during a job interview what I expect from the new job, I would answer: “friends and money”. And to make that sentence more British and not oh-so-German brisk: “friends and money, please”

No, I would probably give a predictable human-resource-management-friendly answer, because I really want the job. For money and friends. But then I need to find a company where I can assume that the people working there are good candidates for my next BFFs and BMFs. That means that Downing Street No. 10 is currently off the list. That’s a shame, honestly, I want to do the Hugh Grant-dance. Maybe after the next elections my Downing-disco-dance will have a chance, or else I become a Tory. I have to think about that properly. Maybe I will start with a Burberry scarf, just to get a feeling of being elitist and get comfortable with it (it’s getting cold anyway). But therefore I need money. And for money - a job. God, what a vicious circle.

There are actually three things that my new job has to offer me: money, friends and relevance for my “career” (please). What I want to do, you’re asking? Guess what: something in the media. I have worked in so many companies for such short periods that I have a very large repertoire of superficial qualifications in writing, editing, organising, selling, casting and putting an intelligent face on. That face is very useful. I use it all the time. Especially at university. “Who is that young woman who looks so bright?” “I think that must be Laura, she doesn't say much, but what she says sums every discussion up and brings it in context”. “Oh yes, you can see from her face that she’s following the lecture”.

Yes, because I’m waiting to drop a stolen sentence in that I read on Wikipedia. It’s just an intelligent face. Behind my forehead everything’s about money and friends. And the crucial question: who is responsible for the Jimmy Savile case?