new job, new phone number

hello!

got a dutch phone number now, this is the best number to get me on. aussie one is still on for now, and UK number i will check intermittently, but this is the best one for now till the end of august... +31 627 253 853. please update and text me a hello to save me entering all yr numbers again.

so i got the job. i flew into amsterdam yesterday afternoon at 1.30 or so, locked my bag up at the station and went straight out to meet this private equity investment (?) company called gilde, who are based in utrecht, which is about a half-hour away on a train. it was a serious two-hour meeting that was pretty gruelling... i was up late packing in london the night before and had to get up early that morning to get to the airport, so was v tired and a bit spacey by the time i got there. gilde's boardroom was funny - they had about 12 symmetrically placed soft-toy moose heads on the wall, for no apparent reason. the worst part about the meeting was that i was facing the window at this massive table and there were three of them on the other side... was boiling hot and really glarey and my eyes were squinty and started watering after about 10 minutes... was v uncomfortable for a while but then i asked if i could put my sunglasses on (a bit rock star, but i really had no choice) and we went upstairs to another boardroom. the table had a big hole in the centre and a small (working) fountain, with a large kids'-bath style boat in it. v bizarre. but the people i will be working with are really nice - friendly but blunt and direct, which as most of you know is a language i speak.

was a hard meeting. they spent ages talking about what they do, of which i understood perhaps 60% of, but they gave me a stack of reading material and some examples of companies whose style they want me to emulate, so it should be ok. i think. my agent was there with me cause she hadnt met them before so i felt quite important - she was discussing money and expenses etc while i got to sit there and look interested but largely unconcerned... upshot is that the money is going to be really good and the project goes till the end of august so i am going to be in amsterdam till at least then. hooray.

got a house too but dont move in till next month, so need to find somewhere for the next 19 days that isnt too expensive. should be okay. am staying on a boat on a canal at the moment, is really gorgeous as you can imagine and i sat up on deck last night drinking one euro beers and chatting to the first mate, thinking what a lucky little lady i am.

alright, gotta go find home, buy a bike and start reading through my massive pile of homework.

lotsa love
xx

PS dont forget to text me. do it now!