Christmas Commercial

I have consumed a lot of caffeine during the past hour, and you will have to forgive me because my mind is vibrating. Luckily overdosing on caffeine has helped to dim last night’s hangover. At nineteen I was able to slug an ungodly amount of alcohol down my throat, and feel no ill effects in the morning (trust me, I tested this on a regular basis). If there was any latent discomfort it could be easily cured by greasy food. That was then. This is now. Now, the idea of eating a ton of grease makes me want to hurl. The larger issue – I can tolerate a fraction of the alcohol that I used to be able to. I can see I have work to do over the Christmas holidays.

Yep. Christmas. It’s officially the Christmas season. Actually I am fairly certain that it has been the “Christmas season” since sometime around Labour Day. It was fairly shocking that while the UK faced economic collapse, the solution was to begin Christmas in early October. Stores quickly threw up their decorations, moderately impressive sales were implemented, and Christmas music started to blare from speakers. This music is nauseating at the best of times – three solid months of it is downright cruel. And really…I’m not sure that this was the best approach to the Credit Crunch. Christmas is a fairly expensive time of year, and reminding consumers that they are financially destitute does not really seem very festive. Amidst daily reports of bank closures, bankruptcies, job losses and global financial meltdowns, reminding Mom & Dad that Johnny wants an Xbox, iPod, and Blackberry just finishes the gutting.

This year I am not doing Christmas – at least not in the conventional sense. I have no desire to decorate (and really, unless you have kids, or entertainment plans, why bother?), and I refuse to the gift thing. Oh yeah, I know; “The Spirit of the Season” is in gift giving. Not true. This is commercialistic idea, and I am sick of the commercialism of Christmas. I am tired of stores encouraging us to spend copious amounts of money on presents and trying to further the idea that love is somehow reflected by the amount of money that is spent on each individual. That is not the essence of Christmas. Johnny doesn’t need an Xbox. Suzy doesn’t need a new Blackberry Pearl. David doesn’t need the newest Nintendo. It shocks me when I see what parents purchase for their children. I realize that it is entirely the prerogative of the parent to do so – but let’s be realistic.

As you can tell by this blog, I work in schools, and have for almost a decade. It is time for parents to face the reality of their expensive gift giving habits. Firstly, I am absolutely shocked by what kids bring to school. Technology that is more expensive than I even wish to comprehend! Actually, I don’t even understand half of the technology that they show up with. Why these kids have these items at school is beyond me. But they do – and when these items go “missing”, teachers and support staff are left to deal with the consequences. I applaud the ever increasing number of schools banning many of these items from their halls. Here is the reality: kids are not little adults, and no matter how many times parents lecture their kids on the “value of money” (which most children hear as “blah blah blah”), and no matter how “mature”, “advanced”, or “understanding” Johnny is for his age, they are still kids. If parents saw how some of these items were treated while at school, they would likely be shocked too.

Oh but wait – here is what I love, and here is when you realize just how materialistic, dismissive and unappreciative our culture has become…oh yes…if you work in schools, you know what I am talking about…it’s the “My Parents Will Replace It” mentality. Ya. Who cares that the iPod is smashed? My parents will buy me a new one. Who cares that I dropped my entertainment system? We’ll go to the store later and replace it. This mentality is best reflected in how students now treat communal property.

I am of the Commodore 64 era. Yes, junky, boxy computers which were the biggest novelty of their time. We did not mess with those computers – we didn’t dare. Firstly, having a computer in the classroom was a HUGE deal! You didn’t dare do anything that cold possibly damage it – heck, you didn’t even touch it without supervision. If you were caught “messing” with it, there would be consequences! There was a hundred foot safe zone around those computers. For a brief time in the 80s, the computers were actually treated better than the students.
Now fast forward to 2008 – computers (including their value) have long been taken for granted by students. It doesn’t matter anymore. It is replaceable. If it breaks, buy a new one. As such, kids don’t think twice about tossing balls or other items in close proximity (and trust me, even in classrooms with excellent behaviour management it still happens!) and will more than willingly eat, drink and be merry around the classroom PC. It’s the prime indication of how far we have come.

So back to Christmas – I won’t be doing the whole Christmas stress thing this year. I see no point. I won’t be made to feel guilty for not spending overwhelming amounts of money (that I don’t have), and I won’t feel forced to create the “perfect Christmas”. But I will eat. Just because I have no intentions of overspending, I will definitely be enjoying a nice turkey dinner, with gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and whatever else is piled on to my plate – don’t think for a second that I will forgo that! HA!! But in all seriousness, Christmas as lost something in our culture – when I look around at the stressed out faces, and see the grimaces of pain each time a credit card is swiped, is it really worth it? Shouldn’t it just be about spending a nice day with your family, without being paid to do so? The beautiful gifts become the ultimate form of bribery, and maybe its time to see Christmas for what it has become. Sad, but true.

London Financial

Money is one of those things that can singlehandedly cause you stress and keep you up through the night. Right now money is one of my biggest concerns. In not receiving a great deal of work from my agency, money is increasingly an issue. London is expensive – overwhelmingly so. I try to keep my costs minimal, but there is a certain amount of inevitable investment that comes with living here. Sometimes unexpected costs are accrued. Prior to my leaving Canada it had not been my intention to have to buy a new laptop – unfortunately a week before my departure, the writing was on the wall – my Acer was not coping well. In terms of my possessions, my laptop is one of my most important – it is my vital link to the outside. In the long run, it has saved me a ton of money in phone expenses (thank goodness for Skype!). If I called home on my mobile, or had my Mom and friends call me, the phone bills would likely be up in the hundreds of dollars by now. After a couple of months, I can safely say that the cost of my laptop will be written off by the savings of using Skype (don’t you love my logic?). I can justify spending the money on the laptop, because I have a personal need to be connected to society through it.

Other expenditures I have incurred in moving to the UK included the cost of a partially new wardrobe. While loosing weight has definite long-term health benefits, the downside side is oversized clothes. Not that I mind shopping for a new wardrobe – it is fun to change appearances. Unfortunately it is expensive. Especially when you consider the cost of professional clothes. I have opted for a fairly monochromatic wardrobe; my professional clothes are blacks and shades of grey. My “normal clothes” are jeans, casual sweaters, etc. I must admit, I have had a bit of fun shopping in London. The last time I was in England for any length of time I couldn’t shop in conventional stores – now I can. I have become a huge fan of Next (which isn’t that bad in terms of cost; a more expensive Europeanized version of Old Navy), Dorothy Perkins, and H&M. Luckily Top Shop is always overrun with people, so I stay out of it. Like the laptop, I incurred the unexpected expense of having to purchase a jacket; which of course had to be somewhat professional. Jackets are never cheap are they? Can I justify it?? Ya – I was cold. On Sunday I bought a skirt…why? Because I realized that I had brought a bunch of brown tops with me (for work) but had failed to pack any matching bottoms. I am sure it had been my plan to find brown trousers, but between work and life I never got around to shopping in Canada.
Then there are those inevitable expenses. My mobile phone, which thanks to Skype, isn’t costing me a fortune. Actually, I am through Virgin Mobile, so I do receive a certain number of rewards (including free weekend texts – not that I really text anyone!). Oh yes...and my internet connection.

I have internet through My 3. I love it – it is a simple USB stick that plugs into the side of my computer. For $30.00 (not pounds) a month, I can have internet anywhere in the UK. Yesterday I was sitting on the train to Carshalton, and was able to plug in and check my email. Convenient (and Leanne loves her convenience). Like I said, I need to be connected. I need Skype. I can justify my internet cost. The only downside is that I have a certain usage allowance – so I can’t do a lot of uploading or downloading, That’s alright though – who needs all of that clutter?

The other expenses?? Food. I keep my food costs relatively low; just eat a lot of sandwiches, though I do miss vegetables, and meat. Coffee. I need my coffee. Transportation. I can justify my transportation costs though – I am spending about $90/wk on transit – in Canada I would be putting about $150/wk into my gas tank. It balances.

The roughest cost incurred has been the hotel. I had not intended in living in a hotel for a full month. Staying at the Pimlico Inn has been interesting, problematic and periodically almost comfortable. It is probably the least expensive place that I can stay in terms of hotels, especially in this area. Unfortunately it is bleeding me badly. I am still unwilling to rent a flat, mainly because I still refuse to sign a contract, or commit to any long length of time. My future is far too uncertain to commit to a flat; but staying indefinitely in a hotel is absolutely impossible. On Sunday I will be moving – into a six bed dorm room in a hostel; all so that I can maintain the convenience of being located next to Victoria Station (and maybe guarantee myself an additional half an hour of sleep a night).

I am not a novice when it comes to hostels; I have spent a fair bit of time staying for short durations. Long term is another thing altogether! I have fair amount of anxiety about this decision. Part of me is excited to have other people around on a regular basis. Part of me is nervous because of the early hour at which I have to begin my day (I hating having to be “that” person in the hostel!). Then there is the safety issue – always having to watch over my “stuff”; the luggage issue – some of my “stuff” will be going into storage at the hostel. Now for the cost benefit – I will be saving almost 200 pounds (yes, pounds) a week. Maybe that knowledge will cure some of my pain. There is a definite difference between staying in a hostel and living in a hostel. Only time will tell, right?

Now for that other cost thing – whether to stay or go. I have decided to go back to Canada on December 22 – but not indefinitely. I will go home for the duration of Christmas break, and into January. I have come to realize that living in London, over Christmas, and then into January when supply work is patchy, is going to launch me back into money-induced panic. It will be cheaper for me to go home for a few weeks, then to continue to live here. And maybe I’ll be able to get some sleep.

Last week I was asked if my debt keeps me up at night, or if I worry about it. Like you wouldn’t believe! The reality is, if I didn’t have credit cards, I couldn’t live right now. I wouldn’t be able to eat or live or anything else. Isn’t that a horrible means to an end?? Being in school, and having a continuous line of thankless jobs, hasn’t exactly provided me with the most stable financial outcome. So in order to live, I have to continue to go into debt. One day it has to turn around, doesn’t it?

On Finances and Credit Cards

So the next problem that I have encountered in this country: my credit card.

My credit card is viewed as a relic of the past. Luckily, thanks to my archaeological training, I am very much interested in relics of the past (which also might explain my interest in older men! OH I'M KIDDING!). Unfortunately, my card is treated as though it fell out of the Pleistocene. As protocol the cashier stares at it, blinks several times, turns it over several more times, and then stares at me and blinks. I blink twice at the cashier - perhaps this is some sort of game?.

Next the cashier will attempt to insert the card into a reader - then look at me with some disdain when the card does not work.

"It's North American." I inform the cashier.

"So you don't have a chip or pin?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't know. We don't use those in Canada."

"You need to get a card with a chip and pin."

"Just swipe the card, the old fashioned way."

I fully refuse to get a new credit card in the UK. It seems like a bad idea: Let's run up more debt on this side of the globe!! FUN! I can be honest - school cost me a small fortune. I'm fairly sure my student debt load competes with the debt of some Third World countries. Unfortunately the World Bank has denied my request for debt forgivness. So no, I'm not getting a credit card in the UK.



Anyway, apparently swiping cards is considered archaic. Now I can't really understand the response I receive because it has only been 4 years since I was last in the UK - and 4 years ago credit cards WERE swiped. It's not like I am reintroducing a concept from a past era. This is recent, recent history! Needless to say, consider it a fair warning to anyone moving to the UK - you will be considered a wonder of archaeological proportions!