euonym (n):
1. (obscure) A name well suited to a person, place or thing so named.
2. (contemp.) The name of the weblog of the new head of media at the European Commission office in London.
That’ll be me!
So. I arrived from Brussels on Sunday, and settled into my temporary home staying with the lovely Rob and Amanda in their lovely home in Balham. I’ll be here for a month while I get myself sorted with a place to stay. Already on Monday I went to look at somewhere – a houseboat on Eel Pie Island. It was great and I’m going to go back and have another look, as well as going along the river with my cousins to see what else there is.
The first week has been fun so far. Monday was the usual “first day at school”, unpacking boxes, getting a telephone, working out where the loos are and that sort of thing. But now I’m starting to get into it, have even taken a few phone calls!
One of my responsibilities is “cultural diplomacy” which covers the work the Rep does in promoting European culture. That’s going to be very rewarding and right up my street! Already in this first week I’ve been to an exhibition of paintings by the Luxemburg ambassador and a film festival up at Notting Hill Gate. Last night I saw “Elle s’appelle Sabine” about Sandrine Bonnaire’s autisitic sister and tonight I’m going to see “I’ve Loved You So Long” and might even get to meet the film’s star – Kirsten Scott Thomas!
One of the team is leaving on maternity leave, so we had a nice hello/goodbye lunch with the team yesterday and a baby shower. It’s going to be very different, in lots of good ways, working in a small office like this, rather than a gargantuan one like the Berlaymont. In a way it’s an atmosphere I’m used to, having grown up around embassies. And the office is in an area where I know a lot of people (all those civil servants) so it should be quite easy to keep in touch with people.
The President is in town today, so the office is pretty quiet at people are out supporting him and his entourage. He’s not doing any media except a press point with the PM, so I haven’t had to get involved – which is a relief, given I know nothing at the moment. Hopefully I’ll be a bit more clued in next time he comes. The big thing here is going to be getting the planning right – like in my old job, if you plan for the things you can plan for, then the emergencies that crop up can be dealt with more effectively. So we’ve been looking at what’s coming up in the next few months to see what seems to be of particular relevance to British business or society. I think there’s some good things coming up, so watch this space!
This post originally appeared on my euonym blog which has now been merged into this site.