Hello all! As many people have advised me, (Kellie :) I have started my own blog in order to keep everyone up to date with the many happenings in my life. So far not too many except for the London move which has gone pretty smoothly. I am now in London, cold rainy, gray London. And I'm enjoying it! I must say arriving to city where everyone drives on the opposite side of the street and huge two story buses drive speeding down tiny narrow streets was fun and scary at the same time. Needless to say it took some adjusting. I am now in one week in and still adjusting. As we travellers know it takes a bit to get into the speed of things in a different time zone, let alone a different country.
So in an effort not to bore you I'm going to highlight the events thus far.
Upon arriving into London Heathrow, I walked the miles and miles to customs in which I got questioned for 20 minutes on why I was staying for only 4 months when my work permit stated I was allowed in London for the next five years? (this was my first lesson that perhaps I should have lied on the form) anyway after showing actual evidence that I was indeed allowed in the country, I got let through the shiny gates into the regal city. I then walked another couple of miles to baggage claim and exchanged the thoughtful $100 my parents gave me as a parting gift into the measly 54 pounds that I had for the next week. Gracias mamita!
I decided to exchange money at the airport in case the driver which had been arranged for me wasn't paid. Then I began to panic thinking perhaps 54 pounds isn't enough for such far a drive! I did just get picked up by a very formal driver who probably smelled a whole lot better than I did at the time and definitely looked a whole lot cleaner than my airplane hair, swollen eyes, look I was wearing. Anyway, the driver was nice and spoke all of three words as he stuffed my overstuffed suitcases into his silver Mercedes Benz. - "Where you goin?"
I began to panic yet again as I was sure if my company was nice enough to hire a driver to pick me up at the airport, they for sure were nice enough to tell him where to take me. Luckily I had memorized Turner's address by heart as I had sent dozens and dozens of e-mails to HR and my new team before arriving. So I asked the nice smelling man to drive me to Westminster- Little did I know I was asking him to drive me all the way from the outskirts of London to the very center of the city. Either way, I began thinking as we drove through green pastures that London was different than what I thought, I didn't expect to see much green except in the countryside. I thought all I would see were overly fashioned teens and ridiculously posh women prancing around in the latest (not to be worn by Americans just yet) fashion. However as we drove for the first 20 minutes I began to think of my experience in London as a quaint almost provincial experience.
I was woken from my daydreams by loud honking and traffic as we entered London's center. I began to see the big tall red double Decker buses and got excited to see a different London a busy, crowded London. I thought ok this is probably a more realistic idea of what's to come. And I was ok with the busier non provincial side of things. All the while I kept dodging cars that seemed to be driving way too close to ours and kept doing double takes on cars passing by which seemed to have no drivers in the driving seat, of course I had to remind myself to look in the passenger seat for the driver. (something I'm still not used to)- I kept thinking I could never drive in London!
So anyway I was dropped off at work and found out that no one was expecting me but the security guards with a keycard to the flat I was to stay in and keys to the door on the 6th floor (two floors above my office). The nice young security guard helped me with my overstuffed suitcases and showed me in to my new home for the next several weeks. (Pictures below...) It's a nice- bigger than I expected- flat for one person. With a great modern kitchen including washing machine ( all kitchens in London seem to have their washing machines in their kitchen-) and dish washer- which give the plates more of a slight spray than a wash. Either way it's home and it's been great. Right in the center of London. I wake up and walk the two floors to my desk and sit there and work my little tail off for usually 10 to 12 hours trying to figure out the best way to take care of the numerous tasks at hand, then I walk the two flights back up to my nice flat and start the endless search for my semi permanent flat. It's been a lot harder than I thought, but I have a lead on a couple and will most likely be viewing some tomorrow.
As I head on to my great quests, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures to help with my descriptions of my flat and London in General. :) Until my next London Adventure
Love and miss you all! As they say here in Lodnon-Ta!
So in an effort not to bore you I'm going to highlight the events thus far.
Upon arriving into London Heathrow, I walked the miles and miles to customs in which I got questioned for 20 minutes on why I was staying for only 4 months when my work permit stated I was allowed in London for the next five years? (this was my first lesson that perhaps I should have lied on the form) anyway after showing actual evidence that I was indeed allowed in the country, I got let through the shiny gates into the regal city. I then walked another couple of miles to baggage claim and exchanged the thoughtful $100 my parents gave me as a parting gift into the measly 54 pounds that I had for the next week. Gracias mamita!
I decided to exchange money at the airport in case the driver which had been arranged for me wasn't paid. Then I began to panic thinking perhaps 54 pounds isn't enough for such far a drive! I did just get picked up by a very formal driver who probably smelled a whole lot better than I did at the time and definitely looked a whole lot cleaner than my airplane hair, swollen eyes, look I was wearing. Anyway, the driver was nice and spoke all of three words as he stuffed my overstuffed suitcases into his silver Mercedes Benz. - "Where you goin?"
I began to panic yet again as I was sure if my company was nice enough to hire a driver to pick me up at the airport, they for sure were nice enough to tell him where to take me. Luckily I had memorized Turner's address by heart as I had sent dozens and dozens of e-mails to HR and my new team before arriving. So I asked the nice smelling man to drive me to Westminster- Little did I know I was asking him to drive me all the way from the outskirts of London to the very center of the city. Either way, I began thinking as we drove through green pastures that London was different than what I thought, I didn't expect to see much green except in the countryside. I thought all I would see were overly fashioned teens and ridiculously posh women prancing around in the latest (not to be worn by Americans just yet) fashion. However as we drove for the first 20 minutes I began to think of my experience in London as a quaint almost provincial experience.
I was woken from my daydreams by loud honking and traffic as we entered London's center. I began to see the big tall red double Decker buses and got excited to see a different London a busy, crowded London. I thought ok this is probably a more realistic idea of what's to come. And I was ok with the busier non provincial side of things. All the while I kept dodging cars that seemed to be driving way too close to ours and kept doing double takes on cars passing by which seemed to have no drivers in the driving seat, of course I had to remind myself to look in the passenger seat for the driver. (something I'm still not used to)- I kept thinking I could never drive in London!
So anyway I was dropped off at work and found out that no one was expecting me but the security guards with a keycard to the flat I was to stay in and keys to the door on the 6th floor (two floors above my office). The nice young security guard helped me with my overstuffed suitcases and showed me in to my new home for the next several weeks. (Pictures below...) It's a nice- bigger than I expected- flat for one person. With a great modern kitchen including washing machine ( all kitchens in London seem to have their washing machines in their kitchen-) and dish washer- which give the plates more of a slight spray than a wash. Either way it's home and it's been great. Right in the center of London. I wake up and walk the two floors to my desk and sit there and work my little tail off for usually 10 to 12 hours trying to figure out the best way to take care of the numerous tasks at hand, then I walk the two flights back up to my nice flat and start the endless search for my semi permanent flat. It's been a lot harder than I thought, but I have a lead on a couple and will most likely be viewing some tomorrow.
As I head on to my great quests, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures to help with my descriptions of my flat and London in General. :) Until my next London Adventure
Love and miss you all! As they say here in Lodnon-Ta!
Nat
1 comment:
Nat! So glad you started this blog. A brilliant idea, my dear. I am missing you, but cheering you on from afar. xoxox, Amy
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