Hilarious Commercials - Cravendale

The commercials out here are definitely risque and hilarious. My newest favorite commercial is the Cravendale milk spot. I love cats as most of you who read this blog know but even a non-cat lover would love this spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6CcxJQq1x8

Moving...Again & Other Fun Activities

So I finally found a place to live! My awesome current flatmate, Tori, (that I am not allowed to live with because the leasing agency is terrible and won't accept any financial documents from the states)had a friend that was subletting her place for a minimum of 6 months so I am planning to live there. It's a rather large house in Marylebone with a number of people. One interesting tidbit is that there are two pronounciations for Marylebone which is quite confusing. It could be either "Marleebone" or "Mary-lei-ben." Or at least that's what I have heard in the city and via Forvo (http://www.forvo.com/word/marylebone/).

The house is huge with multiple kitchens, bathrooms, rooms and really quite beautiful. I will be sharing the top floor with a couple of girls - one from Belgium and the other from Poland. The only drawback is leaving my current flatmates - I am quite sad about that but know we will visit often. I will now be able to walk to work; it is about 2 miles from work which is really good! I walk so much here it is incredible and I really like it.

When Tori and I went to look at the flat we decided to go stop by a few stores as I needed some leggings. We went to place called Primark that reminded me a bit of like Kohls meetings Forever 21 meets JC Penney's. It was definitely mayham but the clothes were so cheap but decent quality. The nickname for Primark is Pri-Marni (ie Armani) as Primark has worked very hard to be seen as a fashion-spot-go-to.

We also stopped by Selfridges; I thought for the longest time that this was pronounced and spelled "Suffrages" with the British accent. Similarly how I always get confused when someone here says "I was pissed." I always think and say "why were you mad?" Suddenly realizing they mean drunk or making a joke. Too many meanings for this one word!

Selfridge was named the "Best department store in the world" and has the most amazing windows. I didn't have a chance to snap a picture while I was out but found one and intend to take one next time I go. Since I will be moving there that should be easy! Also, lots of inspiration for xmas shopping which I intend to do in the next couple of weeks. Even took a couple of days off to get it done! :)




Very excited that my friend Lucy from Scotland is back as well! We have only been able to hang out once in the last couple of weeks because of massive schedule conflicts including a bit of a hangover this past weekend. We have a hangout planned this weekend though - yay! I am thankful I have met so many great people here and just need more time to spend with them ha!

Our work holiday party is this Friday and the location is a secret - can't wait till the big reveal and will have to let you know after it's done! I am moving Saturday so cannot be out too late!

In news around London: Apparently fares are increasing on the tube which makes me even more excited about limiting my exposure to the underground transportation system. They are already quite pricey depending upon when you travel and where; London is broken out by zones and travel expense increases as you go through more zones. Zone 1 and 2 are the center of the city and then it moves out from there to the more suburban areas being in zone 4 and 5 (story here)

I had the chance to visit the outside area of London myself with a trip to the area nearby North Greenwich suburbs with a friend. North Greenwich has a tube line - the Jubilee - and is fairly new. It was very nice to see the world outside of London along the Thames. I still love living in London though even though I never really thought I would - never have been one for the city life and yet I am quite content.

Interesting little tidbit of info

Laundry detergent bottles have a few different categories for wash on the back of the bottle. One of them actually says "handwash" as an option. Seriously who does this???

On a personal note - Things are definitely tough keeping connected with friends and family back home. The time difference is tough - at 10PM my friends are just beginning to consider leaving with it being 5PM in the east coast. It was hard when I lived there and even more difficult now that I am in a different time zone! It's hard to even explain accurately my life out here to people I love as it is so fundamentally different and more difficult than it was in the states. The challenge makes it very exciting and I never know what to expect which I do like but it can drive a wedge into your relationships and I have already seen the fallout from that. I don't know what I can really do though so I just have to keep living as I am and hope that they will resolve in time.

Lack O' Sleep is not an Irish Pub

These past couple of weeks was pretty intense at work which left little time to sleeping or doing anything else but well, working.
A lot of long working nights meant a couple of nights stopping by the local Irish pub for a pint (or two) so that my life wouldn't be comprised of only work then bed. I am little bit obsessed with the pub down the street - though mostly older men frequent the place I feel comforted by the ambiance. The one night I stopped by there was a wake that was more about celebration than sadness. Also, there was an Irish football game on so everyone enjoyed a bit of that while they celebrated the life of their friend and family member. Apparently this had been going on for a couple of days so they were all a bit lit up. I met a couple of very nice people - I feel like that's the theme of my experience. Unexpected new friendships in the oddest of places.

I definitely miss friends and family from back home and since I just booked my ticket I am looking forward to seeing the girlies (dinner plans are all ready booked; yay!), family (Campbells, Bowdens, Boekes, etc), friends and Izzy-face.


Decided to make a quick list of my current "likes" and "dislikes" about living in London:

London Loves	Bloody Hell
Cider	Texting while walking in central london
Beautiful Sights	Public transport closures
Kettles & Tea	Way too close and personal on all transport
Fish & Chips	People walking out of a store and stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and looking around
The melodic sounds of accents and different languages	Extremely loud phone conversations on the bus in many different languages
Amazing location names	Lack of peanut butter and wheat pasta
Amazing friendly people and great London friends (ie Lucy, Andy, Tori, Mikey, Steph, etc)	The sense of panic everytime you cross into a heard of people at a major walking intersection or outside of a tube station in Holborn

I would love it if there was a coinstar out here as well...the amount of coinage is a bit extreme. I am sticking to some of the things I know from back in the states - ie enjoying some "Waking Dead Season 2"- so glad that I get that show over here! As everyone knows, I love a good zombie flick and entire show is even better!

Other little fun things from the past two weeks:

• Little cafes are economical and the service is terrible and the food is only fair
• Perrier in a can is so cute; I am surprised that more fizzy water isn't available here cause it's my fave
• You CAN have multiple Thanksgiving dinners in the UK - just need to know the right people. Thanks to Leslie and Steph I had two amazing Turkey dinners with some new friends (Pics of Berkhamsted and London where I ate some delicious food including hanging out a bit with a super sweet border collie)

• Frankfurt is a beautiful city - I only spent a night there with Steph saying some basic German for work and need to get back
• I had multiple bday celebrations and have included some new pics of those (Cake and Wine from Work; Cupcakes and wine from Tori); very sweet

It's Official - I have a home...for now.

Happy Birthday to me!

ADAPTING
It's been a crazy couple of weeks - I am fully integrating/adapting into the English subculture and trying to learn to live successfully in the big city! I have officially moved in with my flatmates, Tori and Mike, and they are very nice! I cannot wait till my Scottish friend, Lucy, is back in town so we can hang out again as well! She should be back sometime later this month for us to stir up some trouble.

The Big 3-0
I am in a particularly good mood today since it is my birthday. I am 30 years old. I have officially been on this earth for 30 years and now suddenly am thrown into the mix of being a successful, mature business woman AND settling down to be a wife/mother. I don't feel pressured by friends or family to make huge life decisions at this point but I am wondering when this will happen for me.

ADAPTING not as well...
I officially had a complete meltdown this past weekend as everything suddenly came to a stressful point for me. Thankfully, my Dad was there to make me feel a bit better. Couple of things: 1. Customer Service is not so amazing here. Specifically, my leasing agency is ridiculously heinous. If you are having the best day of your life and called or communicated in any way with the Black Katz leasing agency you will suddenly find yourself thrown into frustration/sadness/madness. The fact that I have a place that will not allow for me to bring over my cat has been a point of issue.

Also, #2 the fact that my bank is taking FOREVER to get my acct opened has been problematic as well. You need a bank acct to do anything - "let" a flat (rent = let), "top up" your "oyster card," (add $$ to your bus/tube card), pay for items. In Europe they have different cards than the US. The cards here in the UK include a chip which requires a pin entry whenever you purchase an item - like a debit card. "Swipe Cards" are US credit cards and are not accepted anywhere. You can get chip cards outside of the bank and upload cash onto them but a bank replenishment is easier. Also, banks in the UK do not have money orders - so if you need to get $$ to someone the one way that you can do this is via wiring the $$ from your acct. Namely, your bank acct. Which I am still waiting on. So the other option is to take out a bunch of cash and walk with your flatmate to a joint bank acct and input it into that acct for wiring over. The fear and stress in my body walking down the street with lots of pounds in my pocket was quite extreme but all went well. Money is in the bank.

Taking time AWAY!
Moving was an interesting situation - moving with one bag and plastic bags attached to it since I didn't want to pay for yet, another expensive cab (cabs are very expensive here vs the states) did not set me up for a successful day. I was a bit tired and emotional when I met my Dad at Paddington Station for our trip outside of London. I have had great moments travelling outside of the city of London. One to Hampton Court for work - haven't had a chance to see the palace but did see some of the surrounding areas.

Also, my Dad took me to Swindon, StoneHedge, Avebury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury), Bath and Glastonbury. All very lovely places - and quite impressive in person. Bath is quite beautiful and Glastonbury is amazing as well. The long mountain up to the tower - Glastonbury Tor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Tor) displayed such an amazing scene. I felt like I was suddenly swept up into an Austen story. Some pictures of our experience!

Lots of Sheep and a bit of a hill!

I put a pound in this rock for luck. We shall see if it's effective...





Fish and Chips & Strongbow cider were on the menu in Swindon!!

Current Residence: London, UK

Adjusting to Life

As of Sunday, November 6th, 2011 I am not watching football (or 6/11/11 as they write in the UK). If I was in the states this would be extremely odd and I have been contemplating purchasing the NFL GamePass subscription to keep up with the games. Tonight my team, the Steelers, are playing Baltimore (HUGE rivalry) but the game is at 8PM which means it will be on at 1AM my time. I can watch the re-run via the gamepass but I must admit, watching the game live is really the only way I want to go. Maybe this will change over time.

Other interesting things that I have since learned/adapted to:

• In suburban ville I could drive up to an hour to visit my family and at least an 1.5 hour to go to my client's office. I don't have a car in London and travel by walking or public transportation. My morning route includes waiting at the bus stop for at least 10 minutes and then standing on an overpopulated bus for 25 minutes till my stop. It still beats route 1 in Princeton! Anecdotal story - my first bus was without an audio reference and I basically kept hopping on and off a couple of buses till I arrived at my destination. I was extremely jet-lagged and confused and since then have only encountered one other bus that didn't have audio support on the bus. Audio support = so much easier!
• The UK has significantly better commercials - much more entertaining and amusing
• Everything around you suddenly has an English accent. I remember listening to a couple of videos on Youtube and the commercials were with British-speakers. This was to be expected but suddenly I realized my world completely changed.
• It's not a "line" it is a que
• The Brits use quite a bit of slang - from the news to reality TV
• The UK has all of the same shows and movies (if only a tad delayed)
• Everyone (and every office) has a kettle - tea and instant coffee are automatic. (I love this change!)
• Fountain Soda is pretty much obsolete - I pretty much have eliminated Diet Coke from my diet. I miss it but tea is better!

UK News Items

The EU Budget crisis has been top of mind the last few weeks. Currently trying to determine how Greece will proceed and the impact on the rest of the EU

The other big item in the UK is Armistice day - the 11th hour of the 11th day of November signals remembrance of those who gave their lives in the war. Everyone from reporters to co-workers have been wearing a poppy flower as part of this remembrance. Apparently there is an appropriate etiquette associated with wearing this flower.

A Change in Scope and the BIG MOVE!

Old versus New - A Change in Scope
The original intention of this blog was for my anticipated move to Istanbul to teach English. That didn't exactly happen as I planned. I ended up getting a job in pharma advertising and I am still with that company 3+ years later. I didn't want to create a brand new blog as I believe even my posts from a few years ago show how my life has evolved.

Before the BIG MOVE

My move to Europe had been discussed for quite a long time but logistically wasn't given the go-ahead until a few months ago. As soon as I got the go-ahead I sprinted into action researching all of the things I will need to do before moving across the Atlantic. My first thought was what I would do with my kitten, Isabelle. My parents have a cat as well that doesn't exactly see eye-to-eye with Isabelle so I knew that would only be a temporary solution at-best. Isabelle is confined to the guest bedroom but thankfully my family is good about visiting her often. She is so very friendly and fun to be around and I want her with me always!

I got right to work applying for a UK bank (I chose Barclays) online - but I had to get my documents certified so I didn't get the application in till I got to London. It takes about 7-10 working days for the bank to post a decision about your acct. I should have mine in the next couple of days!

The VISA process was fairly simple - my employer had to provide documentation supporting my move to the UK and I had to complete an online application, a biometric evaluation (taking fingerprints at a local government office - appt required), and submitting all of the documents with my passport and a picture to the border agency. The picture had to be with no smiling - I look ridiculous. Almost borderline depressed to be honest - I am much more of a smiling-type.

I received my visa extremely quickly - it took like a week via priority mail. It costs a bit more but definitely worth it!

I also was set-up with temporary housing through my company which is definitely extremely helpful - it's definitely a bit tough trying to find a flat. I did a bit of looking before heading over through Gumtree and SpareRoom. I would advise learning more about the areas before you come over but to be honest, I found that I learned the most by just being here and walking around. And walking around. And Walking, walking, walking...you got it.

Saying Goodbye almost deserves it's own post. I felt as if I had a manifest destiny - yet this time moving East. That doesn't mean I wasn't in a state of stress and sadness for the last month in the states. Everytime I would see someone from my gym instructor to friends I would think, "is this the last time I will see them?" There was a sense that I was either dying or going off to war versus becoming an expat in a country a mere 6+ hours by plane away. I wanted to be moved already so that I could focus on my new residence and visiting back home versus leaving everyone behind.

After several farewell parties and packing (and repacking quite a number of times) I was ready to go. My aunt and uncle thankfully were also visiting the UK and took over a suitcase for me. In total I moved three suitcases, mini carry-on bag and computer bag (which looks purse-like) to the UK. Everything else was moved into storage (thank you, parents for letting me use yours)!

Below is my departing flowers/Corona's from the colleagues from the states. I definitely miss them!!