Hello! I hope you had a nice Easter weekend with family and friends! And if you’re a U.K. reader I hope your lucky ass is enjoying the 4 day bank holiday weekend. If you’re feeling a hint of saltiness in that, you’re right – yay working for an American company and not getting bank holidays off…
If you’re not into reading lengthy personal posts, then I suggest you move along, because shit’s about to get real.
It’s the beginning of a new month, so I figured this was a good time to reflect on the past few months since my move to London…well, okay what FEELS like a few months. In reality it’s only been a month and a half. It’s weird – it feels like not much is new, but at the same time there’s been a lot going on. Is that possible? I mean, I guess it is possible to feel that way – other than the honeymoon trip, there haven’t been any huge things going on lately. But there sure have been a hell of a lot of little things going on.
Since moving here, there has been SO MUCH stuff that needed to be done to get myself established. A lot of it has been really aggravating, if I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t naive in thinking that things were going to go smoothly in this transition period. I knew it would take a while to get setup here, such as with a bank, the doctor’s office, getting a phone contract, etc. But damn, I didn’t think all of that would be this difficult. You know in movies and television shows where a person just moves across the world all willy-nilly? YA CAN’T JUST DO THAT PEOPLE. Steve and I were watching something the other day where that happened, and I can’t tell you just how much it bothers me.
Other than the actual visa process (which is at least one or two posts itself), there’s so many itty bitty annoying things that you have to get done once you get here – and of course none of that goes smoothly. In the past month and a half, my life has been consumed by frequent trips to Post Offices, the bank, filling forms out, all while working 12-8pm. It’s been full of things like:
- Rushing to some random Post Office the day after getting here (with jetlag wooooo) and wait in line to get my BRP, or Biometric Residence Permit, which is basically an ID card saying, “Hey, I paid an obscenely large amount of money to be here.”
- Go to the bank, literally like SEVEN TIMES, in the first two weeks (five of which were during the first week) because I have no proof of address, which is needed for, like, EVERYTHING.
- Arguing with my bank in the United States (and racking up £75 worth of international calls on my mother-in-law’s landline) because they won’t transfer my money to a foreign exchange company, or my U.K. account.
- Trying to close said account, and open a new one (shoutout to PNC for sucking).
- Phone calls and emails with tax law consultants (next tax season should be fun!)
- Having to apply for a U.K. driver’s license so I can do things like get my phone plan switched over in my name, get set up at the doctor’s office, and drive (without insurance being through the roof).
- Being told by literally everyone it’s going to take at least 3 months to become fully established
But, with the bad, comes the good. You didn’t think I’d just bitch about everything and not mention all the good things, did you? I love to complain as much as the next person (it just feels SO. GOOD.), but even I’m not ridiculous enough to ignore all the moments that made me feel that rush of excitement, solidifying the decision I made to come here. That includes:
- Being able to actually, you know, live with my husband, for starters.
- Traveling around Europe, albeit in the freezing cold.
- Living just outside Central London, where I don’t get all the craziness, but if wanted, it’s a short tube ride away.
- Visiting my favorite places that I missed, like Stratford, Deli on the Green and Loughton.
- Exploring new places, like Greenwich – I loveddd their market!
- That first bank transfer into my HSBC account.
- Buying a new car – a Peugeot 208 (a semi-automatic, thus it’s appeal to both Steve and I).
- Getting a U.K. driver’s license.
- Driving, and surviving my first roundabout – surely if I can do this, I can do anything! (At least that’s how I felt afterwards).
- Going to the doctor and the dentist – hell yea, cheap healthcare!
- Upcoming plans to look forward to over the next few months – visiting my sister-in-law and her family, a summer wedding to attend, an Ed Sheeran concert, and my sister coming to visit.
Making that list, I almost completely forgot about all the annoying stuff I was talking about earlier. I could so easily just focus all of my energy on all the negativity, but what good would that do? I’ve had my moments of moodiness and sulking, but I count myself extremely lucky to have had this opportunity to begin with. I still have a job, I get to build a life with my husband, travel, etc. – really, everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
Don’t ever get too caught up in the not so fun aspects of life. Things could be a hell of a lot worse.
xx Lauren
