Still kicking after the first week....

So I made it through my first week in this strange land that they call England.  I'll be honest, I really stumbled through my first week, making plenty of faux paux's along the way but I'm learning so hopefully one thing will lead to another and eventually it will all fit into place.


This first week was for the most part getting the "adult" stuff taken care of so unfortunately while I thought it would be all drinking at the pub and extravagant tours around London, in reality it was more about setting up bank accounts, getting my National Insurance Number in line, getting up to speed at work, setting up the flat with the necessities, etc.  Not exactly the "sexy" part of life in another country but something we all have to do when we first move to a new place. 


It has definitely been interesting - EVERYTHING is different.  First off, I have always had a car to run errands and get me wherever I want to go at my whim.  Now, going anywhere takes some planning and timing to make sure I can take the bus, train, tube to where ever I need to be.  Anything I buy while I'm there, I have to be able to carry back to the flat on my own. Gone are the days of filling up the substantial back of my Jeep Wrangler after a day of shopping in three different cities. Just as an example, I have a client meeting to go to on Tuesday in the northern part of England and that one days worth of travel will consist of five different train lines and two lines on the underground.  Luckily my daily commute into work is just one bus that drops off basically on the doorstep of my office and that only takes about 20 minutes.  I did figure out very early that if you are going to be running around on the bus/tube system much in London you will want to get an Oyster card, which is basically an electronic card you use to pay when you get on the bus and tube.  You also get a pretty substantial discount with the card so I would say even if you were coming to London as a visitor and were planning on being here for more then a few days it would probably be worthwhile for you to pick one up while your here as well.


 Grocery shopping has been interesting as well.   Although I have found the food to be good (apparently there is the perception out there that the food is bad here as I heard it time and time again before coming over) all the brands are different.  So if you are brand loyal to any food or hygiene product, you will most likely be out of luck here.  I wouldn't say that I'm brand loyal anyway but it is a process of trial and error to find the things you like all over again but I'm working it all out. 


As far as prices, I don't know that everyday products are all that much more expensive here, just depending on where you go.  They do have a substantial taxation of about 20% on products that have been processed (so for instance an apple will not have VAT charged however if you buy apple juice because it has gone through a process the VAT will be charged) but unlike the States, the tax is already built into the price on the shelf so basically what you see is what you pay.  I do like that much better then the tax being added on at the point of sale like it is in the States.  Taxes seem to be a big part of the conversation all the time here and they do pay quite a bit more in taxes.  For instance, my company benefits are paid for by my company but I am responsible for the taxes.  There is also a "council tax" that is paid to whatever borough you live in, my bill already arrived yesterday!  They don't waste any time do they? I do get a discount for single occupancy at my residence (finally, a benefit for being SINGLE!) but the bill does come to a whopping GBP172 which at the current exchange rate is about $275 - yikes!  I guess that's what I get for living in the swanky part of town, I need to move where the poor people live so I can afford my council tax!  Overall while their taxes might be more apparent here I do tend to wonder how different it really is as many of these taxes are happening in the States as well its just built into your mortgage payment, etc but I'm not sure I ever paid a tax on a property that I rented in the States.


The people have been so nice, particularly those at the office.  I really cannot complain as they have all helped to make me feel welcome and give me advice on getting settled.  As a general rule, it just seems like they are more polite overall.  I'm still working out all the meanings of the words "cheers" as they seem to use it for several different meanings.  It can mean your welcome, thank you, goodbye, etc... I'm not sure I will ever become an adopter of the word cheers to be honest, it doesn't really roll off the tongue with my American accent and I feel like a poser more then anything else when I tried to say it but maybe over time that is one of those things that will grow on me.  If you catch me saying it when I come home, call me on it.


I did set up a bank account last week am very excited to say that I finally have a debit card to use which will make life a bit easier then carrying cash for every purchase.  I had read about it quite a bit online and it had sounded like it was going to be a bit difficult to set up an account but I made an in person appointment to meet with the bank across the street from work and really I just had to take in several pieces of paperwork to prove my identify (my passport/visa, American license, old bank statement, old utility bill, etc.) but they were friendly and helpful.  Although, I would say they smiled while I took it up the you know what because the exchange rate at the bank wasn't exactly to my benefit when I put my American dollars into my account but I guess that is all the price of the move, of which there were so many at this point I'm kind of just throwing my arms in the air and shelling out the cash.


This week I will be all over England for client visits.  I guess in the way that client business travel in my old position allowed me to see so much of the United States, work travel here will take me to locations all over the UK.  I'll be in Liverpool, Swindon and Preston this week already.  This may be a good way to get a flavour (I also have to re-learn spelling as well by the way since many words here are spelled differently) for different areas of the country I may want to go back to at a later date.  For now, I'm still busy exploring more of Southwest London in the area I'm currently living in and maybe checking out a few other areas to which I might want to live in a couple months after I've gotten settled.  I do like Hampton, it's actually a pretty upscale area only about a mile away from Hampton Court Palace.  I'm walking up to the Palace later this morning to visit and take pictures, after all, how often to I get to say that I live up the road from a Palace?  It is a great place for a single woman as it is very safe and quiet but if at any point I want to get into the more social/nightlife of London then this isn't the best spot to be.  It's not a great hub for public transport into the city and there really isn't much of a nightlife here to speak of that I can see so far.  I'd love to live in an area called Richmond but it might as well be called Rich-man because there is no way I can afford to live there but there are a few other areas of interest so I might go exploring in those other towns this weekend and see how I like the feel of the different neighborhoods.


Well I'm off to introduce myself to my neighbors at the Palace.   Cheers.  D'OH!