Crypt-ic Tea

Having been in London for over two weeks, I decided it was finally time to do something fun.  My first two weeks were really focused on finding a flat (done!) and a job (temporary but done!) so now I can finally relax and enjoy London.

For my first activity, given that this blog was in serious need of a picture of tea and crumpets (although a scone will do...), I decided to take my friend Justin's advice and visit St.-Martin-in-the-Fields  at Trafalgar Square for afternoon tea.  There is a cafe below the church where, for an affordable £5, you can get the afternoon tea plate which consists of: a scone, jam, clotted cream, a piece of chocolate cake, a piece of lemon cake and a pot of tea (or coffee...but it's afternoon TEA people...come on!).  I sat in the crypt for a good while, sheltered from the stormy winds and rain outside and read my book while enjoying these tasty treats.  Here are a few pictures just to give an idea of the cool setting (and how cute the meal was):

 

 After tea, I wandered around the Trafalgar Square/Leicester Square area for a bit, battling the crowds of tourists, until the storm really started.  Here are a few pictures of that including Canada House (yay!) and an inexplicable blue rooster:

 

To close things off this time, a quote about tea that I found really relevant given how I spent my afternoon:

You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.

C.S. Lewis

Mind the Gap

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I arrived in London; what an adventure it's been already!  There have been a lot of ups and downs, often both in the same day.   In my last post I said that I wanted to have the following done before the end of that week:

• Attend the BritBound welcome meeting;
• Get a phone (I already received my O2 SIM card (and my Oyster card) from BritBound);
• Apply for jobs;
• Find a flat;
• Meet up with some contacts that were recommended to me;
• Do something fun like visiting a London attraction and try not to forget why I chose to come to London in the first place; and finally,
• Skype with my mom and prove that I'm safe and eating all my meals - wouldn't want her to worry!

Here's what I actually got done and some updates and/or advice for other future Swappers/BritBounders:

Attend the BritBound welcome meeting;

I did this on the first Friday I was here - it was a great information session with lots of useful tips and tricks that you wouldn't know otherwise.  We even had beer and snacks to cap off the night and most of the group went out afterwards (this being the perk of Friday welcome meetings vs. Wednesday welcome meetings).  As a funny side note, the group of BritBounders was pretty evenly split between Canadians and Aussies/Kiwis; the funny part being that Canadians were all wearing spring jackets and commenting about how warm it was while the folks from down under couldn't believe how "cold" it was (it was somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees celsius - definitely not your average Canadian January).  It's all a matter of perspective, I guess.

Get a phone;

I originally used the pay as you go chip provided by BritBound but I decided that, with the amount of data that I was consuming using maps alone on my phone (I got lost a LOT going for flat viewings), it would be best to go with an actual plan.  The great thing about UK providers (I went with O2), is that they never lock you into a plan, you can opt out at any time without any cancellation fees and you just have to pay what's left of your actual phone (if you didn't pay it all upfront) which is amazing - are you listening Rogers/Bell?

Apply for jobs;

I applied for dozens of jobs - anything I'm qualified for basically, and got an interview through one of the BritBound-posted jobs almost right away.  I'm happy to say I got the job and I start on Tuesday - this is a huge relief; while there are a lot of jobs in London, they do go fast and there is a lot of competition.  It's good to know I won't have to live on the streets!

Find a flat;

This has been the cause of a lot of grief for me over the past week and a  half.  The main issue being that the service offered through BritBound for fund transfers (from a Canadian bank account to a UK one) did not work for me.  Important note: if you are Canadian, you will not be able to transfer your money using Tranzfers if you are a Scotiabank customer.  Your best bet would be to open a Bank of Montreal account (Tranzfers deals exclusively with BMO) and transfer all your funds there before you leave Canada; an alternative option (although less safe but that I still wish I had done), would be to take your money with you in cash and deposit it into your UK bank account immediately.  The reason this caused so many problems for me is that I needed to provide a deposit to secure a flat (these deposits can be quite large if you are unemployed, which most Swappers/BritBounders are when they first arrive and are looking for a flat) and I wasn't able to provide this deposit given that I couldn't get the contents of my Canadian bank account here in time.  Second important lesson in flat hunting: flats go fast, faster than you would think.  Often, by the time I replied to an ad (maybe an hour after it was posted), it would be gone already.  This just reinforces my point about having access to your funds ASAP since you can't fully commit to a flat without paying the deposit.  I lost out on a few really great flats because of this; however, all's well that ends well, I found a good flat that is affordable (by London standards), central and that I share with two very nice flatmates.  On my first day here one of them offered me tea and biscuits, which I thought was very sweet and British, it was a great welcome.  My last tip when it comes to flats is that they usually come furnished but you need to get your own linens - Primark has become my new best friend.  They are conveniently located on Oxford Street (several locations) and sell all the essentials (e.g., pillows, sheets, blankets, coat hangers) for very cheap, in a variety of cute styles and colours; think of it as a kind of Target equivalent but with much cuter, affordable stuff.

Meet up with some contacts that were recommended to me;

I got in touch with my contacts when I got here and got some good leads on some job opportunities - it's always good to try to make connections, even if it's just to reassure you that you're doing things right.   The poor person I was put in touch with had to explain to me how to make calls in the UK because I found their 700 digit (slight exaggeration) phone numbers very confusing at first.  There are some things like crossing the street and making a phone call that I just wasn't used to and that were challenging when I first got here (even though I had been to London several times before).  I guess the key is to not be afraid to ask questions even if they feel like stupid questions at the time; there is an African proverb that I think applies here: "the one who asks questions, doesn't lose this way"; most people here in London are easily approachable and willing to help, all we have to do is ask.

Do something fun like visiting a London attraction and try not to forget why I chose to come to London in the first place;

Sadly, this is the only thing on the list that I haven't done yet.  It's been a busy week and also a very emotionally exhausting one.  All my free time was spent either visiting flats (my favourite story is that I visited a terrible flat in Notting Hill right above a fish monger - it smelled HORRIBLE and they had pot pourri on the steps all the way up to the fourth floor.  Somehow, the four rooms that were available in this building all got rented by the next day...this is a true testament to the demand for London flats).  Now that I have a place to live and a job, I commit to spending some time enjoying London sights and attractions.  More to come on this in my next blog post.

Skype with my mom and prove that I'm safe and eating all my meals - wouldn't want her to worry!

Oh, Skype we did.  I subjected my poor mom (and my dad) to tons of Skype conversations (or "freak outs" rather) where I was panicking and not knowing what to do.  What should have been an internal monologue became very vocal and prolonged.  Everything worked out though and I'm pretty sure they're as relieved as I am that I found a place to live and a job.

Another thing that may seem insignificant to most but that I am very proud of is that I took a London city bus to get around.  While the tube is amazing, it gets expensive.  The busses are more confusing but more affordable.  After a lot of research and asking for a lot of advice, I took some busses to get around instead of the tube and I feel really proud of myself.  Now, I'm less scared of the bus and will try to take it more often - a nice thing about taking the bus is that (obviously) you are above ground and you get to see things on the route that you may not have known were there before.  Also, if you sit in the front seats on the upper floor of the bus, you feel like you're driving the bus...people actually rush up the stairs to get those seats.  

All in all, this has been a crazy week and a half.  As prepared as I thought I was, I did have moments where I wondered why I decided to do this in the first place and where I was tempted to give up and go home.  Now that things have settled down a bit and that the sense of urgency is gone, I'm happy I'm here and I feel like I'm already a stronger person for having made it this far.  I feel a lot more confident and I'm ready to tackle what comes next.  As usual, I will end this blog post with one of my favourite quotes that reflects how I feel at the end of this week:

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end.

-Ursula K. Le Guin

Hello Goodbye Hello Goodbyyyyye

In my last few days in Canada, I visited all my favourite people and places, including a delicious meal/goodbye to poutine at Louis Pizza.  This place is truly an Ottawa staple and I'm glad I got a chance to eat the quintessential Canadian dish of poutine before leaving.  Here's a picture of the deliciousness:

Here is a shot of Montreal as I was leaving on the plane - Goodbye for Now, Canada!

More importantly, after months of waiting, I have finally arrived in London!  The adventure begins!  Despite the Canadian weather's best efforts to thwart my travel plans, I got here in one piece and without stress.  My flight was full but wonderful - while we were made to circle London for 10-15 minutes to wait for our turn to land, we got to see all of London's biggest attractions from the plane including the Thames, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Big Ben, etc.  I have to say that British Airways was amazing; they provided stellar service (like not charging me for my very much over weight suitcase) and I'm pretty sure that my flight attendant was Ben Kingsley's long lost twin.

When I arrived in London, I was greeted by a beautiful sunny morning followed by some traditional English weather (i.e., rain) but I expected nothing less - in fact, given that my last few days in Canada presented me with freezing rain and very cold weather, I'm relieved to be in a place above 10 degrees, rain or not.  Given that my suitcase was so heavy and I was so tired when I got to Heathrow, I decided to take a (very expensive) taxi to my temporary hotel.  My driver told me that I was very lucky since most people don't go back to work until next week, there was virtually no traffic, just nice sunshine.  He was also a very nice older British man and giving me all kinds of job and flat finding advice which I appreciated.

After I arrived at my temporary home, Studios 2 Let, I had a quick nap and then went to buy some groceries and walk around the neighbourhood a little bit.  Here are some pictures of my temporary flat in Cartwright Gardens, just because I think it's cute:

Now that I have everything I need, the real work begins.  I have to find a flat and apply for jobs, en masse.  The plan is to lock myself in my room for a few days and take advantage of the free wi-fi to apply for jobs. 

On Friday I will attend a BritBound welcome meeting and hopefully work out a few last details like how to get a national insurance number, set up a bank account, etc.  Basically, my to do list for this week includes:

• Attend the BritBound welome meeting;
• Get a phone (I already received my O2 SIM card (and my Oyster card) from BritBound);
• Apply for jobs;
• Find a flat;
• Meet up with some contacts that were recommended to me;
• Do something fun like visiting a London attraction and try not to forget why I chose to come to London in the first place; and finally,
• Skype with my mom and prove that I'm safe and eating all my meals - wouldn't want her to worry!

I'll write again once I have accomplished at least some of the things on this list - stay tuned!

Every End is a New Beginning

I am officially one week away from leaving for London and I am as prepared as I am going to be.  I have started packing my suitcase, well, gathering up the contents anyway and I am triaging through all my stuff to decide what to bring and what to leave behind.  As I have mentioned before, I’m a girl who likes to have stuff and this is proving to be one of the most challenging parts of moving abroad so far.  Despite all that, I think I have mostly narrowed it down to some key items, keeping in mind that I can buy whatever else I need once I’m in the UK.

For those of you interested in my packing choices (I have noticed that this is a very popular topic on other SWAP blogs), I am going with one large suitcase (the maximum size that British Airways will allow) as well as my backpack and a purse as carry-on.  In my suitcase, I also have this foldable 35L duffel bag that I bought at MEC that I plan to use for inter-European travel as it is the perfect size for carry-on on discount airlines like Ryanair and easyJet. 

I find it fitting that I’m writing my last blog post for 2013 on New Year’s Eve, which also happens to be my last day in my apartment and at my job.  It is a very bittersweet feeling – I’m sad to leave my apartment, family, friends and colleagues behind but at the same time, I’m excited about all the new and fun things that 2014 will bring.  I think that A.A. Milne said it best (via Winnie the Pooh):

"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

 As a goodbye to 2013, here are some of my favourite pictures from the past year (with maybe a couple of older ones) and some of the people and places that I will miss:

Questions, Questions, and more Questions (Oh, and Some Answers Too)

I can’t believe there is less than one month left before I leave!  It seems like time has flown by since I made the decision to go live abroad.  My focus has really been on finding a job and a flat but, as you can read below, “even the best laid plans often go astray” (Robert Frost, Of Mice and Men).  Every day, more and more random questions are popping up in my head.  By researching various sources (e.g., other bloggers, Government websites SWAP and BritBound, financial institutions), I have managed to find some answers.  Since it took quite a bit of time to research all this, I thought I’d share my findings with all of you other Swappers or long-term travelers in the hope that you will find them helpful.

Storage

Storage space is expensive!  And I’m a girl who accumulates a lot of stuff…I like stuff.  I am lucky though since various family members have offered to keep my things for free (thanks grandma, mom and dad!) while I’m away.  This is just a warning for those of you thinking of doing this that you will need storage that it’s a lot more expensive than you think (you’re looking at around $2,000/year…in Ottawa anyway).

Health

If you have any prescription drugs, you have to see your doctor before you go and get a prescription for one (or two) years’ worth of your prescriptions because they may not be available abroad.  I found out that it’s also a good idea to get a note from your doctor detailing the medical reasons why you need each prescription and the recommended dosage.  While travel insurance like Bon Voyage for example does cover some health issues (mostly emergencies), it does not cover everyday prescriptions for existing conditions so that’s something to consider.

Flights/Return Date

I was happy to learn that I don’t have to choose my return date yet and that I don’t have to buy a return ticket.  As long as I come back within two years of my visa being issued, there are no problems.  One less thing to have to figure out now!

Canadian Embassy

Registering with local police has been recommended but from what I see, it is far simpler to register online for free with the Canadian embassy (http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/registration).  Basically, you're just letting them know that you're in the UK in case there is a natural disaster or another major event where they would want to track you down and let your family know you're ok.  I plan on doing this when I get to London. 

Jobs

I thought applying for jobs from Canada, before I leave, would be wise since by the time I arrive in the UK I would be able to interview and there wouldn’t be a huge delay between arriving and starting work.  However, what I found out through the good people at BritBound, is that most employers won’t hire someone who isn’t in the country yet.  I can see the reasoning behind this but I found it a little bit discouraging when I found out.  My plan is to keep an eye on job postings that I’m interested in and dedicate several hours a day to submitting applications when I arrive.  At least I’ll have done some research and won’t need to start from scratch again.  The websites I have been using for jobs are:

• www.jobs.civilservice.gov.uk
• www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/jobs
• www.gumtree.com/jobs/london
• www.monster.co.uk

Finding a Place to Live

Many people have suggested Spareroom and Gumtree for finding a place to live.  Personally I prefer Spareroom and I have found several places that I am interested in.  After speaking with some landlords in the UK, I found out that you can do a “pre-let” before being in the country but you have to pay your deposit before even seeing the flat…there is a risk involved.  After much deliberation, and despite the fact that I really wanted to have a home to go to when I get to the UK, I will spend a few days living in a hotel/hostel, visiting flats and hopefully finding my new home quickly once I arrive.

I did also find out that it is common for landlords to ask for references (professional or personal) and also to provide a CV or proof of income to a landlord to prove that you can make payments on time  Also, the deposit in London can range from six weeks to 2 months' rent so I thought that was good to know. 

Ok, I think that’s enough rambling for one night, I hope this will be of use to some people; it was quite an educational process for me.  Finding all of this information has been stressful at times and I’ll admit that I have had a few panicky moments when I think about what’s to come; I’d say that, on average, it’s a pretty even mix of excitement and fear.  These moments of fear are what made this tweet from SWAP really relevant for me today:

“If at some point you don’t ask yourself, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ then you’re not doing it right.” — Roland Gau

Moments

Nostalgia...?

It's funny, a year ago at this time I was just wrapping up a great trip to Paris and London and I had no idea that exactly a year later, I'd be preparing to go live in London for a while. That's been on my mind a lot these past few weeks as I think about how life is funny sometimes and opportunities present themselves at just the right time.

I now officially have my work visa and got a great deal on my plane ticket thanks my SWAP/TravelCuts advisor, Maryse. I have since received my BritBound information and can’t say enough about how helpful the services they provide are. From helping me set up a cell phone (I already have my UK phone # and I'm not leaving until January!), bank account, an orientation session and pub night to a million other things, I haven’t regretted registering for SWAP/BritBound for one second and recommend it to anyone who is planning on working and travelling abroad.

I’ve actually been to the UK a few times and it’s not my home (yet) but somehow, I feel homesick for it as I prepare to leave. Every day I think of London at least once and about how my daily activities (drinking my morning tea, buying groceries, commuting) will be so different and fun, for a while anyway. 

 

Right at the top of my list is making sure that I visit London sights every week and that I travel to a different European country at least once a month; not including regular trips to Paris. The thought of being at Europe’s door and having amazing French pâtisseries and beautiful Paris so easily accessible is unreal. 

 

Scotland will also only be a few hours away, I will be able to get my fill of Scottish greenery, amazing accents, scotch whisky, kilts and highland cows (not highland cows wearing kilts…) anytime I want! I couldn’t be more eager to leave…but for now, I keep waiting semi-patiently.

As I experience this strange sense of nostalgia, I leave you with the following two quotes which are oddly similar to each other and are really resonating with me lately:

Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.

-Judith Thurman

How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew?

-Che Guevara