All settled now...

So its now June 28th and I've been in London for 5 weeks (I arrived May 23). I'm finally feeling pretty settled, mainly:

• I've got furniture, including a bed!, in my apartment (see pictures)
• I know how to get to work and back (I walk just around the corner to the Pentonville Road entrance to the tube - Piccadilly line - and take it to the Piccadilly Circus exit)
• I can find the nearest grocery store (Tesco, 2 blocks away)
• I know some basic Britishisms: i.e. when talking about trash use the word 'rubbish', offer tea to any and all visitors to your home (and not the fruity herbal kind)

All said, I pretty much now feel like I live in London and am not just visiting there, but have only really touched on the basics of a local so far.

Let me tell you what I've been up to so far. On the weekdays, I've just mainly been getting up to speed at work. Everyone is still really friendly and helpful, although my main coach (the woman who previously did my role has now left for her new role in Asia), so I'm pretty much doing my job on my own now and I feel capable. Haven't really done much of anything after work. The weekends have been a bit more fun. Joe and I have been trying to go to one show per weekend. So far, we've seen:

• Joseph and the amazing technicolor dream coat
• Indiana Jones (on the BIG BIG premier movie screen at Odeon at Leicester Square)
• Strictly Gershwin - a big ballet, big band/orchestra, and ballroom production at the Royal Albert Hall

We've also done some toursity things and visited:

• Hyde park and Kensington Gardens, including the Princess Diana memorial
• Portabello Road market - Notting Hill
• Camden market
• Curry house restaurants on famous Brick Lane
• Westminster Abbey & Big Ben

The week before last, my grandma & mom came to visit me, which was really nice of them. The trip pretty quickly turned sour, though, once mom and grandma realized that I really didn't have any furniture (see the box chair that Joe and I used, left) and they'd really have to sleep on an air mattress, sit on the floor, and climb atleast 2 flights of stairs to get to the bathroom (my house is straight up and down and you have to climb a flight of stairs just to get to the living room/kitchen area and another flight to get to the bedroom bath room area).

Mom and grandma also balked at the prices of everything (any American will - it really is shocking sometimes), but they still got around to see the British Museum, Hyde Park, and Piccadilly Circus.

Unfortunately, with all of that getting around, my Grandma tripped and fell on her way to meet Sana, Alison & Tara (our friends from Atlanta who were in town visiting family) for lunch on Baker Street. Its hard getting around London, if you're not used to walking everywhere and taking the tube with lots of stairs in and out of the stations, so I think her muscles might have just been tired. All in all, she didn't break any bones, but she was pretty bruised up and her rotator cuff (?) in her shoulder was likely hurt (they can't test for it), so we just stayed in the last few days. Mom and Grandma were also in town when my movers delivered my stuff and it was really helpful to have them there for that. By the time mom and grandma left early Sunday morning, though, I think they'd had enough of being away from the comforts of home.

I'm typing this blog from Joe's place in Cambridge, with the hopes of getting caught up to the present (without typing 5 more blogs)! Hope that works!

Things I'm liking right now:

• Homemade smoothies - Joe made me one with pineapple, mango, and bananas this morning
• The train to Cambridge - its SO quick! 45 mins and you're there.
• Flip flop weather - its still here!

In Cambridge

Joe lives in Cambridge, which is about 45 minutes northeast of London by train.

We made a pact to spend every other weekend in each other's town, so my second weekend in the UK, I headed to Cambridge. As a bonus, Joe had furniture at the time whereas I did not, so it was like being on vacation having a bed, chairs, internet, and a TV. I was thrilled and slept really well.

Cambridge is a university town housing the famous Cambridge University (on par with Harvard or Yale for those of you in the States looking for a reference). The university has a beautiful campus with a river running around it (see above with the famous 'punting' boats) and many historic landmarks. The city is kind of a classic academic haven, with students out and about in parks, cheap eateries, and lots of cool activities going on year-round, despite its somewhat small size of just over 100,000 people living there.

Joe has a really nice apartment that he shares with a friend, Benji (see picture left). Its right along the river Cam and has a big porch and large floor to ceiling windows. Going there is like being on vacation - everything seems to move slower than usual. There are always lots of people out on the water rowing with their crews and tons of folks basking in the sun, when its out. The weather was fabulous when I visited that first weekend and Joe and I biked around the city on saturday and visited an art market. That night we went to the Sex & the City movie, which I loved (what did everyone else think?!). I liked how they didn't try to tie everything together into neat endings and kept things a bit messy and let the girls age in real time.

On Sunday, we took care of some things errands for me. My air freight shipment still hadn't arrived (it wound up being almost 2 weeks late!), so I broke down and bought another blanket and pillows. Joe has a big shopping center just a few blocks from his apartment (or flat as they call them here), so its really convenient to just pick things up there, rather than in the city. Plus - there are even some discount stores (i.e. TJ Maxx - which they call TK Maxx here). In the city, I've only seen full price retail stores, but I guess I don't know where to look yet. On the whole, I'm trying to avoid buying anything over here because its pretty much just 2 times as expensive.

Joe made 2 great dinners when I visited: sushi one night and chicken then next. He's becoming quite the chef :). I headed home late Sunday night on an easy train ride (Joe drove me to the station) and walked the 2 easy blocks home from the Kings Cross train station home to my place for bed. It was a nice, restful weekend.

Things I'm liking right now:

• My furniture, which finally arrived last week
• Wireless internet at my house, which finally got installed last weekend
• British summers, so far so good! The sun has been out every day for the past few weeks!

First week at work

I took on a totally new role at work with my move to London. Before, I was a ‘Knowledge Specialist’ focusing on transportation industry research for a consulting firm. Now, I’m the Manager of Professional Development and Staffing for our Technology Practice in London. This is kind of a cross between office manager and consultant scheduler (i.e. working with the consultants and partners to select the right consultant for the right project). Before heading to London, I’d never done this role but it had been interested in it for a while.

Our offices in London are FABULOUS! There are so many perks to working here. They are centrally located, in famous Piccadilly Circus (left), with tons of amenities:

• Gourmet meals are served daily for free in the cafeteria (breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you’re working late) and wines are served on Fridays with lunch – hey we’re in Europe!
• There is a gym, staffed with personal trainers, in the building available (again for free) to all colleagues
• You can sign up for on-site massages and music lessons for a minimal fee
• Dry cleaning gets picked up and dropped off right at the lobby
• Every Friday, we have a cocktail hour in our Practice

Even better, I have my own office for the first time.

On my first day at the office I met the woman that has done this role for the past few years who I will take over for. She is petite and pregnant, in the middle of a move to Hong Kong and a total power house. She regularly works really crazy hours and is totally on the ball, but she has a brash style that had me a bit confused before I started. I was a bit nervous before meeting her, but my fears were totally alleviated on the first day. She was warm, funny, and straight forward and produced a really comprehensive training schedule that could have me more than prepared by the time she left for Hong Kong 3 weeks later.

The rest of the group was really cool too. Everyone was really friendly and welcoming. The office atmosphere is really different than in Atlanta, where the office is mostly empty during the week (while the consultants are at the client site). In London, many clients are in-town, so the office is bustling every day of the week and consultants are regularly working from there, so there’s always someone to talk to or go to lunch with.

On Friday, we did a big group dinner celebrating my joining, among other things, at a really cool trend restaurant called Gaucho around the corner from the office. It was very chic with a ‘bouncer’ at the door letting people in. we had reserved a private room for dinner and the large table had two enormous candelabra on the table. The dinner was a blast and we stayed late into the night. I already feel close to many of the folks I’m working with.

More on my weekend in Cambridge with Joe in the next post.

Things I’m liking right now:

• Waitrose – the fancy super market about 10 minutes from me in the Brunswick shopping centre in Bloomsury with all sorts of fun stores and on Saturdays they have outdoor vendors selling gourmet foods
• Afternoon tea at the Ritz – we went there this week as a celebration of my starting. Its expensive (~$80 pp), but a great experience with a live pianist and all sorts of cute finger foods
• Finally getting my air freight shipment after 20 days in transit!

First weekend in London

I arrived in London on Friday, May 23 and went straight to my new apartment via the famed tube (that's it to the left with the brown door and white-framed windows). The Piccadilly line only takes about 45 mins from the airport and drops me off pretty much at my doorstep. My new landlord, John, was there waiting for me (perfect!) and we went right in. From there, we read through the multi-lingual instruction manuals to try to figure out how to work all of the appliances. Some were easy (the refrigerator - once we figured out how to turn it on), some were hard (the oven - which started crazy beeping at us and we had finally just unplug it). Keep in mind all this occured after spending the night on an airplane with minimal sleep and still wearing the same clothes (yes - I probably smelled).

Just when things were getting really fun with the appliances, a courrier showed up with 4 boxes that Christine had packed up for me. Christine is a great friend from GA Tech who lived in London for a few years only to decide to leave just as I was moving there! The good news is that she gave me all the things that she either didn't want to take (i.e. UK appliances) or couldn't take (mainly liquor & spices). Thank you SO much, Christine!

My flat (as they call them here) is fantastic. Its actually its own house spread across 3 floors with its own front door on the street and was just built this year, so I am the first person occupying it. The first floor has the kitchen (large US-sized fridge AND dishwasher - unheard of in London) and the living/dining room. The second floor has a bed & bath and the 3rd floor has a bedroom and bathroom. The flat comes unfurnished (which isn't typical in London), so I'm bringing over my stuff from the US. Attaching a few pics below, but there are more on the real estate agent's website (but they'll probably be removed soon).

After what felt like Christmas, unwrapping all of Christine's goodies, Joe arrived and it was Christmas all over again. He came in by train from Cambridge after work (45 mins!) and brought me a blanket (for the air mattress), & some food and other goodies. It was SO great to see him in my new home after spending so many months preparing to be together!

From there, we went to my new landlords' (Margaret & John's) house for drinks. They were so gracious to have invited us over on our first night in the city and spent a good hour or so chatting with us in their really cool traditional house. Margaret is a solicitor (that's lawyer to us) and John a consultant. After that, we went to the grocery store and picked up some basics and then I was pretty much out (no sleep adds up).

The next day, we did some exploring in my neighborhood (Bloomsbury/Kings Cross) and packed a picnic lunch to enjoy in one of the many parks. From there, we walked up to a neighborhood called Angel just north of me (see the angel wings below - their symbol). This is where the famous Sadlers Wells theater is. After that, it was dinner at Wagamama, our favorte Asian chain restaurant (that we have since avowed not to visit in favor a supporting the locals, though they're good, cheap and everywhere, so I'm sure we'll cave soon).

On Sunday, we went to the famous Camden Market. It was really crazy and funky. I wish I pick to show, but it was kind of like a HUGE little 5 points. They had a historic indoor market that was set inside of old horse stables & a fun restaurant there called PROUD too.

On Monday (a bank holiday in the UK), we went to a cool exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery of Vanity Fair portrait photos. There were lots of pieces by Annie Leibowitz including the one below of Hilary Swank.

After that, it was on to Indiana Jones at the famous Odeon Theater at Leicester Square. It was HUGE and the tickets were crazy expensive (i.e. $30/ticket + $10 for popcorn = $70 for a night at the movies for 2 in London). The movie was lots of fun, though.

Joe left that night (sad) and I spent my first night alone in the city...with earplugs and eyeshades on (its really loud and bright in my apartment right now with no curtains and being close to the street with no furniture to absorb the sound).

In the next post, I'll tell you all about my first week at work!

What I'm liking right now:

• Joe - my boyfriend who makes sushi for me
• My mom and stepdad Tom - who helped me sell the Z last week!
• Jessica - who's sending regular updates on her crazy single life :)
• JJ's painting abilities