I keep forgeting to talk about phone calls...

So, every phone number here begins with a "0."
Land lines begin with 020 8 or 020 7 (and probably some other combinations, but these are the ones I've come accross.) Phone numbers are either written like this: 020 8XXX XXXX or 0208 XXX XXXX

Mobile phones seem to all begin with 07XXX. And, there are six numbers after the "area code," so they look like: 07XXX XXX XXX.

The other wierd thing, is that if you call a mobile phone from a land line, it costs from 4-7 pence a minute, depending on your phone plan. Also, it's more to call a mobile from another mobile, than it is to call a land line from a mobile. And, I think I am understanding that incoming calls are free on mobile phones. I need to check that one out, but someone told me that...

Also, there are premium numbers, which seem to begin with 08XXX. These calls also cost a few pence a minute. Many customer service numbers are premium numbers. Not very good customer service, I say!

But, our home phone plan is an international plan, and allows us to call internationally for free for up to an hour per call. You can even hang up at 59 minutes, and start all over again! For that priveledge, and to be able to use the phone all day without fees for even land line calls, it costs 5 GBP per month! (Most "standard" home phone plans include free evening and weekend calls, with other calls costing a few pence per minute.)

Anyway, it's just another way that things are different here.

Statute?

Or Street Performer?

This guy would do a little "routine" everytime someone put a coin in his collection box. He was very convincing, sanding there like a statute!

Has it really been a whole week?

I can't believe we haven't written in a week!
I guess we've been busy? Really, kind of settling into real life, I guess.
We finished our 3rd official, and 2nd real week of work. There is sooooo much to learn! Working with families is pretty much similar as what we've done previously, but learning systems and laws and resources is going to take some time.

Thursday was an interesting day. We had to work (of course). But for dinner, we were invited by a colleague from America to have dinner at his home. He invited all of the new Americans for a traditional thanksgiving dinner, complete with American Football. The meal was great, but the real problem is that many of us just arrived, and don't have pots and pans. Since it was pot luck, there were some interesting dishes along with all of the normal ones. And, the bummer: No pumpkin pie. I don't know where to find pumpkin! I'm sure I can get a fresh one somewhere, but I didn't have any way to bake it, or anything in which to make a pie. Apparently, no one else did either... I made yams, and discovered (at 11 pm) that the brown sugar here is different. I think our brown sugar is brown colored white sugar. This brown sugar was "unrefined cane sugar." It had a kind of molasses taste to it. I dumped some regular sugar on top, and they tasted okay, but not normal. The other glitch with the yams: Marshmellows. They aren't readily available. The only ones we found were pink and yellow. So, we had pastel yams. Had no problems with the salad.

The kids and Grandma had an adventure on Wednesday. They decided to go see a movie at the O2. It is only one tube stop from where we are staying, but they decided to save a little money and take the bus. They were directed to the wrong bus, and ended up in the wrong area. They had to take a taxi to get to the movie on time. (So much for saving a couple of quid!) They saw Christmas Carol in 3D.

Friday night, we decided to go to Oxford Street and see the Christmas lights. It's not the Plaza in KC, but it was pretty cool. The biggest thing is that this is the major shopping district, and it was PACKED!

Since we are moving into our permanent home on Saturday, we decided to go shopping for a TV (much cheaper to buy one than ship one.) There was a Krispy Kreme in the tube station next to the electronics store! They were quite proud of their donuts, though. it cost over 5 GBP for 4 donuts! That's about $8! And, they really weren't any different. (I don't particularly care for Krispy Kreme anyway.)

Then, we went back to Oxford Street. It was even MORE PACKED than on Friday night. We really were shuffling along like cattle to the slaughter. We went back so we could go to the HUGE toy store we were told about Friday night. Hamley's. It was started in 1760. They have added a few products since then. It was 7 floors of toys! Zane had to check out the Legos and Bionicles. A pretty large collection, they had. Gray, of course, had to check out cars. A large collection of those, also. We had dinner at a different kind of restaurant. It was a buffet, of sorts, but more health food/organic stuff. You pay according to weight. It was good, but we won't hurry back. The boys didn't find much they liked there. They did like the apple turnovers... Anyway, our travels on Saturday took from about 1 pm to 10 pm! VERY TIRED FEET!!!

Tomorrow, we will go see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Hopefully, it won't rain, and hopefully we will get some photos to share.

It's not ALL glamorous.....

So, public transportation is great, when it's running. Because of the Olympics in 2012, the city is greatly expanding and improving the public transportation links. So, weekends mean sparse transport options. One of the only two tube lines in our area is down this weekend, and it's the main one that gets us anywhere we want to be. Add to that, there is a strike of the bus drivers in our area as well! So, my trip to the store for a few items took 2 hours! And, it's cold and rainy. (Of course...) And, I probably didn't travel more than a couple of miles.

So, grocery shopping. No car. Means no full grocery cart ("trolley"). You get a few things at at time, or you order on line and have them delivered (for 3-5 GBP). (Think about hauling luggage around!)

It takes 4-5 hours to do ONE load of laundry! No kidding! The machine in our flat (and the one in our house) does both washing and drying (figure that out, you engineers out there!) It takes 2-2.5 hours to wash (WHY?!?!?) And then, it takes about that amount of time to dry them, and then they come out totally wrinkled. My friend dries her clothes on the radiators, and it takes about 30 minutes and the aren't wrinkled. If only we could figure out how to work the radiators in this flat..... (And somehow, it is pretty warm in here.) Moral of the story: No more doing all of the laundry on Saturday...) And, let's not even start to talk about figuring out how to run the thing. The washing categories have to do with temperature-- in Celsius! We're just guessing. Things seem to be coming out cleaner than they went in.....

Computer keyboards are different. First of all, they had to find room for the sign that represents their money (Sterling Pound-- I don't have that symbol on my computer to show you, and I'm too lazy to figure out the trick to get to it). But, they kept the $ sign... So, the @ symbol is where our " is, and the " is where our @ is located. (They could have left those alone!) The $ sign is in the same place, but the Sterling pound sign is where the # is. I don't remember where the # is located. Additionally, the shift keys and the enter keys are smaller-- almost as small as the letter keys.

Toilets flush funny. On most toilets, the flusher is a button on the tank, or on the wall behind the toilet. Regardless, they all flush funny! Speaking of toilets, in most public restrooms we've visited, their are no stalls, but individual toilet rooms, where the door goes floor to ceiling. If not, there is not much air space above or below the door. Much more private!

Debit cards have a chip in them, and the magnetic strip is not magnetic, nor functional. We have been to a couple of places where we couldn't use our US debit cards because they don't have the chip. (We now have UK cards.)

This is wierd: When we stayed with my friend, and then in the hotel, neither had flat sheets. Just a fitted sheet and a duvet. (We bought sheets for the flat, and did get flat sheets.) I don't understand that.... I keep forgetting to ask my friend about it.

Electric kettles are everywhere! It's a tea-drinking country, and we must have our hot water at the ready! We have started making French press coffee-- mostly because the container is smaller to haul around, given that we are still only temporarily housed. (We do have the electric kettle, though.)

That's all the wierdness I can think of at the moment. Will write more later!

Another week

David and I finished our first "working" work week. The first week was all training, and this past week we spent with our work units half time, and the other half shadowing other units. Everyone continues to be very nice and helpful. The manegement seems to have some understanding that moving a family around the world is a big deal, with many complications and things to do. They are being very supportive and flexible.

It turns out there there are about 10 of us "Yanks" working for this agency. So, a colleague who has been here for a few years has invited all of us for a Thanksgiving meal. So, we will work all day, and have our traditional dinner in the evening. I wonder how many of us will make it to work on Friday.....

The boys have had a mostly relaxing week with Grandma. They ventured out one day to find a bookstore-- they've read everything they brought. It turned out be quite the adventure, landing somewhere they hadn't intended. They found their book store, AND theire way home! People are very helpful when you ask them how to get where you want to go.

One evening, we went to the O2. It is a HUGE arena, plus a lot of other things. It was built to commemorate the millenium in 2000, sat dormant for a few years, then a developer bought it for 1 pound, and has developed about half of it. It is THE concert arena in town, where all of the big names perform, and where Michael Jackson was to perform 50 concerts. There is also a small "town" with a street full of restaurants and exhibits. The British Music Experience is there (but closed when we got there). Zane made a music video, and we played some video games (free).

We plan to play "tourist" again this weekend... more updates then!

We're all here!

Gray and Zane arrived yesterday with their Grandma (David's mother). It's great to have them here! We have also moved into the temporary flat until our house is ready. It's "ok." I wouldn't pay to stay here on a long term basis. It is just worn. And, it smelled of cigarette smoke. I think we have that fixed. We now own stock in Febreeze... (Well, we should!)



Yesterday, the boys and Grandma rested-- they didn't sleep for almost 24 hours! None of them slept on the plane, so they were quite tired when they arrived. David and I went shopping for more basics: sheets, towels, groceries. We started this on Friday night. It took us almost 7 hours!

When we finished work at 4, we had to go to our primary office (we have been in a different location all week) to print, sign, scan and email mortgage documents. This shouldn't have been terribly difficult, except that someone sent us on the LONGEST bus route which was constantly stuck in traffic. We eventually got off the bus and walked. Beat the bus by probably an hour! By the time we got out of there, it was close to 6. We had to get to the estate agent's office to get keys to the apartment by 7, and get to the hotel to get our luggage to go to the flat. We got to the flat at about 7:30. Have I mentioned that many stores close at 6:30? We researched a couple of stores on the internet, verified that they were open late and headed out. Only to discover that the store we had chosen was only a food store. (Who knew that "Metro" meant groceries?) We asked someone at that store where to go, and were directed to one of two different locations (neither of which were very near where we were.) A customer suggested a different store in the office/retail complex we were in. Well, we got a nice tour of the area, only to arrive at the store just as it was closing (9pm). We have now verified that the maps of this office/retail complex are inside out, upside down, and counter-clockwise. A security guard told us so tonight! We eventually found our way to another store, to find out that they don't carry housewares. Someone there made phone calls until she verified the location of a 24 hour store which carried the things we needed. We didn't even have any sheets for the beds at this point, and it was about 1030 at night!!! FINALLY, we landed at the right place. Got our linens and headed home. Got home at 1230 am, and had to be at the airport around 730 the next morning. Did I mention that it takes an hour and a half to get to the airport?

Well, we overslept. But, fortunatly, the plane was delayed, and we ended up getting to the gate about 5 minutes before our family arrived. WHEW! We had no way to contact them, nor they us.

So, while boys and Grandma rested, David and I shopped-- in rain and incredible winds. We were both pack mules, getting all that stuff back to the apartment-- which we will have to move again on Dec. 1.....

Sunday was a much nicer day. Beautiful weather (mid 50's). We played tourist. We took a double decker bus to Greenwhich where we walked past the Royal Naval College and Queen's House, and ate lunch at Trafalgar Tavern-- it was the local haunt of literary greats such as Charles Dickens. (Yes, we've been there before, but had to take Grandma there!) We then took a river boat, and passed by the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, a big battleship (don't remember the name), and tons of very cool architecture-- both historical and modern. We got off the boat at Big Ben. We walked a bit and saw Westminster Abbey-- couldn't go in, they were having services. We walked toward Buckingham Palace, but it was a farther walk than it appeared on the map, and our recent travelers were getting very weary. So, we got on a double decker bus which took us past Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus and the West End (location of the theatres-- London's version of New York's Broadway.) We went back to that office/retail comlex that almost swallowed us last night to get something to eat. (That area is called Canary Wharf, but the way.) So, it was a typical London tourist day. More of those to come!

We will post photos at some point. But, the internet connection we are using is essentially a mobile phone connection, and it is very slow to upload photos. Sorry, but you'll have to wait for those!

Where is the shower? Where do I dry my clothes? (A very long update!)

We have not had internet access for a few days, so this one is quite long.

9 November 2009

Showers are an afterthought in houses built in the 1930’s. So, most showers are retro-fit to work with the claw foot tub. It’s an interesting setup. Also, no shower curtain. A piece of glass on hinges, about 1/3 the of the length of the tub is supposed to keep the water off the floor. I suppose it works most of the time. I tried to take photos- don’t know if you can see it.
We have also learned that most households don’t have clothes dryers. They hang their clothes out to dry (do they not know that it rains A LOT!?!), or they drape them over the radiators to dry. This is actually pretty effective. Our clothes were dry in about 30 minutes that way. They hung outside ALL DAY, and only got cold, then we draped them over the radiators and in half hour, they were toasty. Fortunately, our house has a dryer. Though it is in the garage, which is detached from the house, in the back of the garden (small back yard). So, washing machine in the kitchen, dryer in the garage (unless we choose to use radiators.) I suppose it’s an energy savings to use the radiators, particularly if they are on anyway.
For the first week, we stayed with a friend, Kimberly. She hosts people who come to England to learn English in an immersion program. Since she has students for the next few weeks, and our house is not available until 1 December, we are officially transient. We are in a small, privately owned hotel for a few days, and then our estate agent will have a 2 bedroom apartment for us to stay in until our house is ready. It’s very much a bohemian existence at this point! But, it’s what we chose, given our housing options. I will say that our choice of area in which to live has been very much validated by our colleagues. They have all affirmed that we have chosen a nice, decent area with great schools. So, I suppose it’s worth the wait in the long run. (Particularly since leases are for 2 years!)

We started training for our jobs on Monday. It was a good day, lots of information, meeting many people. We both enjoy the people on our units (we call them teams). Everyone was very nice and helpful. I have to mention Camille. She moved here from New York at the end of September. She has been extremely helpful, meeting with us to find a hotel in a decent area, providing directions to get to work. The biggest glitch is that there was a bus driver’s strike on Monday, which affected ALL of the busses we knew to take to work. We even had a couple of routes available to us, and all of the buses were affected. So, making a great impression, we arrived at work 45 minutes late! It took over 2 hours to get there! It should take no more than 30 minutes, if the buses are running, even if traffic is horrible! We were able to call and let them know, and we were in touch with Camille by phone. She was in the same position as us, but knew a little more about bus routes and provided some guidance that eventually got us there. Fortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence, so everyone was very understanding, particularly since we couldn’t be expected to know the bus routes yet. (The Tube routes are very easy to figure out, if you know where you are and where you’re going. Bus routes are too numerous to post publicly the way the underground routes are posted.)

On Saturday, we were able to play tourist. We went to Greenwich Park, which is home of the Royal Observatory and Planetarium. It is also a very large, beautiful park. What’s amazing, is that these huge, green parks are all over the city. Greenwich is one of the bigger parks, but they are everywhere. In the city! The Royal Observatory is home of the Prime Meridian -- it is where 0 degrees longitude is defined (the line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole.) It is also where Greenwich Mean Time is defined. You see on world clocks that time zones are defined in terms of GMT + or – some number of hours. For example, Kansas City is in the time zone defined by GMT – 6 hours. So, this is where GMT is defined! Our time zone is therefore Greenwich Mean Time. This was defined in the late 1700’s, based upon astronomical observations and mathematical analysis of early astronomers. Very fascinating! The Royal Observatory is also home of the World’s 7th largest telescope-- a 28 inch telescope. It is HUGE!
We had lunch at The Trafalgar—a pub famous for early figures of literature, including Charles Dickinson. It sits right on the bank of the Thames. After lunch, we went to the Royal Naval College. The “building” is split in half so that the Royalty in residence (at the Queen's House-- but a Queen never resided there) when it was built could maintain their view of the river. In one building is a large, very ornate chapel. This is where Lord Nelson laid in State when he died. The other building has what is referred to as “The Painted Room.” Again, very large and ornate. It houses a very elegant dining hall.
Oh, and all of this is FREE! Most of the museums in London are free. Don’t worry, though. There are plenty of sites and activities where you can spend your money!

10 November 2009

Second day of “work.” We are training with our work units, so we are getting to know the people with whom we will work the most. Everyone is very nice and helpful. There is a nice mix of people who have been working in this area for a long time and people who are new. There is certainly a lot to learn!

Public transportation, while convenient, is a bit of a pain, particularly at rush hour. The buses have to drive on the roads with all of the cars. It’s pretty amazing that very small cars take on these big buses, fighting for their space in the road. Additionally, both buses and tubes are VERY FULL during rush hour. We’ve watched people squeeze into the tube such that the are almost closed in the doors, just to get on the thing! People are crammed in like sardines. I try to remember Mandt stances: strong front to back with a front stance, and strong side to side with a side stance. It’s VERY useful when you are balancing on a bus or train. (Our Mental Health Center colleagues will understand that reference, but the principles are true for everyone.)
After work, we signed the lease on our house. It was 20 pages long! We did read through it, and it’s mostly about what the landlord gets. We just get the place for the agreed upon amount and have to take good care of it.

After that, we met up with my friend, Rich. Rich and I went to junior high and high school together. He has been in London for about 12 years. He took us through the area where he lives, which just happens to be very near the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. It’s funny how such deep, rich history sits amidst modern buildings. (Or rather, modern tall buildings sit amidst history...) All around the Tower and Bridge are fairly new office, retail and restaurant buildings. Of course, this is all along the banks of the Thames, so it’s very high end. I have enough city girl in me that I really enjoyed it.

It's been quite a week-- learning about our jobs, meeting the people, securing housing (both permanent and temporary, since our permanent home isn't ready until 1 December.) All the while, trying to figure out this thorough and complex public transportation system. We'll get it though. Today, David and I got seperated on a "bendy bus." These are buses with an accordian like thing in the middle that help them take corners. They are pretty funny looking. Anyway, we got seperated and since I have been the navigator, and keep numbers in my head, David got lost and confused. He did find his way, but it took a long time!

Are you tired of reading yet? I'm tired of typing!

Until next post...

Can I get new feet?

We've been here 3.5 days. What have we done? We have WALKED!!! Mostly looking for a place to live. It seems that the area where we want to live is the area EVERYONE wants to live! Rental properties (or properties "to let") go quicker than they can be posted on internet real estate sites! We even walked through neighborhoods and called when we saw "to let" signs in yards, and they were already gone... So, it was either slim pickins where we wanted to live, or broaden our search. We broadened our search a bit, and didn't find anyting any more attractive, so we picked from the first two houses we saw the first day. One house was HUGE! Bigger than our house in Overland Park. 5 bedrooms, a HUGE living room, HUGE kitchen, 3 car garage with a game room attached. The landlord even came down 350 pounds on the price. It was a great deal, but way more house than we need, higher than we wanted to pay, and we could only assume that it would be more expensive to heat. It would have been great for guests, but....

So, we went with a "normal size" 3 bedroom, semi-detached house:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10%20Lorne%20Gardens%20Wanstead&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7TSHB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

Or, you can go to Google maps and search for 10 Lorne Gardens, Redbridge, London E11 2BZ, and then click the "A" balloon, and click "Street View."

It drops you onto Burnham Crescent. Go down that street (Click on the picture, and use your arrow keys to "walk the street.") to Lorne Gardens, and turn right. "Walk" down to number 10 (you will see the address displayed at the top of the picture as you stroll down the street.)

It has 3 bedrooms-- one is smaller than Zane's room, another about the size of our room with built in wardrobes (pretty unusual to have closets-- most people buy a wardrobe to store clothes in), and the third is a little larger, again with built in wardrobes. The kitchen is "galley style," narrow, but it actually has more cabinet and counter space than my former kitchen. The "reception," is a living room/dining room all in one long room. There is a "garden," a small back yard with some grass and a small paved patio. There is a garage as well.

I don't have photos of the actual house, but there is a similar one on this site: http://www.pettyson.co.uk/Property/Residential/for-sale/Wanstead/-/PSP110022

The layout is the same, though the furniture is different. There is some furniture with the place, and the family moving out is moving to Australia, and have indicated that much of their furniture is for sale, so we will be chatting with them about that.

The lady who lives there has lived there 2.5 years, and says "neighborhood is great, neighbors are great, landlord is great." There is a primary school just down the road. Hopefully, Zane will be able to attend that one. There are two secondary schools (where Gray will attend) less than a mile from the house. Again, hopefully he can get into one of them. (remember earlier post where I explained that kids get into the school which is less over crowded and closest to home.)

Because our priority has been to find a home, we haven't done much site seeing. However, we have ridden the double decker bus-- top and bottom, the train and the "tube." We rode (via taxi) through central London en route from the airport to my friend's house and got to see lots of things there- the most noteworthy was Harrod's Department Store. It's a pretty famous and posh store in London. The funny thing was, they had Wizard of Oz in their window displays! Drove through Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Oxford Street, Kensington (one residence of the royal family).

We did go to a fireworks display on Guy Fawkes Day. (He was some sort of government protestor from a long time ago.) They celebrate the day like we do July 4th-- LOTS of fireworks. It was a better display than most I've seen in the US.

The friend we are staying with lives on a hill in a borough south of central London. You can see the city from here! It's a fantastic view! Great workout for the tush getting up here from the bus stop...

Things we've noticed:

* Whey you say, "Thank you," people respond with "No worries."

* Instead of saying "Excuse me," people say, "Sorry."

* No electrical outlets in bathrooms-- they don't have the GCFI circuit breaker to protect wiring from water. That means no light switch either. It's OUTSIDE the bathroom door.

* Walk on the left, not on the right (just like you drive). Well, most of the time. Hard to tell when to break that "rule."

* We have been in 3 pubs that don't serve food. (And then 3 that do serve food.)

* At rush hour, the tube is like a herd of sardines.

* The banking system is wierd: You have to have a job to get a bank account, but you need a bank account to get paid from your job. You also have to have a UK address to get an account. And, you need a bank account and a job to get an address. (Fortunately, we have job letters and a friend's address.)

* LOTS of walking. (We knew that before, but now we feel it!)

* If you stand around looking lost in the tube station, someone will actually offer to help you.

* The A to Z map is the best 10 quid you'll ever spend!

* A latte is only 25 to 50 pence more than a regular drip coffee.

* Fresh produce and meat markets are everywhere! Don't know how reputable they are, though.

* Everyone is from somewhere else. So many languages spoken in the street and on the Tube.

* No tax on food and beverage. HUGE tax on almost everything else.

* Every car we have been in has been a manual and has been from Germany.

* Cars are generally smaller and "roundish." Similar to VW bug.

* We did see a 1960's Dodge parked on a residential street.

There are other observations, but it's too late and too early to remember!