We're Not in Kansas Anymore

I previously wrote about the window displays at Harrod's. I took some photos (some BAD ones, as it turns out! Sorry, especially to all the photographers out there!)
I've never seen Dorothy or the Tin Man quite like this...

We finally had a visit by the schools to verify our residence. At 8 pm! And we have been staying home all DAY... I wonder how many evenings or weekends they showed up? Now, let's see if they can get it together to get the kids into school when it resumes in January.....

Well, after just talking with the schools, I'm not convinced that they are going to make this happen. Apparently, it is "normal" for a child to be waiting for a few months if the schools are full. "Normal" and ACCETABLE are two completely different things! They have apparently assigned Gray to the school in the borough that is the farthest from our house: 5.5 miles and an hour and a half by bus ONE WAY! We can appeal that, but they have 30 days to respond to the appeal. So, we are busy writing every government official we can think of.

On Friday evening, I went shopping for those items we want for Christmas breakfast and dinner which are not available in grocery stores here: Karo syrup, canned pumpkin, Log Cabin type syrup and marshmellow fluff (for fudge). They have pumpkins, which I could cut up and cook, but frankly, I don't have the time to do that. They have NO corn syrup that I can find. They sell pure maple syrup, imported from Canada- at an outrageous price. (Though it's probably about the same as I paid for the fake stuff they imported from America...) I also picked up some Kraft Mac and Cheese and some microwave popcorn-- neither of which are readily available (in any brand or form). So, just as an example: both the Karo and the Log Cabin syrups cost 4 GBP each-- that's about $7! I could have ordered them from Ebay for about 8 GBP, or about $15 each. Good thing Christmas only comes once a year! There is a website where we can order American food. Prices are as outrageous, and there is a shipping charge on top of it. (www.americansoda.co.uk) We did get a Christmas pudding to serve. A little of America, a little of England.

An interesting note about Christmas pudding: it's not really pudding as we know it. It's more of a really moist cake. Also, to make a proper Christmas pudding, it takes about 6 weeks! There is even a Sunday designated to begin preparing your Christmas pudding. Since we missed that, we have bought one. We'll let you know how it goes...

We found a church we are excited to visit. It is Hillsong Church. It meets in one of the theatres in central London. (The one that is playing, "We Will Rock You," with the music of Queen...) Hillsong publishes a lot of Christian music. One of the questions in the FAQ section of the website was: "I am concerned about the sound level in the Dominion Theatre." Sounds like our kind of church! We'll let you know about it.

My Spanish co-worker explained today that Santa/Father Christmas/Chris Kringle doesn't visit Spain. Christmas Eve is the big deal, but focused on a big meal with family, followed by a day of relaxation on Christmas Day. (Or a day of recovering from gluttony!) The gifts come out on January 6, on Epiphany. The Three Kings are the "mascot" for Epiphany.

We have offered to host dinner on Christmas Day for the American social workers. The interesting thing is, there is no transportation on Christmas day (other than cabs, which will charge double fare), so folks are spending the night on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us and/or another American who lives nearby. So, while it's not family, we will have a crowd for Christmas. We will sure miss being with family on Christmas!!!

The day after Christmas is Boxing Day-- also a holiday. (I need to remember the significance of this day.) But, it is the shopping day like Black Friday in America. People line up (though not as early as in America) to get all the good sales. It seems a little backwards to me. I want the sales for buying presents! I will have to adjust...

We should have real internet access by Christmas, so we will be able to Skype on Christmas. We look forward to talking with some of you!

I'm glad not all days are like today...

(We have a few photos of David and Zane asleep on the tube... We wear them out!)

We decided to try another church. Found the one we wanted to try, rushed around to get ready and missed the bus. The ONE bus that comes to our neighborhood comes every 30 minutes on Sunday. So, we caught the next one, and then realized that the walk to the church from the bus stop was farther than originally thought. By the time we would have gotten there, it would have been well into the service. Meanwhile, we are cold, frustrated and all of us in a foul mood. So, we got on the Tube, and went to exchange the Wii remote that has needed returned for 2 weeks. We needed to accomplish SOMETHING. Decided to treat the kids to McDonalds since it had been such a yucky start to the day. (They have been begging for awhile, and we have resisted.)

We decided to search for some of the moderately essential items we were still missing: trash can, can opener, cleaning supplies, Christmas decorations. Another success!

Later, David decided to go in search of stereo equipment. He ran into a train line that was closed for the weekend, and the replacement bus took the loooooooooong way around. He got to the store just in time to watch them close. He stopped in a pub before trying to figure out how to get back. Ended up on an "express" train, which didn't stop until it reached the end of the line. Got back on going the other direction, and of course, it stopped at all stops.

I tried to shop for a vacuum cleaner on line (a pain to carry on the bus and tube). Found one that looked like it would do the job, and it wasn't available for home delivery.

It's just been one of those days.

The week, however, was much better. We went to see Wicked, which was FABULOUS! Great show, and it was our first since coming to London. We found the discount ticket websites, so got our tickets for about half price.

We also went to Harrod's. It is THE department store in London. (There are many, of course, but this one is known particularly for it's opulence.) The holiday theme is The Wizard of Oz, in celebration of it's 70th anniversary. All of the display windows had the Oz theme. But, imagine The Wizard of Oz, done "Vogue" style... Quite outrageous, some of them, but all very creative and cool. (Couldn't get photos... in order to get far enough away to get the photo, there would have been hundreds of strange people in them!)

Inside, each room has a theme. Oz is present throughout, but they had the Egyptian room, which displayed fine jewelry (a watch that was 250,000 GBP). There was a billiard table that had a 1 million pound price tag! A TV that was 103 inches. Attendants in the bathrooms. You get the picture. It's kind of fun to be able to wander through, even though nothing is within reach. The architecture and interior design is museum quality.

We also went to a Christmas Fair at Hyde Park (the big park that is near Buckingham Palace.) The German Christmas Market is a common theme here, and it was here in spades! Of course, plenty of carnival rides and snack booths (lots of warm mulled wine available!) and merchandise booths. It is a semi-permanent thing, as it will be open daily for about 2 months. It is free to enter-- but that's where the free stuff stops! (Like any other carinval, right?)

We did have an experience on the tube (with kids and Grandma) where we were certain that we were squished in as tightly as could be, and a family of three squished themselves in at just the last minute! I'm surprised that the whole crowd didn't just fall out when the door opened-- you know like the closet that is stuffed full, and when you open the door, it all comes toppling down? That didn't happen, thankfully, but I'm not sure how it didn't!

Another first: we ordered groceries on the internet and had them delivered! That's a different experience. I'm used to being able to see what I'm purchasing. We will need some practice to work that one out. I realized that I had purchased meat for meals, but not many things that we could do with the meat, much less side dishes! I also forgot toilet paper, cleaning supplies, dish soap... It will definately take some practice. But, it's much easier than either shopping every day or trying to haul 10 bags of groceries on the tube.

We find ourselves eating lots of fresh fruits and vegtables. The kids prefer their veggies uncooked, and they are more affordable than the less nutritious canned or frozen ones. I sort of feel like I'm learning how to cook again. The things available are similar, but not the same. Many things have a different name, so figuring out how to find what I am looking for is a challenge. (Hamburger is "mince.")

We are still fighting with the schools. They still have not shown up for the residency check to verify that we do indeed live here. We found out that the primary school nearest us is one of the best in either the city or the country. And, since you can choose your school, regardless of where you live, people try to cheat or lie about where they live to get their kids into the good school. (Kids in the immediate area have priority over kids traveling from somewhere else.) So, we are waiting... not so patiently anymore! We call them, and/or email them every single day. We are nice, but just asking where things are with our applications. We are now trying to figure out whe we can contact to lodge a complaint. There has to be an entity the schools fear hearing from.... (besides us, AGAIN!).

Sadly, David's Mom returned to the US on Friday. We will miss her, but I am sure she is more than ready to be home! We tried to take her to see things, and she insists that she got to do everything she wanted to and more, but it's so sad that she had to stay in the house with the kids waiting for the stupid school to show up-- especially since they never did!

Unfortunately, the boys are getting very bored and very lonely, having to be cooped up all the time, with no one their age to play with. The last few days, they didn't behave very well for their grandma. They are also increasingly homesick-- again, lonely, bored because they don't have opportunities to meet kids their age. One night, we sent Zane out to meet the boys who were playing in the street. They seemed to be close to his age. That went really well, but it's been too cold or wet to play outside after school since then. And, we are out playing tourist or getting things for the house on the weekends.

Maybe we will stay home next weekend, especially since today was such a disaster!

What a week!

We finally moved into our house this week. We took the day off so we could get it done. We had mostly suitcases (11 of them) and grocery bags to move. So, how do you do that without a car?

We actually hired a mini-cab. These are different than regular black taxis that you see in that you actually call to schedule the cab, and they tell you the fare for the trip BEFORE they pick you up. Black taxis have outrageous rates and run on a meter, so if you sit in traffic for an hour, you pay for it. We made one trip with the majority of the stuff, sending David and Grandma by taxi, and Shaunda and the boys took the tube. Then, David and Shaunda went back to the flat with two empty suitcases to get the rest of the stuff. We actually stuffed both of them full and had about 4 grocery bags in addition! Bedding, especially conforters are big! Even when you put them in a bag and suck all the air out. We took the tube to our area, and then hired a mini-cab for the half mile walk. Only one almost major mishap on an escalator in the tube station with all of the luggage and bags! People really are helpful and friendly around here-- several stepped in to help when David almost went backwards down the escalator with the suitcase...

After getting all of our stuff into the house, we headed to Ikea. It's actually quite a trip from our house. The nice thing, though, is that they have mini-cabs there (in the form of mini-vans, which they call "people carriers") to haul all of the people and their stuff home. Imagine, a full set of dishes, pots and pans, glasses, broom, small bathroom and kitchen rugs and miscellaneous household items-- on the tube and bus. IMPOSSIBLE! It would take us a dozen trips to get just the basics! It's not even expensive-- probably the same as it would cost us to take a dozen trips...

On Saturday, we went into full blown tourist mode. We went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. The crowd was impressive, so we got to see mostly the backs of the band. We did see the actual Guard change, though, from the side. It's very "royal." We then had lunch at a pub called "Bag O' Nails," which originated in 1755 as "The Devil and Baccanal." The name changed in 1905. Then, we headed to South Bank to take a trip on the London Eye. It's this very large wheel, with glass capsules that hold about 25 people each. It takes 30 minutes for one rotation, and you get pretty much 360 view from the capsule. Unfortunately, it was raining, so while we did see quite a bit, the photos did not turn out very well. Gray really did NOT want to go. He doesn't like heights, and he insisted that he would not go. He changed his mind at the last minute because he didn't want one of his parents to miss out to stay with him. What a nice guy! He didn't enjoy it much, but he didn't have a panic attack or anything. After The Eye, we headed home. We were going to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant we had heard about, but they were booked. (Mexican restaurants are very rare in London.) We will have to try again-- and get a reservation!

Everyone was very exhausted at the end of the day. There is sooooooo much walking involved in getting anywhere. You have to walk to get to the tube station, and then you have to walk inside the tube station (often under the street, or under train lines!) to change to different tube lines. The tube is fast, it's getting there that takes time!

Sunday, we went to a local church. Much different than our church in the US, it is very small, just starting up. The people were very nice and welcoming, and before we left, we had invitations to tea and 2 Christmas parties! We will probably visit other churches, but this was a good church.

Life here is different. (In case that isn't obvious!) We ordered cable/internet/phone service 3 weeks before we got to our house, hoping that things would get hooked up quickly. We were told that once our cable was hooked up(it's actually sattelite, I guess), we would call to hook up phone and internet. Well, the cable guy did show up on the day we moved in, but he didn't have all the cable he needed to hook us up, and didn't have time to get it all done, so he came back on Sunday. He also said that we have to have phone service in order to switch on the cable. I made them talk with each other, and it is supposed to be figured out, but we still don't have more than the basic BBC channels.... Supposedly by tomorrow morning the man in the magic room will have pushed his button, or flipped his switch... Meanwhile, in a few days we will receive a letter telling us when they will hook up the phone. After that, we can call to schedule Internet..... Apparently, they are still using switchboards, or some such antiquated system! Meanwhile, we use mobile phones and a mobile broadband connection for internet. It is a poor connection and a pain in the but.

The boys still are not in school. We called 2 or three times this week, and were told various versions of "we're working on it." Because Zane is in primary school, and Gray in secondary, there are two admissions offices to contact. For Gray, they are working on proving residence, which they have to do by coming to see that they live at the stated address. The only proof of address they will take are a lease agreement (which we have) and two PAID utility bills (which, obviously, we do not have.) Apparently, they came by just before we actually moved in. They will try 2 more times and then I don't know what happens if we aren't home when they arrive. Oh yeah, they will not schedule the visit. It has to be a surprise visit. So, the boys get to sit at home all day, no cable, until the school dude shows up.

For Zane, they keep telling me that they are full in his grade in every primary school. They offer a spot at the Ilford Jewish School. Two major problems with that: We aren't Jewish, and it's 4 miles from home! They would be obligated to pay a taxi for him to attend that school! There are 3 or 4 schools less than a mile and a half from our house! They told me Friday that they have until the end of this academic year to offer him a spot in school. When I told him that in Child Protection, we are not allowed to have a child out of school for more than 25 days without making headlines, he said he'd print Zane's profile, and see if he could get admissions to assign him a school spot. They aren't as worried about my children attending school as I am! It is very frustrating.

Grandma leaves on Friday, so we have to have some solution by then! For plan B, C and D, we are looking into Child Minders. Those aren't plentiful in our area, either. Our employer will work with us, but this is ridiculous! It is apparently like this in most London schools... they are all full, so they have to get creative in placing new students.

So, that's our week! The adventure continues.....