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.....

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!