3 days until I move.
I'm very excited as I'm officially ready to enter the UK as a work permit and Visa holder. I picked up my Visa today (it's stamped inside my passport) and that means I have 60 months (5 years to do the math for you) to live and work in the UK until I need to renew it! WOOHOO!
Work permit - tick
Visa - tick
Packed up - tick
Ready for a new adventure - tick
Cannot wait any longer? - tick
I'm ready to gooooooo!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Salt Lick Delivered!
4 Days to go!
Saturday afternoon was spent preparing loads of food at Andrew's place in Brooklyn. We had mashed potatoes, cole slaw, chips, fruit, collared greens, chocolate banana bread, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf and sweet tea. These were all sides though that were centered around the online ordering and delivery of Salt Lick way down in Driftwood Texas. It was a brilliant way to end my final weekend in NY and the U.S. although with celebrating Steph's birthday as well (Happy Birthday Steph!). We all had a great time preparing, chatting, eating and eating more. I was sooooooo stuffed and completely in a food coma by the end of the food-a-thon and the salt lick meat (sausage, brisket and ribs) turned out really well! It was really tasty. Now for some pictures of the Meat Feast of 2008:
Yummy sides
SALT LICK!
Group Photo
Food Coma Jones
Gabe. Out. (that chair was so comfy!)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, so good. I must say though that after that feast my stomach was not very happy with me and woke up me throughout the night to remind me of the amount of BBQ i consumed. Nasty indigestion but totally worth it. :-)
Saturday afternoon was spent preparing loads of food at Andrew's place in Brooklyn. We had mashed potatoes, cole slaw, chips, fruit, collared greens, chocolate banana bread, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf and sweet tea. These were all sides though that were centered around the online ordering and delivery of Salt Lick way down in Driftwood Texas. It was a brilliant way to end my final weekend in NY and the U.S. although with celebrating Steph's birthday as well (Happy Birthday Steph!). We all had a great time preparing, chatting, eating and eating more. I was sooooooo stuffed and completely in a food coma by the end of the food-a-thon and the salt lick meat (sausage, brisket and ribs) turned out really well! It was really tasty. Now for some pictures of the Meat Feast of 2008:
Yummy sides
SALT LICK!
Group Photo
Food Coma Jones
Gabe. Out. (that chair was so comfy!)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, so good. I must say though that after that feast my stomach was not very happy with me and woke up me throughout the night to remind me of the amount of BBQ i consumed. Nasty indigestion but totally worth it. :-)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Packing Up
10 Days to go
This past weekend I knocked one more thing off my list and that was going to Zum Schneider's German biergarten in the East Village. I'd been wanting to go for some time and I finally went with steph and andrew and had an enormous and delicious beer in a proper 1L Munchen pint glass as well as some pretzel, prok shoulder and German bratwurst. Mmmmmm, yummy! Afterwards we went to BonChon for korean fried chicken and lychee soju (so good!) and then to Ginger Man for another pint. It was a fun night!
Gabe at Zum's
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and packing. I've decided to give up on the prospect of hiring a shipping company to move my things and just throw away or give away a lot of it. The rest I've managed to pack into two 20x20x20 boxes which will be going on the plane with me as extra baggage. It's a LOT cheaper that hiring a ruddy moving company to take my stuff across seas as their base estimate was somewhere around $2000. Yeah...that's not going to happen. So I spent most of the day Sunday finding things to pack away only leaving the bare minimum to pack into my two remaining suitcases, one of which is being shipped to me as I needed a bigger bag. Right, well I feel pretty good about my packing status, definitely one thing ticked off my list.
Now if I could just apparate, grab my work permit and apparate back...
*CRACK*
This past weekend I knocked one more thing off my list and that was going to Zum Schneider's German biergarten in the East Village. I'd been wanting to go for some time and I finally went with steph and andrew and had an enormous and delicious beer in a proper 1L Munchen pint glass as well as some pretzel, prok shoulder and German bratwurst. Mmmmmm, yummy! Afterwards we went to BonChon for korean fried chicken and lychee soju (so good!) and then to Ginger Man for another pint. It was a fun night!
Gabe at Zum's
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and packing. I've decided to give up on the prospect of hiring a shipping company to move my things and just throw away or give away a lot of it. The rest I've managed to pack into two 20x20x20 boxes which will be going on the plane with me as extra baggage. It's a LOT cheaper that hiring a ruddy moving company to take my stuff across seas as their base estimate was somewhere around $2000. Yeah...that's not going to happen. So I spent most of the day Sunday finding things to pack away only leaving the bare minimum to pack into my two remaining suitcases, one of which is being shipped to me as I needed a bigger bag. Right, well I feel pretty good about my packing status, definitely one thing ticked off my list.
Now if I could just apparate, grab my work permit and apparate back...
*CRACK*
Thursday, March 20, 2008
14 days to go
It's a weird feeling to think I'll be leaving in just 14 days. I'll be leaving New York, a place I've explored and worked in over just about the last two years. I'll be leaving the country I grew up in and have known for the last 24 years and moving to a whole new environment, culture and city with new people, new views and new places to explore and discover. With that comes a great sense of excitement. But I'm not there yet, I'm half way in between as I'm completely ready to move and start what amounts to a new life in a new city but there are 14 days left of this NY life. What to do? See friends, pack up things, shop while clothes and electronics are still cheap, cross off things that are still on my NY todo list (most of which was done last weekend) and just wait. I can an awesome dinner with some colleagues and old teammates last night at ben and jacks steakhouse. We ordered two massive porter house steaks (one steak feeds four) and it was AMAZING! My god, hands down the best porter house I've ever had and definitely up there for best steak I've ever eaten. Superb!
There's one item left before I can leave and it's a fairly critical one...my visa. It's still waiting to be approved and I've been notified it will arrive in time for my April 3rd departure but it's making me VERY anxious and I'm trying not to think about it. That's nearly impossible though as it pops in my mind all the time. I've secure an apartment, I've been approved and my paperwork is all sorted but that Visa is still pending as well as my UK bank account but that's a massive rant and will not be repeated again.
Added Londonisms although it should really be renamed to Britishisms:
*Pants - men's underwear
*Trousers - pants
I'm ready (I think) and I want to move, I want to start the many things in London that I've been waiting for.
Roll on April!!
There's one item left before I can leave and it's a fairly critical one...my visa. It's still waiting to be approved and I've been notified it will arrive in time for my April 3rd departure but it's making me VERY anxious and I'm trying not to think about it. That's nearly impossible though as it pops in my mind all the time. I've secure an apartment, I've been approved and my paperwork is all sorted but that Visa is still pending as well as my UK bank account but that's a massive rant and will not be repeated again.
Added Londonisms although it should really be renamed to Britishisms:
*Pants - men's underwear
*Trousers - pants
I'm ready (I think) and I want to move, I want to start the many things in London that I've been waiting for.
Roll on April!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Londonisms
After reading many books, speaking with a few Brits and being in London all of last week, I've definitely picked up a few Londonisms, Britishisms and just fun things. My thought is to keep track of them on my blog but I already know it's not going to stay up-to-date. I'll still try though, so keep tuned and check my site for updated Londonisms as I dive deeper into the culture. The list is there on the right side of my blog. You can't miss it!
My official move date is April 4th, just need to wait for my work permit and visa and then buy my flight then I'll be sorted.
oh and more photos from London:
Primrose hill at dusk
view of london from primrose hill
night shot from waterloo bridge
My official move date is April 4th, just need to wait for my work permit and visa and then buy my flight then I'll be sorted.
oh and more photos from London:
Primrose hill at dusk
view of london from primrose hill
night shot from waterloo bridge
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Flat Hunting in London
Hello from London!
I've been here since 1st of March and what an adventure it has been. I've walked around a lot of areas in London and have really enjoyed my time here. I love it and can't wait to move here! I've had this odd feeling all week that I actually live here now and it really feels like I do but not yet...one more month.
I've secured a flat in the south part of Brixton near the Herne Hill Thameslink station. It's a really nice area...well at least part of it. There are some seedy spots but I'll avoid those. The nice bits are that there's a beautiful, massive park called Brockwell Park not 5 minutes from my flat. It's also a really modern and new building and less than my budget so it's great in multiple aspects. I'm also less than 10 minutes from the nearest station with a 15 minute ride straight into work! it's really an ideal location for what i need and i am very excited that I was able to secure the spot. Brilliant, i say!
Here's a google maps view of where I live, it's south and a bit west.
google map of my new flat in London!
I'm at Leon's right now which is fairly close to my hotel and they have free wireless which is very nice. I haven't been able to get internet in my room since it's £15 per day which is complete codswallop! So this is the first time i've been able to type anything up about the trip. It's been wonderful so far and I can't wait to come back in April.
Here are a few pictures from the trip so far:
View of the city and the Thames from the southbank
St. Paul's Cathedral (literally right outside of where i work)
Brockwell Park
London street
Near smithfield market
My flat building
Lounge area
Outside my window
Lounge area and kitchen view
Bathroom
Kitchen
It's been a very lovely and successful trip!
I've been here since 1st of March and what an adventure it has been. I've walked around a lot of areas in London and have really enjoyed my time here. I love it and can't wait to move here! I've had this odd feeling all week that I actually live here now and it really feels like I do but not yet...one more month.
I've secured a flat in the south part of Brixton near the Herne Hill Thameslink station. It's a really nice area...well at least part of it. There are some seedy spots but I'll avoid those. The nice bits are that there's a beautiful, massive park called Brockwell Park not 5 minutes from my flat. It's also a really modern and new building and less than my budget so it's great in multiple aspects. I'm also less than 10 minutes from the nearest station with a 15 minute ride straight into work! it's really an ideal location for what i need and i am very excited that I was able to secure the spot. Brilliant, i say!
Here's a google maps view of where I live, it's south and a bit west.
google map of my new flat in London!
I'm at Leon's right now which is fairly close to my hotel and they have free wireless which is very nice. I haven't been able to get internet in my room since it's £15 per day which is complete codswallop! So this is the first time i've been able to type anything up about the trip. It's been wonderful so far and I can't wait to come back in April.
Here are a few pictures from the trip so far:
View of the city and the Thames from the southbank
St. Paul's Cathedral (literally right outside of where i work)
Brockwell Park
London street
Near smithfield market
My flat building
Lounge area
Outside my window
Lounge area and kitchen view
Bathroom
Kitchen
It's been a very lovely and successful trip!
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