J came home last night and very slyly mentioned that he had been researching something. I was a bit wary, judging from the expression on his face, and I was right to be so. What had he been researching?
HONG KONG.
As in living in.
Oh my God.
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Friday, March 9, 2012
Monday, March 14, 2011
Decisions, Decisions - Goodbye Limbo
When we first signed up to move to London, the original plan was for 6 months, which stretched to 12 months, which then became 16 months, and then finally 18 months. It's already been 7 1/2 months, and I've been enjoying my time here and trying to squeeze in as much traveling and sightseeing as possible knowing that this will all come to an end at the end of February 2012. Or will it?
Up until now, we've had conversations in passing about where we'd like to end up living after our stint in London was over. We've entertained the thought of staying here permanently, but the thought of living so far away from our friends and family was a bit too much to bear. We both confessed a slight preference to return to California in spite of the fact that we much prefer our lifestyle here in London to the one we had in Los Angeles. We figured that we would perhaps move to San Francisco, which is much more us than LA, and we could easily and frequently visit our friends and family in LA.
Except...
It's come to light that it'll be much better for J's career if we stay here in London for the foreseeable future, and we had a serious discussion over brunch about what we ought to do. It'll be at least another 3 years here in London, and the question is should we stay or should we go. I never thought I'd be making such an important decision over waffles, but decide we did. To stay. In London. For another 3 years, at least. Whoa.
I've been living here as if it's only a temporary stint, which it was supposed to have been, and the implication of such a decision is only now starting to hit me:
(1) We'll be here for the Olympics.
(2) I need to buy a replacement food processor and electric toothbrush.
(3) I could start decorating our flat for reals.
(4) I need a permanent job.
(5) Unsubscribe from emails from US websites such as ruelala and gilt.
(6) I can slow down a bit on travel plans since I have at least another 3 years to explore Europe.
(7) I could actually go back to school and finish another degree if I'd like, without having to worry if the credits are transferable back to the States.
(8) I should take the conversion course to become UK qualified if I want to continue practicing law here in the UK.
(9) The fear that I'll start sounding like those Americans who've been here for a while - it's a very strange sounding hybrid accent that I think begins to develop after two years or so. A well-founded fear considering I know only two other Americans, and I mostly speak with native British speakers on a day to day basis.
(10) I should fetch my cat from my parents' home, where she's been living until we got back to the States.
I'm sure there are a ton of of other things that result from making this decision, but the most significant thing is that I am no longer in limbo. I can actually start planning for the future instead of putting things on hold until I return to the States since I'm no longer planning on returning.
How do I feel? Mostly scared and filled with trepidation. Which is very different from the excited feeling that I had when I first moved to London knowing that there was an end date in mind. The worst thing is being away from my family. I come from a very close knit family (both immediate and extended), and not being near my parents is the hardest thing, especially as they get older. I think it would be exponentially harder if we had or were planning on having children any time soon, but since we're not, now's the time to Carpe Diem!
Oh please, let this be the right decision.
Up until now, we've had conversations in passing about where we'd like to end up living after our stint in London was over. We've entertained the thought of staying here permanently, but the thought of living so far away from our friends and family was a bit too much to bear. We both confessed a slight preference to return to California in spite of the fact that we much prefer our lifestyle here in London to the one we had in Los Angeles. We figured that we would perhaps move to San Francisco, which is much more us than LA, and we could easily and frequently visit our friends and family in LA.
Except...
It's come to light that it'll be much better for J's career if we stay here in London for the foreseeable future, and we had a serious discussion over brunch about what we ought to do. It'll be at least another 3 years here in London, and the question is should we stay or should we go. I never thought I'd be making such an important decision over waffles, but decide we did. To stay. In London. For another 3 years, at least. Whoa.
I've been living here as if it's only a temporary stint, which it was supposed to have been, and the implication of such a decision is only now starting to hit me:
(1) We'll be here for the Olympics.
(2) I need to buy a replacement food processor and electric toothbrush.
(3) I could start decorating our flat for reals.
(4) I need a permanent job.
(5) Unsubscribe from emails from US websites such as ruelala and gilt.
(6) I can slow down a bit on travel plans since I have at least another 3 years to explore Europe.
(7) I could actually go back to school and finish another degree if I'd like, without having to worry if the credits are transferable back to the States.
(8) I should take the conversion course to become UK qualified if I want to continue practicing law here in the UK.
(9) The fear that I'll start sounding like those Americans who've been here for a while - it's a very strange sounding hybrid accent that I think begins to develop after two years or so. A well-founded fear considering I know only two other Americans, and I mostly speak with native British speakers on a day to day basis.
(10) I should fetch my cat from my parents' home, where she's been living until we got back to the States.
I'm sure there are a ton of of other things that result from making this decision, but the most significant thing is that I am no longer in limbo. I can actually start planning for the future instead of putting things on hold until I return to the States since I'm no longer planning on returning.
How do I feel? Mostly scared and filled with trepidation. Which is very different from the excited feeling that I had when I first moved to London knowing that there was an end date in mind. The worst thing is being away from my family. I come from a very close knit family (both immediate and extended), and not being near my parents is the hardest thing, especially as they get older. I think it would be exponentially harder if we had or were planning on having children any time soon, but since we're not, now's the time to Carpe Diem!
Oh please, let this be the right decision.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Last of the Lot
We've got the steepest, windingest staircase ever leading up to our flat so we kind of expect people to be huffing and puffing by the time they reach our front door, and not in a blow-down-your-house kind of way. We managed to get most everything up the stairs when we moved in, but it wasn't a surprise when it turned out that our American sofa wouldn't fit, and we had to have it popped in through our window. Yup, just pop it in. Sounds easy, don't it? But it's not. Not at all. And I found out how not easy it is today when our sofa was finally delivered after living in a storage unit for the last two months.
First, the moving company had to arrange for parking with the council to make sure they had the proper parking spot. Then, they had to position a lift going up to our flat window, which is several stories up. I was so scared that the the sofa would end up not fitting through the window that I measured the windows four times and triple checked the dimensions of the sofa. How horrible would it be if the sofa went up the lift, but wouldn't fit through the window? The handyman then had to pop our windows out of their frame and hold them while three burly men hefted the sofa off the lift and into our flat. Then the handyman reassembled our windows and ran off with a promise to come back and make the window sashes look perfect again.
I nearly hurled just watching the handyman taking apart our centuries old window so I hid out in the bedroom during the whole thing, and J went into the office late to oversee the process since it's probably bad form to throw up on your movers. Everything turned out fine in the end, but the entire process was nerve-wracking, and I can't believe we're going to have to do it again when we move out. Gulp.
First, the moving company had to arrange for parking with the council to make sure they had the proper parking spot. Then, they had to position a lift going up to our flat window, which is several stories up. I was so scared that the the sofa would end up not fitting through the window that I measured the windows four times and triple checked the dimensions of the sofa. How horrible would it be if the sofa went up the lift, but wouldn't fit through the window? The handyman then had to pop our windows out of their frame and hold them while three burly men hefted the sofa off the lift and into our flat. Then the handyman reassembled our windows and ran off with a promise to come back and make the window sashes look perfect again.
 |
| Cranking the lift up to our window... |
 |
| Ahh! We're being attacked by giant ladders! |
 |
| Suffice to say, the lift attracted some notice... |
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Our Furniture Finally Cleared Customs and Arrived! Mostly...
Don't worry, we didn't get nabbed by Her Majesty's Customs Service for trying to smuggle in fake iPhones or anything like that. Our things cleared customs, and everything went up the windy, narrow staircase up to our London flat except for one thing: our sofa. It's not huge or anything, it's just that our staircase is very narrow, and very windy, and so it looks like our sofa's going to come in through our living room window courtesy of a lift. I bet my sofa didn't know it was going to have such an exciting life. =)
Anyway, here's some pics of our flat PF (pre-furniture):
This is the lovely open plan kitchen that I'm expected to cook delicious, healthy meals in, except we don't have the appliance manuals yet, so I'm scared to use anything. Blowing up our new flat would be a bad start.
It looks like it has a lot of storage space, but can you spot the refrigerator, washer, dryer, water boiler and dishwasher?
Here are the living room windows, which face out onto the street so I can just stick my head out and spy on all the pedestrians. I haven't seen anything exciting so far, except for a wasp trying to sting its way in. Btw, my windows are super cool in that lower sash pulls up, and get this, the upper sash pulls down! I didn't even know it could do that until the Sky cable installer showed me yesterday. Mortifying, but still very cool to find out.
I was completely stoked when I saw that we have a fireplace, until the estate agent told me that it's non-functioning. Boo. She suggested I put in some nice flowers or something in the grate, but I'm thinking more along the lines of candles? I'm still taking suggestions, and I'm going to troll apartmenttherapy.com for ideas.
We also have two bathrooms, which is pretty awesome and key to a good marriage, I suspect. There are somethings that just shouldn't be shared: underwear, toothbrushes, and bathrooms. This is the hallway bathroom, which I've pretty much adopted as my own since it's smaller than the ensuite bathroom and I'm smaller than J. I could've been a total girl about it and demanded the bigger bathroom, but I graciously decided to do the logical thing. ;)
I was a bit concerned because we heard so many awful things about the water pressure in London, but ours is better than the one we had back in the States. It's like showering under a freaking waterfall. Basically, it's awesome.
Our master bedroom is really large and has built-in storage! I think that was one of the biggest pluses, since we lived in a loft back in the States with zero storage. I don't have that much stuff, no matter what J says, but it's still nice to have all this space to store things in.
It also has another non-working fireplace, and it's still really pretty to look at even though I can't burn anything in it. Don't worry, I'm not some kind of pyro or anything.
Here's the ensuite bathroom, which is pretty much a larger replica of the hall bathroom. The builders were really clever, and they installed these fans that are linked to the light switches. The cool thing is that the fans keep running for 10 minutes after you turn the lights off, so that you can save energy on the lights and still suck up the leftover steam from your shower.
And lastly, we have a small second bedroom that J is using for his study, and I'm putting my vanity in there. Not my actual vanity, I keep that in a nice box right bewteen my self-esteem and ego. ;) It's also a nice place for guests if they should happen to visit. This is a not so subtle hint to our friends back in the States that they have absolutely no excuse not to visit. And you get a view! Not a very nice view, but a view nonetheless. Okay, now I'm just starting to sound desperate.
And then the moving trucks came...
And then they had to park the truck...
And then they had to open the container...
J had fun watching all the commotion...
Our furniture finally made it out of the container, and eventually made it up to our flat!
Anyway, here's some pics of our flat PF (pre-furniture):
It looks like it has a lot of storage space, but can you spot the refrigerator, washer, dryer, water boiler and dishwasher?
I was a bit concerned because we heard so many awful things about the water pressure in London, but ours is better than the one we had back in the States. It's like showering under a freaking waterfall. Basically, it's awesome.
Our master bedroom is really large and has built-in storage! I think that was one of the biggest pluses, since we lived in a loft back in the States with zero storage. I don't have that much stuff, no matter what J says, but it's still nice to have all this space to store things in.
Here's the ensuite bathroom, which is pretty much a larger replica of the hall bathroom. The builders were really clever, and they installed these fans that are linked to the light switches. The cool thing is that the fans keep running for 10 minutes after you turn the lights off, so that you can save energy on the lights and still suck up the leftover steam from your shower.
And then the moving trucks came...
 | |
| This is why you should not ride a motorcycle. |
 |
| That's right, our second moving truck. |
And then they had to park the truck...
 |
| I'm never going to complain about parallel parking the Z3 ever again. |
And then they had to open the container...
 |
| I think someone forgot the key. |
J had fun watching all the commotion...
Our furniture finally made it out of the container, and eventually made it up to our flat!
 |
| But first, a nice break on the pavement. |
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Dear Furniture,
Please hurry home, we miss you.
The airbed is our raft floating in a sea of wooden floors in an vast and empty room.
I packed an emergency supply of utensils, but I'm missing spoons. Not so good for eating oatmeal and yogurt. Suffice to say, there's a lot of dribbling.
I miss sitting on a chair. I can't figure how those opium den folks always reclined - I'd much rather sit up!
Anyway, get off the ship and come home.
Love, Mom and Dad
The airbed is our raft floating in a sea of wooden floors in an vast and empty room.
I packed an emergency supply of utensils, but I'm missing spoons. Not so good for eating oatmeal and yogurt. Suffice to say, there's a lot of dribbling.
I miss sitting on a chair. I can't figure how those opium den folks always reclined - I'd much rather sit up!
Anyway, get off the ship and come home.
Love, Mom and Dad
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
We Moved!
But the place is pretty empty. I have a flat screen TV that was delivered today, and an air mattress that's buried underneath some of our clothes. The air shipment came today so we got the bare essentials to survive for a while, and the sea shipment will probably get here in another week. Woohoo!
I was worried about not having internet, but my flat is close enough to a BTOpenzone hotspot, so I'm paying for access at the moment. Pretty pricey, but still infinitely better than not having access at all, especially when I'm trying to get everything all set up and stuff. What did people do before the internet?!
More to come later, but the place is awesome so far. I've had a guy show me how to use our video entry and alarm system. Too bad we don't have anything nice enough to warrant the alarm system, but it should still be fun. =)
I was worried about not having internet, but my flat is close enough to a BTOpenzone hotspot, so I'm paying for access at the moment. Pretty pricey, but still infinitely better than not having access at all, especially when I'm trying to get everything all set up and stuff. What did people do before the internet?!
More to come later, but the place is awesome so far. I've had a guy show me how to use our video entry and alarm system. Too bad we don't have anything nice enough to warrant the alarm system, but it should still be fun. =)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
To Move or Not to Move - That is the Question
I've always loved Shakespeare, having gone to Shakespeare class every Saturday morning when I was in 4th and 5th grade. I still remember the bagels and cream cheese that we had during our breaks - yum! And now I have a chance to go check out Shakespeare's birthplace in person. That's right, the J's got an offer from the London office of his firm to come join them for 16 months. So the question remains - do we go or not?
Most mornings, the most pressing question of the day is more along the lines of what should I thaw for tonight's dinner? Should I iron today? Things of that nature - not should I move to another country?
Pros:
I've always loved England from afar - its modern history and its literature
We don't have kids to tie us down and we might not have this opportunity again
It'd be cool to live in another country while we're young
It'll be easy to travel around Europe
Cons:
We just bought our house 6 months ago and furnished it with brand new stuff
We'll be far from our family and friends
I'll have to leave the cat behind with my little brother
London's expensive - okay, LA is expensive too so I guess this is more of a wash
It's new, therefore scary
So we need to have a response by tomorrow, and J and I will discuss and decide tonight. Exciting with a touch of desire to hurl from fear.
Most mornings, the most pressing question of the day is more along the lines of what should I thaw for tonight's dinner? Should I iron today? Things of that nature - not should I move to another country?
Pros:
I've always loved England from afar - its modern history and its literature
We don't have kids to tie us down and we might not have this opportunity again
It'd be cool to live in another country while we're young
It'll be easy to travel around Europe
Cons:
We just bought our house 6 months ago and furnished it with brand new stuff
We'll be far from our family and friends
I'll have to leave the cat behind with my little brother
London's expensive - okay, LA is expensive too so I guess this is more of a wash
It's new, therefore scary
So we need to have a response by tomorrow, and J and I will discuss and decide tonight. Exciting with a touch of desire to hurl from fear.
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