I arrived in London a month early to try and give myself time to breathe and relax and ease into it. Apparently...... that's not how I operate.
But first things first - ITEMS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:
In the Bin - Someone buying a drink for you - so its said like "do you want it now or in the bin?"
Have a Job - it's going to be difficult for you - when I first heard it I replied with "well, yeah.. of course I'm going to have a job!" WRONG context, lol.
The Trains out of Waterloo are ALWAYS delayed, or should I more correctly state always delayed whenever Maria (yes, I am addressing myself in the third person) needs to ride them. The most recent reason - "swans on the line" makes perfect sense, you wouldn't want to prevent the swans from their leisurely morning stroll on the train tracks.... sgdahgjdsgjgasjdsjahk.
So I arrived in London on August 3rd and it is now August 18th.
I have managed to:
1. Open a UK Bank account with HSBC (and have an epic battle with HSBC US to try and transfer my money over to said HSBC UK account, but that is a story for another time and another day... and is also STILL currently going on... approximately 5 days later).
2. Apply for a National Insurance number (the UK equivalent of a Social Security Number). It's not actually related to Insurance, it's related to your tax ID. Why it's called Insurance? Just for funzies. I successfully passed my interview where I was told by a 60 year old man that it was very nice to have a "human" conversation with me. Still not entirely sure how to take that one, but he was very nice and helpful.
3. Get a Flat! It's official! All of the red tape has been cleared! I will be moving in with Tiffany in Vauxhall/Lambeth to some place that has some association with the Queen's mum (I will obviously provide full details as soon as I have them). I literally can't wait. It will be SOOOO nice to have a "home" here. Not that I don't love Reyana and staying at her place (and the constant sh*t she gives me. Last nights was telling me that my biggest weakness was that I have no "common sense" lol). But to be able to put my things away and sleep in whatever will be my own bed? I'm literally dreaming about it already lol.
4. Well. Number four is pretty exciting, but it will need to wait a little bit longer as I'm still working through the final paperwork (I'm a tease, I know, haha).
And it's only been 15 days. I'm not writing this to talk about how amazing I am, in fact its the exact opposite of that. I'm writing this because I realize that I need to give myself a break. I have been constantly GO GO GO GO since the moment I arrived. I need to take a deep breath, calm down and just sloooooooow down. Literally.
And I will..... right after i get done with this 3 day walk in Ireland.
I promise.
Anyway, just a quick update as the pieces are starting to all come together.