How Not to Pack (when moving to another country alone)...
So, packing was interesting. As I said earlier, I bought the largest luggage I could find. They were basically like trunks.
Packing involved many moments of contentness and panic. I was overwhelmed that everything I use in 2-4 weeks needed to fit into my luggage. Everything includes clothing to toiletries to electronics to important documents. I mean, I even had to pack stuff like this:
See how I have my Ooma telephone system, telephone, and boots just in the bottom of this suitcase! I tried to keep the shoe boxes of all of the shoes that I bought because it's the best way to keep shoes....so to make use of the situation I also stuffed other things in the boxes. For example, I have socks in this one lol.
I panicked off and on about my clothing situation. When put all together, the amount of clothing I was brining did not seem like enough. However, once I started filling in my suitcases...I panicked because they barely all fit!!
I was stuffed to the brim with luggage. Overall, I had two huge suitcases, a heavy carryon, and a heavy tote. Another moment of panic occurred when I realized I could barely lift my luggage....which was very unfortunate because there is a 75lb limit for international luggage or else you have to pay a $400 fee or something! (I was already definitely paying $50 excess baggage fee per suitcase for it weighing over 50lbs). Turns out both luggage weighed 70lbs each....aaah!!
How can one little girl carry this much on her own....in a foreign country!!
After the packing drama, it was time to say goodbye to family. My mom and brother came to the airport to see me off. Here is me saying goodbye to my brother. We both decided I will come back sooner than college, but it is farther!
I'm going to miss out on some of his high school years! Here is how much he's changed since the last time I said goodbye- leaving for college! He's about 7 in this pic.
The cell phone turned out to be relatively easy. Plans here are much cheaper than in the US. I'm paying half what I paid in Dallas, including with the exchange rate. I had to get a "pay as you go" phone since I have absolutely no credit or permanent address here :) I decided to use my Iphone from the US because Iphones here cost $600-$1000!!! However, I learned that I had to get it unlocked in order to use it here.
I had my sandwich in front of Trafalgar Square, and it was really nice! Here is my view ...including sandwich LOL!
National Gallery and the famous double decker buses
Mmmmmmm.....
I'm not sure why people think the food here is bad, just today I've seen a wide arrange of options. I even saw a sushi place where you can buy sushi by the piece and make a bento box out of it. I also saw a Mexico City restaurant haha.
For dinner I had two salads- veggie and pasta- from Marks and Spencer's, the ultimate to go food place.
Here are the fruits of my labour from today:
Unlocked "pay as you go" phone with Vodaphone. 300 UK minutes + 600 texts for 15GBP + 5GBP for 250 MB of data (30 days) + 5GBP of international calling= 25 GBP total! It is actually pretty cheap to call internationally from my cell phone- about 5p a minute (roughly 7cents) to any US number and 5p for any European number (15p for European cells).
THE GHD STRAIGHTENER (I can hear the angels singing). From the reviews I have read about this it's better than the Chi. I can definitely tell because it heated up instantly and was a lot hotter than mine normally is. Plus, I can use it in any country (Chi's can't handle the higher voltage in the UK) and it has the three prong plug! I am starting to feel more complete as the pieces of me get put together!
How can one little girl carry this much on her own....in a foreign country!!
After the packing drama, it was time to say goodbye to family. My mom and brother came to the airport to see me off. Here is me saying goodbye to my brother. We both decided I will come back sooner than college, but it is farther!
I'm going to miss out on some of his high school years! Here is how much he's changed since the last time I said goodbye- leaving for college! He's about 7 in this pic.
10 hours later I was in London, with a driver to pick me up...who could barely pick up my luggage and fit it in his car. He dropped me off at my flat building and I was off to flat 268. When I arrived to the 6th floor (where the porter said my flat would be) with all 4 pieces of heavy luggage in hand I noticed in dread that this floor had flats 81-82 and 250-260. Great.... Apparently I've been given a flat that doesn't exist and I have 160lbs of luggage with me! I slowly shoved the luggage out of the elevator and quickly ran up and down the halls hoping for more flats in the 260's range. No luck. Then I slowly shoved all suitcases back in the elevator and went to the floor above. No luck. Then I went down to the ground floor to study the elevator guide. No luck. I couldn't go back to the porter desk because he was all the way down the block ...and there was no way I could walk through the street with all of this luggage alone. So I asked everyone passing by if they knew of my flat...no luck. I learned though that there was a completely other side of the building that was a city block in length. I slowly dragged all my luggage across the building....pushing two at a time down the hall and going back to get the other pieces. I eventually arrived to the other elevator and slowly shoved my luggage into the elevator and pushed floor 6. No flat again. I swore this flat didn't exist! I went back to the ground floor and pretty much gave up for 10 minutes haha. I thought about abandoning my luggage. Then, I reluctantly turned on my cell phone (thank God I brought it and I had not cancelled it yet) and called long distance + roaming to the emergency number....and was very grateful there was one because it was Sunday! They were equally confused but eventually it turns out that flat 268 is on the 7th floor that can only be accessed by one elevator. I was eternally thankful that I was at the right elevator!
After hysterically thanking my lucky stars for having a place to put my luggage (I had been pushing around 160lbs in 3 layers of clothing and had slept 4-5 hours the night before); I reoriented myself, emailed family and friends to let them know I was okay, and got ready for dinner. I went over to the Rubys' to have dinner in their neighbourhood (I'm going to start spelling this way for practice) of South Kensington. It was a really cute area with tons of white Victorian houses! We went to dinner at what Kambry called a "gastropub" which apparently means restaurants with really nice food....foodie alert! It definitely did not seem like a pub, it was more like a really nice restaurant, and we had pea mint risotto (sounds weird but it was actually good) and sea bass. Everyone in London eats dinner much later. In fact, this place doesn't serve food until 7pm!
The weather here is great- it's been sunny and around 60 degrees during the day- 50 degrees at night. I am in a fantastic location- right behind the London Eye and right around the corner from Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. When I start to feel a little lonely or unsure if I should be here, I just turn the corner and it makes me happy!
Here are some pics I took last night on my walk back home from the tube station.
This is the London Eye, and the building I'm living in is right behind that large building.
Here is Big Ben and Houses of Parliament at night!
Today was my first real full day in the city! My first order of business was to take care of two essentials- cell phone and hair straightener lol.
The cell phone turned out to be relatively easy. Plans here are much cheaper than in the US. I'm paying half what I paid in Dallas, including with the exchange rate. I had to get a "pay as you go" phone since I have absolutely no credit or permanent address here :) I decided to use my Iphone from the US because Iphones here cost $600-$1000!!! However, I learned that I had to get it unlocked in order to use it here.
The British give interesting directions. The guy at the cell phone store told me that there was a guy who unlocks phones down the road, by the sandwich shop and the tube station. Well I scoured the area looking for some store that looked like it would have some guy who could unlock phones. I started to get really creative because I found a little alley that had a shady looking guy who made keys and I asked him if he knew of anything of the sort. He was actually a really pleasant person, I've found that everyone here is really nice if you politely ask and initiate the conversation. He told me to go to the Chinese guy at the top of the escalators. LOL...oookay....none of these people seem to use business names to give directions.
When I got to the top of the escalators, I found a Chinese lady who was selling cell phone accessories and I started to get hope. She instantly knew what I was talking about and asked another guy to come over. He said he could do it for 10GBP!!! Yay! I was so ecstatic! I don't think he was the same guy that the cell phone man was talking about but I didn't care. I wanted to be able to call people and check email from my phone again!! I wanted Google maps!
While I waited for my phone to be unlocked I went back to my favourite sandwich shop that I had passed while looking for this guy- Upper Crust. It's basically all sorts of sandwiches in baguettes, and I have loved this shop for 5 years!
While I waited for my phone to be unlocked I went back to my favourite sandwich shop that I had passed while looking for this guy- Upper Crust. It's basically all sorts of sandwiches in baguettes, and I have loved this shop for 5 years!
I also had no idea that I was right by Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, it's amazing how close things are here and I'm still learning how they are connected.
I had my sandwich in front of Trafalgar Square, and it was really nice! Here is my view ...including sandwich LOL!
National Gallery and the famous double decker buses
Mmmmmmm.....
I'm not sure why people think the food here is bad, just today I've seen a wide arrange of options. I even saw a sushi place where you can buy sushi by the piece and make a bento box out of it. I also saw a Mexico City restaurant haha.
For dinner I had two salads- veggie and pasta- from Marks and Spencer's, the ultimate to go food place.
Here are the fruits of my labour from today:
Unlocked "pay as you go" phone with Vodaphone. 300 UK minutes + 600 texts for 15GBP + 5GBP for 250 MB of data (30 days) + 5GBP of international calling= 25 GBP total! It is actually pretty cheap to call internationally from my cell phone- about 5p a minute (roughly 7cents) to any US number and 5p for any European number (15p for European cells).
THE GHD STRAIGHTENER (I can hear the angels singing). From the reviews I have read about this it's better than the Chi. I can definitely tell because it heated up instantly and was a lot hotter than mine normally is. Plus, I can use it in any country (Chi's can't handle the higher voltage in the UK) and it has the three prong plug! I am starting to feel more complete as the pieces of me get put together!
I'll be posting pictures of my temporary flat soon when I unpack/clean a little because I know everyone has been asking!
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