Dear Friends, January 31
We've been a here a week and a day, and I have to say that it has been an extremely busy week. We have rented a house, bought a car, arranged cellphone contracts (v. difficult), broadband internet access (ditto), visited the dogs and cats in quarantine everyday (except Sunday), and just generally sorted out the most important nuts and bolts of starting a new life in a new country.
We certainly started out in style having flown business class to London thanks to an upgrade using Lucia's Voyager miles. I could easily get used flying up front; it really is much more comfortable than the sardine can towards the back of the plane. Our reception at Heathrow was no less stylish as we were met by a chauffeur laid on by Lucia's company. The only hiccup was the Nazi tart at Port Health who gave Lucia a hard time for not having a chest x-ray with her and not having a fixed address in the UK. There's a new regulation that demands that all South Africans now entering the UK on a residence visa for the first time have to have an x-ray showing that they are clear of TB. But we got it sorted out in the end (although not before I got a bit hot under the collar.)
The chauffeur took us to Lucia's office in Warwick where we picked up Seat Leon for our use (not the Audi A3 I was expecting.) For those who don't know, Seat is a Spanish VW Golf – the chassis engine and gearbox are all Golf, it's just the body that's different. It certainly goes like a Golf, particularly its response to the right hand pedal. (Do I detect the hint of a wince from a few of you who have driven with me?)
The first order after offloading many bags at the very pleasant guesthouse Lucia's company is paying for, was to go and visit our zoo at their quarantine kennel just the other side of Coventry, about 25 minutes away by car. We were in for a quite a shock though as Edgar (the ridgeback) had lost a huge amount of weight and looked emaciated. Lucia burst into tears. Beyond that, the greeting we got from the dogs (given that we hadn't seen them for two months) was massive. To put your mind at rest – Edgar has already put on a good measure of the weight he had lost since we arrived. I was also a bit surprised that kennel didn't provided cushions with their dog baskets; all the dogs had was a few ratty blankets and towels. And the kennel owner drives around in a brand new racing Ferrari. The pratt. (But then again, it's a lot better than a few of the other quarantine kennels we saw when we were here in September.) The cats were fine, but then cats nearly always are. CharlieBrown was a bit skittish, but the cat treats we brought them soon got him over that.
The next order of business was to go looking for estate agents after freshening up. My basic theory was simply to get as much done as we possibly could before Lucia started work. Juggling a new job with looking for accommodation and buying a car and just finding out where everything is could be quite taxing; so the sooner one can settle accommodation, transport and communications, the better. The biggest issue in finding rental accommodation was our dogs; most landlords have a strict “no pets” policy. We looked at one house in Warwick on that first day, and chased up some more agents in Warwick, Leamington Spa and Stratford the next day (as well as visiting the dogs and cats.) On Friday morning the very first agent we had seen called to tell us that a house we had liked the look of in their brochure was unfurnished (she'd said furnished), and that the owner would consider dogs after all. We saw the house at 12h00 and made the offer to rent at 13h00. (They do some strange things here.)
Then we visited the dogs, and drove to Peterborough after that to my old school friend, Andreas, and his wife, Michelle, for the birthday of their four-year-old daughter, Natasha, who is also my goddaughter. Festivities began in the late afternoon with the pop of champagne and ended much later with just the four of us sitting around the kitchen table. (And a very beautiful kitchen it is too, having recently been remodeled. Lucia and I saw it sort of halfway through in September.) I confess that I was beginning to feel a bit knackered by the end of the evening with the pace we were maintaining.
In the morning, Andreas went to work (at the hospital where he is an anaesthetist) and Michelle took us to a shopping centre to get a Vodafone contract (for me) in her name. It's a long story, but for any of you who think of relocating to England, it is next to impossible to get a contract for anything unless you have a fixed address and a credit track record. None of the mobile phone companies will give you a contract without that address and track record, even if you offer to pay the full price of a contract up front. You can, of course, get pay-as-you go simcards for your phone, but not if you want to get broadband internet access. The only way to do it is for somebody else to take out the contract in their name; the contract can the be ceded to you once you have a fixed address that you can prove with a utility bill or bank statement. So, thank again Michelle for being the conduit giving us the vital access to communications.
We drove back to see the dogs in the late morning, stopping first at the Honda showroom in Coventry. Our target was a three or four year old Honda CRV. We test drove one that had just been sold to confirm that it was indeed the car we wanted. We did, and made an appointment to go back on Monday to find one. By Monday they had one for us to test drive, which we did, and we bought it. I took delivery of the car this morning (Thursday). I love the high driving position and the relaxed feel of the car; it doesn't seem right to go speeding around like a hooligan in a CRV, unlike my now-deceased Golf 16V GTI. I am, however, going to have to learn how to park all over again – it's a bit different in such a large vehicle as I discovered today.
Sunday, we relaxed. We bought the papers, went walking in St Nicholas park next to the river, and just generally kicked our heels up. And this week has also been a little more laid back given that we had already sorted out housing, transport and communications. The week has been more dedicated to finding out where everything is (and visiting the zoo.)
That doesn't necessarily mean it's all been easy. Shopping, for instance, is a real task. There is just so much of everything in a truly spectacular range of choices and prices. And you've got to be careful over the prices. You can't just throw ham or chicken breasts into the trolly as you would do in SA; you have to check the price first because you can pay as little as £2, but as much as £6, or even £8. (So anything from R30 to R120 for four filleted, skinless chicken breasts.) Eating out is expensive, but not too unreasonable.
Another big adjustment to our new life is getting used to the short winter days. Depending on the weather, it's dark by 16h30. (And if the sun is going down, that must mean it's time for a beer. Surely?) And, oh yes, it's cold. Well, outside at least. I feel like a schizophrenic taking off and putting on jerseys and jackets all the time. Last night, for instance, I went to a pub down the road to watch Manchester United playing Portsmouth in and FA cup tie. I dolled up warmly in a thick cable-knit jersey, jacket and scarf. Once in the pub, I had to take it all off, roll up my sleeves and undo a second button at my collar. In fact, my feet got so hot, I just had to take my shoes off (as discretely as I possibly could.) It was worth it for the two sublime goals at the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo though.
Today was my first day on my own after dropping Lucia off for a management meeting at a grand hotel some 20 minutes away in the country. Officially, her first day is tomorrow, but the invitation to today's meeting wasn't one of those invitations that you can politely turn down. I have to go and fetch her up much later this evening.
Anyway, enough for now. I must go and find myself some dinner.
Love, light & peace
Llewellyn
