Jerseyite in London

Hello. I am Cindy (32) and my hubby is Daniel (36). We moved here July 2002, but we're still a newbie in many regards.

We're finding it difficult to make new friends.

We don't have a car yet which means it has been difficult to take off and see any sites not located near a train station.

Some of the vacation options are confusing. We went to Mallorca in Dec. for a trip but were surprised to find an uncanny emptiness throughout. The island completely shuts down.  Now it is summer and we're not sure where to go.

We've just bought a house in Oxshott, Surrey and so hopefully we'll meet some 'locals'. Hoping to eventually feel more 'settled'.  Hello to everyone in this forum!

Hi,

Welcome to the boards!

Just wanted to start off by saying great bio.  Definately sounds like you have had a great whirlwind life of late.

You are right about Mallorca in December -not  a lot happening.  Good thing is the summer is a great time to travel and you are near so many wonderful places.  Just remember that many places in August in Spain or Italy become wastelands as well with nothing but tourists and the locals pack up an go elsewhere too!

Oxshott?   Just love those UK names!  

Well, I don't want tto ramble just say welcome and I hope you find lots of good information and friends!

Hi Cindy and Danial...welcome to UKY!  Sorry to hear your holiday wasn't all you'd hoped it would be.  You've come to the right place to ask these sort of questions though as we have a lot of world travelers on this site who can give some good input on the best time of the year to go where.

Congratulations on your new house!  Getting settled in will keep you very busy for a while I'm sure!  I hope you meet some nice neighbors and make lots of new friends!

-Sandy

Hi Cindy and Daniel...  Welcome to UKY...  I am not over there yet... but wish to welcome you to the site.

I am sure that now you have bought a house (Congrats), things will settle some and friends will follow...

I would like to note that I also do not smoke and both fiance and I rarely drink... we are 47 & 55 without children (except his grown ones).  Anyway Tom has taught me that in Northern England (at least), going on the pub crawls is mostly done as a social event...  whether you smoke, drink or not...  It seems that up there, it is a Sunday event for many to catch up with the weeks events and say hello to neighbors and friends. Not really a drink fest for many... Not something that I would like to partake in often...  would rather go on the footpaths for a nice walk...  but in bad weather and if you are feeling antsy to get out...  yes...  a pub crawl to meet people and catch up is very norm there.

Also, most towns there have a community committee's and it seems they are always happy to have volunteer's to come and get involved...  When my fiance moved into our cottage, he sent an email asking why they had not updated their online newsletter in a year (wanting to get to know the area)  and they came back stating they did not have enough volunteer's to do the work...so now Tom is the Webmaster for the Felton/Thurston Bridge news..LOL! but has managed to meet many in the area because of it.  Which will help for when I arrive since most all know of me)...

Welcome to the boards!

May I jump in with some suggestions for your holiday?

Last summer I had a great time in the South of Spain following my summer internship in London. There wasnt a single rainy day and temps were easily 20 degrees F warmer plus its very close to UK and you can get cheap flights especially charter flights. I did the historical route of Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, but you could also travel along the coast to some beautiful beaches starting in Marbella. While it helps to speak un poco espanol ( a little Spanish) I found that you can often find people who understand some English.

I've also spent some fantastic times in the Greek Islands too. There are plenty to choose from depending on whether you want to "party like its 1999" or to relax on the beach or explore history. Its easy to island hop and soak up a few. I highly recommend Santorini, a volcano caldera with some of the best sunsets I have ever seen and fantastic romantic restaurants clinging to the edge of the caldera where you can go to watch those sunsets.

Finally I recommend Central Europe. I have also spent time in Budapest and Prague recently, while not as cheap as they once were, these are both beautiful cities that 20 yrs were out of reach of many Americans. Other places further east should be even cheaper.

I travelled to all of these places on a student budget from the US so I'm positive you can do these trips inexpensively.

Cheers,

RRW

Welcome to UKY, Cindy
I'm from the east coast, too! The Hudson Valley in NY, to be specific  

I've been here in the UK for 18 months now, and finally feel settled - I think it does take time- and the time it takes is different for everyone! I know that working really helped me get out there and socialise a bit with the people I work with. I've been really fortunate to have found a few girls at work that I get along really well with, but my FH & I basically just have one other couple that we do things with. I'm hoping it will change once we've settled down in one spot too! (We're most likely moving to Hampshire for his job!Oh goody! Another adventure hehe)

I hope you find this site very helpful and comforting, though- I feel encouraged that I'll always have someone out there that is in a similar situation to me- no matter how far spread everyone seems to be!

Congrats on your recent house purchase! Surrey is lovely  

Jen  

HAR HAR - Jersey Girl in da house!!  Damn, I thought i left you people when I left NYC.  And stop taking away or football teams and thinking the Yankees are your ball team.  They're NY.  

Arent you happy your here so you dont have to boil your water all the time or finding syringes in your beaches?  

Seriously welcome aboard.  Nice to see more people with real senses of humor.  Now breed and lets take over this island!    

Hiya!  Very few Londoners get Jersey / NY jokes.. just as well!!  

What's that? Did you say 'NEW JERSEY GIANTS??!!'. Oh, still miffed by the latest court decision on the NEW JERSEY Statue of Liberty??  Also, what's this about Newark airport being listed under "New York"? It belongs to the GARDEN STATE people!!!! Oh, and the water joke never held in my town - we were always on Well Water!

Hey the stories about syringes & dirty beaches made me abhor any sort of beach that isn't white carribean sand and blue-green water. Seriously, how attractive are the european beaches (minus a select few in the Algarve?).

Thanks for the welcome by the way.  

Uhm, I think u mean the NY Giants, sweetheart!  No matter what, when u think of the Statue of Lib, u think NYC, not NJ.  Next thing u know you'll want Staten Island back (been there and in my opinion, you guys can keep it)

I cant believe i'm arguing this like thousands of miles away from home.  Thanks for putting a smile on my face  

BTW, I also miss the Hebrew National Frank vendors in downtown Manhattan.  Esp. the one who had a stand on 2 WTC.

Later Mo

So how's Leeds and what's it like beeing a new-yawka there?
Its fun being from Jersey, noone can pinpoint my 'accent'. Of course I tell everyone that's because I don't have one!

Hubby & I haven't traveled much out of London yet, except for day trips to Oxford & Cambridge.

Used to live in London in NW7 (Mill Hill)  Still own a house there and we're renting it out now.

What you'll notice is that many Americans in London assimilate to becoming English by nature.  It would freak them out when I would introduce myself on the Tube and they'd like almost ignore me/give me the cold shoulder.  Be prepared to see some of that down there.  That wouldn't happen in NYC, but then again, i'm a bit more sociable than most.

Anyway, I bet I could tell that you're a Joisey Grrrl!