What did you do when you first moved to the UK?

Aimiloo I am currently in my first week in my new home.  Its been eventful so far.  Got back from honeymoon on Saturday and on Sunday we rearranged our bedroom.  Basically we are living with his parents so we only have a bedroom to call our own.  That took basically call day.  Went to see his kids Sunday night.  On Monday, I walked down to the precinct with his mother.  We were going to start me on the NHS system.  I walked in alone asked to be put on as a new patient.  They gave me two forms.  Filled them out right there and got an appointment with a nurse to get me started in their computer system.  That was it.  Apparently I'll get the NHS number in the mail.  Walked up to the shops area of Killay - the local village/precinct.  Got a ride back home.  Legs are sore.  Going downhill is nearly as bad as uphill.  I guess the calves are killing from trying to slow my descent (you won't believe the hills) and my thighs will probably scream when I finally brave walking back up.

Tuesday I took the bus from Killay to city centre.  Had to find a bank and deposite Chris' paycheck then convert some dollars and put money on my brand new cell phone.  Have already texted my first messages.  First mobile too.  I was on my own for about 4 hours.  Chris was back at work on the Monday.  It was great though finding my way.  I have been to Swansea about 6 times and was quite familiar with the city centre.  Found my way to the bus station and boarded the bus home.  Was so tired when I got on the bus I was falling asleep.  Great day.

Today was my nurses appointment so back to the precinct.  I walked downhill all the way - took at least 20 minutes of "putting on the brakes" from going downhill the whole way.  Chris came home for lunch so he picked me up.

That's been it so far this week.  I am still catching up here on the site and writing to people back home.  We are looking for some extra pieces of furniture so we can put more of my clothing away.

This weekend is a long one (bank holiday) so Chris and I will be painting our bedroom and making it more mine and his.  Very much looking forward to this.

Hope that helps Aimiloo.

**ears perk up**

Casino?? What casino???

 

Which casino was *I* in?  It was the Berkeley Casino in Berkeley Street, Glasgow, but it shut down, so i transferred my membership to the big one on the Broomielaw... I cant think of the name of it right now.

Answering the original quesiton, I spent the first week(s) of my time here watching Buffy.
And eating all the strange food I could find - sort of an exploratory food adventure.

congrats kizzz!!!!!!!   

I moved over on 15 Dec (2001)and Chris had saved all of the Christmas shopping for the family so that we could do it together! Soo-  I spent my first week or so a bit shell-shocked after having had a month of frantic packing, giving away, selling and storing stuff, saying goodbye to my family, friends and cat! We sat and just spent time together, did our shopping, went to Essex to spend the holidays with the family and then I started my job in London on 27 December!

It was a bit hectic!

Makes me tired just thinking of it now hehe

Thanks Aimiloo.  Just to fill out my week I'm heading into City Centre again to do some bigger shopping and tomorrow I am heading to a uniersity in the Mumbles to see an Egyptian exhibit.  I was hoping to do this as a family but I don't think the kids would be that interested so I'll go this one alone tomorrow.  After this week who knows.  But so far I'm liking all this free time on my hands.  Have map will be able to travel near and far.  Looking forward to trying it all.

when we got back here for good... I spent my time trying to unpack and get a bit settled...  we did take a nice long walk in the hills...but then winter crept in and there was not a whole lot to do up here except sit alone in cottage while Tom worked and I gained weight....errrrr!

My first week consisted of nothing but meeting his friends in pubs. Jon has a huge circle of friends and I hadn't met any of them. So Jon had to prove that I was real and in turn they all bought us pints... which leads to the other thing we did that first week, try out pints. I hate beer but that first week Jon kept trying me on different types and brands to find out what I like. Turns out I like wine. 

  The first time I lived there ,the day after I arrived we drove down to Scotland.That was exciting but I was still in awe and suffering still from jetlag.

   

i'm happy david has already dragged me around the countryside a lot....at least i know my first weekend, and weeks will be spent getting acclimated to our town and the city.  I'm actually excited about exploring on my own!   

it's in west london (and a little north) and just LOVELY.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  The high road is wonderful with all these shops.......*sigh* i want to be there now!

Check this out for pictures.

A few pics of chiswick...lots by the river which would be about 15 min walk from where we want to live.  if you click on panarama and then on high road, that's a view of part of the shopping area.  it's a little more urban than the pictures may show, but it gives you a little idea.

http://www.virtual-chiswick.ukonline.co.uk

Wow--Chiswick looks lovely!  Seems there are lots of great neighborhoods in London.  I don't know how we'll ever choose where to live!

I like cities, but not big ones, and my girlfriend is really more of a country girl.  But we both loved London.  It's great how the neighborhoods are like little towns of their own.  I love high streets -- so many shops!  I imagine it would take a while to get a good sense of everything in one's own neighborhood, let alone all the other parts of London.

Right now, I like Highgate a lot, mostly because there are so many parks/woods/ green spaces there.  But being on the Thames would be great, too!

yeah highgate is nice.  we choose chiswick because it's near our friends and my fiancee will be traveling a lot so i want to be close to them so i can pop over when lonely.

also i just got that comfortable feeling.  we did so much driving looking at places we could and couldn't afford.....and really it wins in our book.  and it's a little over an hour from his parents which is the perfect amount to stop any sudden pop-overs.   

I lived in Highgate for a couple of months... a good friend of ours was the curate at St Anne's church at Highgate West Hill, and had a spare room in the vicarage... we lived there for awhile while we were house-hunting.  It was really nice... and fun, as we used to see lots of celebrities shopping in the main road there, and drinking in the Prince of Wales (i think it was called).

But we couldnt have afforded to live there if it werent for our friend's charity, so off we trooped to Herne Hill!