Okay, so I haven't blogged at all lately since I got my cool new toy. That's because I was living it up in the UK on a prelude to my highly anticipated OE.
It all started when I was required to head over to the region. This was at the time when my preparations for my OE were just about to begin; my visa wasn't ready and I hardly had a chance to do some research on where I will be settling. Without much time, I had to drop everything and go immediately. Not the ideal way to close up shop at home.
For most of my time, I stayed in a city called Reading. It was around 40 miles outside of London, and takes around 30 minutes by fast train to London Paddington station. Originally Reading was to be the city that I had intended to settle in, with the cheaper rents, close proximity to the office and easy access to London. But having stayed there for a few weeks, Reading hasn't really captivated me, and so I have decided to look elsewhere to settle. Since I wanted to live close to London, the only other location was London herself. When I first visited London on my first trip to the UK, I found London to be daunting and overwhelming. However during my constant weekend visits to London, my perception of the beautiful city changed. It is vibrant, and there is something for everyone here. The rent will be more expensive than Reading, but having thought about it a lot and fully internalised it all, I'm convinced that London is the place for me. There is the commute to Reading, but I'm lucky that I am not required to work from the office everyday.
For client site visits, I spent two weeks in Glasgow, Scotland. And I managed to tour most of the country too. I was lucky to go to Edinburgh, Loch Ness and Inverness during the weekend that I was in Scotland. Glasgow is a nice city, at the city centre level. Once you head to the outskirts, the city becomes quite run-down. Glasgow had a maligned history around 30 years ago, with all sorts of social and economic problems, and much of the effects of these problems are still seen in some of the run-down areas. It was only around 10-15 years ago that Glasgow has really started to pick up its image.
Without my visa, I was still remunerated in my local currency. And it was pretty hard surviving on NZ currency, it was fortunate that I can get almost everything paid for. However, it was the uncertainty of everything that was difficult for me - living out of the suitcase, always moving from hotel to hotel, not knowing where I'll be staying or what I'll be doing.
Last week I came back in NZ. My prelude to the UK had come to a slightly abrupt end. Hopefully with my visa coming in 1-2 months, it will give me a degree of certainty about what I can do in the UK and where I can live in London. I am so hoping for that visa to come soon, and really get my OE started. And even though the visa is taking nearly 5 months and counting, the thought of going on an OE to the UK has been a dream of mine for nearly 3 years, and counting.
It's been a long time coming!
