Last Saturday, I arrived at London Heathrow after a pretty good flight from Abu Dhabi on which I managed to sleep, yet again. Kirstie and I had been joking before our flights about how we both didn't get upgraded to Business Class. Kirstie said she would love to have a seat in the emergency row for the extra leg room and I said I don't like that row because I become obsessed with the big lever that if you just pulled it down, the door would fly open (I'm sure it's more involved than that!). So, guess who got a seat in the emergency row? Yep. That would be me! Luckily, I had the aisle seat so any overwhelming need to pull the giant lever would have to be done by my fellow passenger in the window seat and she looked like the responsible type.
After making my way through Heathrow to Customs and having to fill in the arrival card as I was in the line (turns out, I was fast asleep when they gave them out on the plane), I made it through, bag collected and unchecked through to the arrivals hall.
Now, if you remember, I had secured my new job before I arrived in the UK and had never actually met the family I would be working for. It's a very strange feeling, arriving in a new place, and trying to look for someone you've never met, so times that feeling by about 100 when the place you're in is London Heathrow!
Luckily I found her, thanks to my cousin who also had come to the airport to meet me, which was a huge surprise. I haven't seen him for about 7 years.
Anyway, drove back to their (and my new) house and settled in. Went off to my cousin's house for an Aussie BBQ on Saturday afternoon, then jetlag set in and came home to crash.
This week, I have done a mixture of work, shopping and sightseeing. Tuesday was my first trip into London to sort out my bank account (which, if you are thinking of coming over here, definitely buy a bank account package before you leave Australia. It will make your life so much easier. For a bit of a plug, I went with 1st Contact and set up my account with Barclays. Vojtek at Barclays Bank on Edgeware Road was brilliant!) and to do a bit of shopping. I walked from Covent Garden, along Oxford Road to Edgeware Road. This day was a bit cold and wet. Since then, the weather has been awesome. Today, I went into London for church and then wandered through Soho and along South Bank and the skies were blue all day.
It felt good to wander around London today, knowing that I wasn't just a tourist here for a week or passing through, but that I was now living here.
I have had to drive a 4WD on London streets for the school run, which is hard to get used to. I have only ever driven small cars on streets generally twice as wide as the ones here. But I'm getting there. The buses and the tube are so easy to get around on that I don't need to drive much at all.
And I am loving being a nanny.
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