Today marks the one year anniversary of when I moved to the UK. So much has happened within the past year! There have been lots of good times and bad times, with no shortage of adventures mixed in! Listed below are my best and worst moments of living in the UK:
Best Moments:
- Arriving to the UK and realizing that I wasn't just here for vacation
- Touring the city with Victor
- Hosting visitors and showing them around the city
- Travelling all around the UK for work (Wales, Liverpool, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Derby, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, London)
- Travelling all around Europe for fun (Turkey, Greece, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France, and soon Italy with Abby and Czech Republic for work!)
- Victor surprising me with a trip to Barelona for my birthday
- Gathering the courage to cut all my hair off and go natural
- Taking the risk of putting up an ad for friends on the internet and making several good friends in the process (who knew there were so many 20-something ladies in Woking looking for friends?)
- Figuring out on my own how to drive on the left-hand side of the road and not getting killed in the process
- Passing my driving test!
Worst Moments:
- Waiting for my work permit to be approved. Seems like it took forever!
- Saying good-bye to my family at the airport
- Dealing with BT (British Telecom) customer service when we first moved here. It took 5 weeks to get the phone and internet hooked up!
- Initially having to go to the library everday to check my work emails since BT was taking so long with the internet
- Coping with feelings of lonliness, depression, and homesickness since I work from home and don't have regular interaction with people during the day, also since I was new to the country and had no friends to hang out with and Victor was at work all the time.
- Hurting my ankle and having to stop training for the Paris Marathon
- Trying to find something good to watch on UK television
- Missing my family and friends and the comforts of excessive American life
Overall, this has been a great year for both Victor and me! There have been some rough times, but we have gotten to know ourselves and each other better in the process and we do not regret moving here at all. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!
3 comments:
I loved your year in review! Thanks for the calls and blog to help us stay connected! I love you baby!
MumDebbie
Wow MumDebbie is now commenting! I can't believe that it has already been a year! I still remeber when me, you, Mark, Camille, and Victor stayed at your house for a weekend before you guys left! Time sure does fly, and you'll be back in the US before you know we it.
Hey Lydia, I love your blog, very informative! How are you and the rest of your beautiful family doing?
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