Thursday, October 31, 2013

Dreams of England

Over the last few days England has been on my mind. It's only 2 months now until I go and I have so many things on my mind. Where will I live? Can we find an affordable place? What will work be like? Will I even GET my work visa? What should I pack? Where should I go first?

Endless questions. Endless worries. All I can do is take it one step at a time but for me that is nearly impossible. I love having a plan, I live for it! So not being certain how it will go and not having an exact idea of how it will all turn out is the worst for me. I can try to answer at least some of my questions though.

Where will I live? Near the most convenient tube stations:

  • Harrow on the Hill
  • West Harrow
  • Rayners Lane
  • Eastcote
  • Rusilip area
  • South Harrow
  • Sudbury Hill
  • Sudbury Town
  • Alperton
  • Park Royal
  • North Ealing
  • Ealing Common
  • Acton Town


Can we find an affordable place? I sure hope so!
I've been looking at both flats hares as well as furnished flats/terraced houses. So far it's looking like we can get a reasonable looking room for between 400 and 500 pounds. I really hope that we can find just a little place together so that we don't have to have a ton of roommates. I share space well enough but I also like a quiet house...which I may not get if I have a ton of roommates. I'm confident that we'll find a good place for what we can afford because I'm guaranteed 480 pounds (gross) a week so it'll still leave me lots of wiggle room for travel, exploring and lots of other fun things. Maybe some savings too, haha! The only thing that bothers me about looking for places is simply that I can't go see anything and I can't agree to renting a place until I get there. The waiting is hard. I want everything to be sorted out!

What will work be like? 
From what I've heard from a friend who is working there already...work is going to be tough. I've heard that the students are very rude and by the sounds of it that's quite common. Even for their regular teachers. I'm thankful that I've come to Prince George to get some experience teaching and I hope that I'll be able to use what I've learned here on the kids in England. Though by the sounds of it, the kids here in BC are angels by comparison! 

Will I even GET a work visa? 
I don't see why I wouldn't be able to get my work visa. I think I just worry because looking at the website they talk about all the different things you need and it just seems so strict and so I worry. Though I don't think it'll be an issue. Well I'm hoping so anyways! Again this is one of those things that I just can't plan and therefore drives me nuts. 

What should I pack?
I won't lie, I think about this FAR too much! Mostly because I can't go to a place like London and NOT look fashionable! I have to make sure I take all my favourite outfits (along with all my practical teaching clothes as well!) All fashionable clothing aside though, I also think about things like my hair dryer and other styling tools, extra shoes and things like that. Things I wouldn't necessarily have to worry about if I were just going on a short trip somewhere. I don't really know the cost of things in England so I don't want to leave some things at home only to get there and find out it's super expensive in London. So I have to really make a plan for what I want to bring. I know I'll buy lots while I'm there because I'll be there for a year, it's kind of inevitable...so I need to have room to bring it all home!

What should I do first?
This one isn't really a concern so much as it's "London is huge, where do I start?" As far as I know there's a Wallace and Gromit museum (sounds promising!) as well as a ton of free museums, great shopping, the lush countryside and I have no idea where I want to start. Good thing for me I got a good old fashioned travel  book..which is at home in Victoria so I can't dog ear pages for things I want to see, so I think during my visit home next month I'll just have to bring it back here with me so I can start looking!

Two other things on my mind have been trying to open a bank account in England as well as get a cell phone. Both are things that I'm going to need while I'm there however I do have a consultant who is in London currently and who can hopefully help me out with those things so that it gets set up right away! 

Hopefully after all of these questions have been properly answered I will begin the greatest adventure of my life! Working and living abroad has always been a dream of mine and I am so thrilled that it's going to come to fruition so soon! Anyone who knows me knows that I dream big and I can change my mind on a dime and that I have so many dreams that there's no possible way I can do it all. I am so very glad that this is the one dream I never gave up on, it was never unrealistic..just a lot of work but here I am, halfway to a new and exciting adventure and I couldn't be happier. Especially since I get to share it with my sister!

Until next time!
Hollybee










Monday, October 21, 2013

Harrow on the Hill

I found out a short time ago that I would be living in North West London, near Harrow on the Hill. Being the inquisitive type my first step was to Google it and check out some pictures of what that area of town looks like. I must say, I think it looks really quite charming! I'm excited to see what kind of place I can get either within Harrow on the Hill or close to it. Rent seems fairly reasonable in this area which I'm very happy about! I'm hoping that my sister and I will be able to find a reasonably priced place together that's close to an underground station. I think my plan for the first couple days I'm there is to get all my important matters set up such as my bank account etc and then see as many attractions as I can before I start work. I feel like if I don't I'll just be distracted while I'm trying to teach. Thinking about all the places I would like to go and visit. I'm so glad that a lot of the museums
 in London are free so I can see quite a bit without having to spend a ton of money. I'm also looking forward to checking out some pubs!

Since January is coming closer I've been looking into getting my work visa soon. I'll be applying for a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa which is going to cost about $400 dollars. But I'll be applying for it next month and I can't wait! After that I can book my flight and then everything is set! As long as I get approved for my visa I'll be good to go! I still can't believe that only a year ago now I applied for a job in England and here I am, about to start this crazy adventure! After a year of waiting and a lot of changes it's almost here. Part of me is ridiculously excited and there's the other part of me that is terrified! I'm glad that I'll have my sister and the support of the Engage Education team once I arrive. It'll be a crazy whirlwind but I can't wait to get caught up in it!

Monday, October 14, 2013

The Journey Begins!

Good morning!

Here I am, coming slowly towards what has been the most exciting and challenging year of my life. I have finally graduated university and am a full fledged teacher. Practicum was rough but I got through it and there are lots of changes coming my way! I made the choice to move to Prince George to try and get some teaching experience, why Prince George? Well let me tell you. I had heard that they were really in need of TOC's (teacher on call) and so I applied, was interviewed and got the job! Now, the REAL reason I came here was because I needed to save money to move to London, England! So here I am, hoping to get tons of work so that I can save all the money I need to go to England!





I still can't believe that I am going to be moving to England! I plan to stay for a full year working as a supply teacher (which is the same as a TOC). Better yet? My sister has agreed to come with me! She'll only be able to stay for 8 months before she has to go back to school  but I couldn't be more excited for her to be coming with me. We plan on doing as much travelling as we can afford while we're there, all the big places that she's never seen. We'll do Paris, Scotland, Rome, Ireland, The Netherlands, and tons more places if we can swing it! The next step for me to be ready for England is to get my work visa all taken care of. The work visa is the reason why I need to save a bunch of money because I need the equivalent of 1800 pounds, which works out to just shy of $3000, which is why I'm living in Prince George right now. I'll save way more money as a teacher, as long as I get work, than I would if I was working at a grocery store. I'll be sure to post more as I get more prepared. My plan is to blog at least once a week while I'm gone...it might be a bit less leading up to it because I have to get back into the habit of blogging!