After we finally moved in to the house on the 1st of October, we had tons to do, and fast. We were happy to finally have the place, but it was empty! We had nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, nothing to cook on. We moved in on a Friday. The agency told us to be in their office at 11am, to get the keys and sign the contract. When we showed up, we were greeted with "Sorry, but the house is being cleaned at the moment. It should be ready in the next hour or so." That was a bit aggravating, since we we anxious to move in, and we had made the deal five days earlier. But we went out to lunch, then went to the house around 1pm, it was still not clean. Our showing up must have made them rush it, even though we left again, because it was not cleaned properly. But we were glad to just be there.
We then went out looking for the basic furniture. There are tons of second hand furniture, clothing, and household items stores throughout Colchester. Most of them, run by a charity of some sort(British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, etc.), kind of like Goodwill in the US, except they are all over the place. So we found a bed for Sophie, a mattress for us, a desk for work, a sofa bed couch, a center table from the same store, and they delivered them to the house, but not until Monday! So we slept on the floor, for 3 long nights. It was very uncomfortable. There are wood floors in every room, and we had only 1 blanket and towels the first night, plus Sophie's blanket that we all had to share, we used some clothes for pillows. The following day we went looking for some sheets and pillows, which we found. It helped, but we still woke up in pain and sore, instead of rested. Even Sophie had rough nights the nights we had no beds. We also got some basic kitchen stuff and groceries.
The fridge is weird, it is half freezer, half fridge. We hadn't seen that, it is usually mostly fridge, and a small freezer at the top. Here it is half and half, and the freezer is at the bottom. Food shopping has been interesting. The labels are different. They call things by different names than we are used to many times. Overall, we are able to find what we need as vegans. But some things we can't find, others are very expensive, others way cheaper than we are used to. The food itself is way better labeled here, for us. Most items come labeled as "Suitable for vegans/vegetarians". It hasn't taken long for us to get lazy and look for that label rather than reading the ingredients like we were used to. When it comes to grocery shopping, these are the main differences:
The fridge is weird, it is half freezer, half fridge. We hadn't seen that, it is usually mostly fridge, and a small freezer at the top. Here it is half and half, and the freezer is at the bottom. Food shopping has been interesting. The labels are different. They call things by different names than we are used to many times. Overall, we are able to find what we need as vegans. But some things we can't find, others are very expensive, others way cheaper than we are used to. The food itself is way better labeled here, for us. Most items come labeled as "Suitable for vegans/vegetarians". It hasn't taken long for us to get lazy and look for that label rather than reading the ingredients like we were used to. When it comes to grocery shopping, these are the main differences:
- Organic food has been more difficult to find.
- Tofu is very expensive here, about £2.50 for 8oz($3.75). We used to get 1lb block of local organic tofu about $2.15 in Milwaukee.
- Bread is waaaay cheaper here. Most of the "basics" are really cheap. Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, condiments, flours, pastas, rice, beans. Food in general, is way cheaper.
- There is a massive shortage of hot sauce here! And what they do have, is usually expensive(or American, they have had Tabasco's and Frank's hot sauce, but it isn't really something we want to do, buy products from so far away).
- The avocados here are from Mexico, or Chile, so we don't buy them. Bananas are from the Caribbean, so we also don't get them.
- They take a bit more pride than the US in making their own food, and clearly label the food that is produced in the UK, and plenty of it is.
After stocking up on some food, and getting some basic furniture, we tried to find some calls to get some internet setup and utilities switched over to our name. We setup BT to come out and install internet on the 11th. Which at the time, I thought was a long time to install. But after we set that up, we looked around for other Internet Service Providers. We found plenty, some cheaper and faster, but they all took at least two weeks to be able to install. So we had to stay with the BT install date, since they were the quickest to install. And 20Mb is more than enough speed. There was some providers with 50Mb connections!! Internet is fast here. We switched the water to our name.
On Wednesday the 6th, we all went to the University for Geli's registration. We took the bus there. The bus system is privatized unfortunately. It does not seem to be run by the county. But they are fast, we have not had to wait more than ten minutes for a bus. It costs £3.20 for a day pass(about $5.10 USD). So it is a bit more expensive than in the US, but more efficient. At the university, Geli got registered, we cruised the union, checked out the restaurants, and ate at one of the restaurants there, that actually had tofu! The meal itself wasn't all that great, but it is good to know Geli can have a proper vegan lunch there. At one of the information stands at the university, there was information about bicycling around Colchester, so we had to go. They told us there that there was going to be a bike sale at the university on Saturday, and they were going to sell good bikes cheap. So we came back out on Saturday, hoping to find bicycles for the 3 of us. But there was a lot of people there, and most of the ones we liked were gone, or really expensive. So they told us to come out to their warehouse, and they would have more there. The people selling them were a charity, that takes donated bikes, fixes them, and sends them to poor people in Africa. But they have to sell some, in order to cover the shipping. We did eventually go to their warehouse. We bought bikes for the 3 of us! Geli's and Sophie's still need some fixing, but mine was ready so I rode it home. They are similar to what we had in Milwaukee, but we paid way less for them. We now need to get a trailer for Sophia so we can go out biking together! On Saturday, the university was really packed! There was all sorts of student groups to join and get information from. We even managed to get some plates, a pot and a pan from a charity group collecting donations in exchange for household items.
On Wednesday the 6th, we all went to the University for Geli's registration. We took the bus there. The bus system is privatized unfortunately. It does not seem to be run by the county. But they are fast, we have not had to wait more than ten minutes for a bus. It costs £3.20 for a day pass(about $5.10 USD). So it is a bit more expensive than in the US, but more efficient. At the university, Geli got registered, we cruised the union, checked out the restaurants, and ate at one of the restaurants there, that actually had tofu! The meal itself wasn't all that great, but it is good to know Geli can have a proper vegan lunch there. At one of the information stands at the university, there was information about bicycling around Colchester, so we had to go. They told us there that there was going to be a bike sale at the university on Saturday, and they were going to sell good bikes cheap. So we came back out on Saturday, hoping to find bicycles for the 3 of us. But there was a lot of people there, and most of the ones we liked were gone, or really expensive. So they told us to come out to their warehouse, and they would have more there. The people selling them were a charity, that takes donated bikes, fixes them, and sends them to poor people in Africa. But they have to sell some, in order to cover the shipping. We did eventually go to their warehouse. We bought bikes for the 3 of us! Geli's and Sophie's still need some fixing, but mine was ready so I rode it home. They are similar to what we had in Milwaukee, but we paid way less for them. We now need to get a trailer for Sophia so we can go out biking together! On Saturday, the university was really packed! There was all sorts of student groups to join and get information from. We even managed to get some plates, a pot and a pan from a charity group collecting donations in exchange for household items.
Gas here is about £1.20 a liter, so that is about $7.30 USD per gallon. I wish it was that expensive in the US. Then maybe people wouldn't drive their big trucks and SUV's, and drive less altogether.
We also bought a TV! A nice one, I might add. But we bought it used, at a pawn shop, so we got it for a pretty good price. We managed to find a 26" Sony Bravia Full HD LCD TV, for £200(about $320USD). Which is way cheaper than anything comparable we could have bought new. I also got a decent Dell 17" monitor for work for £30(about $47USD). We are liking this whole second hand stuff. You can buy a lot more while spending way less.
A sad part of all this, at least for me, is that we have seen zero football(soccer) so far! It is very expensive to get the package that includes sky sports in order to watch it. Also, there is a TV license to pay here. Just for having a TV and watching any programs. It is not cheap, it is £145 a year($228 USD). We did the math, and adding TV to our account and paying a license will be about £300($472 USD) a year to watch the English Premier League. It is sad that they make it so expensive, we really wanted to watch it.
We brought our Wii and our PS3 in order to play some games on the Wii and watch the DVDs and blu-rays we brought on the PS3. We also have the camera charger, the hard drive, and 3 laptops that use american outlets. At first, we bought a step-down converter, and used that, 1 at a time, to charge and run our electronics. Then we found out the laptops don't need a stepdown converter, just a plug adapter. They can handle 240V. So we bought some "visitor" adapters. Then we looked into the PS3 and the Wii. The PS3 is labeled only for 120V, but we found out they can also handle 240V. The hard drive and the camera also can. The only one we needed a step-down converter for, was the Wii. But we just ordered a UK Wii power supply for it instead(much cheaper). We ordered a couple more of the plug adapters(£4, about $6.40USD), and we are set. Didn't even need a step-down converter after all, which is good, because they are expensive(£30, so about $47USD). So as far as using our American electronics here, we are all set.
I started working on the 11th, and Geli started classes that same week. So we have finished our 1st week of work and school respectively. I love working at home. It is awesome to take 'lunch' and have Geli and Sophie there! And to just be at work at home, and my commute after work, is from the office downstairs to the bedroom upstairs. It is awesome. I have had some difficulties getting the phone application to pull up my extension at the beginning of the day, but once I get it running, it works the rest of the day without issue. We are still getting used to the strange work schedule since I work 6pm to 3am here(noon to 9pm in Milwaukee). Geli has enjoyed school so far. She prefers it to working by a long shot, so that is good.
Sophie, was probably been the least pleased with all the change, since she loved the daycare she was in. She made some friends there that she would tell us about when she got home. But we found out that the government here pays for 15 hours of nursery school each week(which is like pre-k for 3 year olds). We signed her up for one here close to our house, and she started this week. She will only be going 9am to noon, Monday through Thursday so she can make some friends and socialize. She likes it so far.
The weather has just started to cool down. But the last 2 weeks were mostly sunny and very pleasant. There has been a clear sky many nights and Colchester is not as light polluted as Milwaukee, so the sky looks very nice at night. I have been able to catch a glimpse of Jupiter and the Galilean moons most of the nights! Geli thinks I am crazy for looking at the same 5 dots in the sky(Jupiter plus the 4 visible moons) with binoculars almost every night, but I really enjoy that.
We also found some wilderness! That was exciting! We found it on the way to a barn, that is a landmark of Colchester. But we got side tracked when we found this valley. We explored it, and Sophie got stuck in some mud, so we had to go back home and change her. We also found some ruins of a building built in the year 1103!
Now, we will try to get into a routine and see how we feel the rhythm of things. We still need to make it out to London!!! Hopefully soon...
