Visas!

Our visas arrived! Now everything kicks into high gear...

Accommodations

I'll be staying in an apartment for the first few weeks. It will be close to the office in Farnborough. I received two options to choose from this morning and they both look great! I'll make a decision this week and hopefully the visas arrive soon so that we can move forward.

Getting excited!

Positivity

I watched this short TED talk this morning (http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work?utm_content=awesm-publisher&awesm=on.ted.com_h08Fm&utm_source=m.facebook.com&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=on.ted.com-facebook-share), which helped me to realize that maybe I'm thinking too much about the "challenges" I was going to share on this blog. Maybe I'll aim for both positive and challenging moments. This morning was quite positive because the relocation company is doing a great job helping us find a house, and separately, our paperwork is coming along nicely. 

Congestion Charge

I learned that there is a "congestion charge" in most areas of London. You need to pay about $15 per day that you drive in London. It's intended to help keep traffuc down and public transportation up. Good to know because the fee if you don't pay is over $150!

Serendipity

I happen to be in a 2 day management training class this week and one of the fellow students is from London. We had a great chat at lunch where he confirmed many of the rumors I've heard (easy to get to France, all the towns near Farnborough are nice, doctors are good, schools are good, cell phone service is good, etc).

 He taught me that "public" schools in the UK are what the US would call private schools, and what we consider public schools in the US are known as "state" schools in the UK. Good to know!

We have biometric appointments this week, which is the final step in the visa process. 

Learning from mistakes already

The family and I went to a friends house for dinner last night. She was born and raised in London, and now she's an extremely successful business owner in America. Keep in mind, we're still in the DC area, we haven't left for London yet.

Our friend worked quite hard to setup a beautiful and delicious meal. We talked about London, business and our families. It was a great time and then I made a mistake. She said that she'll bring out dessert and I said "oh, I'm surprised it's not pudding", because I thought I had learned that dessert is called pudding in England. She quickly reminded me that she was very busy and didn't have time to bake a dessert, on top of making dinner. 

I was thoroughly embarrassed. I was trying to say "I'm surprised we don't call it pudding", I wasn't trying to be extremely rude and say "why isn't dessert baked". Apparently "pudding" is a baked dessert. We've known each other for 10 years, so it worked out fine, but wow. 

Let the learning begin.

Continued preparation

The passports are in, the visas are almost submitted. We have great checklists for what needs to get done. One call today was about setting up the house and car (along w utilities, council tax, etc)

Last night I studied cell phone service, I should say smart phone service, and I think I'll bring my phones and use a pay as you go SIM card. I'll let you know how that works out.

Preparation Progress

We're finalizing all the paperwork and the logistics. I'm appreciating all the help from many folks. It's starting to feel like the details will be wrapped up soon. In fact I just learned that I have an orientation scheduled in the US (right before I leave), and then another orientation when I arrive in the UK.

From a culture perspective, it's so interesting to hear Americans share their perspectives of what they've learned on their trips to the UK. For example, today I heard that business lunches are served more like cocktail hours than sit down lunches (ie small plates with little bites of food, lots of bread and cheese). 

Getting excited, gonna be great!

Getting Started

We're less than a few weeks from heading to London for a 6 month rotation. I'll post updates here and I look forward to our online conversations.

The book "Watching The English" was recommended by many folks as an important book to read before living in London. I agree, I finished reading it in just a few days, which is quite rare for me. Here's a nice write-up if you'd like the short version. Many people also recommended that I watch a tv series called "Downton Abbey". So I did that as well. Its a good show and it certainly provides a bit of insight into traditional British life.

I'm on phone calls with folks in the UK every day now as we prepare for the rotation. I'm looking forward to this unique opportunity to live abroad, learn more about the business, meet people and doing everything I can to contribute.

More soon...