Settling In

Next Wednesday will mark one month that I have been living in the UK. Time sure has flown by and I have accomplished so much. I have been learning a lot at work and finally feel like I am getting the hang of it. I have also moved into my flat and started decorating. It feels like everything has been extremely challenging but also very rewarding.

I was without internet for three weeks and I am still without a TV. It has actually been very nice having this time to focus on getting my flat in order instead of being consumed with watching TV. Here in the UK you have to get a TV license and pay TV tax if you want to watch TV in your home. Since payday is only once a month (last day of the month) it hasn’t been a priority. I am sure that my May visitor, Samantha will want me to make it more of a concern so I will work on it.

In terms of decorating- I have been doing everything on a budget. Most of the things I have as decoration are things I have made. I got wood out of the skip (dumpster) and used spray paint to make “art”. I also used bits of the phone book to make a picture frame. I am trying not to spend a lot of money on things I will want to bring back to the United State when I return in a couple of years. I feel like if I buy a lot of nice things I will want to ship them back-- I just can't handle that!! I already dealt with shipping things to England and it took too long and was pricey. I didn't realize I would have to pay tax for it when I picked it up at the post office here. I had to pay almost what it cost to ship it. There are so many taxes!!

For the past three weeks I have been airing out my living room. It smelled like cigarette smoke and I couldn't handle it! I am glad we have had good weather here so I was able to keep the windows open. It is finally livable!! YAY!

I bought a sofa from out office ebay. We have a place online that only people who work for the council can buy things off of. It is really nice because I got a really good deal on it. I have also discovered this website called freegle. It is where people give things away for FREE- yep, FREE! It is really neat!! I have used it twice and gotten some really cool stuff. You just look at the posts and email the person telling them you want it. Once they say that you can have it (it usually goes to the first person to email them) you go to their house and pick it up. Pretty cool, huh?

I will try to posted pictures of everything on here soon. Most of the pictures are on facebook so try to check them out there! Now that I have internet I will try to post more frequently.

Until next time
XOXOX