Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Day 6: Productivity!

Managed to take quite a few photos today...probably looked like an idiot while doing it, but that's okay.


I wandered up the street from my great-aunt's flat. This is the view heading towards the tube station.


(I've seen tons of bicyclists around, which is neat. Given the traffic I've seen, I'm not sure how they stay alive, but at least people expect to see them on the road.)






This was just a pretty church across the street.

I've noticed there are tons of churches here, and so far every one I've seen has been gorgeous. Wish the churches in NC were this pretty, I might be tempted to go. ;-)

(Side note: I'm quite impressed with the iPhone's camera abilities...this car was whizzing past, and the photo isn't a blurry mess.)





Took this to illustrate the housing prices...this 1-bedroom flat costs more than my 3-bedroom house in NC, and that's before exchanging currency!

Also, the concept of square footage seems foreign here, I'm not really sure how you gauge what's a tiny apartment vs a large one (before seeing it, anyway). More things to investigate once I get to the hunt-for-a-place-to-live stage.


I was quite pleased to see this dog in Barclay's as I waited in line. He did seem a bit confused with what was going on, but no one glanced his way or appeared disturbed that he was there. Ace will be so happy if he can go on my errands with me.

Barclay's told me that it takes 3 weeks to get a bank account, so I walked across the street to Lloyd's and got one (with overdraft) in about 30 minutes. :) No savings account, thanks to computer malfunctions, but apparently I can call up and get a savings account at any time.


This was my haul from the grocery store. Cost £12.42. I'm not sure I could've gotten so much for $20.64 in the states. (Esp. the carrots, only 54p!)

All in all, a successful day, though I did get a bit lost on the way back from Sainsbury's.
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2 comments:

Christine (Rainy Day Reads) said...

Hi! I am going to enjoy reading your blog and seeing how you settle in! :) I would like to make a suggestion though... stop with the converting from pounds to dollars it will drive you nothing but crazy. :) Take it from me just earn pounds and spends pounds and don't think about it. hehe

November 25, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Shanthi said...

Thanks for the advice! This week is just a "scouting trip", to see what life would be like here and see what sort of housing/job prospects are available. (I'm still working back in the states for the rest of the year.)

And yes, once I'm actually earning salary in pounds, I will make a point not to do the conversion, this was just a pleasant surprise with the cost of groceries! (On the other hand, getting my suit pressed was £5, whereas the dry cleaner at home charges $1.99, so I suppose it works both ways. And at least I need food FAR more often than I need the dry cleaner!)

November 26, 2009 at 9:05 AM

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