Living the dream?

I probably should have started rambling sooner. My fiance is set to join me in England in less than a week (I've been here for five weeks) and his impending arrival has been making me think about the first few days I was here in England...Let's all take a walk down memory lane together shall we? (You may now visualize me pensively staring off into the distance with a fade out to my dreamy recollection).

My jet plane...well technically not MINE.

First off, nobody needs my life story, but in a nutshell, I'd been dreaming about moving to England for about six or seven years before I ended up here. I was lucky enough (actually it probably wasn't luck) that my fiance was also all for moving to England (he's an Australian expat in Canada soon to be in England) and so as my graduation neared and job opportunities started to present themselves, it was a quick choice that we were moving to England.


I lined up my interviews early and was offered a full time job 24 hours after my interview. Go me. We made plans to move at the end of August before I started work in September. It was when I received a call on May 1st asking if I could start in the middle of June that SHIT GOT REAL. They offered to pay me more money in exchange for an early start and, after a five minute conversation with my significant other (you should always check with them first when making major life decisions), I said something to the effect of - 'hell yes' - and that was that.

And so began the shortening of my life. But seriously moving overseas is stressful, especially for an anxiety prone, OCD, control freak, and I had it easy (Canadian moving to England - like really how hard is my life?). Should anyone ever want to hear more of the matter I'll do a 'So you think you want to move overseas?' post to mentally prepare everyone for that business before you put yourself through it.

In a nutshell, it turned out trusting employment agencies isn't the way to go when moving overseas and I unfortunately had to leave my fiance behind one week after our engagement while we waited to see if the hundreds of pages of paperwork we sent away for his entry clearance passed inspection. The week of additional paperwork for him clearly paid off since he's now due to arrive but I left for Toronto Pearson in a very different way than I had dreamed - completely, and very sadly alone, scared and unsure of when I was going to see him or my beloved cat (I'm a crazy cat lady - don't you judge me!) or what I was going to do when I got to England.

Instagram filters make plane photos more exciting.

Somehow, I've managed to survive the last five weeks! (Prepare for melodrama...) I've cried more than I've laughed. But there have been times, like now, that I remember that I made it here, and that I've managed to keep a roof over my head, feed myself, get to work, and communicate with my loved ones, all of which were in question when I landed in Manchester.  I have a blanket and pillows (a step up from the rolled up sweater and coat I used on my first night here), the luxury of a working phone and internet, and everything I need to cook myself a meal and eat it off a proper plate. In fact, considering I had no water for my first four days of work and I wasn't sure how to flush my toilet when I arrived, I think I'm doing pretty well.

Observe - Northern English summer dress.

That being said, I'm looking forward to another fresh start now that my fiance and cats are coming over. I finally ordered a TV that arrived today (can't put it together because my toolkit doesn't come until Tuesday...), and a desk and a lamp. I hope that I can make my city flat (I hate cities, particularly not a fan of this one) a getaway and proper home for my family. I'll keep you updated. ;)

Walking to work (nowhere NEAR my flat) - not too shabby.

Safe travels.
-K.