The Waking Life and New Beginnings

After two months of waiting, paperwork, and logistics, I finally made it to the Ox~!

The title of this blog comes from a conversation I had before I left with my grams (aka Yoda), who is 89 and all 4'6" of awesomeness. She kept thinking that I was going to Germany for some reason (maybe because she remembers that I speak German?), but once we reminded her I was going to the land of her one and only lover Prince William, she says to me in Korean, "Oh, England! That's where the people are really tall, right? They wear strange tassles on their hats and are really good at playing the trumpet. You will have fun there. Meet a tall man and get married before I die!" Those are some lasting words and the most random description of English people I have ever heard. Who knows where my grams got this notion of the English, but God bless her.

To recount my last 24-some-odd hours, the flight was delayed, and I didn't get to sleep on the plane because there was a rabid baby crying non-stop and my seatmate wanted to chat the entire time, so I was pretty all-out-of-sorts by the time we touched down. I had great anxieties about the baggage claim as I had 5 suitcases all weighing about 50lbs each, but was able to find a lovely toothless porter to help me out. He was not pleased by the amount of luggage I had for sure.

I always have trouble finding drivers at the passenger pick-up area so I was running around the entire area like a crazy loon while my porter just waited on the side. Luckily my driver was standing right next to him the entire time and I didn't see him. Unluckily, my driver almost had a heart attack when he found out all of this luggage was for me. The reason? Even though I told the person booking my car in advance that I would have atleast 4 large cases, this message was not conveyed to the driver and he showed up in a sweet, but too small Mercedes. The driver just looks at me and goes "This is all you? How? You are so small! How do you have so many things?" I resent this comment, because it's not like I wear Barbie clothes that I can pack it all inside a leprechaun satchel and be off, but I was too tired to care, and I knew this dude had to help me unload everything into my new flat, so I just rolled with it with no snarkiness.

Beyond this, the driver was really nice and we chatted a little about this and that and finally got to the flat. I was PRAYING they gave me a ground floor flat, but in the end, I was on the second floor, so this guy who thought he was just driving had to lug all of my cases up a flight of steps. Did I mention he was also wearing a nice shirt, slacks, and dress shoes? I am honored that they sent someone so dapper in a nice car to come get me, but I guess they didn't realize I am some dink and no bigwig exec. So after I worked this guy for all that he got and tipped him with all the UK cash I had on hand (£8), I wrote some e-mails telling people I was safe, called up Debbie, who I am replacing to let her know I was in, arranged some meet up after they get out of work, and proceeded to pass-the-f-out.

After that, not much goings on. I met up with some of the girls I will be working with, had a pint of beloved Guiness, came home and fell asleep at 8:30PM. I think at this point I hadn't eaten for a good 18 hours, but sleep overrode anything else. I woke up this morning refreshed to a point, went to the grocers and walked about town.

Here are three things I learned on my first day:

1. There is no way I can pick up British slang. I sound like a complete tool using it.


2. There are crazy people who work in my new office. One is lovingly called the Cabbage Man because he ravenously eats a huge bowl of steamed cabbage everyday in the cafeteria. YUM! The other lady I was told about has an incredible green sweater with a huge squirrel eating a nut on it. I will be on the lookout for her.


3. The streets randomly change names while you are on them.
   

The weather is nice and cool, and the sun should hold up until Wednesday, so it's a nice intro to the city for me! Just wanted to start off this blog thing, and pics should come when I am at my permanent address!