OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY AS EXPATS!!
Time to look back...
~ it's time to admit we made mistakes, and feel the gratitude for all the things that went well.
~ dig out some drafts of blogs I began those first few months we were here but never completed because life was complicated at the time.
So, what have we learned? What would we do differently?
Our first mistake, not entirely our fault, was coming over perhaps too quickly. My husband’s company needed him here immediately, and for two months, he commuted back and forth (gone for 10 days at a time), so that he could get started. This was an tricky time for both of us. He hated being away, the job was exhausting and overwhelming and yes indeed they really did need someone to do this work, very badly in fact. But at the same time he was required to continue with roles he was assigned here in the US, which made for a great deal of stress and workload. Meanwhile I was running the household solo, trying to prepare for an upcoming move, and this was not easy either.
Time to look back...
~ it's time to admit we made mistakes, and feel the gratitude for all the things that went well.
~ dig out some drafts of blogs I began those first few months we were here but never completed because life was complicated at the time.
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| DOESN'T THIS LOOK LIKE FUN???? |
Our first mistake, not entirely our fault, was coming over perhaps too quickly. My husband’s company needed him here immediately, and for two months, he commuted back and forth (gone for 10 days at a time), so that he could get started. This was an tricky time for both of us. He hated being away, the job was exhausting and overwhelming and yes indeed they really did need someone to do this work, very badly in fact. But at the same time he was required to continue with roles he was assigned here in the US, which made for a great deal of stress and workload. Meanwhile I was running the household solo, trying to prepare for an upcoming move, and this was not easy either.
It was because of that rough time that we said we just need to get over there. We actually just wanted our family unit together.
Because David had been gone so much, we decided to forgoe the “pre-visit” trip of looking into school and housing. We had truly narrowed our focus to a small area in London, and there just isn’t that much available in the budget we were working with, so what was the point? Dave was exhausted from all the back and forth, and the kids were already quite disrupted; to leave them for a stretch of days with sitters and grandparetns seemed an unhealthy choice.
In retrospect, we should have done it!!
And I guess although it would have been painful, I think the children should have completed the school year in MN.
And I guess although it would have been painful, I think the children should have completed the school year in MN.
We should have come about 6 weeks prior to our move to try to secure housing and visit schools. I wish we had done it. I guess I had the sense we could figure it out on the spot, and that Dave's schedule was such that it seemed really hard to squeeze it into the calendar.
The other thing we should have done was to take the issue of school applications very seriously. We put them together as best we could, quickly, thinking, our kids are good, decent, and get good marks, they’ll get in. We felt assured they’d get in somewhere.
Finally, when we did get here, I made the mistake of giving one school (which was our top choice) an email address I don’t use too often, so I actually missed some important communication from them.
And finding housing here...yikes, we knew finding housing in London for a family of five would be difficult, and we knew sacrifices would be made - less space, perhaps not in an ideal location, etc.
Now for the good stuff.
Some things went remarkably well. We were placed in temporary housing, in an apartment in Kensington. We were literally across the street from Kensington Gardens. Our kids fell in love with Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I'm so grateful that we were able to spend 5 weeks in this area of London. Our apartment, although small, was modern, clean, and we had clean towels and a daily housekeeping. We had good internet connections and it was not far for David to take the tube to his office. Most of all, the location, location, location was wonderful for exploring London.
Now for the good stuff.
Some things went remarkably well. We were placed in temporary housing, in an apartment in Kensington. We were literally across the street from Kensington Gardens. Our kids fell in love with Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I'm so grateful that we were able to spend 5 weeks in this area of London. Our apartment, although small, was modern, clean, and we had clean towels and a daily housekeeping. We had good internet connections and it was not far for David to take the tube to his office. Most of all, the location, location, location was wonderful for exploring London.
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| our temporary housing...can't complain! |
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| We loved this beautiful building, despite being a big cramped...in some ways it was like being on a vacation |
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| Ally looking out of her bedroom window - literally Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park were across the street. |
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| Dad's office building on the Thames ~ Vinter's Place in "the City" |
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| The kids in their glory - in Kensington Gardens - with our apartment building in the background. |
Important addresses/contacts:
Overall Ex-pat management contact: Brookfield Global Relocation Services Limited ~ Bailey Munro
Housing and Schools support contact: Relocation Support Services Limited
Our temporary accommodation: Apartment 10, 2-14 Prince of Wales Terrace, London, W8 5PE
Nice retrospective post! It's good to hear what you would do differently, etc. But again, unless you are in that situation yourself, you never really know until after the fact! Oh well - live and learn eh? You guys survived and all is well. :D
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