I am quite literally sitting on my bed, chowing down on this delightful Egg Salad Sandwich I picked up from M&S (surprise, surprise...) - I discovered this yummy lunch when I was here last time and the bread (!!!!) Oatmeal bread. You know me and my obsession with oatmeal ;) so good...
As promised, this blog post will cover Monday and Tuesday's (i.e. todays) events :)
Also, I have some good news and I have bad news to lay on you...
I MOVE INTO MY NEW FLAT TOMORROW !!!! :D :D :D
#ALLTHEFEELS
This is still so surreal to me (actually, I passed the building today and couldn't help but smile... it really is such a lovely building!)
Having said that, however, I may or may not have internet. Amidst all of my errand running and exploring today, I visited a few shops to enquire about internet/broadband etc., and we agreed it is best to see if/what the flat is equipped with first as this will determine whether or not I need a phone line installed, etc. I asked one of the reps how long (approx.) it would take for an installation crew to set it all up, and she said it depends really, but could take upwards to a week :| UHM. GREAT. And I am supposed to plan for school, how? Guess I will be spending my days in a lot of coffee shops to use the internet... #ugh
Monday: First Day Back
Obviously Monday Morning Seflies were in order. Note that summer has fled. She's gone, out of sight, no where to be seen. It is fall time here people and if you know me well, you know how delightfully happy I am about this! Bring on the leggings, scarves and cute boots. Swoon.
I opened a bank account ✓
I paid the remaining opening fee(s) for my flat ✓
I located appliance and home essentials/decor store(s) to get a sense of and compare prices ✓
and, I managed to write my blog post yesterday evening ✓ !
I ventured the town a lot yesterday, and it was a totally different feel in comparison to my first visit. My first time in Colchester, it was all about remembering where I was and avoiding the rate(s) at which I got lost LOL. It took me about three days to get a good feel of the place... I didn't really get a full sense of the shops. This time, however, I feel I'm slowly but surely morphing into a local who can now see everything in a different light. I'm walking around with a new set of eyes, as I so titled this blog post. It's not so much paying attention to where I am heading, as I know the streets like the back of my hand. Instead, I can actually spend time browsing the shops, figuring out what each one holds/sells :)
Before I forget to mention it, I think one of my favourite things pertains to pricing: tax is already included on the price tag, so what you see is what you pay! :)
Not that I thought I would, but I could never go without here. Every shop I could possibly want or think of back home can be found here! Funny enough, alcohol is sold in the grocery store. That was a strange sight... We have a TJ Maxx (which can replace my obsession with Winners), QD Stores is like a Canadian Tire, Debenhams is like Sears/the Bay, I found a Vodka Bar (LOL), many bakeries, a dollarstore (here called "Poundland"), I found the Colchester gym, the movie theatre, Nandos (omg, the absolute best), the Apple store (it's called iStore haha), many drugstores, we have an HMV, WHSmith is like Staples, natural and health food stores, hair salons, dentists, bedding, electronics, furniture, discount stores... WE HAVE A LUSH :D seriously, there is everything and more here! :) Wilko reminds me of Target... so, again, yay ✓ :)
I told myself I was allowed to purchase a new book bag for school, as I had to leave my old beloved and well-recognized one at home...
I love this bag, it has three compartments on the inside and is perfect for my laptop/other school essentials. It was only £19.99, which comes out to $37.19 CND (which is close to what I paid for my old book bag at home) :) Good snag, I think.
I also picked up the following....
The Go Ahead bars are SO FREAKIN' GOOD. And, ok, I needed a mug because my B&B only supplies tea mugs equipped for about two sips of whatever you put in them. Let's be real, I need me some more coffee than THAT. And so naturally, I needed some coffee .... and hot chocolate :)
Sooo, I was cravin' me some Subway last night, I got a Tuna Melt (sans cheese). Interesting little fact: you can add sweet corn and shredded carrot to your subs here in the UK ! :) I didn't get the carrot, but as you can see, I added corn - yum yum yum!
After yesterday's excursions/busy events, I came home, started to write my blog post, napped, facetimed, continued and finished my blog post, took a shower and then hit the hay.... :)
Day Two: Tuesday
I got up early this morning, as I had to return to the bank so as to finalize the account ... I then went galavanting into LUSH as my skin is in some serious need of lovin' (I am suffering prettttyyyyy dry skin at the moment, both in thanks to the plane ride, but also the sudden drop in temperature... ) I left a happy customer with the following items:
I explained my issue(s) to the girl who served me, and we agreed I should purchase the following items:
9 to 5 is a cleansing lotion I decided to try, as makeup wipes do me very little service at the moment (the majority are alcohol based, irritating my dry skin to no end!).
Dark Angels is a charcoal scrub I have been dying to try (thanks, Liv! ;) as per our conversation last night, it's her "holy to the grail" and I am so excited to test it out!)
When checking out at cash, I explained to the girl that I had just moved and was so excited to find a LUSH store. What a sweetheart, she secretly gifted me an entire bath bomb!!!! When she came round the counter to hand me my bag, she smiled and said "I put a little gift in there for your new home!" ... I figured it was a sample size of something. Nope. An entire, FULL SIZED bath bomb :) (these retail for approx. $6.05 CND, nice free gift, eh?!) I will most definitely go back and thank her!!!! :D
Okay, okay I know I am being a bad girl. LOL. In my defence, the notebook is for school purposes, as are the pens (I love my colours!!!)
As for the chocolate... well.... LOL I have a severe sweet tooth and when you are thrown into a plethora of new and exciting sweets what do you expect from me?! I have to taste test them...
I also tried a Coffee Cooler for the first time :) the girls at Costa already recognize me, WHOOPS. So yeah that happened today....
As did buying/taste testing this (which, after opening, seems to be as deadly as the pretzels I am addicted to) ...
Apart from that, the rest of my evening looks like this (school planning and watching Anna's latest vid! :)
I decided to be smart and download all important emails now whilst I still have internet.
Closing thoughts... (tips/advice)
I think the hardest thing(s) for me at the moment are: overcoming the jet leg, going through the motions of setting up "new" everything, and getting used to the time differences again. Obviously a big and obvious one is missing everyone I left at home, but hey that's what technology is for! :)
If you aren't already a fairly independent person, travelling abroad, alone will definitely surface the art - or at least slowly train you into become a self-sufficient person. I find, at least in the very beginning when you don't know that many people, you have to be your own best friend at times. You have to be strong enough to handle things on your own. Now, that doesn't mean that my BF, best friend, family, etc., isn't there to support me when I need them, but sometimes the time difference is a killer. There are times in the day when I have a mini freak out or need to talk to someone ASAP, however the ability to do so isn't always readily available as people back home are still sleeping, or at work, or busy on a different time schedule. Be prepared for that, but don't think it's the end of the world. I think you need to learn to manage stress, and, like I was saying, rely on yourself at times to push through. Of course, as time goes on and I befriend more people in town, this will be less of an issue! :) But it was just some insight I wanted to offer.... I am definitely still training in this department...
Another thing, and my mother was so right about this one: travelling and living abroad makes me see home in a different light - I am much more appreciative of what I have! Things are just... different here! But that is okay! I knew it would be, and I so enjoy the change of pace, lifestyle and culture. I think you need to be a fairly adaptable person to survive living elsewhere. My mother likes to call me a chameleon, so for me, the switch isn't too difficult. Don't expect fluidity between the two countries, cause it's just not going to happen. I am so accustomed to fruits and veggies the size of my head back in Canada, but in the UK an apple generally fits in the palm of my hand. A bag of milk just doesn't exist here. Everything seems to be much cheaper in Canada, so you really need to know how to bargain shop in the UK (I pride myself on how thrifty I can be!), it's the "toilet" not the "washroom" by the way, and there are heaps of public restrooms for you to use (versus having to sneak your way into a Tims just to pee!), fridges are typically "bar" size in comparison to what I am accustomed to at home, washers are typically located in the kitchen, and dryers seem to be a luxury (?), oh my goodness, getting used to the coins here is just embarrassing! it probably takes me a good 5 minutes to read each one before I hand over the correct amount to the cashier... instead of "how are you" it's usually always "you alright, yeah?" ... it's "trousers" not "pants"! (as pants here mean your underwear!), home bathrooms and spaces are generally much smaller .... I am sure there are so many more differences I could tell you about!
And please, don't take any of what I have mentioned/said in a negative way! I wasn't making comparisons in a bad way, it simply is what it is... and different is exciting! :) Take everything as it comes. Take it with a grain of salt and be open. Be willing to change. You will enjoy the adventure that much more...
Some food for thought :)
I don't know when I will talk to you next, but I will keep you posted and will document all the new, exciting and upcoming things!
Until next time :)
Cheers,
Steph
xxoo
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