Hi everyone!

After one year of silence I decided to start a new Blog now that I am in the UK for a few months or maybe even longer :)

Yesterday I arrived at London Heathrow at 16.45 local time. So far so good... Unfortunately I had chosen to arrive on a day when the London tube had gone on strike for 24 hours which turned out to become a huge problem for me. Of course I thought that they wouldn’t shut down the main line from Heathrow to the centre, BUT they actually didn’t care about what plans I had in mind. So I had to spend 18 quid fort he Heathrow express... BALLS. Anyway with a total of approximately 40 kilos of luggage I couldn’t care less about the money I had to waste for the train. After 15 minutes I arrived at Paddington station which is already part of Zone 1, there I had to take Bakeroo line (the brown one) then change to Central Line (red one) and then I couldn’t go further because Picadilly line was still closed at that point. Carrying my bags up and down throughout the whole of the London Underground system was a pain the a.... Take into consideration that the trains were completely overcrowded, it was hot and I was sweating as if I’d run a marathon... Very awkward and uncomfortable. Luckily Marcus picked me up at the station and helped me to carry my stuff to the hostel. (Thanks fort hat again, your my hero xx)

The room I was supposed to stay at fort he next three nights was alright. Sharing with three other people shouldn’t be that big of a problem. After we dropped off my bags, I went for my first dinner in London. ASK, nice place and of course I will never forget that first night. To be honest it was good to have a friend there, some random British banter with the usual sarcasm. After all I was really excited, bit anxious and scared what will happen from now on. Isabel alone in the big city. New chapter and of course I am scared :) But looking out of the windows, seeing all the cars, hearing all the noises from everywhere makes me happy. Just walking to the tube station and sitting in one of the trains gives me a whole different feeling, makes me happy.

After dinner I had a little emotional moment, missing my family being alone in the hostel room and not knowing what would happen the next day. BUT after a terrible night in the hostel room (with 2 boring people and one nice bloke who I was talking to until his girlfriend came in to kill me) I woke up fort he 32nd time during that night and decided to finally get up. At 8 I left the hostel to meet Mr Jason, whom I had talked to before and who had offered me a room in his house, living together with a French girl on the top floor in Mortimer Close close to Balham station. He picked me up at Balham station at 9 as he had promised.

I couldn’t help smiling when I saw Mr Jason fort he first time. He has a very friendly smile and is a short guy in his late 50’s I would say. His Indian (French colony..yes he gave me a lot of background information that morning) background was pretty obvious and he quickly led me to his car. He never stopped talking once while we were on the car. I got his complete CV plus lifestory plus little nice incidents to spice his CV up a bit. Then he showed me the house and I cannot lie but I liked the house and his owner from the beginning on. I hope my feelings won’t misjudge the situation, but my inner voice said yes to the place. I have a nice little room under the roof, with lots of drawers and a wardrobe, my own fridge and TV. The bathroom is for both tenants, so form e and a French student who was working at the time. It all looks really nice and cleanand at the moment I would prefer to prepare myself for job interviews with a decent shower and the space to dress myself accordingly.

The rent is okay, and I will be living there until Christmas if nothing goes wrong. (Which of course won’t happen :) )

Although I miss my family terribly, I started the proper London life and as soon as I moved into my new room I can properly start applying again. I hope the job hunt will be successful as well, that would be awesome because living here is what I want for myself. BIG CITY LIFE!!!

After I saw my new home I took a little walk round my hostel and had lunch at Russel Square: sandwhich, crisps and water. Classic meal deal for 2 £ :) Now I am back at the hostel saving up some energy so I’ll be able to carry all my stuff back to the house in Balham. I’m already exhausted just by thinking about the trip... Wish me luck

Speak soon xxx