So. I am here... on the other side of the giant pond.
Today is the second day I have been on my own in the apartment as a lady of leisure. But more on that later.
We flew out here last Wednesday. I dont know about anyone else but flying to me is boring. I guess I am one of those people who doesnt sit still for 11 hours straight. Don't worry I did get up and do some exercise. I still end up with stiff knees.
Arriving into San Diego airport was straight forward. Getting through immigration however was not an easy task. Not because we had to plead and beg to get in but because there was huge queues and we were at the end of the queue (we had to fill in a different form as we were entering under and L1 and L2 visa and not the ESTA). We couldnt fill in all of the details when we first arrived as they were above us in the overhead lockers on the plane.
When we finally got to the desk it was a bit complicated by the fact that the lady who saw us wasnt quite sure what to do in respect of L1 and L2 visas... joys.
Of course given the time we had waited to get through immigration there was no issue with baggage. There was only 14 or so bags left and 4 of those were ours.
Walking out the door of the airport the heat hit us. I realised then that wearing a jumper and jeans was not necessary in San Diego in September. We got the car and drove to Carl's Jr for a burger! YUM. Its funny as the car still smells of it now...
It was 10pm or thereabouts that we got to our apartment. Exhausted was not the word. We had been on the go from 7am UK time, thats 11pm US time. So 23 hours. OUCH.
Our first full day we headed out to explore a little. There is a gym and pool by the apartments which I intend to use. In fact I used the gym yesterday. I will not be the size of a house if I have anything to do with it.
As for shops, restaurants and services nearby? There is a ton! There are three supermarkets- Trader Joe's, Ralph's and Sprouts. A shedload of restaurants, pharmacy, optician, Bestbuy, Staples, Cinema, Post office. In fact I would say there is probably more than what I had local to my flat in the UK.
3pm on our first day there was a powercut. I thought I had done something and slightly panicked as to what it was... then I realised it was the whole block. Eventually I found out that it was the majority of Southern California, some of Arizona and some of Mexico.
The powercut lasted til 1am. Had it not been for the air conditioning coming on I dont think we would have known given that we went to bed at half 9. Well we were jet lagged and there was nothing we could do in the dark. We had been lucky to have had 3 candles to help with some light! Dinner had been cheese sandwiches, crips and sweets (better known here as chips and candy!).
We had a few days of time together still even though the first full day had been a bit blah because of the powercut so we did what we did best. We went to malls, Escondido, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Shelter Island, Seaport Village, Coronado and Pacific Beach. Had some lovely meals too.
So yesterday when he had to start work... I was not looking forward to it and funnily enough neither was he. He had decided he didnt want to work.
My first day on my own was pretty good. I had online stuff to do. Spoke to my mum and a couple of other friends. Had lots of emails to reply, had the task of transferring stuff from one laptop to the other, start on the mega mail pile, have a tidy up and go to the supermarket.
Today... well I need to try and fix an issue on the laptop. Somehow its duplicated all my music on Itunes which is not a good thing. I may well wait until I have spoken to someone in the know. Need to pop to the Post Office and have letters to write. But thats it. I am slightly concerned by just HOW I am going to keep myself occupied.
If I could work... I would. First I need my social security number, this should be available next week then I need to apply for a work permit. Getting a job is the next thing after. This realistically will have to wait until we have a more permanent place to live. After all I dont drive.
Moving to a new country is like starting your life from scratch... you are right back at the bottom unless you have a work transfer.
I need to practice the fine art of filling my day. Verdict so far? Mixed. As I thought it would be. Roll on the weekend I say!
Today is the second day I have been on my own in the apartment as a lady of leisure. But more on that later.
We flew out here last Wednesday. I dont know about anyone else but flying to me is boring. I guess I am one of those people who doesnt sit still for 11 hours straight. Don't worry I did get up and do some exercise. I still end up with stiff knees.
Arriving into San Diego airport was straight forward. Getting through immigration however was not an easy task. Not because we had to plead and beg to get in but because there was huge queues and we were at the end of the queue (we had to fill in a different form as we were entering under and L1 and L2 visa and not the ESTA). We couldnt fill in all of the details when we first arrived as they were above us in the overhead lockers on the plane.
When we finally got to the desk it was a bit complicated by the fact that the lady who saw us wasnt quite sure what to do in respect of L1 and L2 visas... joys.
Of course given the time we had waited to get through immigration there was no issue with baggage. There was only 14 or so bags left and 4 of those were ours.
Walking out the door of the airport the heat hit us. I realised then that wearing a jumper and jeans was not necessary in San Diego in September. We got the car and drove to Carl's Jr for a burger! YUM. Its funny as the car still smells of it now...
It was 10pm or thereabouts that we got to our apartment. Exhausted was not the word. We had been on the go from 7am UK time, thats 11pm US time. So 23 hours. OUCH.
Our first full day we headed out to explore a little. There is a gym and pool by the apartments which I intend to use. In fact I used the gym yesterday. I will not be the size of a house if I have anything to do with it.
As for shops, restaurants and services nearby? There is a ton! There are three supermarkets- Trader Joe's, Ralph's and Sprouts. A shedload of restaurants, pharmacy, optician, Bestbuy, Staples, Cinema, Post office. In fact I would say there is probably more than what I had local to my flat in the UK.
3pm on our first day there was a powercut. I thought I had done something and slightly panicked as to what it was... then I realised it was the whole block. Eventually I found out that it was the majority of Southern California, some of Arizona and some of Mexico.
The powercut lasted til 1am. Had it not been for the air conditioning coming on I dont think we would have known given that we went to bed at half 9. Well we were jet lagged and there was nothing we could do in the dark. We had been lucky to have had 3 candles to help with some light! Dinner had been cheese sandwiches, crips and sweets (better known here as chips and candy!).
We had a few days of time together still even though the first full day had been a bit blah because of the powercut so we did what we did best. We went to malls, Escondido, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Shelter Island, Seaport Village, Coronado and Pacific Beach. Had some lovely meals too.
So yesterday when he had to start work... I was not looking forward to it and funnily enough neither was he. He had decided he didnt want to work.
My first day on my own was pretty good. I had online stuff to do. Spoke to my mum and a couple of other friends. Had lots of emails to reply, had the task of transferring stuff from one laptop to the other, start on the mega mail pile, have a tidy up and go to the supermarket.
Today... well I need to try and fix an issue on the laptop. Somehow its duplicated all my music on Itunes which is not a good thing. I may well wait until I have spoken to someone in the know. Need to pop to the Post Office and have letters to write. But thats it. I am slightly concerned by just HOW I am going to keep myself occupied.
If I could work... I would. First I need my social security number, this should be available next week then I need to apply for a work permit. Getting a job is the next thing after. This realistically will have to wait until we have a more permanent place to live. After all I dont drive.
Moving to a new country is like starting your life from scratch... you are right back at the bottom unless you have a work transfer.
I need to practice the fine art of filling my day. Verdict so far? Mixed. As I thought it would be. Roll on the weekend I say!
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