Housing and other things

Whew – what a day! This morning began with me calling my relocation agents to tell them that I wanted to make an offer on one of the houses I saw yesterday. I honestly wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do after that – I had given some thought to going to some of the churches, but shortly after I walked out the door of my temporary flat, I got a call from the agent, saying the offer had been accepted. Then it was just a matter of making a deposit, which I did, and then arranged to meet the agent on site, so I could take some more pictures, which I also did. Suddenly, my day had focus again. You can find the property here.

So then it was off down the street, but whoops, I forgot that I don’t actually know how to get to the house from the rail station, so back to the flat, get directions, and then to the Tube (South Kensington), to Victoria Station, where I bought a ticket to Merstham on the rail. I arrived in Merstham without too much trouble, and found a little store where I bought a copy of the Reigate Redhill Street A – Z Atlas (over here, that’s A to Zed). I then made my way to the house. It’s basically a townhouse, but has two very spacious bedrooms and is furnished, which is a huge relief. It also has the third single bedroom, and I think we’ll be quite comfortable there. It is definitely smaller than what we’ve gotten used to over the past 18 months, but it fits our needs and I don’t think we’ll feel cramped. After meeting the agent, and taking several pictures to send to Mich, I headed back towards the station.

I wanted to get a little bit of a feel for the neighborhood, so I stopped in at a little sandwich shop called “The Hunger’s End”. It sold breakfast, sandwiches, and baps. I’m not sure what a bap is, and I was afraid to ask. I had this vision of a conversation like this:

Me: I’d like a bap, please.
English Person: Did you hear that? The American wants a bap!
(Sound of thud, as I get “bapped” on the head.)

So I went with a Brie sandwich on “brown” bread. I thought that might be some sort of warmed brie with lettuce and tomato. As it turns out, it was just big slices of brie on buttered bread. Still, it was quite filling. I also got a packet of crisps, simply for the flavor – “prawn cocktail”. You’ll never see that stateside, I’m guessing. I haven’t worked up the nerve to eat them yet, so I don’t know how they are.

I then got on the train back to town. On the way back, there were two boys, I’m guessing in mid – late teens who were sitting across from me and talking. They were also sharing an i-Pod, and were listening to Motley Crue. I had to turn away to keep from laughing when they started singing along – it’s quite different to hear hard rock in a British accent.

Speaking of accents, I have to admit that listening to the Brits all the time makes my accent seem downright brutal. All around, there’s soft spoken long a sounds, rounded i sounds, and then I speak up and it sounds so out of place. It sounds harsh compared to their soft pronunciations.

I rode into London Bridge station, and walked by my office again. It was still there, and I actually found it without any problem this time. It was about 3 by this time, so I decided that I would actually walk to London (Tower) Bridge. (By some strange fluke, the pictures of “London Bridge” are not actually London Bridge, but rather, Tower Bridge, which is the next bridge over.)

So the rest of the afternoon, I spent strolling around “Tower” Bridge, and found the old walls of Londinium, when it was a Roman city, the Tower of London, and Southwark (pronounced “Sutthuck”) Cathedral. All in all, I was feeling quite at ease, now that the housing situation seemed to be working out. Then I came home and burned my ham and pineapple pizza because I can’t figure out the controls on their oven. I guess the day can’t be completely perfect, now, can it?