Living out of Suitcases, Day 1

Well, my life lived out of suitcases has commenced. I expect it to last about 6 weeks! Last night I sold my bedroom furniture so all of the clothes from the dressers are in suitcases and boxes (and, I'll admit, piles) on my bedroom floor. My room looks interesting...mattress in the middle on the floor and clothes everywhere. In fact, my whole apartment is pretty much a disaster area which my cat finds amusing but I find annoying so far. This too shall pass.

I have buyers for most of my furniture and other sundry household items, so that's nice. I am still looking to sell my VCR/DVD, kitchen table and dishes if anyone's interested. Now just comes the part where I coordinate for people to pick stuff up and PAY me! I have packed, given away, sold or thrown away most of the items in my living room and spare room. Now it's onto the clothes and kitchen.

I also have a plan!!! I will be leaving Denver early on January 18 and stopping in New York City for just 2 days and 1 night with my friend Ben. Then we will continue on to London on the late night flight Saturday night, arriving in London midday Sunday, January 20. Deloitte has arranged a driver to pick me up at the airport and I also have a corporate apartment for 2 weeks while I look for a place and figure out the city. I will be staying in Canary Wharf for those first 2 weeks, so that will be fun.

I am still looking for a more permanent apartment, but definitely leaning towards having a roommate to save $$$!!! I have found some good leads on the Deloitte UK website where employees post openings - a great resource so far.

Another great resource is my new "buddy" Anne. The firm assigns every new hire a buddy to help them get set up and answer questions. Anne has been very quick to respond to every question I send to her and since she just moved to London in September, all of these processes and details are fresh in her mind.

This has been a long post, but a lot's been happening! There are SO MANY details that have to come together before January 18 so my head is just spinning. If you see me and I don't really pay too much attention to you, I'm very sorry! I'm probably thinking about getting medical records, transferring money, finding an apartment and learning to speak "British" all at the same time!

Merry Christmas!!!

Progress

Some exciting things have happened but rather slowly. I now have a visa! So I can legally stay in the UK and work for 5 years. I have a roommate prospect (friend of a friend of a friend) in order to save money (initially anyway). If that works out, I lose a lot of the stress when I first arrive in London...yay!!! I am starting to sell my US belongings. Anyone need a new living room or bedroom set? TV? (Seriously - let me know...These are the things I'm nervous about now.) I have a work "buddy" - someone who will answer questions for me now and also help me get set up in the office when I arrive. I have a US bank account that will link to my UK bank account.

I'm sure there are other exciting things but that's all I can think of for now. I had a nice Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family and enjoyed spending time with them. I am looking forward to a quiet Christmas with my immediate family, followed by a frenzied two weeks of parties, packing and goodbyes. But until then I am hunting around for things to sell on Craig's List and starting to throw away and pack up other things...such fun!

Mounds of paperwork

Well, not really "mounds" but there is some. Most of my paperwork is done electronically. Since my last post, I got my work permit in the mail but it said I was Male! So I sent it back over there and they fixed it and got it back to me. The bummer about that was that if the first one had been right, I could have gone to the British consulate when I was in L.A. a couple weeks ago and had everything for my visa squared away without having to put my work permit and passport in the mail. But alas, things don't always work out the way we would plan for ourselves, right? (Story of my life on that L.A. trip...that's another thing though.) So. Yesterday I sent my visa application, passport, work permit and some other stuff in the mail to the British consulate. Within 5 business days I should have a visa to work and live in the U.K. for 5 years. Pretty sweet deal, huh? Too bad it cost me over $400!

I have started selling some of my household things this week. I have someone coming to look at my bike tomorrow and I have some interest in my golf clubs as well. Next step is my furniture, but I plan to wait until closer to time to move for that. If you would like to lay claim to anything in my apartment (aside from my piano), please let me know and we'll work out a fair deal. Also, my cat needs a good loving home, preferably with someone that I know!

I have to go, but wanted to get an update out there. Things are still moving along and I'm still as excited/scared as ever!

Update on things

Well, not a whole lot has happened in the last couple weeks as far as London goes. I sent all of my paperwork back and my start date of February 4 has been confirmed. I am considering what day I should leave the U.S. I'm thinking about 3 weeks before starting work to give me time to find a place, settle in, do some exploring in the city and also take a short trip before I head back into busy season.

Today I got an email saying my work permit has been approved for 60 months. Now I need to do MORE paperwork in order to get my visa from the British consulate in Los Angeles. Too much paperwork!!!

Also on the agenda for the next few weeks is to continue to research boroughs and neighborhoods to live in. I have a few contacts in London and so far they have been very helpful in their suggestions. London's suburbs are called boroughs (sort of like New York, only I think they're a bit smaller and there are way more). Each borough then is divided into neighborhoods which is familiar to me from living in Denver with its many neighborhoods with different personalities. I have a couple books that have information on each borough and neighborhood and of course there is always info on the internet! The problem is finding an affordable, decent-sized apartment in a good, safe neighborhood! More on that soon hopefully.

In other news here in Denver, I am finally done with my busy season which has been a very long one this time around. I am ready to enjoy my last fall for awhile in Denver and make some time to spend with friends and family. The next 3 months before I leave will still be very busy, but hopefully in a different, much more fun way than the last few months!

Finally!

I got my offer this week! After it was in the mail for two weeks, I finally received my paperwork from the London office on Monday. I had a chance to read most of it through, but there is more info online that I haven't gotten to yet. I have a call with my contact in London to discuss the details on Monday. Also, I submitted my information for my work permit so that is in the works. According to some other emails I have gotten, I will also need to submit some more info electronically in order to complete my background check, etc. I also need to sign and send back the paperwork I have. I plan to do that next week after I talk to Robin. So much to do already!!!

I did have to choose my start date this week and send that off to HR. Are you ready for the official news? ... February 4 will be my first day of work in London. I plan to leave the states about 2-2 1/2 weeks before that in order to get an apartment and get situated and spend some time figuring things out. Then by the time I start, it will be just in time for busy season so I will be in the swing of things right away I imagine.

I am still working on researching places to live and finding out about roommates, commutes, etc. I have had VERY little time to do anything about all of this since I've been completely slammed at work. But hopefully in a couple weeks, that will calm down and I can focus more on my move!

No news is good news right?

I know that I haven't posted in over 3 weeks...but I haven't heard anything in over 3 weeks! I am waiting to get my official package with my offer and other details, which I expect to come any day. But I've been expecting it for a week now.

I've started a very meager search for apartments. I've been trying to get in touch with a couple people in the office where I will be working, but they are proving difficult to catch. I would like to find out if anyone is looking for a roommate or would be willing to upgrade their current living situation and also have a roommate. I've looked at a few places online, but without doing some more research on location, it's difficult to tell if the places would be right for me.

So not much news. I'll keep you posted as soon as I know anything else.

Interview Update

Well, I had my "interview" on Thursday and it went well I think. Although, I don't think I'd ever like to have a real interview over the phone! You really realize how much nonverbal communication goes into something like that and you get NONE with a phone call. Anyway, I had the call with Robin (the recruiter/senior manager that I've been working with) and Holly (a manager who has been there 3 years). They asked me about the sort of work that I do, my reasons for coming to London and my intentions for how long I will stay and things along that line. They also talked about the sort of work they do, the opportunities they have coming down the road and some of the differences and similarities between their US offices and the UK office. As always, I came up with more questions to ask after we hung up, but I know they are available to answer any questions I have. Robin said that from here she will call my references and then present me to the partners in London for approval. I should hear back from her in 2-3 weeks with more details about how we will proceed. In the meantime, I think I will email a couple people with some more of my questions and continue my search for a good area of London to live in.

Interview

I have my formal phone interview tomorrow (Thursday) morning with some people in London. It is just a formality, as I have the job, but it's a good way to make sure we are both on the same page as far as the work I will be doing and expectations as far as advancement and other career opportunities. I am excited to be able to talk to a couple other people besides the ones I have already communicated with. Plus, this marks the first official step from the London side! The process has begun!

In other news...I have no other news about London. I have been really busy at work, so I have only had a little bit of time to read my latest book, GenXpat. It's a really interesting look at life as an expat and a gen X-er. Technically, I am one year behind the gen-X crowd since it ends in 1981, but I find it fitting anyway. What's one year, right? Other books I have read are Expert Expatriate, Living in London, Buying or Renting a Home in London, and a few other general books about transitioning to a life in London. I have some others marked to buy and I am slowly accumulating and learning as I go along. It's been fun and interesting!

Hopefully I'll have some more information after tomorrow's call. I need to get going and write down some questions and make my thoughts coherent...

Life in London! (well, almost)

I thought I would join the masses and start a blog about my new life in London! No promises on how much I will post, but I will try to keep you updated over the next few months as I prepare and make plans and go through all of these crazy logistics. And then the real fun will begin as I start my life in London!

In February, I started exploring the possibility of transferring to my firm's office in London. I am a tax accountant and I do a lot of work with large corporations, not only preparing and reviewing tax returns, but also other consulting and accounting jobs. Our Deloitte London office has a US tax group, which is a perfect fit for me. They do a lot of the same things I already do, but also lay on more mergers & acquisitions work as well as provisions and international tax. Anyway, after speaking with people in the London office and gearing up the courage to speak with my boss in Denver, the process was underway! It took lots of solid arguments and persistent reasoning with my boss on my part, but finally last Thursday (5 months later!!!), he gave me the approval to choose a day to leave Denver and he would approve it. Needless to say, I did not get much work done the rest of the day. My dream had finally become reality!

Since then I have been in touch with my contact in London and she is setting up a formal interview (unfortunately, just over the phone) with 2 people in her office. Then she will check my references in Denver and begin the paperwork process. Thankfully, Deloitte has a solid process and they will take care of all of those details.

I have chosen early January 2008 as my target move date. I hope to be starting my new job by the end of January. That will mark my 3 year anniversary at Deloitte and I think it will be a great way to celebrate!

My next step is to find a place to live in London! I may or may not take a trip over this fall to check things out, but that is still up in the air.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers and I go into this new and exciting phase of my life!