Musings from London

New living room

So we've been living in London for a month now, to the very date in fact. We've settled in fairly well, spending our days buying all the bits of furniture we need, exploring the local area and, in my case, preparing for my viva and applying for jobs. Boyfriend is on his third week of work now and because of his schedule, I'm up super early every day and getting on with it.

Time is passing surprisingly quickly. There's a great swimming pool in the next town over and I'm heading there three times a week at the moment. I usually follow that up with some shopping for household items - a new duvet, hooks for the bathroom, stuff like that. Once a week I go to the local choir, which is slow going but interesting nevertheless. And I've started tutoring GCSE level maths, which I'm actually enjoying. It's quite nice to share knowledge sometimes.

However, the highlight of having moved here is that everything is still shiny and new. I've always

loved visiting London, but I must admit that I absolutely detest the constant crowds of people ever present in the city centre. It's definitely one of the reasons we moved to the 'burbs....we can get a drink in the pub in two minutes, the supermarket lines are short and I can sleep at night without hearing traffic or people out partying. And hey, it's only half an hour to London Bridge - I can't complains.

Yep...samphire.
I will be cooking a lot of this!!

The upside of all the people?? It means that there is so much more going on, and so much more available, than there was in Preston. I was doing my online Tesco shop last night, and I couldn't believe the increased variety in fresh veg and meat. I used to think Tesco wasn't up-class enough to sell samphire - turns out that's only true about the Preston Tesco. And of course, there are the numerous bars and restaurants accessible all over London - I'm looking forward to the first night we can go for a Korean BBQ (one of my favourite cuisines), or Chinese hotpot. Yum. And the museums!!!

Finally, the beauty of moving to London is that there is so much more work available. I'm not entirely sure yet whether I want to remain in academics, or teach, or work in the financial sector or whatever, but here in London I have the opportunity to apply for pretty much anything. I'll keep you all updated on what happens on that front.

Anyway, this week I'm actually returning to Preston for my mock viva, so maybe next time I'll let you all know what it's like to return there as a visitor. An interesting twist, having spent the last year in charge of entertaining our visitors :D