under the warm sun british sun...:D
so on saturday, early morning hours, we moved. i was quite stressed about the airport. after the coup attempt there had been a lot of issues, crazy queues at passport checks that caused especially turks to miss their flight. car queues even getting to the airport. not to mention the possible trouble if you work for the government and so on. we were there super early. online check had been useless as usual - out of the 20 or so times ive done it i think ive benefitted from it maybe twice (benefit= saved time, only baggage drop or so).we had to wait for the check in to open late. ok that went alright. then we luckily had 'fast track' via doctor's mobile contract, and didnt have to queue with passports. most importantly they didnt ask doctor for anything, he had plenty of papers prepared but well, in turkey u never know. so that was that. over here, rainy grey weather greeted us, as well as judgemental border control. people say nothing will change until UK is officially out of the UK but i think the treatment we got at the aiport (vs treatment last May) was proof that in practise, they do find ways to change things a bit.
i had ordered myself a giffgaff SIM to our address, so i got started with that right away. on sunday we walked to Brixton and got doctor a pay-as-you go from Three. once we had mobile internet, life was suddenly much better... we also started stocking on some food basics while admiring the grocery store selections. and found a chinese take out very close by - which im grateful for.
yesterday i went off to the other nearby center, Camberwell, to try open a bank account, but they live up to the reputation, its very challenging. and not fast, either way. there is a vicious circle, similar to Turkey. here, for a bank account you need proof of address. which means a utility bill of some sort. but you cannot open a lot of services (like internet) without direct debit, which requires a bank account. also they may ask for NI-number, but you cant get one without proof of address. Lloyd's is welcoming EU-customers with passport only, but i had to come back home to do an online application, then go back with my passport, and they told me they would let me know in 7 to 10 days. wow ok. in turkey at least when u get a bank account its quite swift. every country has it problems... nothing new there. having a safe, nice home, and internet and money, im quite content for now. i was prepared to face some struggles and spend a month or 2 just getting my papers in order. i changed my credit card address earl on at least so i could start online shopping right away! my fist order (sort of a test, i admit), was shower slippers. they should arrive in a day or two.
the furniture and style of the house is not exactly how i would do it, but thats hardly the most important thing. its very clean and well kept.
enjoying the sun...these past days have been super warm, quite 'unnatural'?
the view from our window, a line of identical houses
our first shopping
Camberwell sign.
like:
+nutritional info on food packaging
+availability and price of free range meat
+availability and price of non-animal tested cosmetics
+Amazon and eBay orders are finally within easy reach
+i can test out Vina app
+people are polite and helpful, also those working for gov (in istanbul this varies wildly)
+user friendly mobile operators with their handy apps
don't like:
-the pound sign is placed before the number, eg. £10
-living in a very quiet neighborhood
-the traffic going the wrong direction
-how everything revolves around proof of address - get yourself some ID's or whatever it takes, people
the lists are to be continued
im still on holiday so i can just take it easy and relax in a fairly unergonomic position. i will need to buy a small desk tho for work. i will try go to cafes too, but i know i dont work too well in unfamiliar environments. IKEA has this desk for 30£ (yeah i put the pound sign where i want to)/35 eur and home delivery is not horrible, 7.50. i should prolly get a chair too. after i get my desktop PC i am worried i will be in trouble though. i wont need this travel laptop, but my work laptop and a screen & keyboard... :/ the desk is only 30cm deep.
one last view of our home in Istanbul.
i had ordered myself a giffgaff SIM to our address, so i got started with that right away. on sunday we walked to Brixton and got doctor a pay-as-you go from Three. once we had mobile internet, life was suddenly much better... we also started stocking on some food basics while admiring the grocery store selections. and found a chinese take out very close by - which im grateful for.
yesterday i went off to the other nearby center, Camberwell, to try open a bank account, but they live up to the reputation, its very challenging. and not fast, either way. there is a vicious circle, similar to Turkey. here, for a bank account you need proof of address. which means a utility bill of some sort. but you cannot open a lot of services (like internet) without direct debit, which requires a bank account. also they may ask for NI-number, but you cant get one without proof of address. Lloyd's is welcoming EU-customers with passport only, but i had to come back home to do an online application, then go back with my passport, and they told me they would let me know in 7 to 10 days. wow ok. in turkey at least when u get a bank account its quite swift. every country has it problems... nothing new there. having a safe, nice home, and internet and money, im quite content for now. i was prepared to face some struggles and spend a month or 2 just getting my papers in order. i changed my credit card address earl on at least so i could start online shopping right away! my fist order (sort of a test, i admit), was shower slippers. they should arrive in a day or two.
the furniture and style of the house is not exactly how i would do it, but thats hardly the most important thing. its very clean and well kept.
our first shopping
Camberwell sign.
+nutritional info on food packaging
+availability and price of free range meat
+availability and price of non-animal tested cosmetics
+Amazon and eBay orders are finally within easy reach
+i can test out Vina app
+people are polite and helpful, also those working for gov (in istanbul this varies wildly)
+user friendly mobile operators with their handy apps
don't like:
-the pound sign is placed before the number, eg. £10
-living in a very quiet neighborhood
-the traffic going the wrong direction
-how everything revolves around proof of address - get yourself some ID's or whatever it takes, people
the lists are to be continued
im still on holiday so i can just take it easy and relax in a fairly unergonomic position. i will need to buy a small desk tho for work. i will try go to cafes too, but i know i dont work too well in unfamiliar environments. IKEA has this desk for 30£ (yeah i put the pound sign where i want to)/35 eur and home delivery is not horrible, 7.50. i should prolly get a chair too. after i get my desktop PC i am worried i will be in trouble though. i wont need this travel laptop, but my work laptop and a screen & keyboard... :/ the desk is only 30cm deep.
one last view of our home in Istanbul.
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