TERESA'S BIG ADVENTURE, PART 1 (August 25, 2003)
Hi everyone!
I am at the house in Preston, Lancashire, where I am lodging for the time being. I arrived at London Heathrow Airport at 6:30am English time, 12:30am Winnipeg time. I didn't actually see any of London, as the bus I took went straight away from it without going in. As I waited to get on this bus, I thought, what kind of a line is this? I always thought England was a nation of very proper queuing up, but this was like a big mass of people just being funnelled in towards the bus. Finally I got fed up with people pushing in front of me, so I just nosed my cart to the front. Then there happened to be a very nice gentleman behind me who offered to take my baggage cart away.
I got off the bus in Cheltenham (in Gloucestershire, I think, or maybe Worcestershire) where my friend's parents picked me up. They took me to their home in a little town near Worcester. It was a really cute little town, I liked it a lot. Very typically small English town, with everyone knowing each other and helping each other out all the time. Something we could learn from.
A note about the roads and driving. I haven't suffered too much from car sickness since I was young. However, since I've been here, I have suffered from it on a regular basis. You never stop curving and swerving and turning! There are barely any straight roads! AAAH! I can only imagine how confusing it must be to drive on them! And there are so many one-way roads, you have to go around in circles to get to where you're really going.
Everything looks different here. As we drove away from the airport, one of the first things I saw beside the motorway was a field with sheep. Unfortunately, much of the pretty views by the motorways are blocked by trees or large dikes. I wonder if they plant them on purpose to obstruct the view. Probably for protection from the motorway more like, but it seemed that every time you seemed about to get a really lovely view of something, you were cut off in the very thought by a row of trees or a hill! :)
Everything is also very close to the roads. That's part of what causes the car sickness, everything flashing by right beside me.
I slept for most of the first afternoon and night and the next morning, not waking up until 12:30 on Friday! My friend's parents then took me to see the old church where they were married (it dates from at least 1250, and it was fascinating. We climbed up a little ladder and through a hatch to get up into the bell tower). They also showed me the little cottage where their aunt used to live - they have a plum orchard, and berry bushes, and a vegetable patch, and a greenhouse with grapes growing. It was like paradise, and it was so, I have to use the word, QUAINT!
Afterwards they took me to see Broadway in the Cotswolds, where we had a cream tea at a tea house, served by a very un-tea-house-like young man, who had actually baked the scones himself. In the absence of safe-sounding herbal teas, (when we asked about herbal tea he listed "salon, green and smoke" unless I really misinterpreted his accent), I had a glass of grapefruit juice. There was jam and clotted cream to go with the scones. It was very nice. The Cotswolds are as beautiful as you would expect.
I came up to Preston on Saturday afternoon. We seem to be close to the centre of town. I haven't done anything business-like yet, as today was a Bank Holiday, so it will all have to wait till tomorrow.
Church on Sunday was very nice, and everyone was very friendly and welcoming. There are a lot of people here who are not natives of the area. There were several people at church with Scottish accents, and even one who was definitely North American. American, I think, but sometimes it's hard to tell.
This morning, we drove up to a beach, but I didn't actually get to walk all the way to the sand because the closer I got, the further away I got. There were all these tide channels that were often too deep to walk across, and I kept going around and around and around, and finally gave up and walked back to the car! but I did find a couple of nice little sea shells which I kept as souvenirs of my first visit to the English seaside, and it was a nice walk, although I did unfortunately come across a dead rabbit at the outset.
Well, that's it for now,
more later,
Teresa
TERESA'S BIG ADVENTURE, PART II (August 31, 2003)
Hi everyone!
I've been in Preston for one week now, but I feel like I've been here much longer. I must confess I haven't really accomplished much in the past week, and I was starting to feel guilty, but then I thought to put it in perspective. I've just moved to a completely new place, and of course I'm going to need some time to settle in, find out where things are, and do some fun things (like picking berries in country lanes, which I'm to do tomorrow with some friends if it doesn't rain) before getting locked into a job.
On Tuesday, I tried to get a National Insurance Number, which my visa information tells me is necessary before being employed. However, at the office, the woman told me I need to be working before I can be assigned a number! AAAH! We then went shopping (grocery and miscellaneous). That afternoon, I walked into downtown to find my own way there and to get some job applications for clerical work in various areas of the County Council. The first place, with my preferred job, is in a lovely little spot full of English ambiance called Winckley Square, with a gorgeous little park, also full of English ambiance. The second one was at County Hall, which is absolutely enormous. Having found the correct door for public entry, I was inquisitioned by the security guard who must have thought I was intent on the destruction of the County Hall. Finally, when he was convinced that I only wanted an application form and was happy to wait there while one was brought down to me, he asked if I was American or Canadian. I told him Canadian and we had a friendly chat then, as he had been in Canada with the military for several years and really liked it. I obtained the form and went in search of the third office, which became obvious as I neared it, as it is up on a hill and obviously government buildings. I had to go up a staircase to a little bridge to get there, and there were some dodgy sounding men loafing around on the footbridge, so being nervous, I turned left at the top of the staircase, away from the bridge. It was a happy diversion, as it led me to the very park my mother told me was so beautiful and was part of the reason I thought of going to Preston. It is a beautiful park, and I found a plaque detailing the history of the Church in England, and Preston's place in that history.
When I finally found my way to the County Offices, another application form was brought down to me in a nice envelope with my name written on it. They have such a particular way of doing things!
On Wednesday, I went to the temple in nearby Chorley, which was nice. I got pictures of lilypads and lots of butterflies who very conveniently sat for the picture!
On Thursday, I dropped off the applications I'd gotten and completed on Tuesday, and then met a friend I'd made in Quebec who is at university here in Preston. We had a pub lunch, (I had bangers and mash, yum yum).
On Friday, I cleaned the chapel, which is paid work.
On Saturday, I did laundry, and went downtown, which gave me a headache by the time I was done wandering around. I wanted to just walk around and get a feel for where everything is, and pick up a few items. I must be a very suspicious looking character - I was in WH Smith, a stationery store, and I soon became aware that the security guard was following my every step. To test my suspicion, I stopped in front of a shelf, ostensibly looking at the items. He stopped and waited. :P I decided to just leave the store, as it was unpleasantly crowded anyway.
I was also quite scandalised at some of the things I saw in shop windows and on product packages on store shelves, not to mention on peoples' t-shirts. There is a company called French Connection in the UK, and from their initials, I'm sure you can imagine the sort of things they put on their t-shirts. And there was a package of pens in a pound shop that had an obscene sketch on it to go with the brand name, I just don't understand how something like that can be in a dollar store! Well I won't go on, but you get the idea.
Downtown is very crowded here. I sometimes feel claustrophobic walking down the High Street.
I live in an area of terraced housing, which is reminiscent of Coronation Street and East Enders. There is so much noise, everything reverberates and sounds much louder than it actually is. It will take some getting used to. But it is a very interesting educational experience. There are a lot of people here from the Middle East and many of them wear their traditional clothing, which I find fascinating. Apparently there are racial tensions here, and I've even heard that "race riots" have occurred here in Preston! I was shocked, having come from Winnipeg. I just can't comprehend how that kind of thing can happen. I know it happens, but it always seemed like it would never happen where I lived - but now I live in a place where it does happen. Inconceivable.
This morning, we were getting into the car to go to church, and an older lady walked by and asked, "Are you straight, or just starting?" The people I'm boarding with had no idea what she meant any more than I did! We all just kind of laughed nervously, not knowing how to respond!
Teresa :)
TERESA'S BIG ADVENTURE, PART III (Sept 7, 2003) Hi, everyone.
I've now been in Preston for 2 weeks, however, it feels like forever. This has been an ok week, on Monday, we went blackberry picking in country lanes (apparently a dying national tradition as I found out later) and it was wonderful, the scenery was idyllic, and typically English (cows, sheep, rolling hills, etc), and I came away with lots of battle scars from nettles and brambles. We've had blackberries in several ways for pudding (dessert). Yummy. Fortunately, my friend reminded me to take my camera with me, or I would have left it at home and missed out on some gorgeous pictures. It was like paradise!
No idea at all what I did on Tuesday - my mind draws a blank. Maybe that was the day I went to Adecco? I didn't have an appointment at Adecco, so I had to just leave my cv. The receptionist said she would have someone call me. Right. Oh yes, Tuesday. I guess I was trying to block the painful memory out. I must have gone to Adecco on Monday, or the previous Friday even. Tuesday, I had an appointment at the bank, to open an account. The man who made the appointment told me that I would be able to open it under the bank's Worldwide Service, if I had proof of Canadian address, and a valid passport. Well, I arrived at the bank on Tuesday, and a very nice lady began helping me through the application form. She had to check though, whether I really could open the account with the id I had. She had a feeling that it wouldn't really be sufficient. She called the head office, and sure enough, it had been too good to be true. The Worldwide Service is only for people making a lot more money than I will be. (Discrimination, discrimination!!!! ;)
So, the only option left to me for proof of address is a letter of confirmation of name and address from my employer. The lady thought that one from a temp agency would be sufficient. I told her I'd been to Adecco, but they'd only taken my cv and said they would call me. She suggested that I go back to them and ask them if they could type me up a letter, saying that the address they had on file for me was such-and-such. The idea was for me to go there straightaway and go back to the bank on the same day. Well, 3 guesses on whether it happened or not. Imagine - "Hi, I know you said don't-call-us-we'll-call-you, but I want to open an account and could really use a letter of confirmation of address from you." I thought I would at least make myself a valid pretext for going in, if I got my own mobile phone. I could say, I have my own number now, oh and by the way, while I'm here, could you possibly type me up a letter? Well, getting a mobile didn't happen either. The salesman must have thought I was a complete ditz, I thought he was lying to me, I realized later that evening after thinking it over for several hours that he hadn't been lying, just not explaining very well. I couldn't understand how what I thought was a pay as you go plan could possibly require me to pay a flat rate of £21 a month! Well, at least I didn't get stuck in a plan I would regret. I think I've decided now not to bother with a mobile anyway. Once I get one, I'll be stuck with it, then I won't want to pay out for a land line as well, although I'd much rather have a landline once I'm out on my own. My friend thinks I might not even be able to get one on a Canadian credit card anyway. :P
So, feeling even more frustrated, I lost all hope of forcing myself to go to Adecco and beg, and went to the County Record Office to look up some info for my mom's genealogical research. The security guard asked me if I had proof of address. I thought I might scream or cry or faint or something. I just settled for a sigh and an explanation that I had only just come to the area and had no proof of address yet. Fortunately for my sanity, he allowed me to enter on a temporary pass. So Tuesday overall was a very frustrating day.
Wednesday, I woke up and thought, I'm going to have to go to Adecco and beg. I can't leave it any longer. Then I thought, I could go to another agency, and instead of just docilely leaving my cv, insist on getting an appointment to go through the registering process. (since everything here is by appointment). Then maybe I could ask them for the letter of confirmation. The thought really didn't hearten me. I went through a brief moment of "I want to go home, why did I ever come here", until I mentally slapped myself and told myself to pull myself together. I went downstairs, ready to go downtown and face the next temp agency. As I was about to leave, my friend suggested that instead of just going, I should call first and make an appointment. I thought, great. I hate calling people. It's my phobia. But that's the way things work here, apparently.
So we found a list of temp agencies on the online directory and she left me with the phone and the list. AAh, feelings of stress! I started with the one I had planned to visit, Manpower. Not much help, the man said that all the consultants were busy, but that he would find out when they would be free for appointments and call me back. I debated whether I should wait for them to call back or call another one. Fortunately, since they never did call back, I did force myself to call another, after delaying for about 5 minutes to gather up the courage. Pathetic, I know. This one actually doesn't have their Preston office open at the moment, it's being refurbished. But she also said she'd have someone call me. I thought, well, I should at least call 3, especially since the first two haven't paid out yet. I called a third one, called, creatively, The Staffing Agency. Bingo, the girl happily set up an appointment for me for the next morning. Yay!
That afternoon, I got to practise the piano, which was nice - I miss playing.
Thursday morning came around, and I actually got a letter in the mail from Adecco, saying they'd keep my cv on file and contact me should anything suitable arise. We thought that would be sufficient proof of address for the bank. I went first to my appointment with the other agency, which went very well, and sounded promising, though she didn't have a solid assignment for me yet. I went to the bank on the way home, armed with the letter from Adecco. No go. The lady tried, but it wasn't enough - it has to be addressed to the bank, and confirm my full name and address. :P
So I went home, and called the staffing agency to ask if they would type me up such a letter. They said they couldn't until I was actually working on an assignment for them. :P So I wait. And the people I'm boarding with wait (for their money, which is all locked up in my bank draft).
On Friday, I e-mailed my cv to several more temp agencies, and called about a couple of jobs I saw advertised on a job website. And, I got a library card, without even having to give proof of address, miracle of miracles! Saturday I didn't do much, but we went to a fascinating lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls at the church in Chorley, it's amazing how many new discoveries there are that haven't yet been assimilated into the general consciousness as yet.
Well, that's it for now, I can't believe I've typed so much for such a basically un-eventful week!
So, summary for this week, England: appointments, proof of address, mobiles (everyone seems to have one - at the Dead Sea Scrolls thing, the person in charge actually made an announcement at the beginning asking people to turn off their mobiles!), and I'll throw in, Parking on the curb (how funny, when I took my driver's test, the idea was to do anything but park on the curb - here, it is a necessity of life). Oh, and absolutely pure natural beauty - the landscape is all that I imagined! And hiding ancestors, that family Mom is getting me to look up is just not showing up!
ttfn,
Teresa :)
TERESA'S BIG ADVENTURE, PART IV (Sept 14, 2003) Hi everyone.
Another week has passed. I was getting pretty discouraged because no potential employers were returning my calls. Last night, I realized that I had been giving the wrong number to people - I had put down 01776 at the beginning of the number instead of 0776, getting it confused with the local Preston area code which is 01772 or something. :P Now I have the really fun task of calling all the companies I applied to and saying I can't even get a phone number right. At least I have the excuse that I'm a foreigner. (I don't feel I can still use the Jet Lag excuse at this point).
Yesterday morning, I walked around the area taking pictures of houses where some of my ancestors lived in times past. (1800's). The first one I went to, I didn't stop to take the picture right then because there were a couple of kids and a lady with a pram hanging about, and I felt silly. (Not to mention they would probably be suspicious of some strange person suddenly stopping and taking a picture of their house). I went in search of the next address, and walked around and around where the map said it should be, before finally accepting that the street must have been removed and expanded over by the neighbouring industrial estate.
On the way to the next address, still in the general vicinity of my house, I debated whether to go up the big street or to cut across by St. Mary's St. I couldn't tell from the map which way would be quicker (you have to understand how complicated the roads are here - you go in one direction and you end up somewhere completely different than you expected, and often you have to go around in circles, essentially doubling back on yourself several times to get to a certain street. Anyway, I decided to go up the big street, but when I got to St. Mary's, I had a sudden urge to go up that way instead. (A little background: I had noticed the street before and thought maybe St Mary's Church could be on it, but I had not walked very far up the street, having been thrown off by a red herring building that appeared to be an old church now used for something else.) So, I had a sudden urge to go up St. Mary's St (from the other end, this time). As I walked up, my eye was caught by a sign through a big metal fence that said "St. Mary's Church, to be renovated as part of Preston Museum"!!!!! I looked up beyond the sign (good things happen when we look up and around us - I don't seem to do that enough, or I probably would have noticed it before) and there was a big old church, shrouded in scaffolding. It was St. Mary's Church!
The other addresses were in terraced housing similar to the street I live on.
Hopefully, this week, armed with a correct phone number and an appointment at another recruiting agency, I will have better luck on the job front.
Till next time!
Teresa :)
TERESA'S BIG ADVENTURE, PART V (Sept 21, 2003) Hi, everyone!
Well, as it turns out, I only gave the wrong number to one company. Jet-lag, jet-lag! (a month later) :P
This has been an eventful week. Just after I sent out the last installment, I was going for the bus to go to a thing at church, and I started to pass a young girl on the sidewalk. She asked me if I had the time. I pulled out my watch and told her it was 5:15, while thinking - "oh no, it's even later than I thought! As I prepared to rush on, she said, "Do you know what you remind me of?" So I said, "What?" She said, "A Victorian lady." I laughed and said, "Well, that's good." (I have always thought I should have been born in the Victorian age.) I said goodbye and started to rush on again. She then asked, "Are you a Victorian lady?" I said, "No, unfortunately I'm not." I should explain that this was Sunday, and I was wearing a long skirt.
Once I got to the bus stop, I actually ended up having plenty of time. There was a man waiting there as well, he seemed normal enough at first, but then he started walking back and forth rather unsteadily. As the bus came down the street, he suddenly asked me, "Do you have pound change?" I figured he probably was asking for change for a pound coin, but as he was producing no coin, I thought it was possible he was asking if I could give him money. To make sure, I said, "Do you mean you want me to give you change for a pound?" He said no, but seemed quite out of it and said that he loved my accent. I thought, hmm. He repeated his request several times, finally producing a handful of pound coins, at which point I became positive he did indeed just want me to change a pound for him so he wouldn't have to give a whole pound to the bus, even though he emphatically denied that that was what he wanted when I asked him a couple times. :P I gave him change for a pound, and inexplicably, he insisted on giving the balance of the pound back to me! I protested, but he insisted. Of course, once I got on the bus, I purposely sat in the aisle seat so as to forestall having any unwanted company (the bus was practically empty so it was not the only seat he could have chosen) but of course, where does he insist on sitting? Finally I moved over and let him sit down, since we had to get off at the station anyway, it's the end of the line. He kept apologizing for bothering me and said he wouldn't harm me (giving as proof the fact that he had three daughters) and finally admitting he was a little tipsy (which I had grasped long before). Fortunately he kept his word and left me alone once we got to the station. :P
On Monday, I had an appointment at another temp agency. I went there and the lady was so nice, and she assessed my typing and Microsoft Word skills, and made 10 phone calls trying to find me an assignment right away. She didn't succeed then, but once I'd been home for about 15 minutes (after wandering around the park, taking pictures - it was a gorgeous day for pictures)
she called and said she'd found me something starting the next day! It's at the Crown Prosecution Services, doing filing and paperwork type stuff. On Wednesday, I spent the whole day doing colour photocopies of photographs to be used as exhibits in court cases (nothing too gruesome, fortunately.) Thursday and Friday I was going through the "dead files" (not of dead people, but files that are no longer active) and marking them for storage and future destruction. It's actually very interesting to get inside the law process like that, but I must say I'm hoping that I get one of the permanent jobs I've applied for soon. A couple of the ladies in the office are quite frightening when the photocopier acts up, or if the empty paper boxes aren't put in the corner with the others, etc.
I actually have an interview for a permanent job tomorrow, it's not the most perfect location but it's not a horrible location either. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
Even though I have been working nearly a week, I still have not been able to open a bank account. I have to wait for my first paycheque to come, in which will be enclosed the required letter of confirmation of address. That's not until this Friday. I have to wonder, what would I have done if I didn't have people to stay with? How could I have gotten an apartment with no access to my money? Aah! Maybe I should have tried another bank. I don't want to do that now because the lady at Lloyd's has tried so hard for me.
I went during my lunch hours this week to the park in Winckley Square - it is gorgeous! (That's actually why I want the job in Winckley Square, because I want to always go to that park at lunch!) On Friday, I sat on a bench under a huge tree whose branches spread out to make a canopy over me - I felt so safe, like the tree was stretching loving arms over me to welcome me and protect me! :P
Two funny things I have noticed this week: when a potential employer selects you for interview, instead of just calling up and asking when you can come in, they send you a formal letter in the post saying, You have been selected for interview. Please report to so and so at such and such a time. I just find it funny how they are so particular about details like that, yet at the office, it is perfectly acceptable for them to dress in all kinds of unprofessional ways, and not just on Fridays! (the women more than the men).
The other thing was, while I was in Boots (the biggest chemist, or drugstore) looking for headache tablets, all I could find were little packets of normal headache tablets. I was looking for a big bottle full (say 100 or 200 pills) to get more value for my money, but not a bottle could I find. I finally grabbed a pack of 16 Anadin Extras (mix of paracetamol, aspirin and caffeine) which cost £1.49 (ugh!) and rushed back to work (I was on my lunch and had a horrible headache). When I got home, I for some reason read the little information sheet inside the package. It says, "Anadin Extra is available in packs containing 8, 12, 16 or 32 tablets. The 32 tablet pack is available only from your pharmacy." I thought, well really. Even 32 tablets would not last long. And if someone wants more than 16 or 32 tablets at once, all they have to do is buy more of the packs. :P
Well, I'm off to London this weekend - hopefully I'll be able to sort out the bank account before we leave that day, and hopefully at least my paycheque from the agency will clear right away, since I only have £30 cash left. Banks, banks, banks. I never would have thought before embarking on this adventure that it would be so difficult for a person to get at their own money. Even back home just before leaving, it was a huge production to get the money out of my account before I had to get the plane. I had to do it on the way to the airport because well, never mind - too long and insane a story.
TTFN!
Teresa :)
The music in the background is not exactly British, it's a British-Canadian folksong from the Maritimes, but it sets the right mood. :)
Here are some links that I have found and enjoyed. The first one is one of my favourites - the Britannia site - lots of good stuff about history, and particularly about King Arthur.
Britannia Magazine--click here to go on a magic history tour, learn about the legend of Arthur, etc, etc...
Castles of Britain (interesting site, lots of detailed, practical info about history of castles)
Gateway to Scotland - History and other information about Scotland
Lady Jane Grey
English History.Net - page on Tudor England, and one on the Plantagenets
American vis-a-vis British English
Suggested Reading
1. Adventures in English Literature; Inglis & Speare; Harcourt, Brace; Olympic Edition; c 1958 (provides very interesting and comprehensive information about England, including it's history, and of course, it's literature.)
2. English History; by Birdsall Viault--I'm not sure about the publishers or anything--it's a readable history because it covers all of it from the beginning to now in short, easy to digest paragraphs.
3. Historical Interpretation:Sources of English Medieval History, 1066-1540; J.J.Bagley; Pelican, c 1965
4. Any books by English authors.