The Canadian Geese have Finally Landed!

Walking through Gatwick London airport with absolutely everything you currently own is not daunting at all....  This was the starting of our England journey, so let me fill you in on the experience.

With bright eyes and bushy tails Ryan and I ran through the airport terminal mimicking what other passengers seem to be doing.  Everyone was rushing like they were on an episode of “The Great American Race”.  We rushed along right with them, until the mob of people came to a screeching halt.  As we lined up (or ‘queued’ as the British say) I began to realize that we seemed to have far more luggage than everyone else that was around us.  Also, our fellow travellers all seemed to have a maroon passport, not a royal blue one like Ryan and I.  We twisted around the corner to see a huge pillar that read, ‘EUROS’.  Sweet deal! We are in the wrong mess of people.

A lady that we had been sitting with in the plane spotted us and said to us, “I think you belong over there,” and pointed to another pillar that said ‘NON-EURO’.  Mmmmm yes, yes indeed we belong over there.  Well, we took our sorry behinds over to the larger queue, the queue that had restless travellers who held royal blue passports and lots of luggage.   It was quite funny to see that we were the only Canadians that had followed the Euros into the customs area.

Queued at Gatwick Customs

Well.... we waited for some time, but Ryan and I both were far too excited to notice how long!  Once we were stamped finger printed and approved, we rushed on into the Bustling city of London!

We ran around lost for about 30 minutes looking for the train.  Talked to some British people and gathered enough information that got us to the metro line.  It was at the London Metro where we learned our favourite English saying, “Mind the Gap”. 

Remember to always 'Mind the Gap!'

There is a dangerous ‘gap’ between the actual rails of the metro and the platform.  The trains and metros go so fast in London that you must ‘mind the gap’.  The gap that you need to ‘mind’ is the gap between where you are standing and the actual metro.  There are yellow paint and words that actually say ‘mind the gap’ on the platforms.  If this ‘minding’ is not obeyed the metro driver reminds you by saying, ‘mind the gap’.  On this particular day the metro driver must have been having a terrible day, because he not only reminded people to ‘mind the gap,’ he reminded them to ‘mind the bloody f@#%king Gap’.  Since then for a good laugh we sometimes remind one another to ‘Mind the Bloody Gap!’

After making our way to Kings Crossings, a train station in London, which has some connection with the Harry Potter Movie ( I wouldn’t know because I am not a Harry Potter person) we jumped on a train to make our 3 hour hike North. 

It was very exciting to have the first glimpse of the Tyne River.  After looking at so many pictures of it on-line and finally being able to cross that bridge made everything a reality!  We are finally here!  Not sooo fast.  The train car in front of us had some silly business going on that had to deal with the police (British slang: Bobby).  After about a twenty minute wait we crept into the central station Newcastle upon Tyne!

We made our way to the entrance to try and hail a taxi, which was easy enough.  I gave the taxi driver the hotel address that we had previously booked, and he giggled.  “What is so funny?”  I asked him, “Your hotel is right across the street from Central Station”.  Well didn’t I feel stupid!!!  I had not a clue that I had booked such a great hotel in such an accommodating area! Geezzzz......

Our First Piture Tother in Europe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so it begins....

Where to start.... I believe it’s fitting to begin by explaining who we are and why I decided to start this blog. 

My name is Amanda Marie, and I have recently re-located to the United Kingdom to work as a Primary Junior Teacher.  Ryan Peter is my fiancé and he has agreed to take this journey with me, to allow me to play out my dream and adventure of taking my career mobile.  Together we are taking part in this journey finding all the laughs and pitfalls along the way. 

Ryan and I met aeons ago, while still in high school, I know that we have known each other for 10 years, and Ryan continues to believe that it has only been 8 years.  For some reason, year after year, it still continues to be only 8 years.  I guess the real `year counting` doesn’t matter until we have both vowed to one another in the sacred ritual of marriage.  So until then, I will side with the blissful 8 years.

Blissful I would say would have to be an understatement, because a majority of our years together (up until this year) has been long distance.

Back 8 or 10 years ago haha... Ryan was busy being a hockey player, whether it was all over Ontario or in the United States Ryan and I got to know one another over long distance phone calls.  Ryan played hockey for the United Hockey League, both in Muskegon, Michigan and Richmond Virginia.  He also played in the Ontario Hockey League, in Windsor Ontario for the Windsor Spitfires.  After his hockey career, he was accepted onto the varsity Hockey League and Played for the X Men at St. Francis Xavier University.

We travelled together to the East Coast of Canada where we both attended St. Francis Xavier University.  Ryan finished with an undergraduate degree with a major in finance, and I with an undergraduate degree with a joint major in psychology and sociology.

I was lucky enough to be accepted into the Bachelor of Education program at the University of Windsor, a year after graduating from St. FX.  What made this even better was that it was in good old Windsor, Ontario which is my home town.

This met for more long distance, which while doing an education degree I may say was a blessing in disguise.  I moving back home and Ryan remaining in his home town to work with TD Canada Trust bank was a nice change of pace.  It was less chaotic to do this second degree without my wingman.  In the nicest way it was refreshing to pine over lesson plans and teaching papers without him there.  Anyone will tell you, that a teaching degree, yet not difficult, requires your full attention and many all nighters to pull off that perfect lesson plan!

Anywho.... this is where England came about.  While coasting through the actions of being a teacher, it dawned on me that I really didn`t have a plan as to what to do after this.  During our last term, the university put on a job convention, where booths were set up for teaching jobs all over the world.  I sweet lady with an English accent called me over, “Have you ever considered working in the UK?”  mmmmm......NO is what I was thinking, but “Yes” is what I said.  I handed over my resume and thought about it time and time again.

Many ‘section 2ers’ I have come to notice were planning to take this journey and teach in the UK.  That is when I revisited the idea.  One night after an education party, where the talk was mostly about finding work, I returned home and applied to 3 agencies online.  Mind you it was 3 am and I had finished a bottle of red wine at the party...

One thing led to another and I had done a few on the phone interviews.  It still wasn’t real and I had never really thought about ever moving to another country! After graduation I set out to move back to Peterborough, where I was notified of another, face to face interview.  I went to the interview and everything went great!  About a week later I got an acceptance letter to join one of the agencies.  How exciting!  After that it was a blur.  Tons of paper work, VISA applications (I have added a‘s’ on the end of application because I was rejected with my first application), and loads of money saving later, Ryan and I landed in the UK.

Ryan was working as a financial advisor at TD Canada Trust bank before we decided to pack up and leave.  He has been moving his entire life, so there was little to no begging required on my part to convince him to come.  He was excited, sometimes I think more excited than me! 

So we packed 55 pounds worth of clothing, had my dad drop us off at Pearson International Airport, said our goodbyes and began our journey!  This is how this blog began.  I will do my best to keep this updated!  So stay tuned and I hope to keep this entertaining for you.