I’ve been in my flat for almost three weeks now and finally I’m starting to feel almost totally settled. Prior to arriving in London I had done quite a lot of research into potential living accommodations for myself. Believe it or not, one of the biggest challenges was finding a flat (during the month of August) that would be available in mid-September. Londoners seem to move rather suddenly and so many flats seem to come on and off the market within a weekend. It was frustrating (as anyone who has ever tried to find a place to live in any city in the world would know) trying to find a place in the right area for the right price with the right amenities. Any location can be the right location for somebody, but finding YOUR right location for YOUR right price… it’s a skill they don’t teach. But sometimes luck has a way of finding you, and so far it seems that’s just what has happened to me. I came across a flat in a nice location for roughly the price I was expecting that was available at the end of September. It had been on the market for a little while and so I was curious why it was still available (though again, I was looking for a place in August and so a late September move-in may have been to distant for many potential tenants). As New York was not a convenient location to pop in for a viewing, I had to depend on videos of the flat for quality assurance purposes. It was nerve-wracking selecting a place to live without having seen it in person. Was it smelly? Was it falling apart? Were the neighbors wretched and loud? It looked like a really great flat for that price, so I went with my gut and signed on the dotted line. And very glad I did! So far it has been just right.

While the flat did come furnished with a couch, table and chairs, desk, and the always popular Murphy Bed, there was still a rather long list of items I had to purchase in order to make it livable. Bed sheets, for example, were one such item. I had only been in the flat for about thirty minutes (photo-documenting it’s condition upon my arrival) before I was out the door and on a mission to retrieve linens, soap, and at least a few other items to get by. If ever I was on a game show that required you to carry miscellaneous items extensive distances on various modes of transportation, I could at least say I have had plenty of practice doing so. Carrying pots, pans, garbage cans, pillows, duvets, and electric kettles with nothing more than a backpack, Ikea bag, and a few cloth totes through neighborhoods and on buses and trains is a workout I had not expected. I think I now understand why people try to steals those shopping carts. It’s just people living alone who are merely trying to avoid making three trips to Ikea. And of course you never are quite sure if that trip to Ikea, which is about 15 mins farther away than a shopping center, was worth saving the £2 on that frying pan. To be honest, no item caused me as much grief as my kitchen garbage bin, though. It took more than one attempt and several stores before I found one that was just the right size. (I was the Goldilocks of garbages except the first two I tried were both too small. I want to be able to fit more than three items in the garbage before having to empty it.) These are the choices we make.

But at long last my flat is starting to feel like home! I’ve added some personal touches, including twinkle lights and a window-turned-picture frame which I appropriated from the side of the road. Other things are also slowly falling into place. I have a new microwave (the one provided upon my arrival looked a bit unsafe to use as the inside wall were falling apart), fresh bulbs for my lamp, and even a few fresh herb plants to sit in my kitchen window.

It is funny some of the things you find yourself needing which you hadn’t immediately thought of when you’ve first moved out on your own. A screwdriver and WD-40, for example, are two such things I found myself scouring shops to find. The screwdriver was to actually be able to replace the bulbs which had burnt out in the lamp and the WD-40 was to mend my bed which had a habit of squeaking quite tumultuously every time you touched it. How adult I feel being able to fix these little things all on my own! Although perhaps a bit sad that I see these as some of my proudest and most accomplished moments at this point in my life…

The next step is to setup, at long last, a bank account. While in the US you can, for the most part, setup an account by walking into a bank and saying “I would like to setup an account, please.” In the UK it seems a slightly more challenging process. The first bank branch I went to upon discovering that I was an international student told me I had to setup an international bank account. After learning that an international bank account is an offshore account with a minimum balance of £25,000 I decided to seek a second opinion. The next bank branch told me all I needed was a letter from my University saying I was a student and they would setup a regular bank account for me (no mention of a minimum balance). Once I had my letter in hand, about two weeks later, and entered a bank branch to setup an account I was told I needed to have an appointment. The next appointment was in a week and a half. Needless to say it has been a process, but hopefully one that will soon be completed! Perhaps it was just me who seems to have found this process rather befuddling, or maybe this is just the norm.

Another thing that seems “the norm” here is what I would consider unusual wildlife. While pigeons and squirrels are animals all too familiar to me (though it should be said that the skittish London pigeons are a very different breed than the New York City pigeons which could genuinely beat you up), one animal I am not accustomed to seeing wandering through my backyard are foxes. The other night I came home from class and noticed that the light for our communal back garden was on (it is on a sensor) and so I peaked outside to see what had set it off. My immediate instinct was that it was someone’s dog, based on the size and face I believed it could be a Shiba Inu. Of course my first reaction is “I must befriend the puppy!” But almost instantly I realized that not only are pets are allowed in my building, but the animal I saw was definitely not a dog. Quietly slipping past our flats was a rather large fox. While I chose not to venture out to befriend him (I’ve named him King as I thought it a fitting name), he was lovely to watch from my window. Not sure if I would have enjoyed seeing King as much if he had passed me on the streets, but seeing through my window was rather enjoyable. Wonder what the next animal will be that I encounter outside my flat. Who knows, maybe an elephant! I do live not far from a zoo.

Does this make me English?