Getting Back to London

I flew out of Boston on Monday morning, slept a few hours on the plane, watched Four Christmases and because our plane needed to do an extra circle, I had a fantastic sunset view of central London, including Parliament, the London Eye and Canary Wharf. The view was spectacular and the clear skies meant a cool 45 degrees F when I disembarked.

Off the plane, I geared up for UK Immigration. The queue wasn't long at all, but after having to explain that I am coming in on a visitor's visa (not my work visa sponsored by my former employer that is still in my passport), I was asked if I have ever been rejected a visa to enter the UK. Of course, I had to say yes, and then I was asked to sit on the bench at the front of the queue while the Immigration Officer went to the back office to check their records.

I sat there, feeling like I had done something wrong and was waiting to see the principal or something, when he came back out and stamped my passport many more times than normal. Since he was letting me through, I didn't ask too many questions, but when I looked at the passport page in baggage claim, I noticed that he stamped the day's date as well as writing in my visa rejection code. Fantastic. I think my Immigration experience will be more interesting than normal from now on.

I made it to Victoria's house fairly easily considering the amount of luggage I had trailing behind me. Before going to sleep at 2:30am, I had completely unpacked into my room (I am so excited to not live out of a suitcase!). Today I went for a 4 mile run around my new town, Welham Green, and yesterday Victoria's boyfriend Oliver drove me to the grocery store and showed me around the surrounding towns.

Welham Green is in Hertfordshire, directly North of London by just over 15 miles. My local train station is a 7 minute walk from the house, and it takes 30 minutes to get into Kings Cross station where I can hop on the tube into Central London. I am definitely living more in the countryside here than in London proper, but for now, it's a great situation for me.

For now, I am spending my time reconnecting with friends, working on the job search (although somewhat half-heartedly because of the visa issue), and preparing for my return to Boston to help with Brea's wedding.