Adventures in England

i’m on day 4 of trying to get a bank account. you see, i picked a particular bank who has locations in the states as i thought that might make things easier upon a move back. on day 1, i was told i had to go on-line to download the paperwork for an international student account, fill it out and bring it back. on day 2, i returned to ask if i could do it all there, as i didn’t have internet access yet. they said no, with a big grin, and i decided…screw them…poor customer service = no new customer;) upon returning home and telling my housemate what happened (she’s the one who told me to go back and demand to do it all in person), she promptly rang up the bank’s call center and asked what their policy was, and was told i should be able to go into any branch to open an account right then and there. day 3—paulette (my housemate/landlord) took me to the local branch of the bank, who was all set to open an my account, until i showed them my lease, which they determined wasn’t sufficient for proof of address and sent me away to get my university acceptance letter re-issued with my UK address and phone number. so, here we are on day 4 and i am soon off to the uni to pick up new new letter. wish me luck on monday back at the bank;)

paulette has poked fun at me as, after only 72 hours in the country, i’ve gotten/exchanged two phone numbers—one from an 80ish year old woman from malta who’s lived in leeds for 60 years (met her british soldier husband during ww2) who has since called to see how i’m doing and another from a 31 year old fellow i met at a 60s soul music dance club who has not called (grateful for that, actually).

last night, we headed out to the local ramblers monthly pub meet and met a few interesting characters. paulette, who advised me that all the members would be retired and have beards (and that would be just the women) was pleasantly surprised to find it was a young person’s group and has since hooked up for a lift to an 8 mile walk on saturday. hmmm, i think i’ll start off with a nice 2-4 mile ramble after being a couch potato for most of the past year.

on saturday night, i’ll be meeting up with a group of about 15-20 american expats (mostly moved here for marriage) for dinner and drinks. i’ve known most of these people on-line for a year and a half and one couple actually were kind enough to pick me up from the airport when i arrived on monday.

well, will hopefully have pics to share soon. take care all.

suz

p.s. bad british humour…a joke i heard yesterday with new definitions for old words:

arsenic = to have one’s buttocks stolen