Hi all! It's been a busy couple of weeks, but we are moving forward with all of our plans. We have actually started a journal, documenting the jobs we've applied to, the information we obtain, and the lists of things to do! For the most part, we've figured out our banking and cell phones, and have each applied to a handful of jobs. Fortunately, everyone we have emailed/spoken with, to solidify plans and inquire about jobs, has been extremely helpful and pleasant.
In reflecting on the past 10 months or so, since we decided to pursue this adventure, we've brainstormed MANY, MANY blog names. Every time we became frustrated with the process, or bored during the seemingly endless waiting periods, we talked about blog names....so, before we delete them from Bryan's cell phone, we thought we'd share them with you...
-The Chunnel Chat (eh, kinda cheesy...one of our first ideas....we were amateurs back then)
-2B or not 2B (Not too sure how this relates to London, but we are 2 B's)
-Chillin' in the Chunnel (Bryan was/still is OBSESSED with the word "chunnel"...guess who named tonight's blog post?!)
-B Squared Blokes (Brandina thought it sounded too Australian)
-Droppin' the pounds (Funny at first...maybe we'll sell it to "The Biggest Loser" in the UK)
-Big Ben's Yanks (Brandina wasn't too thrilled about the word Yanks)
-The London B&B (Brandina's favorite...Bryan thought it was too "cute"...)
-The Real Pub Crawl (A little bit too fraternal for Brandina's taste)
-The Royal Carrefour (During Bryan's recent quest to learn one new word each day)
-Chips, Chunnels, __________ oh my! (Like Lions/Tigers/Bears oh my, but we couldn't quite come up with the third piece...besides, there's that word chunnel again!!)
Shortly after we received our visa approval, we realized it was time to actually commit to the blog name (and the rest of the moving plans, at that time, seemed too daunting to tackle). Suddenly, we thought of the "BBC," the UK's news corporation.... As you can imagine, while the B&B were obvious, we launched into an all-out brainstorming session about the "C." We wanted to capture a word to describe "journaling," and it turns out that there are only about three synonyms to this word, beginning with the letter "C" - chat, confessions, and chronicles. Truth be told, our blog will likely be all of those along the way...
Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off. ~Author Unknown
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Countdown Officially Begins...
Welcome to the real BBC, where we'll keep you informed of our latest news in the UK!
As many of you know, we dreamt up this adventure over a year ago, and have been jumping through the hoops to obtain our visas ever since. We decided to apply for the highest level of visas, a Tier 1 Highly Skilled Visa that enables us to essentially live in the UK without finding a job to sponsor us first---in theory, these visas will enable us to apply for jobs while on an even playing field with the local UK citizens. We soon discovered that this level of visa is at the top for a reason---after over 12 months of research and preparation, we each anxiously mailed off a 1"- 2" thick binder containing all of the required documents (in Brandina's case, having held multiple simultaneous part-time jobs in the past year, her binder weighed 5 pounds!!). This included everything - passports, bank statements, employer paystubs, college degrees, and biometric data...we were surprised they didn't ask for DNA samples!
To our amazement, we were awestruck to find out late last week that we were finally approved! As they say, good things come to those who wait!
These visas will allow us to live in the UK for up to 3 years. While we're planning on around one year or so...you never know.....As one of Brandina's coworkers said, "One year?! You'll finally just be settled by then!"
We celebrated for a night, alongside a bottle of wine, and then realized that now it's game time! We're aiming to leave anytime between now and mid-October--either when one of us gets a job, or in 3 months from now (in time for our friends Paul and Leigha to arrive, who prematurely booked their flights a couple months ago, in hopes that we'd get our visas approved!). This means we have A LOT of planning to do; researching the UK banking system, health insurance, cell phones, and flats to rent, all while applying for jobs, arranging for storage and mailing addresses, and continuously adding to and crossing off items on our to do list!
As our time winds down in the U.S. we'll be embarking on the B-Squared Road Trip, making stops in San Diego, Sacramento, and the Bay Area...hope to see all of you along the way before we head out, to cross the pond. Otherwise....we'll meet you somewhere in Europe!
Thanks for all your help and support so far!
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St. Augustine
-B&B
As many of you know, we dreamt up this adventure over a year ago, and have been jumping through the hoops to obtain our visas ever since. We decided to apply for the highest level of visas, a Tier 1 Highly Skilled Visa that enables us to essentially live in the UK without finding a job to sponsor us first---in theory, these visas will enable us to apply for jobs while on an even playing field with the local UK citizens. We soon discovered that this level of visa is at the top for a reason---after over 12 months of research and preparation, we each anxiously mailed off a 1"- 2" thick binder containing all of the required documents (in Brandina's case, having held multiple simultaneous part-time jobs in the past year, her binder weighed 5 pounds!!). This included everything - passports, bank statements, employer paystubs, college degrees, and biometric data...we were surprised they didn't ask for DNA samples!
To our amazement, we were awestruck to find out late last week that we were finally approved! As they say, good things come to those who wait!
These visas will allow us to live in the UK for up to 3 years. While we're planning on around one year or so...you never know.....As one of Brandina's coworkers said, "One year?! You'll finally just be settled by then!"
We celebrated for a night, alongside a bottle of wine, and then realized that now it's game time! We're aiming to leave anytime between now and mid-October--either when one of us gets a job, or in 3 months from now (in time for our friends Paul and Leigha to arrive, who prematurely booked their flights a couple months ago, in hopes that we'd get our visas approved!). This means we have A LOT of planning to do; researching the UK banking system, health insurance, cell phones, and flats to rent, all while applying for jobs, arranging for storage and mailing addresses, and continuously adding to and crossing off items on our to do list!
As our time winds down in the U.S. we'll be embarking on the B-Squared Road Trip, making stops in San Diego, Sacramento, and the Bay Area...hope to see all of you along the way before we head out, to cross the pond. Otherwise....we'll meet you somewhere in Europe!
Thanks for all your help and support so far!
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St. Augustine
-B&B
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