Category Archives: The Move

Tenterground

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I went to the doctor this morning. I needed to register with the nurse. A lovely lady who sat down to talk to me, making jokes and took time to help me with my stuff. She even gave me two addresses that I need to check for work. She said I’ll get paid there to look for a job, isn’t that funny? Shouldn’t really abuse the system though… I might have a job opportunity already, just need to be patient and see how things evolve. I have enough to do over here so there is no rush.

Next week I’ll have to see the doctor in person, I met him briefly today and shook hands with him, he seems to be a really nice gentleman. They’re all nice and funny; making jokes all the time. No grumpy people at all. Can’t be true, please pinch me! I’m registered now so I don’t need to worry about this anymore. I will be able to get my medication and guess what, it’s free… Yeah that saves me 180 Euros per month! I think the system here is slow, but in a nice way, relaxed. I don’t have a problem with that at all and I don’t mind having to come back three times [Tuesday will be the third time].

I was there yesterday already and have spoken to another really nice man, who helped me out with the registration forms. He told me his ancestors came from Rotterdam and that there is a Dutch section in London where all the Dutch immigrants had moved into about 220 years ago. A. didn’t know about this when I told him. I would really like to go there and see what it is like these days. The name of the place is “Tenterground”. This morning when I came in, the man gave me a pile of papers. All the pages that he had found on the internet and that he had printed for me about the Tenterground, isn’t that sweet?

I’ll write more about this once I’ve been there; promise!

Noticeable Oddities of the Day:

Everyone is so kind and helpful, amazing! They take time to sort things out for you and you don’t even have to ask for it. If they hear you’re Dutch it seems to be the magic word and opening new dimensions, no kidding! I never thought I would love to tell people that I’m Dutch… *LOL* Thing is, I heard twice today that people believe I’m English. I seem to be good at it and they wouldn’t believe me when I told them I’m Dutch.

Oxford Street

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I took the bus today which was cool! It took about 45 minutes to get to Oxford Street where we were supposed to go shopping. It’s cool to be in a London double decker, it’s the perfect way to do some sight-seeing and navigation at the same time. I loved it! We had coffee at Starbucks and then went separate ways. I. and A. went to buy a drum kit, A.’s latest gadget. We went looking for clothes… I found two new dresses but they don’t fit very well so I need to adjust them. A. didn’t really like them so I hope he will after I’ve changed them… He’d better!
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We met up after a few hours and had a drink in the tiniest pub I’ve ever been to so far. We then took a cab and went to Borough Market near London Bridge. Borough Market is grateful for the coverage it regularly receives through the press, radio and television. The market has also become a special favourite amongst celebrity chefs. You can always spot a famous face amongst the crowd! I didn’t see Jamie though, he must have been in bed with a hangover… emoticons/wink.gif
It is a really nice market! Fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and we even found my favourite Belgium beer: “Rochefort” which was way too expensive [over £3,- per bottle] but A. bought a few anyway. I finally found pecan nuts so I have some on stock. It was very hard to find them but I know now where to get them from. We then had lunch at Wright Brothers Oyster and Porter House. We had to wait for our seats for quite a long time but the food was worth waiting for! While we were waiting A. ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate moving to the UK, his new job and my emigration… I never had shrimps like that before: so creamy and full of flavour! The others had oysters as well but I didn’t eat them. I don’t really like them to be honest. That champagne was good: I was totally tipsy after only two glasses…
We took a cab to I. and C.’s place to chill, cook dinner and watch a movie. Saw ‘The Butterfly Effect’ again, very good movie. A. has been playing on his new gadget all evening. I have to admit it’s really cool! It has been a wonderful day!!!