Thursday, September 25, 2008

Preparations: Part II

Six days left until I'll be in England, dragging my heavy bags through the turnstiles of the London Underground to some hostel -- or rented room, if I can get one by then.

Today has been a day of bank-shopping and flat-hunting. With my mom, I made some calls and went to several banks to inquire about UK accounts, wire transfers and exchanging currency for some travel cash. So far, it seems the best deal is to arrange my UK account upon arrival, wiring funds to myself from Washington Mutual (the only one to make transfers fee-free, as I've found). Once there, I'll possibly use Citibank, HSBC, or another bank with local origins. I'll be getting my British Pounds in a Wells Fargo bank in Westlake tomorrow morning. It would have been nice if a closer bank could have taken care of that part today, but as it was, closer Wells Fargo branches could only offer overnight FedEx shipping; Bank of America was worse -- it would be shipped to the bank by next Monday. Too close for comfort!

So I suppose tomorrow I'll also be at a salon, bright & early - ready for some unpleasant business involving hot wax and a cloth. Then Westlake, then more flat-searching... hopefully I can find something cheap & central, if possible no more than £100/week. I'd be so relieved if I can arrange something before arrival... and even more so if I can line up a job interview or two for the first week.

Is there anybody out there reading this looking for a journalist/copy editor/researcher/photographer/etc.???

2 comments:

Pseudo said...

Hey, first time here. I like your blog. As an English teacher , living in Hawaii for the last 25 years, but from the Conejo Valley, you adventure intrigues me.

I'll be back to check out the London days.

Rex said...

hey dude! I got your e-mail about your new blog and I think this is an AMAZING idea. definitely write as often as you can during this excursion! I can't believe you're ACTUALLY going to live in England for six months. AMAZING.

BEST of all the world's luck for you. :D