Heather Sanger

March 03 2007

-Where were you born?
North Carolina, USA

-In which country and city are you living now? 
London, England

-Are you living alone or with your family? 
With my husband and our two cats that we had sent over from home.

-How long have you been living in England? 
Since October 2005, so almost a year and a half now.

-What is your age? 
Just turned 30

-When did you come up with the idea of living in England?
It was presented to us as a short-term assignment by my husband’s company and honestly, we jumped at the chance. We’re only going to be young and childless once in our lives so we figured if there were ever a time to do something like this, it’s now.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit? 
Well, we had it pretty easy on that front because it was my husband’s company that was sending us over and they took care of all the paperwork for us. We filled out a couple of forms, gave them our passports and they came back to us a week later with visas!

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived? 
Again, since this is a work assignment, we’re lucky to not really have to deal with that. 

-How do you make your living in England? Do you have any type of income generated?
I’m not working, actually. When this opportunity came up, my husband and I discussed it and we decided that I was going to use this time to do some things I’ve always wanted to do but felt I never really had the time to do. Like volunteering, taking classes, that sort of thing. So, I volunteer twice a week at a local school and right now, I’m taking an Italian class. 

-Do you speak the local language and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
Well, as this is England, the language aspect doesn’t really apply. However, I have gotten used to saying some British words like “rubbish bin” instead of trash can or “queue” instead of line! Even when I visit back in North Carolina, I find myself using these words and everyone looks at me like I’ve lost it. 

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
Of course! I mostly just miss living in Raleigh, NC. It’s such a great city and I love the laid-back lifestyle of living in the South. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that many of my friends and a lot of my family are there! Also, as crazy as it may sound, one thing I really miss is driving around in the springtime with the windows down, music blaring and the smell of fresh-cut lawns in the air.  It’s just not quite the same walking around the city with your iPod on.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
We’ll be here in London for another year and a half and our main goal is to do as much travel as we possibly can. In fact, we just got back from Budapest recently and we have planned out some more of our holiday time for 2007. So far on the calendar are Russia, Scotland, Ireland, Croatia, either Bordeaux or Champagne in France, and Egypt for a “sun holiday.”

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We’re renting a 2-bedroom flat in Richmond because we’re only here for a limited time. It was on the market at 1800.00 GBP per month. Richmond can be one of the more expensive areas in which to live but it’s well worth it. We love the “village” lifestyle of having all the shops and conveniences of a high street but with the charm and landscape of a suburban town.

-What is the cost of living in England? 
Well, I think everyone is well aware that it’s very expensive to live in London.  As an American, the first thing you do when you get here is convert everything to dollars. It can lead to some massive sticker shock because it pretty much doubles the price. I think the worst was the first time we went to the movies here and it was about 20.00 GBP between the tickets and refreshments and all we could think was “We’re paying $40 to go to the movies.” You learn after a while though that you just can’t do that. You have to force yourself to think in pounds only and not worry about how many US dollars that equals. 

-What do you think about the English people?
I think that anywhere you go, you have friendly people and rude people. It all boils down to that basically. You can have a “bad city day” here (as I like to call it) when you get bumped into on the street and no one says “excuse me” and people hog the sidewalk and force you off the kerb (that’s curb to Americans), and you’re struggling with your shopping and your umbrella and all you want is to go back home and get back in your comfort zone. Then, you’ll have a day where people are pleasant, hold doors for you, step aside to let you through, ask you if you need directions when they see you studying your A-Z street finder. And all the same, anywhere you go you’ll have people who are ignorant and think all Americans are fat, lazy, gun-toting rednecks. 

But then you’ll have intelligent people who don’t judge you by your accent. Who maybe ask questions about where you’re from in the States and engage in conversation because they want to learn more. One thing I have noticed though is that almost every non-American you meet wants to talk to you about 9/11 or how you feel about George Bush!

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in England? 
There are loads of both positives and negatives. Among the positives, I would include the ease of travel around Europe, the fact that on any given night you can find something going on that interests you – from musicals, plays, operas, comedy, live music, dancing, independent or foreign films, etc., not having to own a car to get around, and lovely parks and green spaces in which to lounge about on those beautiful warm days. 

Some of the negatives are that those beautiful warm days aren’t in as much abundance as in the Southern United States, it’s much harder to spend a day out running errands because you can only do as much as you can carry, and I doubt I’ll ever get used to household things like the lack of air-con, the tiny washing machines that double as useless dryers, and the miniature refrigerators.

Obviously, the positives more than make up for the few inconveniences that count as negatives.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in England? 
Take advantage of as much as your budget will allow – theatre, great restaurants, travel around Europe, even local tourist attractions, etc.  Realize that you’re living every day in a place that people pay a lot of money to visit on their vacations. And buy a fan in March before they all sell out once the heat wave hits!

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about England?
Just my blog, Life in a Nutshell, which probably won’t help anyone who has questions about moving here but maybe it will make you laugh!