Today is THE DAY!
It is 9 a.m. CET and I am sitting in my room in Prague, Czech Republic. In about one hour I will leave for the airport to fly to London. The bags are packed just outside my room, the boarding pass in my carry-on, my camera to document my trip is charged and ready with 8GB memory. Last time I watched news on CNN (by the way, another Airbus just crashed near Africa, what’s going on?).
I’m ready.
Once I arrive in Heathrow later this afternoon, I am taking the Heathrow Express 15-minute train to Paddington where my hotel is located. I will be staying at the Hilton London Metropole which I found at a very good rate on Hotwire.com. I booked it for a week. Hopefully, I can find a flat in one week with some friendly flat mates, in a good location and not terribly expensive (i.e. below 800 GBP per month incl. fees).
My flat search begins today. I have searched gumtree.com for two weeks, responded to dozens of ads and set up viewings of nine different flats. Most of them are in zone 2, with easy access to my office location in zone 1. My first viewing is at 8:30 p.m. near Hammersmith. It is a 5-bedroom place with four current residents who are looking for one additional guy. These multi-bedroom flats are huge, sometimes on two different levels. My friend told me that these were built specifically for people to share. If you think of it, that’s the only way someone in their 20s can afford it. For example, the total cost of the apartment I am looking at today is 4000 GBP ($ 6,400). Crazy!
Aside from looking at flats, I also have to accomplish a few other things. Open a bank account and get a mobile phone. Based on reading a few blogs this can be a bit challenging, especially for someone with no address in the UK and at the moment no credit history. I have pre-applied for a HSBC bank account from Prague. They have an account that is designed for people moving to the UK. It’s called HSBC Passport. It should make things a little easier for newcomers.
I will also go to the O2 store to get the Apple iPhone 3GS. I am not sure they will give it to me before I have a bank account and address, but I will give it a try. If that doesn’t work, I will buy some Pay As You Go SIM card and put it in my old Nokia phone. Once all set up, I will let you know my new number and will look forward to your calls.
OK. It’s time to get moving. Another update probably later tonight or tomorrow after I see the first apartment. This should be fun!
Cheers!
