One Month Later: Life in London

A few reflections

One month ago, we arrived at Heathrow airport with six checked bags, four carry-ons, Fig (our dog), and a lot of feelings about moving internationally with a few weeks notice. There was no time to feel in the lead-up to leaving New York — there were moments of joy and grief saying goodbye to loved ones but they felt fleeting amidst all the movement and momentum. Fig’s paperwork clearance for UK travel happened hours before our flight was going to depart, and the anxiety of that alone kept me up at night for the entire week before our departure.

Here are a few things I’m consuming, as well as some things consuming (wreaking havoc) me:

new nickname just dropped: the oaty one

I’m Consuming — Cookies aka Biscuits aka a Digest on Digestives: The variety of tea biscuits are a delight. I initially gravitated towards the classic digestives (a favorite of my Grandmother’s, in addition to Hit sandwich cookies) which I thought you couldn’t eat in large quantities because I assumed they were chock full of fiber and would make you poo. It turns out digestive cookies make no difference in your BMs: they were thought to be a digestive aid because back in the 1800s, the Doctors who created them thought baking soda (‘bicarb’ across the pond) helped with digesting rich meals. They were wrong, but don’t you love that two Scottish Doctors made an iconic cookie that’s still around over a century later? I get a laugh out of imagining myself fulfilling my immigrant family’s dream of becoming a doctor, only to make cookies instead.

Anyway, I was enlightened to the existence of Hobnobs within the first week of arriving here. They are crunchy, packed with oats, and have the structural integrity to hold up to a vigorous tea dunking. I love that the brand describes them as the ‘nation’s crunchiest companion,’ with an ‘oaty rough & tumble.’ My crunchy companions back home make their own kombucha and ‘rough and tumble’ is an brutal old form of wrestling in the south.

If you’re wondering what my tea dunking looks like, it’s not unlike this:

Consuming Me — Life Admin: After a multi-step process involving two store visits and two phone support calls, multiple managers and store leaders getting involved, I now have a UK mobile phone number! I’m now trying to set up a bank account and continue to be surprised at the hoops I must jump through to do so! Even transferring money from my US accounts to my Monzo or Wise in the UK has proven to be quite the challenge (Capital One if you’re reading this, we need to talk). I’m also searching for an apartment alongside all of this, and the funny thing I’ve encountered is that every life admin process feeds into the other here. There are dependencies across everything (‘Oh you don’t have credit in the UK? I can’t open a bank account for you then’), and it would frazzle even the most organized, competent person.

I’m Consuming — meal deals from Marks and Spencer: Marks and Spencer is better than a Trader Joe’s but similar in offering: many packaged goods, snacks, and delicious things you didn’t know you were craving until you walk in. The prevalence of ‘meal deals’ at grocers everywhere has been a treat, whether that’s the makings of a charcuterie spread for £9, a full meal with protein, grains, and veg + sauce to cook for £7, a sandwich, drink, and a side for £5, etc… M&S will be my go-to for what some call ‘girl dinner’ and horrifyingly called ‘picky bits’ over here — dips, spreads, charcuterie, salads, sides etc.

Consuming Me & I’m Consuming — bad British tortilla chips: Please know that my ongoing quest for a decent tortilla chip may prove to be futile, but I remain hopeful.

I’m Consuming – EastEnders: I’ve been watching this show since a five-week stay in London in November 2023. I downloaded BritBox to keep up with it in the states for the past year and half. I cherish it despite a real portion of Brits who act very pretentious about it. It’s a soap opera but to end it there would be a disservice. It’s got more thoughtful, timely plotlines (it’s a BBC program, after all) than the American ones and takes me back to my days of watching Degrassi. You will hear more on this from me later.

Consuming Me — emotional whiplash: The highs are high and the lows are low. The emotions of leaving hit me like a ton of bricks upon arrival, ebbing and flowing for a while: all the emotions I didn’t have the time to cope with caught up with me in an instant. I felt like a jellyfish, untethered and floating without a direction. Thankfully I don’t feel like such a jellyfish right now, and I think it’s because I’ve had time to process all sorts of feelings and ample freelance work to bring structure into my day-to-day. But damn if it isn’t hard to start fresh!

I’m happy to be here; I can’t wait to actually get an apartment and settle into a neighborhood. What are you consuming and what might be consuming you these days?

Dunking biscuits,

Roya