We’ve had our first full week in our new space and everyone is still adjusting – especially Buddy who no longer has the run of a four bedroom house with an acre of land. Now he’s stuck in a two bedroom flat where he’s not allowed in the bedrooms or on the furniture. Sad doggie – he didn’t sign up for this. Now he’s stuck going for walks where there is lots of pavement and lots of other dogs. Oh how we HATE other dogs. They are an existential threat to his humans. And now they are everywhere. Even in pubs and restaurants and shops. Now his humans leave him in the car when they go places so he can’t protect them. They tried leaving him home but his anxiety was WAY too high and his bedding in his crate is now just fluff. Poor Buddy.

But he’s not the only one feeling flummoxed. While Frank was born and raised here and we have spent countless weeks and months visiting, it’s not the same when you try to settle in. And of course it’s the little things that get you. Like the ingredients for a recipe that you assume will be available but aren’t. (No fire roasted tomatoes anywhere.) Or the fact that your dog doesn’t realize what traffic really is since he’s only ever walked in a quiet suburb so you have to constantly watch to make sure he’s not going to run in front of a bus to get to the dog across the road. Or the fact that we now carry two cell phones each because we’re trying to get used to having a UK number but don’t want to give up the US number yet because there’s still too many things in flux.

But we know we’ll manage. It will just be harder than we thought. For example, we are waiting for the boxes we mailed to ourselves to arrive. We know they are in the country but we don’t know where they are. We are waiting for a notice to say how much customs duty we owe – which is none because we have a Transfer of Residence exemption but we need to file that paperwork. Of course we haven’t gotten any notice yet because some of the postal workers were on strike.

Then there’s the money thing: we are unlikely to be able to buy a house anytime soon. We can’t get a mortgage without 3 years of residency. In fact, I had to pass a credit check to get a cell phone plan that costs £20 month. Our incredible credit record in the US doesn’t count for diddly here so it’s like we are starting all over again. I’m worried we will have challenges even renting some where but we haven’t looked into that yet. Even moving money from our US accounts is a PITA. We can do it but at a cost. It took an hour with a “customer relationship manager” to open joint current and savings accounts! I could open one online myself but to add Frank took an unbelievable amount of paperwork.

And of course the technology issue: while I officially started work last week, I haven’t actually done much work because my IT account wasn’t set up correctly so I have no email no way to log into my university-issued laptop. So I’m “working” from home the best I can but that just means more time in our tiny flat looking at the sad eyes of my dog. Except that the sun is out today and there’s no snow on the ground and I can go for a lovely run along the river which will cheer me up immensely. Too bad Buddy can’t go with me – too many dogs!