In just 11 days, at just about this time, I’ll be picking up my life and shipping off to the U.K. to start my exciting new adventure. For those who don’t knowI will be transfering with my company to their London headquarters for 1 – 3 years! Yes, it’s incredibly exciting and a bit intimidating, which is why I’ve decided to start this blog to chronicle my “Forrest Gump” type of experiences.
As a I start to prepare (yes, I said start…note the 11 day piece from earlier…oops) I think of my grandmother who traveled across the Atlantic at around the same age in the 1950s to live with my grandfather while he was stationed in Germany. It makes realize that I’m pretty lucky to have a lot of the pieces she didn’t with this change, including:
1. An awesome relocation company. I point, they pack.
2. An overnight flight. If she spent 3 weeks on the Queen Mary 2 with three young kids, I can certainly spend 10 hours on Delta with my iPod.
3. A place to live. My company has graciously offered to put me up in 30 day housing. While not necessarily in the best location or even remotely close to the office, it definitely lifts a load off my shoulders. However, until a few days ago I wasn’t even sure where this place was…meaning that for the last few months I was just planning to show up at the airport and hope that someone would be there to take me to an undisclosed location. At least now the location has been disclosed.
4. A blog. The hardest part about this move is the inevitable homesickness. I haven’t even left yet and I’m already starting to miss some very important people in my life. Which is why I started this site — to help keep me connected with all of you!
I wrestled for a long time around the right name for this page, wanting it to be catchy and cute yet also something that my family could remember easily. I settled on James to Thames…knowing very well that the pronunciation is different. Here are a few of the other choices.
- James to Thames
- Fish and Grits (Like Fish and Chips, but Southern style.)
- My British Southern Accent
- London Living (Taken)
- Letters from London (Taken)
- The Original River City
- Mind the Gap, Ya’ll
- RVA2DeUK (I’m not a 12 year old girl…)
- London Towers & Showers (Just sounds inappropriate)
- The Houses of Parlimaddux
- From Stonewall to Churchhill (Love this one. And will dearly miss Stonewall!)
- Robert E. Leeavingthesouth
- My Double Decker Life
- Rain rain go away..oh wait..never mind, I’m in London
- Hyde yo’ kids, Hyde yo’ wife (Thank you Danny.)
- I’m-not-a player-I-just-Lancelot (Ditto.)
- Living La Vida London
- Blog it like Beckham (Worried I would have to pretend to know something about soccer…or do I have to call it football now?)
- Wonderlondon
- My Fair London (Taken)
- Much Ado About London (Taken)
- London Actually (Taken)
- Eat, Pray, London (Taken)
- Great Jesspectations
So that being said, “James to Thames” was the final call. I’m 11 days away and just waiting for the final piece — my visa. Fingers crossed that my passport and visa will be sent back to me safe and sound within the next 10 days.
Hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts and please leave yours as well!
