I began my job hunt the other day and realized I was missing one very important thing. A UK phone number. I couldn't exactly give them my boyfriend's cell number, he rarely checks his phone and I don't want to miss an opportunity. So I came to the decision of purchasing a basic cellphone so I could apply for work. It also would come in handy if my partner or friends needed to contact me when I'm out and about. Especially since I find myself wandering through town aimlessly nowadays. It is quite beautiful and I adore the historical buildings.

Anyways, I explained my position to my partner who agreed and said I should look for a good company. He wanted to switch to a new plan since his company was gouging him every month. Thus I set out to visit the phone shops on the High Street the following day. I stopped at all of them and discussed phone plans. They all were really expensive for what I wanted. Also everyone kept trying to sell me on a smartphone when all I needed was a basic phone for texting and phone calls.

 Eventually, I met my partner at his brother's house both tired and frustrated that I had not found a solution to my cellphone problem. My partner corrected my English, reminding me that they were called mobiles here. As I was about to tell him I didn't care, the fiance of my partner's brother spoke up. She told me about her phone plan and how if I purchased a cheap phone from Amazon, I could sign up with giffgaff. Everything was done online and you could order a free sim card right away. They even had a plan which included everything I needed for only a few quid a month.

It sounded too good to be true, but I spent the rest of the afternoon looking it up. She had been right. Even better, once we switched my partner over, texting between us was free! I ordered the sim cards that night and began searching for my new phone on Amazon. Hopefully I'll be hooked up with my new "mobile" number soon!

Dana~

So, I may not have discussed this before, but I'm an avid Simmer. This may not be a word most people know, but it's basic definition is a person who plays a lot of "The Sims 3". I've been playing for about four years now mostly because it's a great way to tell stories and create characters. Whenever I have writer's block, playing Sims always gets my creative juices flowing.

Now, back in Canada I had a pretty decent desktop. It had an Intel i5 processor and everything. It ran "The Sims 3" really well. Well enough that I added so many mods it wasn't funny. I liked to be able to alter the game and my stories to my whim. It was great. Unfortunately, I had to leave my desktop behind when I moved to the UK. I had a hard time coming to grips with the fact I was going to lose my favourite creative outlet. Then I realized I could install the game on my Macbook Pro! I thought this was the solution I needed.

No. Nuh-uh. Not happening. Yes, the game installed. Yes, it ran sort-of-but-not-really-fine. My issue was that the mods barely functioned. Modifications that normally caused no lag, forced the game to a slow crawl. Then there was the custom hair glitch. Half of my properly-installed custom hair styles never load, no matter what trick I try. I had a method to get them to load (Load game, check hairs, close game, delete caches and reset mods, restart game), but even now that has stopped working.

I am very irked as many of the glitches have made me feel more annoyed by my hobby than happy. Things have gotten a bit stressful and I always used to turn to Sims...but now it too is a struggle. I guess I'll just have to keep fighting with it on a day I'm not frustrated.

Dana~

I did it. I live in the UK now. Part of me thinks this is unreal. The other part of me is full of excitement and is jumping for joy. Living abroad is a dream I have that finally came true. The travel was a pain, but after nine hours in the air and five hours riding a National Express coach to the South of England, I finally arrived in my new temporary home. There wasn't much to see on the way, mostly empty fields and sheep. Lots of sheep. But I love sheep, so no real problem. My partner met me at the bus station and we took my luggage back up to the cottage. It has been such a long day I don't think I can explain much more in any coherent way.

I'm settling in and counting all the different things I have to be excited about. New plans to make and a new future to create. I'm excited beyond belief! (Have I said the word excited enough in this post?) For now, I'm too tired to cook and we ordered our favourite Chinese takeaway. I must try to nail down all the slang so I fit in a little better. I still get looks for my North American accent, but my Canadian flag pin should help me be rid of those.

Tomorrow is a new day, the start of a new life in a new country. I just hope I don't forget my old life too much. I'm not leaving Canada nor my family behind forever...

Dana~