Soooo... you've decided to move London huh... uh Why?

Avi: Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins... LONDON.
"Snatch" 2000

I'd like to say I moved to London because I got a high powered job that required me to move half way across the world...
I'd like to say I moved to London because a Duke (or even an Earl) swept me off my feet and carried me away to his drafty castle...


But.. I moved to London on a whim (love that word, comes from whimsical which is also a fun word).  No job, minimal friends (total of 3 so far), and no idea of exactly where to live except that dammit all I'm moving to London.


Truth is London was the only logical place to go.  Coming from New York (the city so nice they named it twice - by way of Long Island - don't judge me) I knew it had to be a place where I didn't have to learn another language (I was wrong on that end... ever try understanding a Geordie accent and you'll understand) and it had to be as cosmopolitan as New York.  


I'd been born in Brooklyn, raised in Jamaica and Long Island, went to school upstate - GO ORANGE!! - and almost all of my career was in NYC. It was time for a change.  Same bar, same trains, same people... I needed a change.  I needed to get out of a rut.  


I have to admit, I kind of cheated.  I'd been a self professed Anglophile for years without the luxury of ever visiting the place.  Read Charles Dickens since age 6 and the Lord of The Rings every christmas since age 10 and then ... the almighty Guy Ritchie entered my life.  Or should I say the almighty Guy Ritchie introduced Jason Statham into my life by way of "Snatch".  Good god... IS THAT WHAT LONDON IS LIKE??? Hot accent, hot men, dry sardonic humor... Love is the only word that could describe it.  Ah people could say James Bond or even a childhood obsession with Mary Poppins would have had the same effect but... Have you SEEN "Snatch"? I dare you, double dare you to watch it and not book your flight on Virgin Atlantic (really the only way to travel to the UK) within 5 minutes.  and then there is Idris... ahhh Idris Elba.  Watch "The Wire" seasons 1 & 2 and you too will be expecting to walk off the plane smack dab into some of the most beautiful men in God's creation.  Funny thing is... I've managed to pick up a proper English bloke... looks nothing like either of them... Such is life but the search continues.


Sooo here I am... 5 days into my new life - my tea drinking, pub crawling, chip eating new life.  With not a clue of where this new chapter is going. I hope if you take a gander at my pitfalls and ventures you'll get a good feel of what its like to become an expat.  Any advice you take from this definitely take it with a grain of salt.  Because would you really trust a person who has picked up sticks on the sole reasoning of "gosh that accent is sexy".


 And really, that's the fun of it isn't it? So I guess next will be to debunk some of the myths - bad food (true) - bad teeth (not so true) - and on to hunt Jason Statham down in the streets of Central London.  (Shhh.. don't tell the boyfriend)