Mommy wow, I'm a big boy now!

These last two days have been very emotional for me and I don't think I could ever begin to prepare myself for what was coming today. Saying goodbye is not an easy thing for anyone to do, and so while I had every intentions of holding back the tears and staying strong, that wasn't the case at all. Take it from someone who doesn't share his emtotions very well, this whole experience is changing me already. It sounds silly, but taking deep breaths helps a lot.

As I write this, I am sitting on the train back to my new home. Yes, I said it: MY HOME. We moved my luggage over to the house last night and what an adventure that was! We called for a taxi but it was going to take too long to come get us so we decided to make the trek out for public transit. Once again we learned that it's not fun to travel with luggage. By about 9pm we arrived at the house and Julie greeted us with a cup of tea. I immediately opened my bags up to pull out all my clothes that have been smushed together and getting wrinkled for the last 10 days. There is A LOT of storage space in my room and what makes it better is that I have a double bed and a nice view facing south.  Plus, Julie is a very friendly woman with an electric personality so I am sure I will end up settling in nicely. I will post a description of the place and a few pictures later of how things look once I'm settled. 

But, how am I doing now that I'm on my own? Only time will tell really. At this moment, it's all I can do to stop myself from worrying about the journey that lies ahead of me. As I said my goodbyes to mom and Rachel it occurred to me that it wasn't saying goodbye that was the problem, it was was that this leg of the journey is now over and it's now time to start thinking about teaching.... And that is a terrifying thought. I am so thankful for everyone who has supported me in the process so far because without it, I certainly would not be here. I must admit that I am going to need the continued love and support from everyone as I settle in over here. I'm a big boy now, but even big boys need help every once in a while. 

A Day Out With the Queen

Saturday was the big day out! We hopped on the train in the morning and as easy at that we were on our way to London! Or as the locals call it "town". The advantage of living within a 30 minute train ride is that I can basically come and go within the city as I would like... so there will for sure be many more adventures to come! But, I digress. We took the train from Dartford to Victoria Station and once we got there we were right in the heart of London. After some searching, we managed to get our hands on a tour map of the city and we set off on foot in the direction of Buckingham Palace.

Along the way, we passed a lot of the iconic red telephone booths. For those Harry Potter fans, I even tried to use one to get into the Ministry of Magic but that was to no avail... I will try again later. We also passed the theatre where Wicked is being performed! I have put it on my list of shows to go and see. Downtown London is such an energetic place to be! The hustle and bustle is not like what we can find in downtown Toronto though... it's much more invigorating here! Maybe it's the presence of the Queen, who knows! 

(I'm secretly hoping that the Queen is
photobombing my selfie from one of those windows.)

The Jubilee Coach

Buckingham Palace is certainly a sight to behold. We decided that it would be neat to go inside the Palace Mews... and it was! The Mews is where the Royal carriages are kept. The oldest of the carriages is the Gold Coach, and it is about 200 years old and has been used in every coronation since it was built! The newest would be the the Jubilee Coach, which was built specifically for the Queen to ride in for her Diamond Jubilee back in 2012.

The Gold Coach (it weighs 4 tons)

From Buckingham Palace, we wandered over into Green Park where we found a hot dog stand and enjoyed a royal meal before we trekked along The Mall, and found our way into Trafalgar Square. After making our way through the busy intersection, we took a short break in front of the National Museum, and then headed off towards Westminster! While walking down the street, we encountered a protest which was promoting that Britain should be doing something more about the situation in Gaza... I made a mental note that I should take more of an interest in British politics so I will have somewhat of an idea of what is going on in my new country of residence. Not long after, we passed Downing Street, where there sadly wasn't much to see, and so we carried on towards Westminster.

It was upon reaching Westminster that I was really taken aback. Between the Abbey on one corner, and The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben on the other, it is absolutely breathtaking to stop and marvel at the architecture and to think about the amount of history that has been made in those two places. While we didn't go into Westminster Abbey, we did go into the adjacent St. Margaret's Church, where it was just as breathtaking, and absolutely peaceful to be inside. Heading back out into the busy street, we crossed over to stand on Westminster Bridge and take in the River Thames view of Big Ben.

We carried on over the bridge to see how long the queue was for the London Eye, however it was quite long and threatening to rain so we decided against it. By this point, we were all exhausted anyway so we decided that it was time for us to head back to the much slower paced setting of Dartford. On our walk to Charing Cross Station, we stumbled upon the home of Benjamin Franklin! It was a very unexpected find, but a cool thing to see nevertheless. From everything that we saw, it has given me a taste of what London has to offer, and has sparked my interest to go and explore the rest of the country. What I find the most striking, however, is the way in which these pieces of history coexist within the busy life of the city. Stay tuned folks, there's lots more to come!

Getting Acquainted

Time flies when you're having fun! I can't even begin to describe what has happened over the last few days. Basically, we have been getting to know the area, which can be either as large or as small as you really want it to be. Dartford has a lot of nooks and crannies that are waiting to be discovered. The main street is called the "High Street" and cars are not permitted here; there are pubs and grocery stores and a lot of other small town shops as well. I would like to point out that a lot of hairdressers and barber shops can be found around here... so I've been keeping an eye on them and decided to try one out today and it was a success! I must admit that getting my hair done was one of my worries and so I am very relieved that this risk was not a disappointment. As you walk south from the High Street, there is a rather large park in central Dartford which is the home to the "football pitches" and lots of colourful gardens. If I was to compare Dartford with a place back home I would liken it to Peterborough because it has a lot of older buildings in the downtown core, with newer developments sprouting up around the outskirts of the city.

We have done A LOT of walking in our time here so far. Being from small town Grafton, we have to drive if we need to get somewhere and so we were initially very uneducated on local transit. Somehow, us small town folk have managed to begin mastering the art of getting around. Our hotel is not in the most convenient location but thankfully we discovered there is a bus that comes out this way and takes us to downtown Dartford. Our time has been spent riding the transit system to and from the hotel, and also into the next few towns over. There is a bus that takes us from central Dartford to the Broadway Shopping Centre which is in a place called Bexleyheath. This is a smaller mall than Bluewater (which I mentioned in another post), but it is home to all the local amenities that one needs to survive. It boasts an ASDA (which is owned by Walmart!), Marks & Spencer, H&M, Starbucks, the local cinema, and many other pubs and restaurants.

Bexleyheath is also a much newer town than Dartford, making it a very posh and appealing place to live. I also think I have found a home there! The search is still on, but on Friday we viewed a room in a house that is owned by a lovely woman named Julie. The house was completely refinished from top to bottom about 2 years ago, making it much more contemporary and like something you would expect to see on TV. Not to mention it is located within a block of the Broadway Shopping Centre! We will be viewing at least one more place just so we can make some comparisons, but mom and I have a very good feeling about me living there, so stay tuned for updates on that!

All in all, we are having fun exploring what the area has to offer! I will dedicate a post to London... we were there on Saturday!

My stylish new haircut! Thank you to Memz Barbershop!

The hotel where we are staying.

We took a walk down the street my school is on! (the name will be changing in the coming months).

Trying to figure out how to read a bus schedule... it's harder than it looks!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

So, I just about cried. I had created a beautifully detailed post about my day yesterday and as I was publishing it, the app crashed :( Technology: 1, Evan: 0. Instead, I will do my best to recreate it but it's 9am here and I am hungry! 

Travelling is an interesting thing. We can get from almost anywhere to almost any destination by hopping on a plane, train, car, bicycle, etc. It allows us to see other places, and in my case, move there! Our plane ride was less than perfect. I was claustrophobic and couldn't sleep. The lady in front of me had her seat reclined all the way back. The movies were boring. Babies were crying... I think you get the picture. After 7 long, restless hours, and a bumpy landing, we made it to Gatwick! Thankfully, going through the UKBC (customs) was a breeze. The man signing us in was delighted to hear that I'm a teacher and will be working in Dartford because it's also where he lives! With a friendly smile he welcomed us to the UK and we were off to claim our bags. As luck would have it, our bags were just coming out and around the carousel so we quickly grabbed them and then stopped to ponder our next move. It was time for our next UK experience: trains. 

We were able to purchase our tickets for the Gatwick Express from a travelling salesman who was wandering about the baggage claim area (how convenient!) and with that we were off with only a few minutes to spare! It was here that I discovered that having to lug 4 bags around is not an easy task. Needless to say that all was well and we got on the train in time and it even worked out that upon reaching Victoria Station, we were able to hop on the next train that would take us to Dartford! Upon reaching Dartford Station, I realized that my careful planning had one flaw: how to get from the station to the hotel. Thankfully, people seem willing to help distressed looking Canadians. We manged to hail a cab from Freedom Taxis which was being driven by a lovely woman named Emma. She and her father own the company together and also lives within the area so she had lots to say about where to eat, live, etc. She was even well aware of the reputation of my school! This was very comforting to hear. Now, driving here is not like it is at home!! Most vehicles are stick shift, and in case anyone is wondering, the clutch is on the left side of the brake like it is back home. THEY HAVE ROUND ABOUTS EVERYWHERE. This is what probably confused me the most about the roads here. Back home, they are rarely seen but when they are, it's only one lane. Here, they're two lanes so cars are literally going round and round in what seems like every direction. Needless to say, Emma was a good driver and even gave me their contact info to get in touch directly in case I was ever stranded somewhere. We then settled into the hotel and decided to get the front desk to call us a cab to take us to Bluewater Shopping Center. Sadly, this time it wasn't Emma's cab, so we had a very interesting experience with a driver who likely shouldn't have his license, let alone be driving a stick shift. I guess this is how it's going to be for a while until I figure out the bus system. Anyway, while at Bluewater we saw many amazing stores that back home would only be found in downtown Toronto, and I also noticed the lack of the ever abundant Tim Horton's (how Canadian of me). I made some purchases from the Apple store so that my laptop and phone would work over here, and I also got set up with my new UK phone plan (which I might add are dirt cheap in comparison to home). 

All in all, it was a very long day but certainly now that I have gotten some sleep I am feeling much more refreshed and ready to take on today. The weather is sunny and not a cloud in the sky! For now, I will leave you with a line from the movie Up: "adventure is out there!"

This was around 4am Ontario time. Mom and I enjoyed a spot of tea!

Seeing land was a VERY exciting thing. It meant the flight was almost over!

The wall outlets here are so funky.... Definitely not in Canada anymore!

A long time ago in a galaxy far away...

Well the time is finally here! It feels like forever since I began following through with this crazy idea of becoming a teacher in the UK. To be honest, I thought this day would never come. As we packed our bags into the car to head to the airport, I suddenly felt a sense of calmness come over me. Upon reaching the airport, that suddenly changed and I felt dazed and confused as I became enamoured by all the lights and colours and people around me. Thankfully I have help for this journey, and I love them so much for that. My mom (Kathy) and cousin Rachel are here to offer support and there is no way I could be doing this without them. I also want to shout out to all my friends who have sent me well wishes through phone calls, texts, and FaceTime chats, I appreciate the support so much! They are now calling for us to begin to board so I will leave you all with this picture of some smiling and excited individuals! Stay tuned for more updates ladies and gentleman, we're in for a wild adventure!