....Continued

Alright, well without looking at the old post i believe i left off with Kelly going off to Maidenhead by herself and myself going into the city to meet some teachers. Keep in mind this is all without phones so pretty much all day Kelly and i assumed the other person was probably dead. Well it took me about and hour and twenty to get to the correct stop on the tube, the train i was on had to make 26 stops before i got there which is probably why it took so long. The induction was painfully boring except for the bright spot where the bank official who came there told me i couldn't set up a bank account until i had an address (and we couldn't get a flat until we had a bank account), so i freaked out in my head and then just turned to the person next to me who i had met 5 minutes earlier and asked if i could use their address, problem solved. I met that day Pete Dunlap and his Wife Cam (science teacher at Langley and she works in advertising remotely), Peter Bronzy (Science teacher at Langley from Canada), and Chris Sommers and his gf Carly (English teacher at Langley and she is a supply [substitute] teacher, both from Canada). They were all really cool and we have all since become friends, i got Pete Dunlaps' number and suggested we meet up in London the following Sunday to just hang out with the wives and do some walking around, they thought that would be cool. We all had drinks given to us after the induction and it turned out to be quite fun. Also had an interesting conversation with Chris about our mutual love for the band Thrice, but when i asked him if he dug the Get-up Kids he said it was a bit before his time. I inquired as to his age and he is the same age as the first students i ever taught 5 years ago, 23. I felt very old, but oh well. I rode the train home in good spirits and to both of our surprises both Kelly and  I were alive at the end of the day. She had got her phone unlocked (mine was too new and therefor i would have to wait two weeks until they updated the unlocking hacks), put down a holding fee on the place, and found out we could move in on Saturday which was awesome since it was Thursday and we would only have to pay for lodging for one more night which at about 70 quid a night was quite steep. There was only one problem though. We only had about 900 pounds on us and would have to pay a 1800 deposit and first months rent before we could move in, and if we didn't have it on Saturday we would have to wait until Tuesday to move in since Monday was a bank holiday. This all wouldn't be that big of a deal except our American bank only would let us pull out 300 pounds per day from the ATM. We also had no way of calling them since we didn't have phones. Friday morning we woke up and ate a final breakfast with Dee at the B and B and got a cab over to a new guest house in Maidenhead that was owned by a really lovely Indian couple who couldn't have been nicer to us. We figured out the we could video chat with my mom and have her call our bank and impersonate Kelly with Kelly feeding her the security info through the computer. It was pretty awesome and we were able to pull out 500 on Friday leaving us about 500 pounds short. We also had to pay our guest house fees. Bollocks, we were going to have to wait until Tuesday to move in. Luckily we took a chance and got a cash advance on our credit card and ended up being able to move. 

We spent ALL of Saturday cleaning and throwing all of the previous tenants things away. We also needed to get a new mattress since the one in the bedroom looked like it was covered in blood.

Kelly at our flat in the widow/balcony (kind of) area.

A There happened to be a mattress store across the street so we threw down our bags in our new place (after making 2 trips across town carrying them by hand from the guest house to the apt.) and went to the mattress store hoping to spend no more than 200 to 250 on a new mattress. The salesmen (one older and a younger manager) were very nice but informed us that they were a predominantly high end mattress shop and the only double they had in stock even remotely close to our price range was for 350 plus 30 for the mattress removal. We told the older gentleman there our story and he started begging the manager to please, please let us borrow something so we didnt have to sleep on the floor or find us something we could afford, it was really nice of him and i was kind of touched. He was really pleading especially because we were literally their new neighbors. The manager said that he would see what he could do and came back up 5 min later and said he would sell us the other mattress for cost + the removal fee, which ended up being 250 total. It was really cool of them and a total blessing. We carried the bed across the street and up the stairs and set it all up. We bought some cheap bedding and cleaned until the wee hours of the morning. I also happened to mention to Kelly that Pete and Cam were staying with some friends but had worn out their welcome and needed to find a place soon. Kelly was like, "whoa, i know what you're thinking and no they cannot stay with us, what if they are super weird". I assured her that they weren't but she could decide when we met them the next day in the city. I emailed Pete and we set up to meet the following day. Kelly on the way into London did eventually say, "I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have some company for a while and we do have that extra bedroom. So yeah they can stay with us as long as i don't think they're weird". Kelly and i were getting kind of lonely so i said that sounded great. We met them at Hillsong church, which was awesome, like Rock Harbor times 10, and went to a little place called Belgo for luch which was great. After that we all walked to Covent Garden and watched the street performers. The 4 of us commiserated on how the move had been VERY hard so far, but we had all experienced pretty much the same stuff, which was comforting in a way.

Kelly in Covent Garden

Right as we were about to open our mouths to tell them they could move in with us for a bit if they liked, Pete told us they had found a place in Windsor but couldn't move in until Nov. 1st. But they had also posted on Gumtree.com and found an interim place in Windsor for the ensuing two months. We still offered our place to them should anything go wrong, and they said thanks, but Kel and i were a bit deflated since we were kind of looking forward to playing the role of the Good Samaritan and also having some company. They did also mention that the people they were talking to sounded a bit sketchy but everything seemed to be on the level for the most part. 

Casey in Covent Garden

We hung out for a while a parted ways to go back to our places that evening. Kelly and i went out for Curry chicken sandwiches that night and i brought my computer to check some emails if i could wrangle up some wifi. We ended up meeting a guy who was from Orange County sitting at the table next to us. He had lived here for 13 years and had never met another person from Orange County. Crazy he even went to a Canyon High School which was in the Orange Unified School District that i had taught at, small world. I managed to get online and had an email from Pete and Cam. The place the had got as an interim place had been a scam and through an elaborate con (which i would have fallen for as well, it was very legit sounding) had been bilked for 800 pounds. They asked if they could come over to our place for a little while and i invited them to stay for the whole time until their place opened up. We spent all of Monday painting and about 14:30 we heard a buzz at the door. We had roomates...

                         This is a good place to stop. More soon, sorry if this is boring but its also so i can remember all these stories as well. More about the school, the differences between cultures, and the horrible children in a day or two. Miss and love all of you who are reading this. Kelly is also starting a blog so stay tuned.