The Guide To Being An Expat... The Taylor Method

So you want to be an expat.

Great! We're always looking for more members for our expat support group! We meet Sunday evenings right after Strictly Come Dancing.

(I kid.... there's no support group... not that I've been invited to, anyways.)

Hello everyone. My name is Taylor and I've got a problem. I like standing on random patches of snow in English zoos and eat Marmite on toast for breakfast.

In order to be an expat in England, you must:
1. Learn the difference between a cookie and a biscuit.
2. Know ALL the rules of cricket.
3. Sing inaudible songs at a football game. (RAAAUHHHMAYYY roughly translates to "red army". Learn it and live it.)
4. Eat and enjoy pickled onion crisps.

I'm kidding again. Jeez, I can't take anything seriously, can I?

I guess what I should be saying is that there is no straight cut method to being an expat. I wish there was though; that would have made my process a lot easier.

I get asked all the time by hopeful expats: "How did you do it?!"

In short: I fell in love with a lovely man with an accent and moved the legal way.   

Simple algorithm to being an expat: work at a summer camp + date an English bloke = INSTANT EXPAT!

It took a lot of patience, a lot of money, and a lot of long distance relationshiping. So when I said "instant expat", I was kidding again. Sorry, that's the last time. I promise.

I am on the Fiance(e) Visa, which basically means we're engaged and are planning to get married. DUH. The catch is, we have to get married within 6 months of when my visa was approved. And I can't work until we are married. And we had to PROVE our relationship existed.

"What do you mean prove your relationship?!"

Besides the actual application (which I'll get to in a second), I had to send lots of fun stuff to the UK Embassy in New York which included: Skype records, Facebook records, my previous flight details to see him, his previous flight details to see me, details of us traveling together, letters from our family members saying they've met me/him, photos, photocopies of cards/letters to each other, my bank statements, his bank statements, my previous pay slips, his previous pay slips, picture of engagement ring with receipt (to prove we're actually engaged), information of our prospective wedding venue, his employment contract, his work history, my work history, copy of my birth certificate, copy of his birth certificate, copy of my drivers license, copy of my social security card, copy of my passport ID page, 2 recent passport pictures, and that's just what's off the top of my head.

Look, we exist! If this doesn't prove our relationship, I don't know what does! I'm willing to look like a fool in front of this guy. Let me in your country, please.

The application itself was just a time consuming and information prying fun sucker. By the time I had to print it out it was about 12 pages long (no exaggeration). It asks lots of information about you, your parents, and your "sponsor" (basically the person you are moving for. In my case, my sponsor is the Fiance).

Also, I had to drive to an immigration office and get my biometrics done before I could send off my visa package. That means that I just had to make an appointment to get lots of fingerprints taken. They used these fingerprints when I entered the UK to make sure it was me entering on the correct passport and visa. UK Border Control really means no funny business!

No really, please let me in your country! I have a date with Robbie Williams!

So the Taylor Method to being an expat is to fall in love, get engaged, and be fully willing to marry someone from another country. Easy enough! (Kind of.)

To be honest, that's the only way I know how to be an expat. Unfortunately, a lot of countries don't let you just move for the sake of moving. You need a substantial reason, like work or studying.

But there are lots of ways to do it! You just need to find out whats best for you. Try studying abroad or looking into different opportunities your citizenship provides for you (for example, commonwealth visas for the commonwealth countries). Although I can't give you a detail by detail description of every possible way to make the move to another country, there are lots of places around the internet that can!

Try looking at different expat websites for articles, forums, and other blogs that can help you out! The sidebar on the right hand side provides some Taylor approved expat websites, all of which have first-hand experiences from expats all over the world.

Good luck with all of your adventures no matter what side of the pond you're on! 

 

One happy expat!

Any hopeful expats out there? How are you preparing to make the move? Anyone already an expat? What advice do you have? Share your stories!

Goodbye, Summer!

Tomorrow is the first official day of autumn, even though you'd never know it in Florida. It's still muggy and gross and HOT. None of that "oh my run was actually a bit cool and brisk today" for us. That won't happen until..... well... NEVER.

But it dawned on me that this was my last summer in Florida. Tomorrow is the start of the season where my whole life literally changes. And what better season for such a change? Everything is transitioning: the weather (of course not where I live), the seasonal aisles at Target, Starbucks coffee flavors...and now my home!

I reflected on everything that happened this summer. And even though I didn't travel the world, swim with sharks, or compete in the Olympics, a lot did happen that made this a great summer!

I got off a ship that I lived on for 4 and a half months! Okay, so this was technically in the spring time, but I'm counting it as the beginning of my summer time, because it kind of felt like a semester away at school. Except instead of classes and studying it was working and more working. And instead of getting excited over school spirit and football games, it was getting excited over your favorite Disney princess. (Team Rapunzel in case anyone cares)

I kid you not, that is where I lived... My address was "the middle of the freakin' ocean, Planet Earth"

I got engaged! I flew to Canada on one hour of sleep to visit Fiance's family in Alberta. I spent the entire drive to the romantic destination complaining about how hungry and tired I was from flying, not knowing he was about to propose in front of the "mountains I've already seen before... why are we here and not getting food?!"

That's really what it looked like, I promise! And yes it's summer time... In Canada... eh?

It was a moment I will never forget. And it was perfect. And fun fact, my reaction was recorded by his uncle and brother. And it's hilarious!

I ran a whole bunch! A lot of it felt great! And a lot of it felt like crap! Running on a moving, breezy ship is a hell of a lot different than running in hot, still, humidity. I felt like everything I worked toward since my initial new years resolution 2 years ago was all for nothing. I felt so weak, like I'd never get back to the way I was before. I logged a lot of dreadful miles, and then suddenly I felt okay again. I still have bad runs every once in a while, but who doesn't??

I turned 22! And I wrote a list of 22 things I had learned from being alive. Most of it is probably absolute crap, but it was fun to look back and think of everything I learned. I use "everything" quite loosely.

I went to the beach... a lot! I probably went more this summer than in my whole life. And I live like 10 minutes drive from the beach. It was relaxing. And it's definitely one thing I'm going to miss once I'm settled in England. I mean, you can't do this kind of stuff on Brighton's beaches!

Lots of sand and lots of sun. Complete opposite of England.

I got a visa to live in the UK! Waiting for that was so nerve racking! There was always that possibility that it wouldn't go through and I'd be stuck here. But it got approved, and I can move to England as long as I get married to a British person next year. Alright, if you insist!

And now, here we are. It's the end of summer and everyone's drinking their body weight in pumpkin spice latte's and lighting vanilla scented candles. Oh and I can't forget buying endless amounts of candy corn even though you can't get through a handful of it... Or am I the only one who does that?

Are you sad to see summer go? What was your favorite part of Summer 2012? Or maybe you're like me and are already in the pumpkin, scarves, and boots mentality! If so, what are you looking forward to most this coming season?

3 Great Things

Okay I'm going to cut right to the chase: The past couple of days have been exciting and overwhelming to say the least so lets jump into it, shall we?

1. I used a guest pass to one of my friend's gyms to see if I wanted to get a gym membership again. I didn't love it. I know this doesn't sound so great and this post is entitled "3 Great Things", but just let me finish. I have been going back and forth in my head about wanting to join a gym again. I used to love going to the gym, especially for the classes. When I went to the gym yesterday, I honestly didn't love it. I thought I would instantly know that I needed to join the gym again, but I didn't get that feeling. I forgot how much I dislike the treadmill. I don't need a gym membership. It was great getting a change of scenery and experience a new gym, but now I can put the confusion of joining a gym to rest. I'll stick to running in the good ol' outdoors, thank you.

2. I got a package from Fiance! Part of long distance loving is sending cards and packages. It's not always necessary, but it's fun! So yesterday I received some gifts from England, and it put me in a great mood! It was filled with some chocolates that are very British patriotic for the Olympics ("Nuts for Gold" Cadbury Chocolate, and the "Brit Kit" spoof of the Kit Kat) and his team's football (soccer for the American side of the pond) jersey!

I've always been a total football girlfriend. I learned all the songs and everything, which you KNOW is hard to do if you've ever heard thousands of drunken British guys singing inaudible syllables!

And last, but certainly not least... probably the greatest bit of news for the week (maybe even for the month)...

3. I officially have my UK settlement visa! I know it seems like I haven't been waiting that long, but I have! It was such a process getting all of our "evidence" together for the visa and waiting on the outcome. There was always something in the back of my head reminding me that there was a possibly of my visa application getting denied. But those thoughts are long gone since I received the email yesterday that my visa has been issued and was being posted. I waited all morning for UPS to drop it off; I was super paranoid I would miss it since it required a signature. But my passport is back in my hands once again, and it's a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I haven't told anybody yet because I wanted to make sure it arrived safely.


So it's official. This girl in charge of Running Across the Pond IS going to be running across the pond to England before the end of 2012! It was worth the wait.

Now to prep for the move... and the races!

First Post, on Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the 13th, ironically the day I decide to create a blog. I've been regularly reading running blogs and I thought I might enjoy this. I really like how I decided this unlucky day was THE day to start. Honestly, 13 is my lucky number as of right now, so I do not mind one bit.

I enjoy running, to say the least. I may not be the best, and I am definitely not the fastest. I will probably never win a race, and I almost always have bad technique. But I started off in January 2011 struggling to run half of a mile, and now that concept seems silly to me. Like I said, I'm not fast. I don't have sub-8:00 miles or even sub-10:00 miles. Some days are better than others. I may never have those "easy" miles a lot of runners talk about. And (as of now) I've only done 2 races: one 5K and one 10K. I made it a New Years Resolution to do a half marathon in 2012. I have my sights set on October 14, 2012.

Sidenote: I haven't registered yet.

Want to know why?

Well this blog is called "Running Across the Pond". We've established I like to run, so the other part of the title can't be that tricky.

I'm in the process of moving to England! My long term boyfriend (now fiance) is from England and I just started the process of applying for my settlement visa to move there. It's hard not knowing which continent I'm going to live on in any given month. I can't register for races too far into the future because I might not be in that location! And that's frustrating. But I'm ecstatic for my life to finally be coming together! Applying for a settlement visa was hard work. I'm now waiting for it to (hopefully) get approved, which could take weeks.

And that is why this blog was created! I want to track the trials and tribulations of my running and my process of moving to England. Maybe I can help someone trying to move to England, or even just make some running friends from both sides of the pond. Who knows, this time next year I could be blogging from England writing about running in cold weather (I'm from Florida. Everything is cold.) and trying not to get run over crossing the street! (England drives on the other side of the road... and the other side of the car).

But it's nice to finally become part of this online community!

In running related news, today was a rest day (aka getting frozen yogurt with best friend and not feeling guilty about not running). It was a good choice not to run because it was HOT. Although, it's Florida in the summertime; it's hot 24/7. Surprise! And I'm a Florida native (no I didn't move here from New York or New Jersey or Massachusetts or Pennsylvania or Ontario or any other place people move to Florida from. I know. I'm a rare breed) so that means I should be used to this, right? Wrong. There is no getting used to the humidity, lack of breeze, and pure heat that is south Florida.
I ran 3 miles yesterday. I would attempt to show the splits but I don't like my current GPS system that tracks my runs. I don't think it's calibrated correct and it really throws everything off (the Nike+ chip with iPod touch... if anybody wants to talk gadgets with me, I'm totally for that). I will say that bugs flew into my face for the entire 3 miles. I felt like I was in a road swamp death trap of some sort. The little tiny gnats would just fly into me and stick to my sweat. I know, I'm painting an attractive picture for my first post. But I'm not really the type to sensor these things.
Long story short: 3 miles, first 2 were great (besides the bugs), the 3rd was very sluggish. I did it. I sweat a lot. It was a grand ol' time.

Thanks for stopping by! And it was lovely to "meet" you!