Rolling ball of momentum

Today was the day of my final interview with the *lovely* people at the British Trade Office, and the final step in the application process for my UK Settlement visa. The interview was conducted by a very large, cold and angry man with an uncanny resemblence to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but with a muddled Scotch/Welsh accent (I think?). The interview itself was every bit as terrifying as I expected it would be. The mean man made me felt like a convict, like I was filth and how very DARE I even attempt immigrating to Britain. The questions were more difficult than any job interview I've ever had, and I've never known my palms to sweat like that. He made me describe the beginning our relationship, what we planned on doing for work in the UK, what we would do if plans didn't work out and who I thought would bail us out of catastrophe. In the end, after all the hard questions were out of the way, he looked at me sternly in the eye, crossing and uncrossing his fingers in contemplation and said, "Well, I have no troubles issuing you a visa today." And then he chuckled.

He KNEW! The whole time I was sitting there in a sweaty wreck he KNEW it and he LOVED it! I bet the Home Office specifically hires only sadistic bastards with a thorough past in psychological torture. We joked around a bit while we were closing the interview, which was relieving and infuriating at the same time.

In other news, Rob got a new job today. He starts tomorrow at a school called AlphaBeta, which is my old school, and will work until the end of the month. Great news for two reasons: this adds a little more to the coffers, which by my calculations works out to be about a month of living costs in the UK. Also, this gets him off my back so I can pack the house in peace!

Also, we may have already found a flat to rent in Brighton with a lovely girl from Prague, who may or may not be an illegal alien. I didn't ask, her English was passable so I thought it rude to ask if she was there legally. Not that it's any of my concern in the longrun, I just like to know who I'm dealing with. The flat (apartment for you Canadian folk) is a bedroom in a house about 15 minutes walk from the center of Brighton, all bills included for £600 per month (just over $1200CDN per month. For a bedroom in a house. Yikes). Want to see if it's worth it? Check out the pics she sent me. I tried to put them below this, but they are above. Up there, you've seen them already, and now you know what they are!

Well, I'll try to blog more often now that we are for sure moving to England at the end of the month. July is going to go by fast, so stay tuned for more updates!