An American in Britain

We hope our issues with our previous landlord are now resolved.  At least, we hope that the electric company will honour their word and not come after us for the unpaid bill, which all, except the landlord, have agreed is the landlord’s responsibility.

We have dealt with so many people throughout the course of our dispute, and each one seems to give different advice.  It was extremely confusing and everytime we talked to a new person, we had to describe everything from start to finish.  “Frustrating” is an understatement.

But, in the process, we have learned a few lessons.  Lesson number one: we need to be more aggressive.  It wasn’t that we just let everyone walk all over us.  We tried not to be a pain, so we didn’t whine and complain about everything.  We reported problems when we needed to and left it up to the agents and landlord to work out what needed to be done.  Unfortunately, neither showed any inclination to fix any problems.  They blamed each other when it came down to figuring out what went wrong where.  Lesson number two: due diligence.  Don’t rely on someone else’s word for it, do it yourself.  Lesson number three: the Brits have an “I don’t want to get involved” attitude.  We get the sense that most Brits don’t want to give third party advice unless they are in alliance with you for some personal gain.  For example, we considered getting someone close to the landlord to reason with him, but felt that we would be given the cold shoulder.  Lesson number four: know who to turn to.

This last one could be tricky.  Everyone tells you to go to the CAB for advice.  We had gone to them several times during the course of our stay, but nothing useful was forthcoming.  They can be helpful in many areas, but in our case, it seemed they were at a loss.  It wasn’t until our account came up to the Live Debt department at the electric company that someone came up with a solution (though we cannot be certain that the issue is resolved yet).  They’ve decided to proceed with a power shut-off to force the landlord’s hand.  (Apparently, they wouldn’t do it if we were still living there.)  So, the higher up the ladder you move, the more ideas you can come up with.

But, in the midst of all this, we found out through the RAC Legal Aid that we should have reported our landlord to the council.  Apparently, it is not just for social housing landlords.  Had we done so, we could have had an independent appraisal of the situation, and we could have had a refund on our rent.  Perhaps, that would have also helped us to deal with the electric issue.  Lesson learned.  Hopefully, we won’t go there again.

OK, I’m not that familiar with British politics, but I didn’t expect it to be too complicated.

By now, I understand that an election must take place this year, by June, to be exact.  Mr. Gordon Brown will have to announce the date, and pessimists claim he will declare some national emergency to prevent it happening.

I also understand Gordon Brown is Prime Minister because Labour is in power and he is their leader.  I know that voters go to the poll and vote for their MP.  The candidate that gets the most votes wins the seat for that particular constituency.

But, there have been talk about the possibility that none of the parties will be able to establish a government if they don’t win a majority seat.  I never thought about that.  I just thought, whoever wins, wins. 

The UK system is not like the US system where you vote for the President/Vice-President, then your local representatives separately.  Here, the winning candidate becomes MP and takes a seat in the Commons.  The party with the majority (51%) of seats in the Commons gets to form a government.  That party’s leader becomes Prime Minister.

Since the polls seem to suggest that the two main parties (Labour and Conservatives) will get the most seats but neither will reach the majority, due to some seats going to other parties (Liberal Democrats, Greens, etc.), there will not be a majority government.  This, of course, will have many implications.  One being that the one with the most may seek to form a government coalition with other parties.  But, you can see with all the political wrangling that that might prove to be difficult.

The other thing I wonder about is what happens if the current party leaders lose their seats?  Has that ever happened before?  Party leaders going into an election and coming out losing their own seats?

One of the difficulties of living in a country where they drive on the other side of the road is remembering which way to look for oncoming traffic.  Of course, you look both ways, but when you cross into the middle, you need to know which side to watch.  I am starting to adjust.  However, my problem now is always remembering “the other side of the road”.

When I first came here, I used to remind myself that I have to look the opposite way that I was used to.  I have become adjusted to being a passenger on the left side and seeing cars going down the left side of the road.  However, that reminder still pops into my head, and now it’s gotten to the point where I am looking to the opposite of the opposite and I have to stop and really think it through.  It becomes very frustrating, especially because sometimes you have a very narrow opportunity for crossing the road.  (Though most places have crosswalks, sometimes it’s too far out of your way to cross there.)

I don’t know when I’ll have adjusted enough to just take it for granted that I am looking in the right direction.  Sometimes, I see people, whom I consider natives, who make the same mistakes.  Of course, they might also be foreigners, or they might just be careless/forgetful.

It’s taken almost a year for me to get to this point.  And I’m not even driving.  It’s so appropriate that I bring up this topic today because the people of Samoa are about to experience what I’ve experienced this past year.  Only, they will all experience it collectively and will have to adjust in a shorter time period.

The people in Samoa have to make the switch from right-hand driving to left-hand driving in one day – today.  They will have a two-day holiday to get people adjusted.  Some critics are complaining about the lack of preparation, with the roads (not to mention the people) not being ready for the change, and the resultant increase in car crashes.  I really feel for them.  I can’t imagine what would happen if the UK were to ever decide to switch like that.  Since Samoa is many hours ahead of us, I wonder how things went over there today.

It’s a good feeling to know that I have a job.  Or, will have, very soon.  After my second interview, I feel somewhat drained.  Not that it was particularly gruelling, but the anxiety associated with interviews and the tremendous relief afterwards can leave you feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck.  Then, I get excited knowing that we can stay in England, we can move house, etc.  Then, I get anxious again because we have to move house, etc.

Anyhow, my two interviews have renewed my confidence.  It’s not a good feeling when you’ve sent out two dozen CVs and not get word for a long time.  But, being offered a job on the spot is a big booster.  I went ahead and did the second interview just to see how I would do (besides the fact that it was a little late to cancel on them).  Though I wasn’t formally offered a job, I was asked if I would accept if it was offered and when I could start.  They implied I was overqualified, and seeing that the only other interviewer at the time spent only 5 minutes with them, it was enough to convince me they were trying to see which way the wind was blowing.  I had to admit that I couldn’t accept, but I wanted to know how I did.  The main interviewer told me he could not see how I could not be successful in whatever I decided to pursue.

Of course, as soon as I received my first offer, I got called for two other interviews.  One was very tempting.  I have to make a lateral career change and I have chosen two areas of expertise.  The job I chose is in the field of my first choice.  But, the job is a temporary one, and I will be starting out part-time, moving to full-time in a few months’ time.  However, it’s a step towards my goal, and it gets me a foot in the door.  My second job would be doing what I had done years ago, so a definite step down.  The third interview, which I turned down, is similar to the second.  All three are temporary.  But, the fourth one would have been permanent and would lead me down a path towards my second choice of a career change.  It’s tempting to go for it and see how I do, but I think it’s probably best to concentrate on finding another house and a new school, etc.  There’s still that slight twinge of regret, but I know that the position would be a lot more competitive.

It’s not that I regret my decision.  But, the cost of living is a lot higher at my chosen job than if I chose any one of the other positions. On the other hand, there would be fewer transitions.  For example, our daughter will still be able to go to the same gym and have the same piano teacher.  They’ll stay in their school until mid-term at least. 

But, we’re moving because our lease will be up soon and we’ve had enough of all the problems in this house.  I’m not sure how much longer before the rest of the floor in the kitchen will cave in.  We have enough trouble walking around the areas that have already broken through.  There’s also a hole in the bathroom.  All the work that the landlord was supposed to take care of since we moved in has not been touched.  In addition, they (agent and landlord) have not resolved this issue with the electric meter.  As it turns out, we were right when we complained that we must’ve been paying for more than our fair share of electricity.  So, until October, when I start my job, we will need to take a good look at our housing and schooling options.

I was also very excited about my pay.  I had been informed by several institutions that because I am new to this country, I would start at the lowest pay level.  However, this place argued that with my experience, I should be offered something closer to the top (not the very top due to my inexperience in this country, but close).  It means we will be able to maintain our current standard of living, which is by no means extravagant in any sense.  But, to find a house in our price range will be very difficult down in that area.  We will have to live a little ways out.

My excitement has been tempered by the fact that next year, when I have actually worked a full year, my salary would be at a level such that I might have to pay double taxes – UK and US!  I’ll have to look into this. To have to pay taxes to two different countries means that the take-home would be even less.  And what makes it even more unfair is that the US uses an exchange rate of 2.1 (based on the currency exchange from several years ago), and not the current rate, which is closer to 1.6.