What a day so far! I've been let down about three times today but I'm not giving up. I've been here for almost three weeks (and here in Farnborough for almost two of them). So now that I've settled in, I thought I'd go out and find something to do with my days.
My search actually started last week when the Husband and I journeyed up to North Camp, a shopping area almost a mile away. We came across a shop called Fabulicious Cakes. Of course, they were closed so I went back on Thursday. The owner Helen, was thrilled I walked in because she has been looking for someone to help out on the administration front as well as assembling some cakes during the crazy days. She thought there was some legal way around me not having a work visa but sadly, it didn't work out. I will be in touch with her on Friday morning to see if I can come in several times a week and just volunteer. I never expected to work here but she was insistent on hiring me. I can tell she'd really appreciate the extra help but I don't know if she would consider me a liability just volunteering.
Today, I trekked over to the library and ran into a similar problem. She told me that they do background checks on their volunteers and as I'm not a resident, they can't do a check. Likewise, she is going to see if there is something place that she can put me. They are running a variety of different programs during the summer and I hope something works out. She also suggested that I talk to the community center to look at more volunteer opportunities. It's the same story: no visa, no volunteering. This woman suggested I call immigration and as for approval to volunteer. Even with approval, I would not be able to work with children, adults or those who are sick/vulnerable.
At this point, I'll take anything. I just want a regular schedule where I can interact with other individuals. I considered getting a visa before I left but couldn't justify spending hundreds of dollar to volunteer. I thought SOMEONE would be willing to take advantage of free labor.
In other news, I went to the grocery store to pick up supplies for breakfast, lunch and dinner for this week. I have to go to the grocery store much more often here because I just can't carry too much back. So rather than shopping for a week, I shop for just a day or two at a time. I love spending time at the grocery store. This holds true in the States as well. I could spend hours there walking up and down the aisles looking for new products to try. But here it's different. I make a shopping list and then have trouble finding certain items, whether they are in an unfamiliar place, go by a different name or they are just no available here. I usually do a good job at improvising and looking at British recipes to begin with but it's clear that we are living in a foreign country.
I also get nervous about payment. Here, their main form of credit a chip and pin card. Looks like a credit card but instead of having a magnetic stripe that gets swiped and then signing a receipt, the machines reads a chip in the card and you confirm the transaction by entering a pin number. I have since learned that this will probably never make it to the States because it switches liability from the credit card company to the customer, as it's easier to prove fraud if there is a forged signature. The chip and pins must have been around for a while since while most machines will still have both technologies, it's a hit or miss as to whether the operator knows how to swipe the card so I have to make sure I always have extra cash.
I have two options to grocery shop. I can either go to Sainsbury or Asda. European Walmart. I have to ask before I start unloading my cart whether they can swipe the card. Usually I target the older cashiers since they generally know how to swipe. Today, I went to Sainsbury. I have been several times before and the sizes are comparable between the two. Prices aren't dramatically different (even though Asda advertises they beat prices by 10%...but not everything is cheaper). I have always been able to swipe my card Sainsbury and since I don't like to shop at Walmart at home, I will not be going back to Asda.
I usually do the self check out but ran into another issue today. I couldn't remember what a zucchini was called here! I felt a little silly asking but the guy was very helpful and when I asked what it was called, his response was "you call it a zucchini but we call it a courgette." I wonder if he thought I didn't know what it was or if I just didn't know what it was called. It's a good thing the eggplant had a label on it. Here it's called aubergine. I guess the difference in names is due to Britain's close proximity to France.
Once I (finally) got home, I wasn't hungry enough to make the ratatouille I had planned so I had a can of carrot and lentil soup and cucumber slices with houmous (yes, that's how it's spelled here). I do love the cucumbers here, although they look different, they don't really taste different but just fresher.Nothing was worth taking a picture of. If you can imagine what carrot and lentil soup might look like, you'd be right.
I'll blog about tonight's dinner and evening walk later. Until then, don't forget to vote on the Husband's new name!
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