Some reflections

Do you ever feel like you are living in an insane asylum? (obviously I do, and there have been reasons for that, but I digress) We have been here 2 weeks today and some of the things about England absolutely flabbergast me.

For example, when we arrived here in England we tried to open a bank account. That way we could get paid by the school and therefore pay the rent for a house. However, the paperwork we needed to fill out for the school required an address. In order to obtain a bank account, the bank also required an address which they could send paperwork to. They would not accept the school’s address. When applying to rent a house, the letting agent demanded that we have a bank account from which to debit rent payments and deposits, a National Health Insurance number to confirm your residence and a previous UK address from which to investigate our previous rental history. Non UK addresses are not accepted. Meanwhile, almost everyday in the more right wing media, we see English people complaining that it is too easy for foreigners to come here.

Similarly, unlike Australia where you can go to almost any doctor’s surgery (provided you have an appointment) in the UK you have to register with a local GP. However, a GP will not register you unless you have a National Health Insurance number, you live within their drawing area, and they have vacant places. Of course, you can’t get a NHI number without an address to confirm your residence here. Then you can’t get an address without a bank account or a NHI number (see previous paragraph). As one of my cousins said to me last night, England is bureaucracy gone mad. It might be something to do with the multiple levels of government. Perhaps the funniest thing that I have heard is that, in the UK, people thought ‘Yes, Minister’ was funny because it so underplayed how bound in red tape England is.

On the positive side, there are lots of really great things about living here as well. In the taxi from Heathrow out to Hertfordshire one of my sons asked (in all seriousness), ‘Why are all the trees dead?’ Coming from Australia we are just not used to being in a country where the majority of the trees are deciduous. It means that you can see actual bird’s nests really easily. Last week, outside my classroom, I watched a squirrel playing on the lawn and then scamper up a tree into a hole.

Another amazing thing is that, now that they are in the European Union and have the Channel Tunnel, you can see vehicles from all over Europe driving along the roads. As we drive the hour and a half to work in the mornings along the M25 we have seen vehicles from France, Germany, Italy and Poland (just to name a few). It is particularly odd, when you are passing a truck, to look up into what would be the driver’s seat and have no one there. When we eventually get across to the Continent it will be interesting to see how quickly I adjust to driving on the right hand side of the road.

Being England, people see Australian’s as being associated with ‘Neighbours’. They regularly ask if we know anyone from the cast and expect us to know what is happening on the show. When Meg caught an episode the other day she was amazed to see that kangaroos have been inserted into park and garden shots. It is no wonder so many foreigners expect to see kangaroos hopping down the street when they arrive in Australia. Mind you, the English don’t just ask if we know people from ‘Neighbours’ (‘Home and Away’ etc.) If someone here has a relative in Australia that invariably tell you something along the lines of, ‘You come from Brisbane? Oh you must know our Mary’s husbands, sister’s, daughter, she lives in Melbourne. Lisa Pennyworth! Do you know her?’

It is a funny place, but there is so much that is beautiful. I am having a ball teaching at the school. Once we get the housing, bank, school for the boys, and car situation worked out we will have a fantastic time. Next week we have a half term break for a week, so hopefully more exciting things we be sorted out by then.

Hope you are all well and that you are enjoying yourselves.