Location Update, Part 2.

Seems some of you have been having trouble posting comments to my blog. I actually can't seem to post a comment myself, so I don't know what's up....what kind of problems are you having with the comment function? I read all the comments, so let me know if there's something specific you'd like to discuss. My email is laurenhaleybrock@hotmail.com. In the meantime I will contact blogger and find out how to get the comment function working...

I did see that the Visa rules are changing, but since it's now been 9 months since I have been employed part-time, and 14 months since I have worked full time, my prior earnings have fallen too low to get enough points in that area. February was the last month I could have made it to a high enough prior earnings level....so even now that the rules are changing, I don't think I'll be eligible for another 6-8 months once I get a new job ;(

Location Update

Well, I've taken a break from the blog since I am now back in California, and I couldn't decide whether to keep up with writing while I am away from England for this indeterminate period.

My tourist visa ran out and D and I aren't quite ready for the marriage commitment, so with the Tier 1 visa option closed to me for the time being, my only option was to return home. D and I haven't lived together long enough to qualify for the co-habitating partners option. Luckily, my sister has headed to Singapore for 2 months for work, so she has graciously lent me her apartment in San Francisco for the time being.

It's great to be back here in a city that I love, and the sun has not really stopped shining since I've been back, but I really miss D and our dogs, and the routine of our life there together. D is still in England for the time being, looking after the doggies and trying to find a new project for his electrical company. Once he gets everyone sorted out over there, he hopes to come over here in May and join me for awhile, but it's hardest not having a date on the calendar yet!

We are surviving on Skype calls once a day and some text messaging, but it's no substitute for the real thing. I met a cute Canadian girl last week (while we were both enjoying some frozen yogurt in the sunshine) who was visiting her Canadian boyfriend--she's in Toronto and he's been here for the last 3 years! Yikes!

I know I'm not the only one out there struggling with the downsides of an international long-distance relationship. Anyone have any suggestions?? I'd love to hear your inspiring, happy-endings right about now! ;)

US Home & Beauty items not found in the UK

I've been lucky to find most of the beauty items I used at home in the drugstore chains (Boots & Superdrug)--thank god for my Pantene Mousse for Curls!--but there are a growing number of items that I'm afraid I haven't been able to locate in my 6 months here:

Crest Toothpaste

Cetaphil products (cleanser, moisturizer)

Ponds Make-Up Remover Wipes & other Ponds products

Cover Girl Make Up

Sonia Kashuk Make Up (Target brand)

Coppertone sunscreens

Bullfrog sunscreens

SwimEar (ear drops for swimmers) -- 1/2010 update: finally found 1 Sainsbury's in B'ham that carries it

Also have not been able to find comparable products for these household items:

Goo Gone (removes residue from stickers, etc.)

Swiffer Duster and Swiffer Wet Mop

rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol)

travel adapters that fit USA plugs to UK plugs (the ones here all fit UK plus to something else)

Method-brand liquid hand and body soaps

Dryel (dry-cleaning sheets to use in your own dryer)

Woolite Delicates wash (limited availability in some supermarkets)

Do you have any US items to add to this list?? Let me know....

To Drive or not to Drive...

I'm having dreams about my old Audi convertible, and cruising down the PCH in the sunshine with the top down....ahhh....

I haven't yet driven a car here in the UK during these past 7 months because our sole vehicle is a large work van with manual transmission, and I only know how to operate an automatic car. Even if I could learn to drive stick, the thought of driving around a huge van on the tiny lanes around our house without the aid of a rear-view mirror is fairly daunting.

I drove a rental car in Australia for a couple of days when I lived down there, so the "wrong-side" stuff doesn't scare me much, but there are plenty of hills around our house, and I have visions of myself sliding backwards down them as I slam on the clutch and search for gears.

Since I'm now job hunting, if I get a job offer for a position that pays decently well or requires me to drive to work, I'm pretty sure that it would be worth it to spend some money to get my own car. That's put me to thinking about whether or not I actually CAN drive here without a UK license.

I took a look at this site on Directgov.com to find out what the government says. Apparently most drivers who are visiting the UK, or relocate here, and hold a valid drivers' license in their home country, are permitted to operate a normal vehicle (up to 8 passengers) for up to 12 months after arriving in the UK as a visitor, or up to 12 months from the date of taking up residency. There are some slightly different parameters if you come from a Commonwealth country such as Australia & New Zealand, where they also drive on the left and probably have the same signage, and those instructions can be found here.

Before the 12 month period is over, you must obtain a provisional UK drivers license and pass a driving test. If you do this, you can skip over having restrictions such as "L" (Learner) plates on your car, having to be supervised by a qualified driver, or being restricted from driving on the freeways (motorways).

If you fail to obtain the provisional license before the 12 month period is over, all of the UK's provisional license restrictions will apply, and your car will be branded with the dreaded "L" (Loser).

So go on, get organized, and make sure you have all the documents you will need to exchange your foreign license for a shiny, new UK one, by taking a look at the requirements here.

Me, I'm gonna be shopping for a new, tiny, automatic car....and I'll be keeping the roof up to stay warm, thank you very much.

Beware All Lawyers: Changes to Immigration Rules

I'm starting to feel like the UK Border Agency is personally out to get me! I haven't found the time or the energy to post anything new over the past week because we got some bad news about my UK visa and it's put me in a proper mood!

After spending the last 2 months dutifully preparing my Tier 1 General Migrant Visa for the Highly Skilled Worker category, and preparing a trip back to California to apply for it, I got a major shock last Monday. The one step in this process that I had made an assumption about was that my Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree from 3 years of law school in the USA would be considered at least equivalent to a UK Masters degree (which only takes 1 year to obtain), and might even pass for a doctorate degree (Ph.D.). And until about 4 weeks ago, the UK government agreed with me.

In previous years it was possible to qualify for a Highly Skilled Worker category by only having a Bachelors Degree, plus previous employment with a high level of pay and some cash funds in the bank. Obviously, most USA lawyers working for private firms would easily qualify on those terms. However, in November 2009, the UK Border Agency further restricted the Tier 1 Work Visa category to only those with a Masters Degree or Ph.D. (i.e., "higher education"). Despite this change, I still assumed I'd be OK since I had a Bachelor's degree plus my 3-year J.D.

Unluckily for me, in January the UK NARIC (the UK's national university accreditation board) decided to change about 10 years of precedent and re-categorize a J.D. degree from the USA as equal to only a UK Bachelors degree, rather than a Masters degree. They gave no reason for this sudden decision, but it now effectively precludes any of the thousands of lawyers who practice in the USA from moving to England and looking for work under the Highly Skilled Worker category of the UK's Points Based System. It really makes no sense--basically, if I had spent 1 year at Tulane and obtained an LLM (Master of Laws) instead of spending 3 years and getting a JD, I'd be allowed in!!

So for all of you out there who have professional degrees that took years after college to obtain, but do not have a shiny diploma that calls that degree a "Masters", then look out. The UK doesn't really want you, or your brains or your potential--seems like kind of a bad move for one of the last EU countries to come out of the recession, no?

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you decide to try for a Tier 1 General Migrant Visa, before committing I'd recommend calling UK NARIC for an over-the-phone evaluation of the degree that you have, whether or not it says "Masters" or "Ph.D" on the degree title just to make sure that you and they are in agreement about it. The phone calls cost about 10p per minute from the UK, but that 11 minute call saved me from spending GBP 40 on the written evaluation and wasting 2 more weeks thinking that I could get the Visa I wanted.

London! - A Weekend in Pictures

I spent last weekend in London with a girlfriend from college who was here on work and we had a fantastic time cruising the town and checking out some new spots! It's been awhile since I enjoyed the comforts of a corporate charge card! Thanks Liz!

Richmond Hill Hotel, Richmond-Upon-Thames

Liz's company put her up here in this cute boutique hotel in Richmond-Upon-Thames, at the end of the Tube's District line, to be close to the film production she's working on. The hotel was charming, it served alcohol all night, and had a great hillside view over the Thames.

SoBar in Richmond-Upon-Thames

We stopped at this cute spot tucked down an alleyway in Richmond for our first drink of the evening. The nibbles and drinks were excellent, and the place got pretty busy between 5 and 6pm while we sipped our drinks. It was a little on the noisy side by the time we left, but the jazzy beats playing over the stereo were nice.

Oscar Bar at Charlotte Street Hotel, SoHo

This place was around the corner from our dinner restaurant, so we stopped here for a drink around 8pm. Every table was full and the bar was packed. Liz had an espresso-tini that was out of this world--like a spiked Starbucks frappuccino!

Fino Restaurant, SoHo

We met two of Liz's work colleagues here for a 9:30pm dinner on Saturday--they are film editors working on a new Disney/Pixar feature that's filming here in London. Amazing pork belly, tuna tartare and classic tortilla, plus some fabulous Spanish wine.

Fish Works Restaurant, Richmond

We needed something greasy when we finally rolled out of bed at noon on Sunday, but breakfast was already over, so the fish & chips at this cute seafood brasserie fit the bill.

Camden Markets

We went to hunt for some antique tidbits for Liz's mom's new restaurant in San Francisco, but mostly found lots of tacky t-shirts and cheap souvenirs. The whole trip was worth it for the small stall we discovered selling Brazilian-style Churros (large tube-shaped doughnuts dusted in cinnamon & sugar and filled with dulce de leche). Delicious!

Claridge's Hotel Bar, Mayfair

We had a couple of hours to kill before our dinner reservation, so we sat at a cozy table in this bar and ordered some frou-frou cocktails. I had a Vanillita--cranberry & lime juice mixed with fresh strawberries, Vanilla vodka and honey, served over crushed ice. C'est bon!

Cecconi's Restaurant

We were excited to get a last minute 8pm reservation for Sunday night, and got great seats by the front window. Loved the mint green accents to brighten up the black & white retro vibe. Also loved the buffalo mozzarella & cherry tomato starter and the fresh crab & avocado salad. My Venetian fritelle dessert with zabaione cream was heavenly--glad I ate light & saved room.

Glastonbury Dreaming...

The lineup for 2010's Glastonbury Music Festival has begun to be announced, and of course it made me reminisce about attending the festival last June with D and another couple who are two good friends. The 2009 festival began 2 days after I arrived in England last June, and we made the decision to go at the last minute, so our only ticket option was buying passes on ebay from ticket-holders who looked similar to us (since the tickets bear photos). I was nervous about spending the money on poached tickets, but D was convinced it would be OK, so we went for it, and it worked OK for us.

Here are my top 5 tips for Glastonbury survival if you are lucky enough to go:

1. Camping vs. Caravans. If you have got re-sale tix, like we did, plan to camp inside the festival grounds as it is too risky to go in and out to your car, camper van or mobile home past security every day. Once you get in--stay in! If you have valid tickets, I'd recommend camping once to get the "real" experience, and then try booking a caravan camping spot outside the festival grounds the next year. This will allow you to eat your own food for the whole weekend, sleep on a bed or sofa, bathe and use your own (hopefully cleaner) toilet facilities at least twice a day.

2. Get there early! If you are camping, plan to arrive at the festival grounds as soon as possible after the gates are opened on Wednesday morning. The traffic heading into the grounds is horrendous, and all of the good camping spots get taken up by Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Yes, it's a pain to take an extra 2 days off of work when there are no musical acts organized, but it's worth it--the poor sods we saw arriving on Friday in the mud wandered for hours before finding any decent patches of dirt big enough for a tent. Anyways, we found that by the time we actually set up our campsite, had a few drinks, a bite to eat, and a walk on Wednesday, it was already late evening. The bars are open, and many of the stalls and stages have some random performances on, so there are definitely things to do. If all else fails, read a good book and enjoy a long nap--once the party starts, resting gets hard to come by!

3. Choosing a Campsite. You should have an idea of which camping area you want to aim for and try to park your car in the parking lot closest to the desired area, since you will likely have to carry everything with you over 1 k from your car to your campsite. In choosing a campsite, there are 2 main objectives:

1) If you are over 30, like D and I, chances are that you can no longer handle going 48-72 hours without sleep, which means that you will be looking for the quietest place possible to camp. Unfortunately, there are no truly quiet places at Glastonbury, only "loud" and "really loud"; therefore, D and his friends have established a tradition of camping in the "Family Camping" area, which falls into the merely "loud" category. Now, since we do not have children, this means that we had to sneak into the family area by staggering our entry--my female friend and I went in first, claiming that our husbands had gone in ahead with the kids, while the boys came in 10 minutes later, claiming the opposite. One note--sleeping in the kiddie area does mean that you will have to keep the partying 'round your tent fairly tame, and may have to endure some loud tantrums from time to time, but at least most of the neighbors are asleep by midnight.

2) The 2nd objective in campsite selection is proximity to toilets and the milk-man route: you should be close enough to the loos that a post-midnight toilet run won't seem like torture, but far enough away so that the stink doesn't haunt you; and close enough to the milk-man route that you can hear them coming past with fresh supplies in the morning, but far enough away that your tent doesn't get trampled by folks coming to the truck in the morning,or splashed on by tottering children with full cartons of milk and yogurt.

4. Hauling your Gear. This one is pretty simple--you need a sturdy wheelbarrow (be sure to check the tire is pumped full and has no holes) and a few strong & chivalrous men to make it into the festival with a weekend worth of gear intact. Since the car park is so far away from the campgrounds, it is advisable to try and take everything with you in one trip. Luckily for me, D and his buddy were happy to fill the roles of wheelbarrow pushers, so we ladies carried as much of the less awkward gear & luggage over our shoulders as we could, and they pushed the rest. Now, experienced campers may find that they can fit all they need into massive camping backpacks, but we don't have ultra-light, ultra-portable cooking equipment, so we were relying on bringing in full-size camping burners and ice chests to help store our food and cases of beer & cider. The more food and drink you bring in, the more money you save (cuz the food at the festival is $$$), but obviously you can lighten your load if you only bring in a tent, sleeping bags, clothing & toiletries.

5. Packing Essentials: Wellington boots (for the mud, in case it rains--and it probably will--and for braving the public toilets and port-a-loos), hand sanitizer gel (loads), sunblock (when it's not cold and raining, it's HOT), toilet paper (I carried a roll in my backpack at all times), a good rain-proof poncho or a few disposable ones (handy, but less enviro-friendly), a fleece jacket for cold nights, a swimsuit or board shorts (for outdoor bathing or sunbathing on sunny days), sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat (to keep the sun off your face and your view of the stages from being blocked by glare), a good camping tent with a proper rain fly (one that provides cover to a front and back storage area will be best), summer weight sleeping bags, Thermarests or inflatable mattresses, head lamps or flashlights/torches (for your tent and the toilets in the dark), camping chairs (to sit on outside the tent, above the mud), a small basin that you can fill with water to wash yourself and your dishes (better than wasting concert time waiting in the 2-3 hour shower line), extra camera batteries and a solar-powered charger that can power your cell phone and ipod (otherwise, once the batteries die you are screwed--the line at the "cell phone charging tent" were horrible after Friday night).