Our first week in the UK

Our first week in the UK couldn't have been better.  We had planned for this week to be fun and relaxed as Paula had come over with us, but was only staying for a week before heading back to South Africa.  We wouldn't be seeing her over Christmas, so we tried to pack as much Christmas spirit into the week as we could - and Christmas spirit is something England does very, very well!

On Saturday morning we set off to the post office to collect our BRPs (Biometric residence permit)  These permits are credit card-style cards that we will carry with us, proving that we are legally entitled to reside in the UK.  We also applied for our UK driver's licences.  This entailed posting our passports and BRPs off - something the South African in me found rather disconcerting, but as it turned out was nothing to worry about.  A couple of days later I got a slip through the door, requesting me to collect a parcel at the post office and there was my passport and BRP, safe and sound, and a day later my shiny new UK driver's licence was posted through the front door.  I LOVE the UK postal system!

This week we also went and opened a bank account and registered to vote.  It is a good idea to register to vote, as (weirdly!) it plays a part in helping to build your credit history.  

So the admin part of our week was quite successful - we have mobile SIM cards, we have our BRPs, we have a bank account, we have UK Driver's licences and we are registered to vote.  

Still to do:

• I need to register for NI (Grant is already registered from his previous stint in the UK)
• we need to register with our local doctor

Aside from the admin sort of things, we did a lot of fun stuff in our first week too.

We went to our local farm shop's Christmas market, we went to the Christmas festival in a nearby village - that was great fun, think a crisp Winter night, Christmas lights, mulled wine, an antique fairground organ, lots of stalls.... , we spent a morning in Bath at the Christmas fair, we met friends in Windsor one morning and finally we spent a day in London.  London really shows off at Christmas time, my photos don't do it justice at all!