The Fox, The Squirrel And The Queen

It’s 7 in the morning when I open the curtains and see the sun rises behind the apartment buildings in the distance, a stunning view. Last night was a full moon, we could almost read in our bed with the light the moon gave us.

London gives us a beautiful autumn, the leaves are falling, the colours are becoming more colourful every day and then the smell in the air, I just love that. You won’t believe me, if I told you that I spotted a fox in our street, and Rob another day too, right in the center of London! Squirrels are everywhere, I remember this from the many visits I had to London, but foxes? I figure it’s because of all the garbage bags in the streets. There are no grey/black containers in the center, there’s no space for it. Therefore everybody puts his garbage bags outside on the streets. Cats and squirrels and obviously also foxes are clearly attracted to the rubbish in the streets of London. Many bags are torn open, and garbage is scattered on the pavements, unfortunately quite messy.

Our new adventure in London has started on August 31st, country number 7, here we are. We moved into our temporarily place on August 30th with ten suitcases! of shoes and handbags 😊

Everyone knows, travelling these days is a challenging undertaking. Think of long queues to enter the airport (Schiphol airport), long queues for security check and finally the arrival of your suitcase(s) is not guaranteed. So here we went, with 10 suitcases, how many will arrive…We chose to fly to London City airport because it’s a small airport, maybe that would help a bit. We put Apple Air tags in all of them and very quickly after arrival we could see that one suitcase was still in Amsterdam. We arrived with 9 suitcases, not too bad.

The relocation office came with two vans to bring us to “the Rosebery” supercity aparthotels, at Rosebery Avenue, King’s Cross area, close to Farrindon Underground station.

As I wrote earlier, the view is a ‘city view’ on 5th floor, we see airplanes far in the sky flying over London.

We quickly unpacked and went for lunch in a lovely little street nearby, Exmouth Market, all different kind of restaurants and little shops, great atmosphere too.

September 1st, our 32nd wedding anniversary, was Rob’s first working day, an easy one with only one meeting from the apartment, so we had all the time to unpack and get settled. Noa arrived at the end of the day from Qatar, such a wonderful feeling to hold her in my arms again!

September 2nd was Rob’s first day at the office, he will tell you more about this later.

Noa and I decided to look at a house I saw online, not a viewing from the inside but a look around at the neighbourhood. We took the tube and departed at Goldhawk Road, close to Shepherd’s Bush. Quickly we noticed that this was a messy place, not something we were hoping for and looking for. We turned around and went to Westfield Shopping Mall, Noa’s birthday was coming up soon, so we could have a stroll at the mall, but unfortunately, they didn’t let us in with Ayo. Dogs are not allowed at the mall. Dogs are also not allowed at many restaurants and individual shops as well. Our Ayo feels that the diversity and inclusion standards in the UK clearly can be improved. Therefore, we went to Camden Market, such a fun but crowded place, with fashion shops, music, art, loads of souvenir shops and, food next to Camden Lock, this is one of the world’s most famous markets. It started as a cluster of craft workshops by the Regent’s Canal. Can you believe, every year 28 million visitors descend on this waterside retail site. When Noa and I were there, it was extremely busy too.

On Sunday we decided to explore Hampstead, one of my childhood friends lived there in 1980. We fell in love with Hampstead, it felt like a little village only a stone throw away from the center of London where Rob works. There was an amazing vibe and a huge park, nice for Ayo. I could see us living there. Photos below are from Hampstead.

So, with our arrival in London my mission started to find us a nice home. House hunting season was opened: I already did my research back in Nigeria, I just love scrolling through the real estate pages online. I learned the city with the areas and the prices, believe me it’s everything but cheap. Monday morning Noa left early for the Netherlands, to see Sanneke and Guus, Loes and her grandparents, Jack and Ailsa and Hugo was also still in Zoeterwoude. One of Noa’s best friends is getting married in February and because she was in town Kirsten organised a gathering with all the bridesmaids, unfortunately Noa didn’t feel well during the week, running nose, sore throat, she did a test and she tested positive. She stayed in her room, the boys and Ailsa took care of her, and she had to cancel the girls party, really a bummer! It was a bit uncertain if she could fly back to London on September 11th, luckily, she was negative the night before she flew. We were meeting with Ian and Rachel Bray, our friends from Munich years. Rachel was also Noa’s point of contact when she was at boarding school in Reading in 2013/2014. Noa decided to stay at the apartment, just to be on the safe side for everyone. It was so great to catch up with dear friends. We had lots to tell and talk about, always, like the old days!

Monday during the day we took a stroll through Covent Garden, such a lovely place.

Monday night we went to a musical with Noa, “Back To The Future”, it was good fun.

We also went for a Korean Barbecue, which is literally next door of where we live now. Just before we left to London, Ailsa prepared a Korean Barbecue at home for us, she is a great chef in the kitchen and this was so yummy. First, you’ve never eaten it, then suddenly twice in a fortnight! If you ever get the opportunity to eat Korean Barbecue, don’t hesitate, go for it!

Back to house hunting, we always have a relocation office who helps us finding a house. I’m not going to tell you much about it, it would be a waste of time. This office that should support us is/was not good, I had no faith in them and did the house hunting by myself. I started the first Monday morning in Hampstead and went to see a few real estate agents. I also booked viewings online, things were starting to roll. I, together with Ayo, sometimes saw 4 houses a day, from Hampstead to Fulham, from Fulham to Islington, from Islington to Westminster and from Westminster to Camden and everything in between. When I say houses, I mean, flats/apartments, maisonettes, terraced houses, semi-detached, Victorian, Georgian or Edwardian houses, basically everything with a roof. I want to mention my dear friend Lindsey Wislocki, she lives in Southend on Sea, she helped me incredibly well. She was looking with me online, she has an extremely good feel about houses, she’s an architect. “Viv look at this one, or what do you think of this one?” “No, that area you should not go to, not very safe”, and so on, I really appreciated it, thanks Lindsey!

I’ve seen over 30 houses, quite a lot! Some were nice but too small, and some were in very bad shape, some were perfect! We made an offer on a rental house in Fulham, it was spacious, modern, open plan kitchen and close to the river Themes. We made an offer, but the market is so stressed, there’s 60% less houses in stock but still many people who are looking for a rental. Which means that with a viewing you see more people, they’ve told me sometimes 60 people react on one house, and it’s gone in 24 hours. We lost this one since other people gave a much higher bid. This was already above our budget, so we didn’t get it.

And the search went on…

I found a great house, extremely modern with high ceilings and windows, with the best address a Heineken family could live at, " Brewery square"!(middle photo above) Unfortunately there was a huge flat building, maybe 50 metres from the house, so zero privacy, you can see the reflection in the window. Then I saw a lovely apartment in Hampstead, a bit small, but with great atmosphere. We wanted to do it, we came far but then the landlord suddenly wanted us to move in second week of December, not early November like was first agreed and we said no. One day I got a phone call from a girl called Bella, who I got to know during my real estate visits. Our friends from Nigeria will smile, we lived in Bella Vista in Lagos, a little sign maybe? She told me she had a wonderful flat for me and that I could have a viewing. I squeezed it in, running from one place to another, but I managed to be there even a bit early. I sat down at the other side of the street and looked at these beautiful white houses, massive and impressive and very British to me. Secondly, I looked to my left and saw Hyde Park, the park where Rob proposed me 33 years ago on December 22, 1989. Obviously a second sign. I waited for Bella and in we went. You enter the house and see these high ceilings, incredible. The kitchen was a bit old, but it’s only for a couple of years. If all the equipment works, it’ll be fine. I walked through the house with a big smile. I realized that I had not seen this house online. I asked Bella the price and then it was clear, it was far above our budget, that’s why I didn’t see it. I told her, sorry but we cannot pay this, can we do it for less? If so, then I’d like my husband to see it. She said it wouldn’t be a problem she thought. Next day Rob saw the house and he had the same feeling, amazing place, although he must duck when he goes into a room.

To finalise this rental process, you must make an offer, then the landlord says yes or no and then you make a payment, and the real process starts. This took two maybe three weeks. At the same time, we also saw a lovely flat in Camden, but next to the train tacks to Euston, a busy track, and you could have this flat anywhere, also in the Netherlands. It was a good second option for us though, we liked it, but already started with the Hyde Park flat.

Last week we learned that our container has been ‘randomly’ chosen for further investigation, I wonder why…

We planned to move in on October 12th, but sadly this investigation leads to a delay of a few weeks. Although we cannot actually move, we do move to our new house this weekend. Right now, we sleep in a small bed, Rob wakes up with low back pain, which is not good. We will be in an almost empty house, like we did in Nigeria. We’ll manage. We ordered a (guest)bed online and a sleeping sofa and a dining table, all items we left behind in Lagos.

A few pots and pans and we’re good to go. I can't wait!

What else was going on in London? Yes, the passing of the Queen of course. Many people were very sad, the nation was in grieve, although I think she had a long and healthy life in a golden cage, her time had come. Long queues of thousands of people to bid her a last farewell. We walked through the city on the 18th of September, a day before the actual funeral. It was crowded, we attempted to get near the palace, but a guy told us once you are on the other side of the street it’s almost impossible to get back. We chose not to go, didn’t feel the big need to see it. Rob and Noa saw her in her car when I was in the Netherlands for a funeral of an aunt, Jivan my oldest friend’s mum passed away. Rob and Noa decided to go to the Hilton at the Park for cocktails. It was pouring and when they came close to the hotel there were so many people standing and suddenly the car with the Queen inside drove by. Maybe some of these people were waiting for hours and Rob and Noa walked there and were ‘lucky’, this is the third photo of the row below.

Monday 19th of September I watched the whole ceremony on BBC, on the big screen in our ”living room” and simultaneously on the computer on Dutch television. I found it impressive, full of old traditions, especially the part where Prince Charles, his siblings, prince William, and Harry were walking behind the coffin whit her flag on it, on this slow rhythm of the beat of the drums.

We have met so many British friends over the 21 years that we have lived abroad. Now we are in the UK we have easier chance to see them again. We got so many messages of all of them, we just don’t know where to start!

A few weeks ago, we went for a weekend to Edinburg, what a lovely city this is. We’ve been before, also with the children in 2011, but now we will be there more often. We have bought for Ayo a real Tartan coat, he’s shivering a lot nowadays, I guess he’s more used to the heat in Nigeria.

A day after we came back from Edinburgh, a 4 hours and 20 minutes train ride from King’s Cross station, we had our cultural training. Heineken always provides us with the background and history of your new host country. Katherine was wonderful, Rob was disturbed often with phone calls, but she managed to give us the most important information how to deal with the British people during work and in daily life. She also gave us a lot of side information which was very useful. We had a great day with her.

Today I will see the house with a clerk to check everything in the house and then get the keys. Friday I’m going to sit on the floor and wait for the three items we ordered online. A (guest)bed, a sleeping sofa, and a dining table. I hope they’ll come on time.

A week ago, Angelo Pressello and Glen Gregory, two American friends from Warsaw years (2001-2005) were in London to watch their American Football teams at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They were our kids’ baseball coaches. We also met their friends Jason from Australia and his British wife Juliette, we met in a pub with great Thai food, not far from our new home. (I could only find Noa and Hugo).

I’m giving “the pen” to Rob now to add his experience on our first month in the UK:

Starting a personal life in UK is an ‘interesting’ experience. When you arrive in a new country you always start with the basics, which are opening a bank account and get your mobile phones organised. As Finance Director of a stock listed company in Nigeria, I was totally spoiled. I know all the Managing Directors of all the big banks in Nigeria. If I needed something I could call them. In the UK our treasury function is centralised in head office in the Netherlands. So, to get a bank account I was advised to do this by using an app. Advise of the company was to go to Barclays. I downloaded the App and filled in all required information. Until I got to the question ‘where did you live in the last 4 years’… When I filled in Nigeria, I got the message that I needed to come to a branch! To be efficient I asked Viv to come with me. We brought our passports and marriage certificate and a letter from the company. When we explained to the bank that we wanted two bank cards for the bank account, we ended up with a not-possible! Reason was that we were not able to show the credit check for Viv. She could not get her own bankcard although I as accountholder approved. We will fix this somewhere later. We were set up and then we would receive a bankcard in a few working days at home. To our surprise we also received a cheque book to transfer money on paper. I did not even know that still existed. Next step was sim-only for Viv. To our surprise we ended up with the same discussion. We could not get a sim card registered in Viv’s name because she could not get a credit check done. Workaround was easy by registering the phone in my name.

Credit checks are from all the countries we started so far, a totally new phenome. It is part here for anything you want to do or get done: Renting a house – credit check; simcard – credit check; bank account – credit check; internet – credit check. You need here to build a credit performance history to ‘exist’. It is a very specific process here, you can learn to work with it, but it does not really feel welcoming and inviting to new people and specifically partners.

I started working on September 2nd and had not realised that it would be that different as changing jobs before. This has nothing to do with Heineken UK. What I had not thought about is that nowadays offices are very empty. Most people have a rhythm of working 2 or 3 days a week from home. Very often they choose the Tuesday – Thursday to go to the office. My first working day was a Friday. Arriving at the office I met our receptionist who was from Nigeria. We talked a bit about that and then I went to the Helpdesk to pick up my laptop. You can imagine my surprise that the helpdesk was also staffed by a Nigerian. The next person to meet was my new boss, Boudewijn. We had never met before, but he had worked also for several years in the past in Nigeria. I directly felt at home. After 6 weeks of working in the UK, I now start to get a better feeling by my job and the expectations every day. I really start to get into it and start to get to know colleagues in the organisation. Both in the management team but also a lot of people in the finance function. Finance is for the majority based in Edinburgh. I have now a sort of system that every 2 weeks I will go for 2 days to Edinburgh and work and meet with my team. On the content of the job, I had a nice observation yesterday. I expected a smooth operation and a lot of rain. I walk every day to the office and back to our apartment. So far, I have had 1 morning with rain. Most of the other days the sun is shining. The job shows the opposite trend so far. This is driven by mainly the impact of the Ukraine war and the fall out of that on economies, inflation, and exchange rates. This has significant implications on every company, ours included and we need to manage this. My colleagues are nice and open, we are very happy to be here.

Heineken Open Your World and Serving the World!

Stay safe everyone.

PS Photo above is from almost 8 years ago, before you start wondering that I'm blond again 😉