I have decided to do my 6 month post now, even though we will not technically have lived here for 6 months until March 16th. But since that is my 30th birthday I figured some other thoughts might be swirling around in my head then.
I cannot believe that we have only been here 6 months! I also cannot believe that it was only a year ago that we firmly decided to move to the UK. I spent SO much time and energy worrying about how to get us all here (especially the cat) that it is hard to believe it went off without a hitch and is DONE.
Our one year goals upon moving to the UK were to have a car and the same days off as each other. We bought a car a few weeks ago and do not have any days off together, but we still have 6 months to work on that. I am assuming that since I am opening my own studio, I will be more in control of my schedule (although truthfully it is Robin's ever changing schedule that presents the real problem). Speaking of opening my own studio....
When we arrived my intention was to get some sort of admin/reception job, build up my teaching schedule on the side and hopefully be able to teach Pilates/Yoga full-time starting in January. What actually happened was I took an admin job that I hate because they offered to let me work part-time to pursue teaching. I worked there only one month before I quit as I was already teaching at three places. November-February I worked at one Pilates studio (most of the time), one hour per week at a yoga studio, and 2 hrs per week at a place that runs all sorts of classes for adults. Unfortunately the longer I have been at the Pilates studio (which will remain nameless :-) the more taken advantage of I have felt. I was super excited to be working there as there are only a couple of full studios in Bristol, but the owner would schedule me clients when I was not on the schedule, wanted me to do all of her reception work for a fraction of the money that I make teaching, and would email/text/call me on average 2 times a day. Add to that the fact that in Bristol, and perhaps all of Britain, they teach 3 clients on 3 different pieces of equipment. At home, if we taught more than one client at a time they would all be on a reformer, or tower, etc. I find it very limiting to teach three people on three different pieces of equipment. Each client does not get the corrections they need, we can only do simple exercises as I have to be able to give an exercise and then turn away to the next client, and when one client who has never been on any Pilates equipment attends a class with 2 old pros it makes me want to tear my hair out. Since most people here do Equipment classes and not private sessions, I spend the majority of every day running around making sure that everyone is working, not get injured, or poking their neighbors eye out. I envision it is somewhat like teaching kindergarten.
To make a short story long, I decided I needed my own place. Since I have not been planning this, saving money, or had time to build a loyal clientele, I wanted to either get a 2 bedroom flat and use one bedroom as a studio or get a TINY office space. There are some legalities involved in teaching out of your home, and I happened upon a TEENY TINY space (190 square feet with slanted, ie low, ceilings) that seemed perfect so I went with it. It is on the other side of town from where I am currently living and working and I do not expect any current clients to go with me, so it will take a while to build a clientele. But it is cheap, I only have to give 30 days notice if I want to end my lease (no 3 year lease for this commitment-phobe), and the cheap rent includes business rates (tax). So for the past two weeks I have spent all of my spare time ordering mats and blocks, running around buying other miscellany (hand soap, tissues, etc), updating my website, and trying to learn about marketing! I am taking a class on Thursday about building a website in wordpress (right now I use godaddy) and optimizing it for google, so I am hoping that will increase my traffic. I have been trying to figure out prices, when to have classes, writing a release of liablity and health history, finding out if my insurance covers me in my own studio, and mostly trying not to break any laws. My last day at the "nameless" Pilates studio should be Saturday, provided that I do not get fired first. Given the owner's suspicion about people trying to steal clients I will not be surprised if she tells me not to come back when I give notice on Monday or Tuesday.
Hmm, moving on from work stuff ....I have driven twice, for 2 miles each time. The roads are narrow here and then cars are parked on either side so I get super nervous about hitting a parked car or a moving one. Driving on the left side of the road is not that complicated. Everyone else is doing it, so I just do what they do. There are hardly any stop signs or lights, just roundabouts. Again they are not that complicated, but I have only been on roundabouts with one lane so far.
The cat does not know he is in a foreign country. Aside from not going potty for 2 days after we arrived, he adjusted easily. He LOVES to look out the windows at all the birdies and we get much more natural light than we did in SF. The kitty litter here is strange, but Talisker does not seem to notice. He still eats clothes, plays with toys more than most kittens, and taps me on the shoulder or face with his huge, furry paw when he is hungry. When we arrived in the UK he stopped sleeping on my head and playing with the shower curtain while I shower. Not sure what that is all about.
Mostly, this just feels like where I live now. I do not really think about the fact that it is England. I say "bum", "mobile phone", and occasionally "alright?" instead of "how are you?". I stopped being surprised when someone speaks with an English accent. I don't know how long we will live here, but I have stopped asking myself (everyday) why we are here. I survived my first winter, and if the summer is not kind to us it will be hard to survive a second. I am eagerly awaiting the opening of a second burrito shop in Bristol (the first opened a few months ago and is ok, but not great). I am also excited to go to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant which opened last week in Bristol.
I would have thought that after only 6 mos Bristol would still feel foreign, but it does not. Thank heaven's for that! When everything in your day is foreign, it is exhausting!
I cannot believe that we have only been here 6 months! I also cannot believe that it was only a year ago that we firmly decided to move to the UK. I spent SO much time and energy worrying about how to get us all here (especially the cat) that it is hard to believe it went off without a hitch and is DONE.
Our one year goals upon moving to the UK were to have a car and the same days off as each other. We bought a car a few weeks ago and do not have any days off together, but we still have 6 months to work on that. I am assuming that since I am opening my own studio, I will be more in control of my schedule (although truthfully it is Robin's ever changing schedule that presents the real problem). Speaking of opening my own studio....
When we arrived my intention was to get some sort of admin/reception job, build up my teaching schedule on the side and hopefully be able to teach Pilates/Yoga full-time starting in January. What actually happened was I took an admin job that I hate because they offered to let me work part-time to pursue teaching. I worked there only one month before I quit as I was already teaching at three places. November-February I worked at one Pilates studio (most of the time), one hour per week at a yoga studio, and 2 hrs per week at a place that runs all sorts of classes for adults. Unfortunately the longer I have been at the Pilates studio (which will remain nameless :-) the more taken advantage of I have felt. I was super excited to be working there as there are only a couple of full studios in Bristol, but the owner would schedule me clients when I was not on the schedule, wanted me to do all of her reception work for a fraction of the money that I make teaching, and would email/text/call me on average 2 times a day. Add to that the fact that in Bristol, and perhaps all of Britain, they teach 3 clients on 3 different pieces of equipment. At home, if we taught more than one client at a time they would all be on a reformer, or tower, etc. I find it very limiting to teach three people on three different pieces of equipment. Each client does not get the corrections they need, we can only do simple exercises as I have to be able to give an exercise and then turn away to the next client, and when one client who has never been on any Pilates equipment attends a class with 2 old pros it makes me want to tear my hair out. Since most people here do Equipment classes and not private sessions, I spend the majority of every day running around making sure that everyone is working, not get injured, or poking their neighbors eye out. I envision it is somewhat like teaching kindergarten.
To make a short story long, I decided I needed my own place. Since I have not been planning this, saving money, or had time to build a loyal clientele, I wanted to either get a 2 bedroom flat and use one bedroom as a studio or get a TINY office space. There are some legalities involved in teaching out of your home, and I happened upon a TEENY TINY space (190 square feet with slanted, ie low, ceilings) that seemed perfect so I went with it. It is on the other side of town from where I am currently living and working and I do not expect any current clients to go with me, so it will take a while to build a clientele. But it is cheap, I only have to give 30 days notice if I want to end my lease (no 3 year lease for this commitment-phobe), and the cheap rent includes business rates (tax). So for the past two weeks I have spent all of my spare time ordering mats and blocks, running around buying other miscellany (hand soap, tissues, etc), updating my website, and trying to learn about marketing! I am taking a class on Thursday about building a website in wordpress (right now I use godaddy) and optimizing it for google, so I am hoping that will increase my traffic. I have been trying to figure out prices, when to have classes, writing a release of liablity and health history, finding out if my insurance covers me in my own studio, and mostly trying not to break any laws. My last day at the "nameless" Pilates studio should be Saturday, provided that I do not get fired first. Given the owner's suspicion about people trying to steal clients I will not be surprised if she tells me not to come back when I give notice on Monday or Tuesday.
Hmm, moving on from work stuff ....I have driven twice, for 2 miles each time. The roads are narrow here and then cars are parked on either side so I get super nervous about hitting a parked car or a moving one. Driving on the left side of the road is not that complicated. Everyone else is doing it, so I just do what they do. There are hardly any stop signs or lights, just roundabouts. Again they are not that complicated, but I have only been on roundabouts with one lane so far.
The cat does not know he is in a foreign country. Aside from not going potty for 2 days after we arrived, he adjusted easily. He LOVES to look out the windows at all the birdies and we get much more natural light than we did in SF. The kitty litter here is strange, but Talisker does not seem to notice. He still eats clothes, plays with toys more than most kittens, and taps me on the shoulder or face with his huge, furry paw when he is hungry. When we arrived in the UK he stopped sleeping on my head and playing with the shower curtain while I shower. Not sure what that is all about.
Mostly, this just feels like where I live now. I do not really think about the fact that it is England. I say "bum", "mobile phone", and occasionally "alright?" instead of "how are you?". I stopped being surprised when someone speaks with an English accent. I don't know how long we will live here, but I have stopped asking myself (everyday) why we are here. I survived my first winter, and if the summer is not kind to us it will be hard to survive a second. I am eagerly awaiting the opening of a second burrito shop in Bristol (the first opened a few months ago and is ok, but not great). I am also excited to go to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant which opened last week in Bristol.
I would have thought that after only 6 mos Bristol would still feel foreign, but it does not. Thank heaven's for that! When everything in your day is foreign, it is exhausting!
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