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We survived our first week in London! Wooo!

We’re sitting in our half-decorated living room in our lovely flat listening to the Tube rumble by just outside our open window. There is not a breeze to be felt, nor any air conditioning — one of the many culture shocks, including lack of in-unit dryers, nonexistent family-size chip bags, and walking on any side of the sidewalk (we think you are supposed to walk on the left, just like the roads, but that seems to be a suggestion for pedestrians).

It has been a wild week, jam-packed with the logistics of moving in, the start of orientation, and surviving an unexpected heatwave in London. We’ve gotten toasty in the Tube trains, sweat our way through Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and meandered for miles (averaging about 5.6 miles/day according to Zoe’s fitness app). It has been exhausting but exhilarating, and we are so excited to build our lives here! The next three posts will cover our first week in London.

Friday 9/1 (or 1/9 if you’re British, but we are not… yet)

We arrived at Heathrow at 7am BST, delirious and sleep-deprived. Catja successfully slept for a few hours listening to “Aspirations” by Marcus Man on repeat with her hoodie over her eyes while Zoe watched TV, watched Catja sleep, and watched a baby in the row in front of us.

After zig-zagging through immigration, zooming through customs, and having a weird experience with an Uber driver, who managed to fit 200+ pounds of luggage in a Prius, we made it to Gail’s café in Willesden Green. Inside, we met our lovely flatmates, and we hit it off right away. After getting to know each other irl and getting caffeinated, we stopped by our rental agency, picked up our keys, and rode the train to our new home.

It was an overcast, misty day. Quintessential London fog weather (little did we know, this would be the only wet day for at least the next 10 days). We spent the next few hours unpacking, listening to music, and resisting the urge to lay in bed and rest, which was not that hard considering we didn’t have sheets or pillows yet.

Next, we got our steps in by walking to Ikea and Argos, heaving furniture, organizers, and kitchenware across the city. We had some lovely chats with our flatmates and enjoyed a delicious Ikea meal together, but, later in the afternoon, we were crashing. Zoe walked into Catja sitting on the floor staring at her sheets, still tightly sealed in the packaging, and encouraged her to at least make her bed. Later, Catja walked into Zoe putting the finishing touches on her colorful wall of artwork (mega-talented), which inspired Catja to sluggishly put up her own art, which was 50% Spurs fan art and a Ted Lasso calendar.

We rounded out the night with a flat dinner of Domino’s pizza and talked long into the night in the light of our single Ikea candle.

Saturday 9/2

Recovering from our long first day, Zoe slept in and Catja woke up at 7 am to begin decorating and organizing her room. We had concrete plans for the day as Catja had convinced Zoe weeks before that going to a ballet in the city less than 48 hours after landing in London was a good idea. After getting dressed and ready for the day at about noon, we headed into the city for the very first time, making a quick pit stop at the library so Zoe could get her sim card.

After meandering around the area, we arrived at Sadler’s Wells Theater for the performance of Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet. We climbed 3 floors and found our stool seats along the edge of the theater. The stools, which were at least 4 feet tall, became a quick source of conversation with the older woman sitting next to Zoe. The woman, 4’11, declared that the stools were a health and safety hazard as she attempted to hoist herself to the top to which Zoe could only agree!

Quick Catja dance review:

IT WAS SO SO SO GOOD!!! I really wanted to see this show because my very first paid writing gig was interviewing Matthew Bourne about his “Romeo and Juliet” for Pointe Magazine. I am fascinated by reimaginings of classic stories, and this was a fascinating twist on a well-loved story. The plot and characters are significantly changed, and the ballet is set in an ambiguous institution of young people, who do not fit into greater society for one reason or another. Romeo is the son of celebrities, potentially politicians, who wish for him to be kept away from the public eye. Juliet is institutionalized and is targeted by the abusive guard, Tybalt. Although the story is still about young love and resistance, it is much more psychological. The conflict is not feuding families; it is the conditions of the world and society that they cannot, or are told they cannot, fit into. I could rave forever but I’ll keep my review brief. 10/10 recommend watching any Matthew Bourne show possible.

We then made our way back to our flat with a quick stop at Boots to fill our toiletry bins. Although we assumed that buying toiletries would be far less complicated than groceries, we were oh so wrong! After wandering the first floor for 15 minutes we discovered that soap was not in fact with all of the other shower supplies, but upstairs with medication and electronics. Still not really sure why.

We hopped on the train back to Willesden Green, we walked to Sainsbury’s for food! Catja was amazed by the sheer number of Filipino market stores in a mile radius (3!!!) and bought some ensaymada as a reminder of home. We bought the essentials of a student diet: pasta, pesto, eggs, milk, bread, and dark chocolate digestives. After shuffling the last few miles back to our flat, we made pesto pasta for dinner and caught up with our flatmates’ adventures from the day.

Sunday 9/3

We needed a slower-paced day after the frenetic first two, so we ventured over to Gladstone Park, a short walk away from our flat. It was another warm, sunny day, and many neighbors were out and about. Some kids played soccer/football at one end. Other people enjoyed the basketball and tennis courts. Runners were everywhere, which inspired Zoe to brainstorm a running route for us to do around the park (important note - neither of us are runners, and Catja has creaky joints, but we are going to try!)

We could just make out the Shard (Catja’s favorite) and the BT Tower from the top of a hill, which really made us feel like we were in London. The first two days were delirious and surreal, and we mostly stayed in the northern part of the city. We hadn’t seen iconic landmarks or been to central yet, so it all still felt like a dream. But seeing the city in the distance from the hill really made it feel real.

We sat under a tree and dog/people watched for a while. It is more common for dogs to run off-leash in parks, so we were greeted by a silly dog named Gizzy and his owner, who stopped to chat with us and thought we were Greek… can’t explain that.

Our flatmate joined us later, and after chasing each other in circles around the park trying to find each other, we finally had a little picnic under a tree. We bonded over a love of intense salt and vinegar chips.

Back at the flat, we decided to tackle our very weedy back garden. Luckily, most of it was long vines tangled in the gravel and the fence, so it only took us an hour to clear out most of the brush. We listened to our Brit-Pop faves, including Maisie Peters and Caity Baser, and said hello to our neighbor’s orange cat who sat on the fence and observed.

P.S. The Madd Men did in fact win last week, but we're on a quick downfall...Cheers! -Zoe and Catja