So how did I get to this point?
I first lived in the UK when I was 19, on a semester abroad in Cambridge. It was wonderful. I absolutely fell in love with the UK during those five months, and I just knew that I would be back someday.
Fast forward to my last year of college....when I happened to meet a British guy online while playing a game. He was in northern England at Newcastle University, and I was at BU in Boston. To make a long story short, after 8 months of online, phone, and mail communication, we had to meet. I flew to the UK for my second time in the summer of '95 and met this Welshman from Anglesey - and ended up staying with him and his family for a month and a half. He became my boyfriend, and eventually my husband....but that all happened after he moved to the US. I always figured that we would live in the UK together at some point, but somehow it just never happened. We were always stuck in jobs, or too comfortable in Boston/San Francisco/Los Angeles, etc...
But we visited all the time. At least once a year we were over for Christmas or other holidays, and I became more and more familiar with the British culture and way of life. It wasn't rose tinted glasses though. I realize that living in the US has a lot of perks....we have it pretty good here....but I still wanted to live in the UK some day and experience all the amazing things that Europe has to offer.
And then one day my husband told me he didn't want to be married to me anymore, and I realized I was losing more than a partner and lifelong friend - I was also losing my direct tie to a country and culture that I had started to feel belonged to me. It felt like a double divorce. I actually mourned the loss of him, and I mourned the loss of Britain.
But there was a catch....I have UK permanent residency, and I was married long enough that it didn't matter if I stayed married to keep that status. So after I got through the painful part....I realized that I had the power to do it on my own.
It's been a long process...I almost did it last year, but I just wasn't emotionally ready for such a huge change. Plus, there is that whole roller derby thing. Oh yeah...I play roller derby. Didn't you know? I have been involved with London Rollergirls since the start, because I knew eventually I needed to be able to skate there if I went, but I have also been firmly entrenched in the LA flat track league Angel City Derby Girls. It's been hard to walk away from a really great league that gives me the opportunity to play derby on the travel team against some of the best leagues in the WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association), and I think I had to get to the point where I had experienced enough of that goodness to be able to walk away satisfied.
But it's time now. The Permanent Leave To Enter status visa I have in my passport doesn't last forever if I don't get my butt over there, so this year is pretty much my now or never point.
Scary....exciting....daunting....thrilling....a real rollercoaster of a ride. That's what's going through my head now. No matter what though, I keep moving forward. I have placed the stake in the ground. I gave my notice at work, and I have made plans to leave my glorious rent controlled Santa Monica apartment 5 blocks from the beach.
I am moving to London with no job either. I have enough savings to take some well deserved and much needed break time...but the idea of spending hard earned American dollars with the current exchange rate (currently $1.95 to the pound - highest its EVER been since I started going) is pretty daunting for a normally somewhat thrifty and responsible gal like me. At the same time, I am confident that the market for what I do (internet project management) is strong enough in London that I will eventually end up where I need to be. Heck, I was a supervisor at Starbucks for two years in college.....I won't starve.
So this blog is about the whole damn thing. It's about what I will experience...what it will take to make this transition...what I have to share with everyone following along...its about Courtney going to London.
Enjoy.
Los Angeles.....I'll miss ya....
