Dani and Geoff do life as a poor British pair

So we arrive in Geoff’s new apartment, ready for his big move-in. It is extremely difficult to set up a house from scratch, which you all probably know, but then there is the added challenge of not knowing where to get things. On top of that add the fact that EVERYTHING in England closes at 5pm except the pubs, and you’ve got yourself in one hell of a pickle.

            It gets to be around 7pm by the time we have met up and settled in, and we decide to head out to buy some sheets, pillows, towels, etc. But wait – we forgot – we live in ENGLAND now – stores don’t stay open past 7pm! That would be a ludicrous scheme to actually make money and progress. Heading home feeling rejected and wondering how we were going to decide who gets the duvet and who gets to sleep under a sheet (rock-paper-scissors?), we managed to stumble upon GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen); this would turn out to be a life changing find. Much like The Works in Ottawa, the Gourmet Burger Kitchen features unique combinations of toppings on delicious freshly grilled burgers. I sound like an advertisement, but I was more than slightly impressed. In a country full of “Bangers and Mash” and “Mushy Peas” it was a refreshing change to find quality food.

            Anyways, back to the original story. Upon return to the house, we realized that not only did we have 2 towels and one bed set between us, but most of the lights in the house did not work, and the ones that did were burning out at a rapid pace. It got to the point where late in the evening we had one working light bulb and just unscrewed it and brought it with us from room to room. We also found that the TV displayed approximately 4 channels, and depending on where you put the antenna in the room, the signal would get stronger – the strongest of course was when Geoff held it directly out the window. On our 4 channels we managed to find the Antiques Roadshow (or the British version of it at least – and watched that for 3 straight hours). This left us to question why on earth it was scheduled to play for several hours on end and wonder what the quality of television is really like in England (more on that later). In the end I ended up with the duvet, no sheets, and had to use couch cushions for pillows. Being new, foreign and poor is definitely not what it’s cracked up to be ahah!