Crackheads and Automatic Cars

tee heee

One week into American Living and I can only conclude that San Franciscans really are a friendly bunch and they love to chat.

The Elevator Chat

We live on the eight floor, and from stepping into the elevator to reaching the lobby floor, a short journey of no more than a minute, most of our neighbours have already introduced themselves, shook my hand and asked some polite questions about where my accent is from.

If the same thing would have happened in London, my natural reaction would have been to check all my pockets to see if I had been mugged and reply in one word sentences whilst starring down into the floor to avoid confrontation.

Here, I find myself happily shaking their hand and exchanging polite conversation. I can almost see our London friends shaking their heads and shouting 'told you so' as they're reading this - and I do realise its a slippery slope from this sort of behaviour to full on high fiving and picking up an american twang & expressions and I promise to tread carefully from here on :-)

The Corner Shop Weirdos

A couple of steps outside our building, on Market Street, things are a little different. People like chatting there too, but you often find that they are in actual fact asking you for money or worse, talking to themselves or some made up person. I've never seen so many crackheads and lost souls in my life. Going to the corner store is a bit like visiting an mental facility,  with equal numbers of staff and patients although you can't be sure who's who until they start having an argument with themselves.

Needless to say, we're not loving this area as its rather dodgy and we've already started looking for flats in the Marina, Cow Hollow and even Hayes Valley. There's not much on the market though, so it will probably take a while.

Alfie on Ocean Beach

In other News

I've had a driving licence since I was eighteen, but apart from a couple of driving lessons this summer in London I haven't really had much reason to drive in the last ten years or so. 

So this weekend I had a crash course in driving American cars with Jelte and today Alfie and I set off on our first trip to the beach on our own, a 20 minute drive from here. And I'm proud to say we made it back safe and sound. Driving an automatic is really like driving bumper cars though, but if I'm honest - I much prefer it now that I've tried it!

Settling In

Alfie and I arrived safe and sound in San Francisco on Monday, late in the afternoon.

Flying the Dog to San Francisco

Leading up to dropping Alfie off at the airport I was a complete nervous wreck. Luckily, my friend Sarah had promised to drive us there and she helped me keep Alfie entertained and calm, until it was time to put him in his crate and wave good bye. On the plane I was trying not to think about all the things that could potentially go wrong, it didn't help that San Francisco Airport had lost a dog a couple of weeks ago!

Turns out I needn't have worried. Alfie was cool as a cucumber as we closed the door to his box, and walked away. And when Jelte and I picked him up at the cargo warehouse on the 'other side', he seemed totally unfazed and played with his toy for a bit and then went for a long pee and a play on the beach.

Our Corporate Flat

Jelte had already spent a week in our flat and stocked it with groceries, dog food and some awesome welcome presents for both me and Alfie. Alfie quickly found his new bed and toy, and seemed totally at home straight away. We were both really surprised as Alfie was really stressed during our last move (from one side of Putney to the other!).  This time around we had prepared with some DAP spray, and a DAP collar which is supposed to help dogs feel better in stressful situations - I can only assume they really do work.

The drilling & digging starts at 7AM - the Entlebucher supervises all day!

The flat itself is like a big modern hotel room with an open plan kitchen/living room, separate bedroom and a washer/dryer cupboard. We have views over a building site and the Mission district and we wake up to the sounds of drilling and digging at 7AM. Yes they really start work that early here in San Francisco! Alfie loves his window views and keeps an eye on the construction works in-between naps. Jelte and I are perhaps a little less impressed with the big machines...

The SOMA area

Alfie making friends in Alamo Square Park

I spent a couple of hours walking around our new neighbourhood yesterday and I'm slowly starting to get an idea of what's what. I took Alfie to Alamo Square park and the Hayes Valley District is really lovely with some nice looking boutiques, cafes and restaurants.

Market Street, close to our house is not quite so nice crammed with homeless people, 'up to no goods' and people who probably would be better off receiving medical or mental care. From what I understand this is quite common in San Francisco, but it still feels kind of strange to see so many people who clearly need help just out and about on the streets like this.

Settling In

Garden Fertilizers?

We went to the supermarket yesterday and spent ages choosing even the most basic essentials. I'm not sure if I imagined this, but it seems to me that all bottles and containers are one size bigger over here! 

It took us some twenty minutes to find laundry detergent, fifteen of which were me trying to get over the ridiculous sizes and shapes of the containers. Americans going to Europe must think we are living in a miniature world or something.

40 degrees?

Those of you who know me, know that I have a special love for doing the laundry. Yes I am that sad! So of course I had to try out the washing machine straight away. Americans don't seem to worry about actual temperatures - there are three main settings - cold, warm and hot. Same procedure for the dryer. Only a matter of time before I shrink something...

The jet lag is slowly fading away and I'm starting to feel a little more human again. All the stress before the move, combined with not sleeping on the plane has joined forces and created a jet lag from hell, sending me to sleep at 8PM!

In other news

Our flat has been packed up today with a little help from our friend Kristin who's been supervising the movers. They packed our entire flat in just a couple of hours, totally amazing.

Dear Pilot

Here's a letter & a drawing from a friend of ours that I will give to the pilot of our plane  today - just adorable.

Dear Pilot,

Please can you look after my friend Alfie. He is on your plane. He's never been flying before and I think he is afraid of heights. I think pilots aren't scared of flying & good at taking care.

I drew a picture so you can see what he looks like and he loves lots of treats and fetch so he doesn't get scared.

Thank you,

Alana

xxx

Ready to go...well almost

My lovely shiny new wallet and passport holder from Radley arrived yesterday so now all I need is a bunch of shiny credit cards to go with it and I'm ready for America!

In other news - Jelte's driving licence arrived safe and sound in San Francisco wednesday morning, so he is off to pick up our rental car. 

Alfie was a brave boy and passed his pre flight health check, and will be sleeping in his crate for the first time tonight...

Until next time...
 

Our San Francisco Corporate Housing is looking pretty good

Jelte has arrived safe and sound in San Francisco and managed to get to our temporary flat despite the fact that I had his driving licence in my purse. Whoops! Oh well, luckily there are companies who specialise in delivering things so he should get his licence tomorrow morning...

Our Temporary Housing

Judging by the photos Jelte emailed me last night, our new home is looking pretty nice, with a little balcony and even a little food bowl with treats for Alfie. I was worried as the marketing materials showed the flat had cream coloured carpets (imagine keeping them clean, competing with four muddy paws) but its looking pretty good. Our plan is to stay in this flat until our own furniture arrive & we can find a flat of our own...

Meanwhile in London

Alfie is getting to grips with staying in his crate for short periods of time with the door shut. His initial comments went along the lines of "Roooooo  wooooooof wooof, let me out of here you bitch", but later he went back in the crate by his own initiative so he seems to be coping well. 

I have sprayed Alfie's bedding with a calming spray called Adaptil which is supposed to reduce stress and make him feel happy inside. With all the stress of the move I'm thinking of drinking the whole bottle myself before checking him in on the plane! :-) 

Alfie will be on the same plane as me, but he will be travelling in his crate along with the luggage. I know he will be safe and comfortable in there, but I have a feeling I will still listen out for his rooo'ing over the jet engines as soon as our flight takes off.

Here are some more pics of the flat:

Preparations & List Making

So as the big date for our move is drawing closer, we find ourselves incredibly busy trying to get organised. We've had our leaving party already, the VISA's are sorted and now its just a matter of figuring out the final logistics.

The big plan is as follows

The whole move is following a big masterplan consisting of hundreds of 'todo's' laid out in a neat planning tool called Teux Deux. Yes its geeky, but if you're planning to move two people and a dog across the atlantic you have to be.

The pub we had our leaving do in decided that the party was just for me as they couldn't spell Jelte's name!

Jelte is flying to San Francisco in a couple of days on the 14th, and Alfie and I follow on the 21st. That leaves only a couple of days working what he should bring in his luggage, what I should take and what can go in the big move.

Jelte is going a week earlier than me and Alfie so he can arrange the practicalities like getting dog food, a rental car and anything else before picking us up at the airport.

In the meantime, over in the UK,  I'll make sure that Alfie gets his final vet checks, and that the flat gets rented out and making sure that Alfie is used to staying in his crate before the flight.

We have arranged for the movers to come and pack up our flat after Alfie and I have left for the airport as we don't want the dog to get upset by having strangers going through our stuff.

Temporary Flat

We are going to stay in a temporary flat in the SOMA district for the first two months while we're waiting for our furniture and stuff to be shipped over, so we need to make sure we pack the right things in our check in luggage. While we're staying there we will of course start looking for a flat somewhere in the Cow Hollow or Marina District which is where we'd like to live eventually.

That's it for now - the next update is likely to come from across the pond.