Sitting in my room, surrounded by piles and an empty duffel bag. I should be attempting to merge the two. Instead, I'm writing this. If you're reading, that probably means you know me, and therefore should not be surprised by the situation.
Would it be trite to say that I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow? Well, too bad, I'm saying it anyway. You'd think that after 11 months of working to get to this point, I'd be ready -- excited even -- that it's finally almost here. Instead, I feel a little bit dazed, and a lot stressed out.
I think the main problem is this first month and how unstructured it is. I'll be flying in to London, bussing down to Bournemouth, and staying at a hostel for the first week -- so far, so good. But then I have a week with nothing at all planned, followed by another week in Bournemouth, a week in London, and a final few days in Bournemouth before I fly back home for December. Since the course is only three on-campus days, I have a huge amount of downtime, and so many options as to how to spend it that I'm basically paralyzed by indecision. Add to that the consideration of lumping around the aforementioned duffel bag, and the fact that almost anything I do will be an expense, and really, all I want right now is to go back to bed.
Oh well. If I remember correctly, I felt much the same in the days leading up to my move to LA, and I'd say that turned out rather well for me. Here's hoping this will be similar.
So, any brilliant ideas on something interesting/cheap/easily accessible by public transit for that second week in November?
29 October 2011
21 October 2011
Allons-y!
The inaugural post!
Well, at long last, it's official: nine days from today, I will be on a plane to Heathrow, finally embarking upon this adventure towards which I've been working since January. Since so many wonderful people have asked to be kept updated on my comings and goings (I'm flattered!), I figured that a blog-type outlet would be useful. So that everyone is on the same page, here's the nitty-gritty of what's happening:
What: I'm going to the UK! (duh) I'll be working as a NICU nurse - as it happens, one of the few specialities that is in very short supply over there - via an agency that places foreign RNs throughout the UK. Although it's a London-based company, the setup is essentially the same as US travel nursing, with 13-week assignments and the option to extend or go staff if the arrangement is mutually agreeable to me and the hospital.
Where: Most of the NICU openings, I've been told, are in the south (London, Oxford, etc.), although I could theoretically go anywhere there's a large enough facility to sustain a NICU.
When: THIS month! (And I wasn't sure I was going to be able to say that until about five days ago.) Well, all right, technically speaking I'm flying over this month, but I'm not actually starting anything work-related until November 2 (or 2 November, as I'll have to get used to calling it). There is a mandatory orientation to UK nursing that I'll be taking in November, with three on-campus days at Bournemouth University spread over the course of the month (the 2nd and 17th and the first of December). In between those, I'll be completing other mandatory training, spending a week in London - I've already made plans for Thanksgiving dinner at a pub in the city - and generally exploring. Then it's back home for the holidays, and come January I should be back there to start my first assignment somewhere.
Why: Ah. The million-dollar question. If I'm honest, the best answer I really have is - why not? My Anglophilia isn't a terribly well-kept secret, and I've always been interested in the idea of travel nursing. Combine those in one fortuitous Google search that connected me to the agency I've been talking to, and you have this ambitious, possibly harebrained, plan of mine.
Also, they speak English over there. Or so they claim.
So that's that, in a nutshell. I promise - okay, I hope - to keep this blog updated better than my last one (if that one is to be believed, my road trip to LA ended somewhere in Wisconsin, I think). I'd love to hear from anyone who's reading along out there: comments, questions, complaints about the blog format, anything. Please do feel free to pass along the link, too, especially to anyone who's not on Facebook. And if you happen to find yourself headed to England anytime after next January, let me know!
Well, at long last, it's official: nine days from today, I will be on a plane to Heathrow, finally embarking upon this adventure towards which I've been working since January. Since so many wonderful people have asked to be kept updated on my comings and goings (I'm flattered!), I figured that a blog-type outlet would be useful. So that everyone is on the same page, here's the nitty-gritty of what's happening:
What: I'm going to the UK! (duh) I'll be working as a NICU nurse - as it happens, one of the few specialities that is in very short supply over there - via an agency that places foreign RNs throughout the UK. Although it's a London-based company, the setup is essentially the same as US travel nursing, with 13-week assignments and the option to extend or go staff if the arrangement is mutually agreeable to me and the hospital.
Where: Most of the NICU openings, I've been told, are in the south (London, Oxford, etc.), although I could theoretically go anywhere there's a large enough facility to sustain a NICU.
When: THIS month! (And I wasn't sure I was going to be able to say that until about five days ago.) Well, all right, technically speaking I'm flying over this month, but I'm not actually starting anything work-related until November 2 (or 2 November, as I'll have to get used to calling it). There is a mandatory orientation to UK nursing that I'll be taking in November, with three on-campus days at Bournemouth University spread over the course of the month (the 2nd and 17th and the first of December). In between those, I'll be completing other mandatory training, spending a week in London - I've already made plans for Thanksgiving dinner at a pub in the city - and generally exploring. Then it's back home for the holidays, and come January I should be back there to start my first assignment somewhere.
Why: Ah. The million-dollar question. If I'm honest, the best answer I really have is - why not? My Anglophilia isn't a terribly well-kept secret, and I've always been interested in the idea of travel nursing. Combine those in one fortuitous Google search that connected me to the agency I've been talking to, and you have this ambitious, possibly harebrained, plan of mine.
Also, they speak English over there. Or so they claim.
So that's that, in a nutshell. I promise - okay, I hope - to keep this blog updated better than my last one (if that one is to be believed, my road trip to LA ended somewhere in Wisconsin, I think). I'd love to hear from anyone who's reading along out there: comments, questions, complaints about the blog format, anything. Please do feel free to pass along the link, too, especially to anyone who's not on Facebook. And if you happen to find yourself headed to England anytime after next January, let me know!
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