Moving

I am now a British citizen, after a pleasantly low-key ceremony last Thursday in the County Hall. (more…)

There are a few deficiencies in Oxford's culinary scene. (more…)

Coming out of the Cowley Rd Tesco a few weeks ago, I ran into an old chess and bushwalking friend I hadn't seen more for more than a decade. (more…)

On May 5th the UK will be voting on (among other things) a referendum to use "Alternative Vote" instead of "First Past the Post" in electing members of Parliament. (more…)

Being in Oxford has made me think about one of the turning points in my life, which came when I finished my undergraduate degree. (more…)

Utility costs are very different in Sydney and Oxford. Overall the UK is more expensive, even at current exchange rates. (more…)

I've adjusted to thinking in pounds and not converting prices to Australian dollars, at least for daily life. (more…)

One of the questions I get asked by people I meet is, of course, "what do you do?". (more…)

Our thirty seven boxes from Australia were delivered on Wednesday, having taken about nine weeks door-to-door. Here's a photo of them sitting in our living room. (more…)

As a citizen of a Commonwealth country resident in the UK, I am eligible to vote in UK elections. And I've just sent off a letter to the Oxfordshire Council registering as a voter so I can do that. (more…)

Yesterday C and I moved into a house on Catherine St, just around the corner from my sister. (more…)

I had an uneventful flight - the best kind - got through border control and customs at Heathrow, carted my baggage to the bus station, rang C, and had time for coffee and a croissant before getting the bus to Oxford. (more…)

After a drive down to Canberra and back with my father and step-mother, I finally have my visa! A big thank you to the visa unit staff who took pity on me and put my visa into my passport on the same day - Australia Post probably wouldn't have been fast enough for me to make my (already delayed once) flight. (more…)

I was supposed to fly to the UK on January 25th, with C, but with no news about my visa application since December 17th that didn't happen. (more…)

This was my first experience of international relocation.  This is like moving house locally, but with a whole pile of added complications. (more…)

Talking about the weather is a particularly English pastime, but the UK weather at the moment is rather dramatic. (more…)

Today was my last day at work. I've been working at the University of Sydney, first for Anatomy and then for Medical Sciences, for sixteen years, so it's a pretty big change for me - I don't think I've lived in a house as long as I've worked in the Anderson Stuart building. (more…)

Oxford is not a big city, which restricts our options. (We thought about renting a cottage in a village outside Oxford, but infrequent bus services and the lack of parking in the Uni make that seem impractical.) (more…)

Books I have read are unthreatening, placing no pressure on me and offering the comfort of a familiar experience. In contrast, unread books are not so relaxing - some bring back memories of unwise purchases or over-eager review copy requests, some have remained unread because they seem difficult or daunting, and even the most docile of them whisper an insistent "read me! read ME!". (more…)