|
  | | |
Making a move to Manchester
Entry 5 of 5 | show all | print this entry |
Wooooow okay so sorry I have been a horrible communicator and havent written in about a month! So now there is a lot to catch up on. sooooooo.......
After my trip to Belfast and the Northern Ireland coast, I returned to England to get ready and pack to move to Manchester. I found a place through the website, Spareroom.com and fell in love with the area when my friend Gary took me to see the area of Chorlton. Chorlton is kind of like a suburb, but the suburbs here are smaller and closer together, (its a half hour bus ride from the center of Manchester to my door step). Chorlton is one of the best places to live around here because it is full of little shops, cafes, restaurants, and organic markets. It can be artsy and full of weekend live music in the many bars. It is full of young professionals and artsy types as well as families and young couples. My place happens to be very close to the main area so I can walk everywhere, and the bus stop is right down the road. I knew I would like the area, and I was ready to move in to finally have a place to call home.
The day that I moved, it was nice to have Emily help me carry all of my luggage on the train, (my head would have exploded if I had to do it by myself) and then when we got to Manchester, Gary picked us up and gave us a lift to Chorlton. When we arrived, Steve (the landlord and my flatmate) let us in, but I was leading the pack and almost got lost on the way to find my room. I had been there twice before but there were so many stairs and corners to go around I almost forgot which way to go. We did make it though, and everyone was pleased to see my sweet set up. lol
The place is positioned between two shops. As you walk in there are a few stairs taking you from the doorway to the first hallway. It is cluttered with bicycles and at the end of it is a door leading to the downstairs flat. Ive never been in it because its not "technically" part of our flat, but Joe lives there, he is a postman and very nice. You have to go through his flat to get to the back garden, so I still havent been back there, but I will eventually.
Next to Joe's door is a very tall flight of stairs, at the top is a bathroom, turn the corner and there are a few more stairs and another hallway. At the end of THAT hallway is: on the left, Steve the landlords room; on the right, steves kid's room who come on some weekends; straight ahead, the kitchen and living area. The kitchen is a nice area with enough room for one or two people to cook at a time, but more than that can get crowded as it is narrow. The wall of the kitchen opens up on the left to shine into the living area where there is a cool old table, two couches, tv, sterios, plants, shelves, fireplace, ect. All of the down stairs has been completely redone, and Steve is an artist/engineer so he has a really fun and artsy style about the place. It is very unique and sometimes random and I love that about it. It has taken me a while to figure everything out, as there are a lot of little things and contraptions that are different not only in England, but even just in this house. I like it though :)
Back in the hallway, if you turn the corner again there is another large flight of stairs, another corner and some more stairs, and then the rooms of the tenants. Daren's room is on the left, Steve the musician's is straight ahead, and mine is to the right and down the hall a bit. It has a new wooden door and brand new wooden flooring. I have a built in desk in the left hand corner and a filing cabinet next to it which i use for paperwork, clothes drawers, and junk. Along the right wall is a little area for hanging clothes made out of wood and cloth, theres a drying rack for laundry, and some shelves. My bed is tucked cozily in the far corner where the ceiling slants down and a sunroof has been put it. It is directly above my head in bed and at night I can see the big dipper as I fall asleep (that is if the sky is clear). The ceiling there is so low that when I stand up my head can hit it, so its low enough for me to reach and I can open the window and peer out into the back garden over the edge of the roof. (Here they call the front yard or back yard the front garden or back garden) It is a lovely back garden with kids play areas, a trampoline, Steve's vegetable garden, trees, cats, squirrels, birds, and all that fun stuff. The whole back garden belongs to everyone that lives in that building, and there are a lot of people that live there as there are a few flats and shops within the same building. It is nice to go to sleep with the big dipper in my sight and wake up to the sound of birds chirping and children calling to each other. Sometimes the sun shines in and illuminates my room, or sometimes its the light tap of rain on the glass. The other morning I woke up to a quick, light scratching noise, and when I looked up there was a beautiful black and white bird right above my head, hopping around on the top of the window.
So for the most part I really liked my room, the only problem I had with it was that it was FREEZING. There is no central heating and no hot water except for in one bathroom. I had an electric heater that I would use before bed, but other than that I avoided my room because of the cold. My mattress is also very uncomfortable and the hard springs rise up and push into my skin like I'm laying across tree branches. My first week that I made Chorlton my home, I actually had a very hard time adapting and became very homesick. I was always cold, the weather was horribly gray and rainy, I had terrible sleep because of the bed and I was always tight because I was freezing. (I also didn't know anything about a hot Thermos that you can put in your bed, I only heard about that last weekend when the weather is already warmer). I never wanted to go wash my face or do anything in the bathroom because the water was ice cold. I had to wear layers everyday but didn't pack enough warm clothes with me, so I had to wear the same clothes over a few times. I did laundry but there isn't a dryer so they take a while to hang dry. I felt a little weird around my new roommates because they are all older than me, and I didn't want to come off as young or immature, so instead I just became really shy. I felt very self conscious and lonely and homesick and cold. Some nights before bed I would sit and look at old pictures on my computer and look at how bright blue the sky was in them and think that it looked fake, but then i remembered that it really is like that at home and not here, and I would miss it desperately. My computer was also not hooking up to the internet, so I had no way of getting ahold of my parents through our online phone system we hooked up before i left. There wasnt really a shower either, so I had to take baths. If anyone knows me well enough, they know that I have a slight OCD issue about baths. It was hard for me to force myself to take a bath, but it was that or be dirty. I also wasnt having any luck with my job search. I knew I needed money and it sucked to have nothing to do. So yea, that was a downer week. The whole adjustment and weather and loneliness thing really got to me for a while...
But now the weather is getting warmer, Ive become good friends with my room mates, and I actually enjoy the feeling of cold water on my face now! However it did take a while to fully adapt.
Emily helped a lot when she would come on the weekends. Just having her around helped. She would explain to me how to make tea with the electric kettle, and how to make their instant coffee, or use the coffee filter, or do the laundry, or how to cook! It all seems stupid sounding but there are so many little different things here that you just kind of stand there looking at it for a while wondering how to operate it. It took a lot of experimenting sometimes. Emily was a nice person have to show me around because she had been in my position just months before me. But even for her there were things in my flat that were new to her too, so we would figure it out together and make a joke of it. It was also nice to have her sleep with me in my bed and keep it warm.
While she was in town we would go out to gigs and have a good time taking the bus. Gary came with us a lot too, as he only lives just down the road from me and he likes the same kind of music we like. We also explored Chorlton shops together and discovered Unicorn. It is an organic vegan grocery store that sells local products. It is so fresh and delicious. We both fell in love with it. It is well known throughout the area. Chorlton also holds one of the best bakeries around, one of the best fish markets with a sushi maker on certain days, and a great butcher. It is easy to get good, fresh food here in Chorlton and it is all within walking distance. I have started cooking and am pleasantly surprised by my skills! I had no idea, but if you just kind of let your creativity go, you can make anything taste good with some good wholesome ingredients. Emily and I made scones on one of our first weekends. They were delicious, they could use a little work, but not bad for my first batch. Since then though I haven't baked as much since the oven tends to set off the fire alarm.
... to be continued.
Where I stayed:
my new flat in Chorlton
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from United Kingdom or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
Send a message
