Here We Go!

Well, we're here! We arrived in the UK about a month ago staying a week in Edinburgh, and now have moved in to our cozy "wee" cottage on the sea in Anstruther, a town about 20 minutes south of St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. My hope is to post once or twice a week to share our Scottish experience with you! 

Our little house and our view across the street

The twins playing near Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Now let me back up a bit. It took us longer than the 8 hr plane ride to get to the UK. For the curious, (and really for those wanting to someday do this), here's how we made this move happen.

Sept-Oct 2013 . Applied for UK post graduate programmes starting in fall 2014. St. Andrews and Durham were our top two. 

February 2014 . Acceptance letter from the University of St. Andrews received! Our first choice! 

April 2014 . Applied for passports (for 6 people... oh my) to save some money we took the passport photos ourselves using this website. Directions have to be followed precisely or your application can be denied. We had no issues in the end, but it was a tiny bit stressful. We applied for passports as late as possible in order for our kids to not need to re-apply while we're here. 

May 2014 . Bought 6 one way plane tickets to Edinburgh! I used Cheapoair.com and got each one way ticket for around $400. Couldn't pass it up. We planned our flight for August 25th, two weeks before orientation started. You're allowed to arrive up to 30 days before programme start. 

June 2014. Made sure money was in our bank account! Every country is different on this, but the UK has financial requirements for international students to enter the country. This amount needs to be in your bank account for at least 28 days prior to your visa application, and not falling below that amount during the 28 day duration. 

Secured housing! After scouring rightmove.co.uk and other sites for months, I had the idea to contact "holiday" homes in the areas I wanted to be in. I found one that seemed amazing but completely out of our price range, and after emailing the owner it turned out her monthly rate was about 1/3 what she'd charge as a holiday home. She was happy to agree to rent it to us long term. Fully furnished and across the street from the sea. Perfect. 

July 2014 . Visa applications! You're allowed to apply for visas only 3 months prior to your start date. These were mega huge stresses for me. The cost was crazy for 6 people (no child discounts). I was so worried they'd deny our applications and we'd be out that money, but we ended up having zero issues. Things we sent in for our Tier 4 UK visas were original documents (passports, birth certificates, marriage license), an acceptance letter from the University, a scholarship letter, our flight itinerary, our bank statement for the last 30 days (signed by a banker on every page and a cover letter from the bank attached), photo copies of drivers licenses, and our applications themselves along with our biometrics form. 

Visas were received within about two weeks of application. (What a glorious day that was!!)

Almost all of it. A lot of luggage, not a lot of belongings.

August 2014 . Moved out of our Wheaton home and into 4 large suitcases, 2 large army duffels, 4 rolling carry ons, 2 backpacking backpacks, and 6 personal size bags. Things we couldn't fit and couldn't part with we moved into my mother-in-law's basement. I'll write about what we brought (and what we wish we would/wouldn't have) in another post.

See ya later USA! 

Rented a car to drive to O'Hare so we could drop it and go without worrying about the hassle of bringing our own car we were selling. 

Had an angel at Virgin Atlantic check us in and look the other way on some of our weight limits. (They DO check carry on weights! Oops.)

We looked a little like a circus act going through the airport with that many bags and children! We had a loud screamy child, luggage frustrations, hours of waiting in lines, took the stroller and luggage up and down escalators, and nearly missed our flight despite a four hour layover (thanks Border Control). It was quite the day, but we made it. 

Our oldest posing on a balcony in Edinburgh overlooking our flat

We moved into a flat in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh for a week before moving into our Anstruther house. We had pre-booked a ginormous cab to transport the six of us and all our luggage from the airport to our flat- I highly recommend this. The best £20 I've spent so far!

Had the same taxi driver take us to our home in Anstruther for a discount (£80 for an hour and a half drive- cheaper than renting a car and buying gas). 

on the Harbour at Anstruther

Despite so many hurdles and costs, we are absolutely loving Scotland. We wake up every day to the sun rising over the sea outside our bedroom window, hear the waves crashing while sitting at the table for lunch, see 1000 year old ruins almost every day, and watch fishing boats at sea out our windows. We walk everywhere, take trips to castles, are learning to use British words for things, collect sea glass and shells, walk along the harbour, and climb on giant rocks on the shore. Our kids are growing up in Scotland.