A Week of Firsts

Since moving to England last year, I've been faced with having to get used to many things like driving on the left (not as hard is it sounds), understanding this weird form of English (all English was not created equally...and there are many people even my Brit friends have a hard time understanding), and living without pickles (the absolute worst part about living in the UK...sorry, Mom, but the pickles come first...just kidding). I had managed to go along fine and dandy without having a haircut or having to see the doctor. I did manage to see the orthodontist a while back, and that was a surprisingly wonderful experience. Don't get me wrong; I wasn't expecting that orthodontist visit to be horrible, but I had been told nightmare stories. But, I also wasn't expecting the experience to be better than any of those I'd had in the US. Go figure!

Back to this week. On Tuesday, I finally forced myself to make an appointment to see my GP, an NHS doctor. I'd heard loads of horrible stories about NHS doctors--trying to get an appointment without having to wait until you're 90, going in only to be seen for 2 minutes and sent home, being told the same thing over and over again about you not actually having anything wrong when something still hurts, and so on. So, it was with a little trepidation that I went on Tuesday. I had no problem getting an appointment, although had I not been working from home, I could see how it would be difficult. I got there, waited no more than 10 minutes, and the doctor called me through. He did a series of tests to check where my shoulder hurt and when. Then told me what he thought it was. Then he gave me several choices for treatment explaining the benefits and drawbacks of each. He even asked if I had any questions and was able to answer them for me. Needless to say, it was a good experience, and I hope they continue to be that good.

So today, I decided to have another first--a UK haircut. This shouldn't be that scary, but have you seen some of the people walking around here looking like they have a bird's nest on their heads for the sake of fashion?? Really, it's enough to make me never want to set foot in a hairdresser's. But, I did. And the results are shocking...in a good way!

Before

After

I sure hope the rest of my UK firsts are pleasant like the last several things. I especially hope I only have to experience the UK driving test once...being the first time.

What other firsts can you think of that I may or may not have experienced in the UK? Post in the comments, because I like to read them, and they usually make me happy! Let's keep it clean...relatively.