In 2010, my then-boyfriend and I emigrated to the UK. We packed our meagre belongings into his car and made the long journey from Arad, Romania, to initially Rugby and then Nottingham for his training with Boots and afterwards to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. 2.131 km according to Google Maps. We did break the trip up and stayed a few days in Germany before crossing at Oostende - Ramsgate. We arrived later than anticipated in Ramsgate and slept an entire day. So technically Ramsgate was the first UK town I ever saw.
I had never been to the UK before. Mainly because it never really attracted me in any way. Too much rain. Onward to Rugby where we stayed for a few days with friends and then to Nottingham. I absolutely adored Nottingham. Don't ask me why, perhaps because there a statue of Robin Hood near the castle, or because there is a street called Maid Marian Way, or because it is one of the few cities in the UK that has trams. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire became quick favourites of mine.
On we went to Ryde on the Isle of Wight and stayed at Ryde Castle Hotel with beautiful views over the Solent and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. We rented our first apartment, which in hindsight was a bad choice, as it had very tall ceilings, old wooden frame windows and a propensity to get flooded at the cellar apartment. Although we did live on The Strand, which apparently is a very posh address and we did have glimpses of the sea. It took us less than 5 minutes to be at the seaside. Which, when you ask a Pisces like me, is a bonus and you accept anything and everything. Even temperatures so cold in the apartment that we had to sleep fully dressed in the winter, and have at least 2 duvets and 2 heavy wool blankets on us.
But at least we could go to the seaside and play with a frisbee all in under 5 minutes.
We even got married on the Isle of Wight. It was a tiny ceremony, with just us and two witnesses, I wore a purple ensemble, my then-boyfriend who became my then-husband wore a purple shirt. Even though I am not the marrying type and if I had to redo it I wouldn't get married, I did enjoy the day, as it was exactly what I wanted. No-fuss, no grand statement of anything. Just me and him and two friends. I had a small bouquet of red roses, we spoke our vows in a small room at the Registrar's Office and went home to have some home-cooked Romanian meal, a nice cake bought by my maid-of-honour and played Monopoly all day. I call that perfection.
And yes, there is a fake register that you pretend to sign for picture taking.
I retrained and took my NVQ level 2 in Pharmacy Services and became a Healthcare Professional and a Dispenser, working for Boots in Bembridge and Sandown.
Two years later, my then-husband got a new job and we moved to Chesterfield, which I hated, and still do not like that town whatsoever. The apartment was large and noisy, but we had two bedrooms rather than just the one, and a huge open plan kitchen/lounge. My mom and mother-in-law visited us and they came with me on my interview for English Heritage.
We didn't stay long in Chesterfield, thank the Gods, and we moved to Retford, which I absolutely loved and still do. We had a nice two bedroom apartment at the top and beautiful views over the river Idle. I had started working at Bolsover Castle and studying for my third degree at Lincoln Uni. A few months into our stay in Retford, I lost my mom to cancer. In her honour, as well as my aunts honour who beat cancer, and my Granny who didn't, I ran the 5k Race for Life at Clumber Park. I was really happy with my achievement especially since I had just got my period and was in a lot of pain.
Two years after I lost my mom, I graduated from Lincoln Uni and finally became a Conservator/Restorer. We had now moved to Cleckheaton, which again, I hated. Mostly because everything was grey and the people extremely miserable. I started work at Kedleston Hall and I couldn't be happier. I finally was doing what I trained three years to do.
I worked for 2 years at Kedleston and during that time, we moved from Cleckheaton to Ripley, and I decided I didn't want to be married anymore and left my husband and moved to Kirkby-in-Ashfield. I had a master bedroom with my own bathroom. Shared the house with two guys, the owner, who since then became my family and another guy. We got joined later by another guy.
In 2018 I officially became a British citizen and now hold two citizenships. The reason for becoming a citizen was mainly due to the fact that the UK voted to leave the EU and as I came to the UK under EU rules and EU freedom of movement, I decided that I didn't want to lose my job potentially and be asked to leave, so I applied to become a citizen.
2018 was a year of change for me, my divorce was official on 14th of February, my dad died almost a month later, I became a citizen and changed jobs as well. I am so grateful I have found the job I have now, as I love working in a library and it's less stressful then all the other jobs I held up until now.
I traveled to many places in the UK. Been to Edinburgh, which is an amazing city, traveled by ferry to Ireland and drove round Dublin, which is absolutely fantastic and I love Dublin so much. Been to the Highlands and visited with Nessie, been to Cornwall and Lands End, seen and walked the Pendle Witches Trail and visited Hogwarts. Been to as many seaside towns as possible. Made friends for life, found family, love, got my heartbroken and began again. Had multiple shades of red hair, had long hair and short hair, put on weight and lost weight, matured and grew as a human being (at least I hope so).
Learned from my past mistakes, made new mistakes, vowed never to make mistakes again. Learned so much from my British friends, brought some Romanian traditions and food into their lives and adopted some of their traditions and some of their food.
As hard and painful it sometimes was, it was also beautiful and fantastic, and I am a better person for it. Here is to the next 10 years.
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