Extending my Life in London

Arriving at Heathrow on Sunday morning I had my very first intensive inspection at customs (verbal not physical, thankfully). In hand I had my brand new Tier 2 migrant visa, which allows me to stay in the UK until August 2014, and the customs lady had a lot of very specific questions about my job, my company, and my time in London.

About two weeks previously I had quite a few questions myself. I had arrived in Toronto to spend 14 days with my friends and family and, within hours, I was seriously questioning how I could possibly leave again. The inevitable homesickness had overwhelmed me, as it does with every visit home, and I was yearning to re-start my life in Toronto.

That is not to say that I don’t love living and working in London. It is just to say that a big part of me feels more at home back in Canada, as it should, and that feeling can sometimes blind me from really appreciating the great opportunities and experiences I am constantly gaining from my life in the UK.

Anyways, I was home to sort out my end of a sponsorship visa. My company had jumped through all the hurdles to procure me the visa. Since my working holiday visa will be expiring as of 15 September, this was the best way for me to stay in the UK – beyond actually marrying a Brit.

The visa process ended up being a bit of a nightmare. I had intended to pop into the Toronto visa office with all my documents the very first weekday that I arrived there, and then wait to hear about the outcome through that first week. Unfortunately, there was a little situation with a non-original document that caused a minor panic attack in the visa office, and slowed my progress considerably.

While waiting for the document to be urgently posted from London, I re-booked an appointment at the Ottawa visa office for the end of the week. Long story short, the document was late (having decided to take a “short-cut” through Cincinnati), I re-scheduled the appointment for Monday, and had a mere five days to be considered, issued the visa (hopefully), and sent all my documents – including my passport, which was going to be rather important come my cross-Atlantic flight that weekend.

Obviously, I am back in London so everything worked out in my favour, but it really was touch-and-go there for a while.

Besides trying to sort out my visa through my two weeks in Canada, I had a wide range of proper Canadian summer experiences. A good deal of the time was spent submerged under water as a heatwave had swept southern Canada and the northern US, making for some very steamy weather.

I spent time at Norway Bay, swimming, boating, tubing and windsurfing with my cousins; ate well, whether it was a steak barbecue at my parents’ house, sweet potato fries at the Victory Café with the boys, or an amazing five-course meal at Luma in Toronto; basking (rather, melting) in the Ontario heatwave with a trip to Toronto island, a canoe ride along the Rideau River, and an afternoon with the girls in McKay Pond in Rockcliffe; and fun nights out, with a backyard party at Leslie’s, flatcrawl around Elgin Street to meet the Ottawa girls’ new homes, and pints on patios.

It was a really fantastic two weeks at home, but I am glad to be back in London, even back at work, and settling back into my life here. I know that, when it really comes time to return to Canada, I will make a healthy transition, since I am really excited for phase two of my life in Toronto to begin, whether that’s one year from now or three.