Salocin

Moving Again

In a matter of days, I will have to up roots, rent an apartment, buy a car, and do the other thousand things that are involved in moving from one country to another. I am leaving Belgium and going back to England for a new job, and have spent the last 4 days looking for apartments in Windsor. I have until mid-December to move, because I start the new job the last working week of December (the better to get to know my co-workers, get the paperwork out of the way and hit the ground running come January).

Windsor seems nice. I met a particularly lovely couple of people yesterday when I was visiting apartments in the city center, and with any luck, there will be people like that around when I get there.

This is far from the first time I move country or city, I know absolutely nobody in Windsor, and this adds to the general adaptation difficulties. I make it to London on a regular basis to see the people I do know, but it would be nice to build a social life in Windsor. The question is, how does one go about doing that? How do you meet people with similar interests? It sounds like such an easy question, and there's lots of traditional wisdom on how it's done, but I've moved more often than most of the pundits who claim to know the answer, and I've yet to crack the problem; I've yet to find a way that doesn't involve going out a lot, doing many things and hoping that random chance is on your side today, and the time that takes is always a little intimidating. Either way, Windsor seems nice. I entered the postcodes of the properties I'm looking at into the UpMyStreet website and asked for an ACORN (demographics) profile and got this...

Type 19: Suburban privately renting professionals


(1.09% of the population live in this ACORN type)
Likely Characteristics: This type is found in Richmond-upon-Thames, Sutton and Bromley in Outer London, and in Cheltenham, St Albans and Guildford.
Family Income : High
Interest in current affairs : Very high
Housing - with Mortgage : Medium
Educated - to degree : Very high
Couples with Children : Very low
Have satellite TV : Very low

These young people have made a lifestyle choice to reside close enough to the major conurbations, to obtain the benefits of the city without actually living in its centre. In their twenties and early thirties, they are well educated and are developing their careers in professional and managerial jobs.

They are living in purpose built flats in attractive suburbs and satellite towns. Many are still renting, although some have purchased their homes. They use diverse means to get around. Where possible they will travel to work by public transport, by bike or on foot. However, the majority do have a car and will often buy new, expensive models.

These people are very comfortable using the Internet in all aspects of their life including financial services, purchasing gifts, CDs and books and booking their holidays and leisure activities on-line.

For holidays, the USA, Canada and other long haul destinations are popular, as are weekend breaks and winter snow holidays. In their spare time they enjoy sport and exercise. They also like spending their money on shopping for clothes and eating out.

They are interested in current affairs, and whilst they tend to read mainly the broadsheet papers, they show no bias to any particular title.

This of course is extremely reassuring, because it sounds like my age group, has my interests, goes to the same holiday destinations as me and so on, so hopefully I'll meet people who are similar to me. Unless they're all working too hard, which is a distinct possibility.

Of course, the going out and doing lots of things business is fun in and of itself, and so I can look forward to joining a rowing club, perhaps taking up a martial art, maybe doing some voluntary work, and the dozens of other things that constitute "integrating into a new community". The truth is, no matter how many times I do this, moving somewhere on your own is a strange mixture of excitement (who knows who you might meet) and anxiety (weeks spent not knowing anyone until you start actually becoming a familiar face to a few people).

The people at work may be some help, but the truth is they're fairly spread out over Berkshire country (some even live in West London, 75 minutes commute every morning), since nobody actually lives near work. That probably gets in the way of workplace socialising, because if everyone drives home, there's only so much scope for going for a drink after work.

Whatever. A positive attitude is half the battle, so I have a glass in my hand, and I'm raising it to new beginnings. Again.

Posted by nlvp at December 5, 2004 04:40 PM