Recon

Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against Wales as a country and if we were moving to Cardiff I wouldn't have a problem at all. But we aren't. We're moving to Anglesey - an island with an area of 276 square miles and a population of less than 70000. Compare that to Leicester (my current home) with around 4 times the population in a tenth of the area. I must admit I jumped to a fairly stereotypical view when I first thought about North Wales - sheep, beautiful views, sheep, souvenir shops, a distinct lack of decent shops and sheep. Maybe a few daffodils thrown in for good measure. Not my dream destination. I was willing though to investigate further and maybe even give it a chance.

An hour or so on Google later and I was slightly more convinced. On the up side Bangor (which will be our nearest large town) has a branch of Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Boots, HMV and, best of all, Accessorize!! I was saved - I could still shop. Apparently an internet connection is also possible so even those brands that don't grace Bangor with their actual presence are accessible. On the down side no Starbucks (which I blame my flatmate Rhian for getting me hooked on).

In an attempt to convince me that it was all going to be fine Ben suggested we take a trip before he commited to the move so sometime lateish last year we went on a mini-break to that most romantic of mini-break destinations Bangor.....

Not in a million years

I remember quite clearly getting the phone call from Ben last year and it went something like this:
Ben: "What do you think of Wales"
Me: "Big creatures, live in the sea, eat a lot of algae"
Ben: "No, the place"
Me: "Nice for a holiday. Why"
Ben: "Because I'm moving there after Christmas"
Me: "Oh"

Now after 7 years living in decent size cities I count myself well and truly as a city girl. Top of my favourite things to do are shopping and socialising (shallow but true) and where better to do both than a nice city? I've never longed to live in a place where everyone knows your business and you have to travel 10 miles for a pint of milk (which you take direct from the cow!) so its fair to say I was not on board with the moving to Wales plan. And the moving to Wales plan (MTWP) wasn't too much of an issue when I thought it was just so Ben could finish his PhD while I finished mine in Leicester (Shops! Nightclubs! People!) but it soon became apparent that the MTWP was rather more long term when he was offered a 1-3 year postdoc position. We agreed 3 years ago when we started our respective PhDs that the 3 years apart was worth it so we could both pursue what we wanted to do and after that we would be together no matter what. Since Ben loves his work and was being offered a fantastic position on a plate and I'm looking to get out of my field and do something else as yet undecided we soon came to the decision that Ben should accept and that I would move over there too once I've finished. Eeek!

So that pretty much sums up my predicament - city girl moves to Anglesey. The big move happens around Christmas and I'm writing this blog to document my adjustment to island life. It can't be as bad as I imagine surely.......