It’s been a few weeks since my last post and I wanted to provide a quick update on my happenings! I have officially signed my contract with the Local Authority and they have applied to sponsor me with the UK Border Agency. This process will likely take a month and then I will fly home and apply for my work permit. So it seems like I won’t actually be working until October.

I was feeling slightly anxious about the position because I will doing long term work with children who are in care and so I met with my new supervisor to introduce myself and to find out more information. He was very friendly (which was a relief) and quite transparent and I felt at ease with him. The work sounds very exciting and will cover a whole range of areas with the children. My one main concern is that I will be attending court which sounds so scary! I was assured that I would be provided training and that once I have done it once…it won’t feel as daunting because I’ll know what to expect. Still…I am not looking forward to that because it is my biggest fear…being interrogated on the stand! But I am going to have to look at it as a learning experience and an opportunity to face my fear. If I can accomplish this feat, then I will feel like I can do anything!

The supervisor and the team seemed supportive, but one never knows if it’s real or it’s just the façade of a team that is just trying to welcome the newbie. I will not know until I’m actually there. The only unfortunate part is that I will likely have to get a car. It was not stipulated anywhere in the job description so I can’t be forced to buy one…but it will make my job and life difficult if I am reliant on public transport and the trains to visit children who are potentially all over England. If I had been recruited on to a different team, then I wouldn’t need a car because the assessments would only be conducted on children and families who live within the boundaries of the local authority and the public transport system is very efficient to assist with that effortlessly.

Buying a car is just another added cost that will significantly dip into the already low salary I will be receiving. In comparison to Canada, social workers here get paid significantly less…so that was a shock to me. Buying a car means learning the roads…and possibly taking the manual test…aaaahh!!!! So many new things to learn!

But all I can do for now is enjoy the rest of the summer while I’m not working (I know…cry me a river right?) before it’s time to fly back home and then fly back just in time for the cold weather 🙂