Moving to London

London Business School

A park near LBS

(I am writing this blog entry with very mixed feelings, so please forgive me if I go off on a tangent.)

Yes, S and I have finally made up our minds by making a "HUGE" installment payment last week, so we are moving to London for one year after agonizing over this decision for months.

No mistake here, S is very excited about the opportunity: he was accepted into the Master in Finance program (MiF) at London Business School (LBS) which is ranked way up there around the world. At first, I was very excited when he brought up the "idea" of applying to LBS, because London is my favorite city after living there for four years from 1987 to 1990. The mention of London brought back so many fond memories of traveling all over UK and Europe, excitement of living in a new country, learning a new language. In 1990, I was forced to leave London under very sad circumstances soon after I was accepted to LSE- basically my dad's business was not doing well so that he couldn't afford to pay the tuition and costs of living in London any more. My dream of attending a top college was shattered and I had to attend a city college in Pasadena CA instead of LSE. Coming from Taiwan's traditional focus on education, attending a top college was all I cared about in the world back then. Darn, I still feel that my English could have been much much better if I have stayed in London. There are too many Taiwanese in LA so that I was too lazy to practice my English. :)~ The thoughts of us returning to London also feels like a personal "redemption" and a dream realized through S's study in a top-ranked school.

However, reality quickly set in when he was actually accepted by LBS. Excitement turned into panic. I am no longer that young J who can move anywhere with a minute's notice and with only one suitcase of worldly possessions. Now, we own cars, a house, full-time jobs, a 2-year old to think about as well as a house full of junk, closets full of clothes and SHOES! It's going to be tough to leave my shoes behind, not to mention all the clothes I just bought in Taiwan this January! In addition, the costs of daycare (a.k.a. nurseries) in London is "shocking". Full-time nursery costs as much as us hiring a full-time nanny in CA!! We won't see S's family for a long time, so that Di-di will be even more isolated from any immediate family other than his parents. Renting a 2-bedroom flat way outside of central London still costs as much as our monthly mortgage payment. Besides, S didn't like England and the rainy weather that much when we vacationed there in April 2000. He was so happy to be back to warm and sunny CA.

Then S got me excited about the idea again. 1) He wants studying more about finance & asset management, and LBS is the place to go. 2) we can travel around Europe again (remembering how much you loved Italy- baby- he reminded me:). 3) Di-di is still so young that a change of environment won't be too traumatic for him. 4) Hey, Di-di might even start speaking with a British accent and people would automatically add 10 points to his IQ, because of the British accent (according to some study:)... 5) The kind of jobs that S will be getting after school could be more exciting (and pay more) AND we might move to SF which is closer to his parents'. I could tell S was trying so hard to convince himself and me. 6) If my Mr. Frugal doesn't mind the cost of living in London, why am I worrying about it! I have been the person in our relationship to splurge 99% of the time, so now that he is putting $$$ aside, I should give it very very serious thought and be a supportive wife.

Then, we both (sort of) changed our minds again. Well, I didn't want to go. The 10-months tuition will cost more than his 4-year JD/MBA. He was somewhat worried that the economy is not looking good right now to leave a stable job. I am attached to my house-full of junk and I am used to our quiet, easy life style in "small" town CA. We went back and forth about the pros and cons for a long time and the indecision was painful.

Now we have made up our mind by putting down that nonrefundable payment to LBS, we feel happy and are totally looking forward to this new adventure! I trust S 100% and I know that he is making the best decision for our family and his career; we will stay strong and together through this new journey.

(We still need to complete that long to-do list, take care of our worldly possession in CA, but we will take it one day at a time from now on.)