And then she said...: December 2007

What a Glorious Day to become a Pom...

After 9 years, 4 months and 6 days, 5 different types of Visas and god knows how much ££££ - a few weeks ago I pledged my "true" allegiance to Her majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second (and her Heirs & Successors etc etc etc blah blah blah) and officially became a British Citizen.... it just makes things easier for travel, and I will still be supporting Australia in all sporting fixtures, until further notice...

The location for the exciting occassion was the Brixton Town Hall and I was given my certificate by the Lord Mayor of Lambeth !! It reminded me of my graduation ceremony, with the addition of the British national anthem...

The nerves set in...

The long list of difficult to pronounce names went on....

And then the moment came, and up I went...

I was very excited to make it all the way up and back without tripping over...

Some celebratory champagne and "british" presents from claire (including my favourite, a spoon with the Queen Mother on it !)

A welcome email from a fellow British citizen...

Dear Susan,

On behalf of the Monarch and all the glorious peoples of this land, I would like to welcome you to the happy, if slightly disfunctional family, that is Great Britain. It's been great having you as a tenant; nice to know you will, henceforth, be an owner/occupier. May God bless you and all your endeavours in the name of this country (obviously excluding all sporting ones, which we will continue to do abysmally at).

Yours fraternally,

Richard