I can't believe that it has been a full year. But it has, the sun has the same fall like glow now, like it had when we first arrived. We have been in England now a full year and experienced each of the four seasons. It has been a year filled with sours and sweets....and one that I would never trade, ever.
I think that overall we have all done really well in the last year. We have learned things about each other and ourselves that we did not know before. We had the ability to slow our life down a bit and we have. Most recently we started a new sharing activity at the dinner table that we call Sour & Sweet. We each have to tell one thing bad and then one thing good that happened to us during the day while we were away form each other. The kids in particular are really enjoying it.
So, in the spirit of the game, here is our in in sours and sweets!
<sweet> So, reflecting on the past year, I have decided that I am indeed a super hero mom. <sour?> I still hate to clean house, my house here is still a bit messy, but I am still a super hero. I found us a home, school and cars within 28 days of setting down on English soil. No small feat! While doing all that I learned to drive on the other side of the road which involved learning all about round-abouts, giving way, the importance of paying for parking all the while reacquainting myself with a manuel transmission!
Some notes for driving, when you see a red L on a car, strange as it may seem, it does not stand for LOOSER, but LEARNER, sweet. Just this week a line of cars (with me included) passed a learner car that was doing maybe 20mph, the speed limit was 40mph, sour. The national speed limit is 60mph and you can do it on small curvy, 2 lane roads. Sean thinks it's cool and drives it like a race driver while I am white knuckled and peeling myself from the dash, scary and sour. Rounds a-bouts are brilliant, sweet! They generally keep traffic moving better then traffic lights. That said, with the news of our extension, my husband and I both have to get a UK license, sweet. Technically, we are violating right now by not having it, sour. We both have to take written and driving tests to pass, sour. Thankfully, we don't have to have the red L on our cars while we are earning our license, SWEET!
We have learned about British cuisine. Which thankfully is not much different then American (which my dear niece and nephew seemed relieved to experience after they arrived sweet!). The Brits enjoy a good roast, anytime of the year. We now find ourselves craving one as well and eat them when the urge comes upon us. We have developed a love for lamb and good sausages. <lots of sweets> We have also developed a taste for some curry. We have had to make do with Italian food and pizza that is decidedly different, sour. There are definitely tastes that we miss: like Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera Bread, 5 Guys Burgers and Fries and Chick Fil-A, very sour. (though I am glad we missed the controversy). On the plus side, last weekend we ate at Hard Rock London and I got the best salad I have had since I arrived, sweet. Seriously, the Brits do salads poorly, sour. We have developed a love for new veggies, peas and Brussel Sprouts, sweet. Jelly is jello and jam is what we eat on our scones with clotted cream, sweet.
We have our Chippy dog with us, but we miss our little Cricket and our kitties, Tux and Coco. Sweet and sour.
We have had some fantastic travels, sweet. The funniest thing (though not at the time) is trying to convince the kids how lucky that they are and then trying to educate them on what they are seeing and why it is important, sour and frustrating! It is so rewarding though when they are able to share their experiences with their classmates and the teacher makes a big deal out of what they saw. It warms this Mum's heart. Sweet!
We are all guilty of speaking with a 'bit' of a British accent. My oldest son told me recently that he speaks more with a British accent then the substitute teacher from Boston. Hmmmm... O.K. We say things like fivers (for a £5 note), bits, can't be bothered, lovely, we call our chips crisps and our fries chips. I invite my friends to mine for coffee or tea and they invite me to theirs. Lots of sweets here!
None of this really applies to sweet or sour! :) I still do occasionally get asked where I am from. Though many of the shops that I frequent are used to my American accent. There are some words that I will never be able to think of in the American sense anymore. If you say 'fanny pack'? Well, here your 'fanny' is in a DIFFERENT place, that is why they call it a bum bag. My kids still get the Mick taken out of them for being American. Most recently my second son was told by his friend <after he had acid spilled on him in Chemistry, that hurt> that he was 'disappointed as my son was not the tough American he thought all Americans are and that America needs to loose some wars'. What? Oh and yes, we learned that what is pronounced wot not watt. The Brits also apparently have something against r's as they rarely make the 'r' sound. It is not a carrr, it is a ca'.
My oldest son has developed a need to collect watches, he blames his classmates saying that it is very English to wear different watches sweet/sour who knows! My youngest son has heartily embraced eating fish and chips and sausages, sweet. He also loves Lemon Sherbet candy, yum <well you should know, it's candy!> My 9 year old loves lamb. My husband loves Steak and Ale pies and anise seed balls. We have all developed a taste for Cadbury chocolate and my husband really enjoys a good cider <which is alcoholic>. All sweets!
We are having a good time watching BlackAdder, Dr. Who and Topgear! I love to watch Downton Abby. We are also into the music scene. We have tickets to see Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons in December. And of course we had a great summer seeing quite a few bands as well. Again, more sweets!
I have developed an addiction to tea. I drink it hot at all times of the year. I am a bit of an abnormality as I drink mine with sugars (2) and because I have developed a dairy allergy I drink mine black or with coconut milk. When it is cool out, a nice cuppa something hot is brilliant. Sweet for now, when I come back, who knows!
In a refreshing twist, I am now no longer one of the shorter women. Many women are shorter then my 5.4 3/4' statue. Recently during a night out, I was looking at the girls in the bar with very tall platform heels on. I was still holding my own against the majority, even with their heels on. It's nice not being the midget. It also makes me realise that my 8/10 size that I wear here is totally appropriate. The shoe sizing is also different here as well. I find myself wearing anything from a 4.5 to a 5.5. Sweet!
All and all we have had a year filled mostly with sweets, and I am so glad. It makes staying here longer sweet.
I think that overall we have all done really well in the last year. We have learned things about each other and ourselves that we did not know before. We had the ability to slow our life down a bit and we have. Most recently we started a new sharing activity at the dinner table that we call Sour & Sweet. We each have to tell one thing bad and then one thing good that happened to us during the day while we were away form each other. The kids in particular are really enjoying it.
So, in the spirit of the game, here is our in in sours and sweets!
<sweet> So, reflecting on the past year, I have decided that I am indeed a super hero mom. <sour?> I still hate to clean house, my house here is still a bit messy, but I am still a super hero. I found us a home, school and cars within 28 days of setting down on English soil. No small feat! While doing all that I learned to drive on the other side of the road which involved learning all about round-abouts, giving way, the importance of paying for parking all the while reacquainting myself with a manuel transmission!
Some notes for driving, when you see a red L on a car, strange as it may seem, it does not stand for LOOSER, but LEARNER, sweet. Just this week a line of cars (with me included) passed a learner car that was doing maybe 20mph, the speed limit was 40mph, sour. The national speed limit is 60mph and you can do it on small curvy, 2 lane roads. Sean thinks it's cool and drives it like a race driver while I am white knuckled and peeling myself from the dash, scary and sour. Rounds a-bouts are brilliant, sweet! They generally keep traffic moving better then traffic lights. That said, with the news of our extension, my husband and I both have to get a UK license, sweet. Technically, we are violating right now by not having it, sour. We both have to take written and driving tests to pass, sour. Thankfully, we don't have to have the red L on our cars while we are earning our license, SWEET!
We have learned about British cuisine. Which thankfully is not much different then American (which my dear niece and nephew seemed relieved to experience after they arrived sweet!). The Brits enjoy a good roast, anytime of the year. We now find ourselves craving one as well and eat them when the urge comes upon us. We have developed a love for lamb and good sausages. <lots of sweets> We have also developed a taste for some curry. We have had to make do with Italian food and pizza that is decidedly different, sour. There are definitely tastes that we miss: like Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera Bread, 5 Guys Burgers and Fries and Chick Fil-A, very sour. (though I am glad we missed the controversy). On the plus side, last weekend we ate at Hard Rock London and I got the best salad I have had since I arrived, sweet. Seriously, the Brits do salads poorly, sour. We have developed a love for new veggies, peas and Brussel Sprouts, sweet. Jelly is jello and jam is what we eat on our scones with clotted cream, sweet.
We have our Chippy dog with us, but we miss our little Cricket and our kitties, Tux and Coco. Sweet and sour.
We have had some fantastic travels, sweet. The funniest thing (though not at the time) is trying to convince the kids how lucky that they are and then trying to educate them on what they are seeing and why it is important, sour and frustrating! It is so rewarding though when they are able to share their experiences with their classmates and the teacher makes a big deal out of what they saw. It warms this Mum's heart. Sweet!
We are all guilty of speaking with a 'bit' of a British accent. My oldest son told me recently that he speaks more with a British accent then the substitute teacher from Boston. Hmmmm... O.K. We say things like fivers (for a £5 note), bits, can't be bothered, lovely, we call our chips crisps and our fries chips. I invite my friends to mine for coffee or tea and they invite me to theirs. Lots of sweets here!
None of this really applies to sweet or sour! :) I still do occasionally get asked where I am from. Though many of the shops that I frequent are used to my American accent. There are some words that I will never be able to think of in the American sense anymore. If you say 'fanny pack'? Well, here your 'fanny' is in a DIFFERENT place, that is why they call it a bum bag. My kids still get the Mick taken out of them for being American. Most recently my second son was told by his friend <after he had acid spilled on him in Chemistry, that hurt> that he was 'disappointed as my son was not the tough American he thought all Americans are and that America needs to loose some wars'. What? Oh and yes, we learned that what is pronounced wot not watt. The Brits also apparently have something against r's as they rarely make the 'r' sound. It is not a carrr, it is a ca'.
My oldest son has developed a need to collect watches, he blames his classmates saying that it is very English to wear different watches sweet/sour who knows! My youngest son has heartily embraced eating fish and chips and sausages, sweet. He also loves Lemon Sherbet candy, yum <well you should know, it's candy!> My 9 year old loves lamb. My husband loves Steak and Ale pies and anise seed balls. We have all developed a taste for Cadbury chocolate and my husband really enjoys a good cider <which is alcoholic>. All sweets!
We are having a good time watching BlackAdder, Dr. Who and Topgear! I love to watch Downton Abby. We are also into the music scene. We have tickets to see Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons in December. And of course we had a great summer seeing quite a few bands as well. Again, more sweets!
I have developed an addiction to tea. I drink it hot at all times of the year. I am a bit of an abnormality as I drink mine with sugars (2) and because I have developed a dairy allergy I drink mine black or with coconut milk. When it is cool out, a nice cuppa something hot is brilliant. Sweet for now, when I come back, who knows!
In a refreshing twist, I am now no longer one of the shorter women. Many women are shorter then my 5.4 3/4' statue. Recently during a night out, I was looking at the girls in the bar with very tall platform heels on. I was still holding my own against the majority, even with their heels on. It's nice not being the midget. It also makes me realise that my 8/10 size that I wear here is totally appropriate. The shoe sizing is also different here as well. I find myself wearing anything from a 4.5 to a 5.5. Sweet!
All and all we have had a year filled mostly with sweets, and I am so glad. It makes staying here longer sweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment