What am I looking forward to
most about returning to the UK? Well it goes without saying catching up with
friends and family! Skype is a great thing but it lacks that touchy
feely-ness. I want to give Daughter No 1
a hug and I can’t. She skypes us when she’s tired at the end of
a hectic day and just about to go to bed; I’m full of beans and having my
morning cup of tea. We can’t even text each other spontaneously.
Buying things in small
quantities. This will be good – grocery supplies can only be purchased in
Mormon sized quantities over here. I’m not sure how people who live on their own
cope - they either eat out all the time – highly likely, or they end up
throwing vast quantities of food away.
Things definitely do not come in small packages. I wanted to buy just
enough I can’t believe It’s not Butter
type spread to get us through our final week – but ended up buying a bucketful
of the stuff instead. What do old people do? Back in the UK my mother lives on
her own in a very small flat with a very small fridge. If she lived over here she’d never be able to
buy anything small enough to fit in it.
I’d like to think I’m getting my
husband back – although I wont because he’s off to the desert for six week
stints, but at least when he’s home, hopefully he’ll have something else to
think about besides work. Americans are
very work orientated and our life here has totally revolved around the job. Americans have far less employee rights than in Europe, work longer hours and have less holidays. With additional benefits such as
health insurance are tied into your job, it pays to stay on the right side of your
employer and show as much commitment as you can; that blackberry is never
switched off.
My husband's American colleagus think he's laid back. I think I lost Mr Laid Back half way across the Atlantic. Without the distraction of extended family and a wide circle of friends, everything has become very focused on work, but hopefully once safely back in the UK he’ll have hobbies and interests to take up – we’ll have a house to follow and a garden to potter in. Living in rented accommodation for the last nearly 3 years has seriously curtailed the DIY activities. I can paint walls; dig holes in the garden. He can cut his own grass and wash his own car – no one does that here. The close proximity of the Mexican border provides a ready supply of graduates from Mexico's abundance of horticultural colleges, cleaning and car washing academies - leaving your average American with far more time to - yes you've guessed it - go to work!
My husband's American colleagus think he's laid back. I think I lost Mr Laid Back half way across the Atlantic. Without the distraction of extended family and a wide circle of friends, everything has become very focused on work, but hopefully once safely back in the UK he’ll have hobbies and interests to take up – we’ll have a house to follow and a garden to potter in. Living in rented accommodation for the last nearly 3 years has seriously curtailed the DIY activities. I can paint walls; dig holes in the garden. He can cut his own grass and wash his own car – no one does that here. The close proximity of the Mexican border provides a ready supply of graduates from Mexico's abundance of horticultural colleges, cleaning and car washing academies - leaving your average American with far more time to - yes you've guessed it - go to work!
It’s taken me nearly three years
to get used to writing the date month first – now I can go back to doing what
comes naturally! I’ve only just stopped converting everything from dollars to
pounds in my head – now I’ll probably find myself doing the reverse. No more
battles with spellchecker, omitting my u’s and inter-changing s and z. I can
ask for a cup of tea when I'm out happily knowing it will come with milk not a lemon slice and when I need the loo I wont need to politely pretend I need a bath or a rest. There’ll be no need for a calculator to work out what correct gratuity to
leave – in fact in many places no need to tip at all! What a relief!
What else am I looking forward to? Fresh air; no freeway noise; no
helicopters constantly buzzing about overhead; no layer of black grime coating everything left outside; no sugar in bread; no air
con. I can peg my washing out. The NHS. Commercial free radio and TV –
pure bliss! Marks & Spencer; walking to the pub; and yes, I'm even relishing the thought of stepping outside in the rain and feeling the wind blowing through my hair - but only for a couple of days please...
At least going back in June we will have time to get used to the British weather before the worst sets in - we'll have acclimitised by the autumn, or as this had to be translated to an American friend, we'll have acclimated by the Fall.
Quite looking forward to getting back to people who speak the same language too! ;-)
At least going back in June we will have time to get used to the British weather before the worst sets in - we'll have acclimitised by the autumn, or as this had to be translated to an American friend, we'll have acclimated by the Fall.
Quite looking forward to getting back to people who speak the same language too! ;-)
Really glad for you that you are going back home (although your blog will be dearly missed)! Good luck with the move and settling back into your old life.
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