Settled In

I've been thinking a lot lately about what seems normal, what seems weird, what is still cool, and what I'm used to about being all Britishy. (Did you follow that? No? It's cool- read on.) We've lived here about 3 months now- and we've had our stuff for a little over half that time. We are now... officially... settled!

For the first month or so after arrival, people's favorite question was "Are you settling in alright?" The answer then was "No, because I'm sleeping on the floor and cooking with less stuff than you take camping." It took a while, even after getting our belongings... and unpacking and assembling all the Ikea furniture... to feel settled. I guess for all you future expats, here's what we found needed to happen (besides having our stuff) before we felt settled:

- Getting financial things set up.
This meant bank account here, transferring money home, reimbursements for our moving expenses all sorted out, setting up bill-pay for utilities, (well, first figuring out what utilities there were to set up), getting checks, figuring out how to write them, getting our debit cards, figuring out how to use them, etc. There are a million of things like that to get all set up and arranged. Even getting used to the new appearance of cash takes a while before it feels natural.

-Getting the kids in school and a routine.
This involved researching and visiting local schools, applying to the county school board, waiting, waiting more, meeting new teachers, getting uniforms figured out, and getting Stinker used to even attending school at all. He was only in pre-school at home three mornings a week, and here he's all-day real school. He did pretty well. Even after getting all the official things figured out, there are still new habits to form- where to leave backpacks and homework so we can find them, when to do homework, what to do in the morning vs. in the night to get ready.... all those things. We figured them all out just in time for school to let out for the summer.

-Meeting people.
No matter how outgoing and friendly you are, you can only remember so many names and info about people in the first few weeks. Some people can remember all that easily, but for me it took three... or four... or more times of hearing or asking some names before I really knew them. You need to know people's sense of humor, attitudes, etc. before you can really feel comfortable chatting with them. Even if you put forth a huge effort, you just have to hang around people for a while before you feel like they are not a new person to you. And then you have to hope that they aren't scared off by your vast amounts of crazy. Maybe that's just me, though... ; ) I was also busy worrying about the kids... and JimmyD... hoping they were getting to know people, too.

- Feeling like everyday things are familiar.
Roads, stores, pubs(restaurants), what food is at the grocery store, how your appliances work.... Whenever you move to a new place there are a few things that you have to get used to. In a new country, it sometimes seems like everything is just different enough to throw you off. Road signs are different, shopping carts are different (they move sideways like at Ikea and you have to pay to unchain them! You get your money back when you return it.) how and where you go out to eat are different. I can go to the store now without having to really concentrate. I swear I'm not a blonde. It's harder than you'd think!

-Language.
Now, I know that in England they speak the same language as we do in America, but they really don't. I felt extremely handicapped when I tried to speak. It's not just that some words are different- the phrasing is different, too. Then there are the times when a word or phrase that I know, but just don't usually use, is what's normal here. Confused? Here, I'll show you. An American would say "Just park by the curb while I run into the store real quick for some milk." Or at least a Rednecked American. A Britishy person might say, "If you'll just wait by the kerb to stop us getting towed, I'll pop into the shop for some milk." This is actually kind of a fun game. Let's try another one. Hmmm.... A Rednecked American out to eat with a kid throwing a tantrum would say, "Kid, if you don't knock it off right now you'll be sittin' in the truck while we eat." A Britishy person out to eat wouldn't have a child throwing a tantrum, but if they did, they might say "Thomas, let's not have a strop in the middle of the pub. I shouldn't like to have to put you in the Mini whist the rest of us all sit comfortably indoors to eat our supper. There's a good lad." The point of all this was: it takes a while before you feel like you can talk without sounding like an idiot. Then there's the whole accent thing. It threw me at first, but now I kind of forget that people have an accent. I forget that I'm the one with the accent, I guess. I'm always a little surprised when people on the phone know who I am before I say my name, but then I remember that I have a crazy American accent giving me away.

Things now are just about right. I don't feel so out of place that I have to figure out everything I do or say all day long. I do still notice the differences enough to feel like I'm on an adventure. Jimmy D and I still say to each other, "Hey- guess what? We live in England. Weird!"


PS- We dicided to take a long weekend holiday to Edinburgh, Scotland and a week holiday to Cornwall here in England. We'll fill you in on those as they happen.

Ho-li-day (say it like in the Weezer song)

Let's go away! Let's go away! On a ho-li-day!

I'm done singing now.

The boys get their summer holiday soon, and since it only lasts about 6 weeks, we already set aside a week for a long "holiday", and a long weekend for a short one. Now we just have to decide where to go! We need some places that both the kids and adults will enjoy and that are relatively easy to travel to, whether by train, car, or cheap plane tickets.

I've been checking out some Rick Steves info on destinations, and asking around to see where other people have gone. Personally, I'm more of a chillin' vacation type. Not so much the crazy-whirlwind-see-it-all-theme-parkin'-all-week kind. Those kinds make me tired to even think about trying with kids. Here's some places we are interested in:

Southern England: Stonehenge, Bath, Leeds Castle

Northern England: nature and villages and stuff. Lots of walks and hiking and things. Maybe better in the spring/fall for a half-term vacation.

Scotland: Edinburgh, castles, kilts, the whole shabang.

Rome: I've already decided this one is a no-kids trip.

The Netherlands: Don't know too much about them, errr, it....? but people we know have been there and loved it. There is a theme park there I've heard is great... even if the pictures on the website look a bit creepy. Isn't that where there's a lot of windmills and maybe wooden shoes and whatnot? (Man, I'm just so cultured it hurts!)

Germany/Switzerland/Austria: My dad will want to go there when he visits, he served his mission for our church there... a long long time ago. Jimmy D's grampa is from Germany, so his parents will want to go there when they visit, too. So, not this summer then.

Spain: It sound cool, and JimmyD speaks Spanish.. Ooo, and flan. About all we have to say, but good enough for me.

There's probably more- I didn't even mention Paris... I'm kind of "meh" about going there.

So, there you have the greatest dilemma facing us right now. Where to "holiday" in Europe. Life's rough, isn't it? ; )

Blogging with Agelsfy

Today's post will be written by Phyllis's sister, who we'll call Agelsfy. She's and her friend are visiting us right now. So we make them blog for us.


Guest blogger time! Hooray! Or my sister just couldn't be bothered to post one today and is making me do it...but that works, cuz my friend KK and I just got back from a tour around the UK. We went to Stonehenge, Bath, Wales, Dublin, Edinburgh, and more little stops along the way. This post, as so helpfully suggested by my dear sister, is about the do-s and don't-s of what to bring/other stuff in the UK.

First things first. Pack light. If you're like me, you'll be buying seven pairs of shoes, among way too many other things, and won't need to bring a plethora of shirts or shoes, as I also did. Yes yes, I have traveled before, but I didn't remember how much I tend to buy (because let's face it, isn't that why I was saving the money in the first place? Yes). KK was smarter. This time...

Don't worry too much about getting a lot of cash exchanged. I've basically used my Visa the whole time I've been here. Of course, it is always a good idea to have some cash for places that don't take cards (but most places do), and also also a good idea to put little stashes away in different bags/pockets/treasure chests just in case one bag gets stolen. That way you still have money even though the douche who took your bag has your credit card. Cancel that asap.

On a lighter note, and you'll get the painfully lame pun here in a minute, don't bring all of your hair heating accessories (i.e. curling iron, flat iron, blow dryer) because the voltages don't work here and will spontaneously combust. See, the pun now comes into play by my use of the word "lighter", seeing as your bags will indeed be lighter. HA! It's funny. Laugh. If you can't live without your hair gadgets, there's a lovely little store here called Boots. It's everywhere. I'm not joking. Everywhere we went. It's like a Rite-Aid, and has a little of everything and for reasonable prices. Go for that. Plus, all of the hotels we stayed in had blow dryers. Phyllis sent me with hers and it just ended up taking up precious room in my shoe bag. I mean suitcase. No, shoe bag.

DO bring an umbrella! The weather is on an equal plane of ridiculousness with Utah weather. It'll be stiflingly hot one moment and then downpouring the next. The key to this tip is to bring one of those midget umbrellas that can fit in your purse/man satchel so you're not fed up with it the whole time. Like jackets. But those are also good to bring with you.

If you're worried about forgetting to bring something, don't. They have it all over here too and it's usually better than yours.

For electronics, Jimmy D equipped us with an air card and pay-as-you-go cell phones. There's a place called Vodaphone and Carphone Warehouse that are abundant in these. Top-up vouchers are the way to go. You can get the phones for pretty cheap, like super cheap. Like three pounds. Or so Phyllis says. If she lied, don't blame me. It was a set-up. Umm...oh yeah, most of the hotels we stayed in also had free wifi in the lobby. Not all of them, but I'd say about half...ish. Maybe more. They're not living in the stone age over here (minus the severe lack of air conditioning).

Oyster cards are a must for getting around on the tube. London's undergrounds are generally pretty easy to navigate, and the British are such polite and helpful people if you need to ask for directions. Also on the topic of travel, train tickets tend to be cheaper or be on deals when you buy more than one, so if you're traveling with someone else, it wouldn't hurt to ask if there's a deal going on. Off-peak (not during rush hour) are usually cheaper as well.

As for passing out from intense jet lag, we didn't get too much sleep on the flights over here. We did bring some Ambien, but for reasons unknown, didn't take it. Take it. Sleep is good. KK immediately passed out as soon as we got into Phyllis's car from the airport. I apparently had the opposite side effect and didn't end up going to bed until after everyone else in the house did. Not cool either. Sleep on the plane. Take drugs.

Aaand I think that'll do it for today. Until next time, you stay classy, San Diego.

Bits and Bobs

If you read my Britishy translation post, you'd know that means odds and ends. Here are some of the pictures I have been wanting to share, but they just don't seem to fit into any posts.

Okay, I had to show you the real picture of this because it looked so much like the stick figure one I drew. Eh? Eh?

Now, when deciding whether or not to move here, we were reeling from sticker shock on the price to rent in London. We kept saying we wanted to make sure we weren't going to be eating "London Ramen" for three years to compensate for rent. Well, we found the 'burbs and rent is much more manageable, but I thought you might like to see "London Ramen", so, here you go.

This is part of the wall that surrounded London in 80 AD when the Romans lived here. It is right outside Jimmy D's office.

This is one of my favorites. I might have even used it already, I dunno. I love all the footpaths here. You just mosey through fields and stuff. Sweet.

Now, I know it doesn't look like much, but this is a picture from the happiest day of my life. No joke. This is.... The Day Our Stuff Came!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!

This looked like strips of bacon, or bacon as I know it, so I bought it. After opening the package, I realized it wasn't two stacks of 5 or 6 pieces of bacon, it was just 2 really thick bacon-shaped pieces of meat. We tried to cook them like bacon, and they got really dry and tasted like burnt popcorn. Don't worry, we've hunted down a near-real bacon product since then.

I spent a looooong Saturday recently painting peacocks for a service project as part of Mormon Helping Hands. We did a mural on the wall of an education center for an animal reserve we were fixing up. Overall, it meant 10 hours of peacocks for me. Next time I'll sign up for sheep or something less... feathery.

We all made it to the London Temple a few weeks ago with a Primary activity. (The kids' classes in church.) A few wonderful adult leaders stayed outside with the kids- having a picnic, a scavenger hunt, and going to the Visitor's Center while a couple of us parents used the opportunity to attend the temple. It stayed sunny up until about 10 minutes after we came back out to get our kids, and then it majorly downpoured. I was very thankful Heavenly Father held off the rain while the kids were outside.

You can't see it well, but look closely- it's a 3 wheeled car! Crazy!

This is my favorite picture.

See ya tomorrow!

Comfort Food

Look, I'm here, as promised! Oh, yes, the blog-tastic week is here! It will kind of be catch-up, since I have a lot of things saved up for blogs, like pictures and whatnot.

Since we've arrived, I have been thinking a lot about different cultures' ways of doing things. Everyone on the planet has the same basic needs, and everyone has their own ways of meeting them. No two people are alike, which means there are as many ways to do things as there are people on the earth. When you take that into consideration, it's surprising how many things are similar about cultures and countries across the world. Aaaaand now I'm sounding too much like I'm about to break into an off-key rendition of "Heal the World", so let's move on.

One of the things we take for granted is the familiar food that surrounds us. We don't stop to question every thing we come across on the shelves at the grocery store, because we have seen those items for our whole lives. We know to look for a blue box if we want mac and cheese, or what to expect out of salad dressing. (Betcha didn't know you had expectations of your salad dressing! Well, you do.) There ends up being a lot of value in that easy relationship we form with the things around us. I never would have put it that way until I went food shopping here. It's like the twilight zone: everything is almost exactly the same, but just different enough to make you think way harder than you should have to about things like cheese and canned corn.

I had noticed this, but it didn't really hit home until I took a trip to The Food Company. They are a pricey store that sells a lot of foreign foods. (I'll do the exchange rate conversion for you and tell you the cost in US Dollars) Including...

MOUNTAIN DEW!!!!

only $2.12 a can!

American Marshmallows

$4.01 a bag

Cereal

$9.01 - $12.04 a box

10 packets Quaker Instant Oatmeal

$10.07 a box

(Are you couponers from the U.S. just dying at that?! I used to pick them up on sale, with coupon, for like 50 cents at Albertson's.)

Good ol' Aunt Jemima syrup

$8.56

Box o' Jell-O

only $2.65!

Reeses PB chips (my cookies miss these!!)

$7.50 a bag

Betty Crocker cake mix

$5.30

I didn't buy any more than Jimmy D's Father's Day Mt. Dew (it's like liquid gold!) and a bag of Goldfish crackers, but just seeing the familiar boxes and bags was enough to tempt me into being ripped off for the sake of the warm fuzzies they brought! I didn't expect to feel so emotional about those things! It's not like there aren't substitutes here that are as good (or better) than these products, but they are not mine. It's like rooting for the home team.

Still, I'm not gonna pay 12 bucks for cereal, even if I kind of want to hug the box and bask in its familiarity. So, send me some stuff. ; )

Re-living the Revolution

Ahhh, Happy 4th of July. It's got to be one of my favorite holidays. I mean, c'mon- grilled food, cold beverages, and exploding glitter in the sky. Pretty awesome. It's too good to miss, even if we happen to now live in the country we are celebrating our independence from...so we had a

4TH OF JULY BBQ EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!

It began with having a few American families we know over for a BBQ, then we added the missionaries, since they are American, and we thought their moms would be happy to know they are being taken care of. Next came some British friends who are American-ish (fans of America or lived there once.) Then we added the kids from our Sunday School class and their families, and some friends from the kids' school, and some neighbors, and more church friends.... and they (almost) all came!! That was the crazy part for us. Jimmy D and I seem to have amazingly lame parties at home where no-one shows up. I guess people here are still just wondering what we will do next, so curiosity alone compels them.

We grilled up a storm. Jimmy D donned his Father's Day BBQ tool belt and rocked the grill. I made rib glaze, chicken glaze, grilled corn, jell-o (well, jelly here) jigglers in star shapes, brownies, and berry pies. We made sure to have a cooler full of icy sodas, and some rednecked country music blaring through the yard. (er, garden.) And, of course we hung our American flag up outside. It was just like being at home. One of our American friends settled in by the speakers blarin' some Tim McGraw and Garth and whatnot, and relaxed in the comforting, hillbilly bliss of an American party. She kept saying, "Ahhhh. This is just like being in a backyard at home!"

As long as we had an ample supply of British Folks, we thought we'd re-enact the Revolutionary War. Not with bayonets and stuff. Don't worry. We had an American vs. British tug-of-war! The British children beat the American kids... twice.... but the American adults, after prying the English men away from the World Cup game, managed to dominate the tug-of-war. I felt so very patriotic.

We also worked in some jump-rope in the street. The missionaries can jump rope like nobody's business. I wonder if the power of their jump-roping skills alone would be enough to convert hundreds. They should go on some kind of jump-roping tour and see how it goes. They could do jump-rope chants about the Gospel whilst they jump and twirl. "Nephi, Nephi, goin' to get the plates. Beaten with a stick but didn't complain...." maybe? or... "Where did you come from, what's the meaning of life? Find out if you can jump to twenty-five!" Okay. Maybe not.

Back from the uber-random tangent and churchy links...

We ended the evening o' fun with a fireworks display... on TV. It was still pretty sweet, plus hey- no traffic on the way home!

Here are some pictures of the fun times. I only got the beginning and the end, so I'll have to ask people to email pics of the tug-of-war and jump-rope. But just trust me- they were awesome.

You know how corn on the cob is usually in a husk, and the mess it makes is...well.. a pile of empty husks? Here I could only find it packaged, so here is the mess as I prepared it:

Jimmy D grillin'

The smorgasbord of delight. Notice how happy the Americans look? Ahhh, 4th of July.

Here's the crowd for the firework display. They're soooo excited!!!

Well, friends, there ya go. I know I've been a slacking blogger the past few weeks, so to make it up to you, I'll do a post a day through Friday. Oh-yeah. Just wait. It'll be more fun than a barrel of acrobatic monkeys.