A Little Bit Of Life

We've been here for over eight months now and while we still have lots to learn, I feel like we've also figured out quite a bit too.  Let me just start by saying, we LOVE living here!  It's an incredible opportunity that we have to immerse ourselves into another culture.  It's been such an amazing journey so far and I just wanted to share a little bit of what life is like for us.

Driving
Learning to drive on the "wrong" (left) side of the road is definitely daunting.  When we first got here it felt so un-natural to be in the right front seat of the car to drive, but it's habit now and feels completely normal.  I will admit that I do still momentarily freak out when I see someone reading the paper or on their phone while in the left front seat.  It was even more intimidating to remember how to drive a stick shift (after 18ish years of automatics) and using the the left hand to shift.

The roads are a bit narrower and there are times I still cringe when driving past someone on the other side of the road (especially if it's a lorrie).  After eight months though, I have at least stopped hopping curbs and clipping corners.

Drivers here are different, they tend to follow the rules of driving (which seems like common sense right?).  When you are getting onto the highway from the access road, they will (a majority of the time) move over so that you can merge.  You can only overtake (pass) from the fast lane, no whipping in and out of lanes like in the States.  And when you are done overtaking, you move back to the left lane to let others overtake.  What a concept!  I actually enjoy driving here so much more than back home.  Except those very narrow windy roads, they make me nervous.

Traffic lights are not a common thing to see on the roads.  They are usually in town centers and at some of the bigger roundabouts.  And speaking of roundabouts, they terrified me when we first got here.  Who goes where and when, eek!  But once you get the hang of it, roundabouts are so much more efficient than traffic lights.  And the nice thing is if you miss your exit, just keep on the roundabout and you'll get a second chance.

Weather/Daylight
The weather here can be a mixed bag.  Just the other day we had sun, wind, rain, snow, and then more sun.  During the winter it has rained quite a bit and is overcast a majority of the time.  When we got here in the summer, it was mostly sunny with a stray shower every few days.  One of the things we have noticed is that even though it rains a lot, there are really never thunderstorms like we are used to.  Just one of those interesting things.  Temperatures tend to stay on the cooler side, none of those 100 degree summer days we are so used to.  Also when we got here in the summer, the sun was rising around 4:45am and setting around 9:30pm.  In the winter, the sun was up as late as 8:00am and down as early as 4:00pm.  Thank goodness for blackout shades and sleep masks!

Language
Our vocabulary is ever expanding as we are learning new words all the time.  Right now, the girls favorite new word is "knickers".  Here are a few we've learned recently:

• hundreds and thousands = sprinkles (like you put on a cake)
• braces = suspenders
• poorly = sick
• plait = hair braid
• woggle = pool noodle
• ladybird = ladybug

The girls haven't picked up an accent yet, but they will typically enunciate the letters like the Brits do.  It is a lot of fun hearing them use the British word for certain things in a normal conversation, it just flows for them.  And they still correct me all the time.

School
The girls are loving school and we are extremely pleased with the school they are at.  It is such a change from our schools back home.  The girls' school is very small and the kids all know each other.  Both girls (the Kinder and 1st grade equivalent) are already learning multiplication and division in Maths (yes, Maths).  It's incredible!  There are after school clubs that change up each term, they've already done Craft, Cookery, and Fun Fitness clubs.  They even both participated in their first overnight field trip!  It's so wonderfully different and I love it.  I've also been able to help out at school when needed and it's always fun.  The school mom's (mum's) are so sweet and friendly and have been so welcoming and helpful.

Food
The food here isn't too different from what we are used to, but I do admit it is nice to have the option of going to the "American" store when needed.  We do most of our grocery shopping out in town and I am always finding new fun things to try.  The girls have deemed bangers (sausage links) and mash acceptable, so we typically have a Sausage Sunday dinner.  I have attempted to cook/bake Yorshire Pudding, roasties, apple crumble with custard, and scones with fresh cream.  The scones were by far my favorite.

Miscellaneous
*Water from the faucet/tap is usually either scalding hot or freezing cold.
*Some holidays are a bit different.  There is no Thanksgiving Day or July 4th celebrations.  Halloween isn't a huge holiday, there's not usually any trick-or-treating.  Mother's Day (Mothering Sunday) is celebrated in March.  They celebrate Bonfire/Guy Fawkes Night.  While daylight savings isn't exactly a holiday, we spring forward a few weeks later and fall back a few weeks earlier.
*People walk or ride bikes so many places.  There are hardly any drive thrus.
*You can get almost anything delivered to your home, including groceries!!  That is a game changer.

Everyone is doing great and we are enjoying our time.  The girls have made great friends at school, in our village, and on base.  We have wonderful neighbors helping us out when needed.  We do miss everyone back home and thank goodness for Skype!  While life is very different over here, it is still very much the same as home.  There are always school runs, groceries to get, bills to pay, and so on.  We are just soaking in all the differences because, chances are, this won't be forever.