If I had to describe life in the UK in 1 word it would have to be…..
Opposite.
Things like which side of the road they drive on, where the steering wheel is located, how to flush the toilet (on the right instead of the left side), a washing machine that is also the dryer, which way to look when crossing the street so that you don’t get run over.
It is not to say that our way is right and there was is wrong but it is just different.
It seems very overwhelming right now. Nothing is familiar or as I know it. Even crossing the street and knowing which way to look for cars is opposite (of course this is because they are driving on the other side of the road).
I have adopted the motive of… Proceed with caution… since our arrival in the UK.
Yet I am finding that as the days pass I am learning to walk in faith and try new things.
It is about a 15 minute walk (pushing a stroller and chatting with a 6 year old) to the center of Godalming from our flat. Rob’s office is at the bottom of High Street across from the library and next to one of the 2 grocery shops. (High street is the main road where all of the shops are. This is where you can find the baker, butcher, bank, pharmacy, doctor, etc.). We have walked up to High Street at least once if not twice a day since we arrived.
Woolworth’s is a popular store to pick up odds and ends (this is also where I got Madison’s school uniform).
The grocery shop is called Waitrose and is very nice. They have absolutely nothing the same as the US. I find myself going to the grocery store every day (sometimes twice) to buy things for dinner or things we have run out of at the flat. Since we do not have a car everything that I buy I must carry or put in the stroller to get it home. This limits the amount of things I can purchase each trip as well as the size of the items bought.
Since none of the products are the same, shopping takes a lot of time because I have to read every label and try to figure out the English equivalent of the foods that I buy back home. (So far they do not have Buffalo wing sauce or macaroni and cheese). Hopefully this will become easier with time.
My favorite part about our adventure so far is walking everywhere (good-bye baby weight). It is wonderful to push Lillian in her stroller and hold Madison’s hand as we explore our new home. It also gives us time to enjoy our surroundings and to slow down. Right now we are still walking the same way each time (we got really lost yesterday when we tried to find a different way home) we go out but hopefully we will learn to navigate through the village multiple ways.
Rob enjoys riding his bike to and from work each day and hopes to ride with Madison on the weekends.
The weather is sunny and cool (pants and a short sleeved shirt with a light hoodie for the mornings) and pleasant to be in. It has only rained once (they day we arrived). We enjoy opening the windows each afternoon and feeling the breeze in our flat.
Each of us has adjusted differently to our adventure.
Rob jumped right into working and feels right at home in his new environment.
I have immersed myself in the task of settling us in (a long to do) and been too busy and tired to be too homesick.
Madison has struggled the most with being away from home and all that she knows, although she improves each day and is excited to be here for our adventure.
Lillian has probably handled it the best. She does not even seem phased to be in a different place. Her eating and sleeping habits are the same as back home and she has transitioned well into sleeping in her crib.
