While walking to the American store last night (yes, we finally found one! They have canned pumpkin AND Oreos :)), G and I stumbled upon a grand realization. While many of last year’s posts were centered on what’s different and the difficulty of adjusting to life in the UK, we’ve now been here long enough that we’ve fundamentally changed our habits to accommodate the local ways. We’ve moved from denial to acceptance. For instance, instead of moaning and complaining about our small fridge and tiny flat, we’ve grown to love it and can’t imagine living another way. We grocery shop twice a week and buy healthy packaged meals (yes, they have those here :)) instead of raw ingredients (which they don’t have at our tiny grocery).And we happily tromp the 10 minutes uphill to Hampstead to pay double for American “necessities” instead of pestering friends and family to post us canned pumpkin, Craisins and Reese cups (much to their relief). And, many of the things we just couldn’t live without have been replaced. In place of Chap Stick, I LOVE the German Labello brand lip moisturizer and bribe my London friends to bring some back for me from the continent. And the British have FINALLY realized the many uses for dried cranberries and I can find them in my neighborhood grocery. These are but a couple examples, but there are others that we note every day.
In fact, when G and I last visited the States in October, we were overwhelmed by the choices. We went into Target and had a headache upon exit. The limitless options were a bit too much for us to handle. The store was just TOO big. We were exhausted 🙂
And there are other aspects of life that have changed, as well. Instead of adjusting our schedule around the TV must see shows, we download American content online and play it back to fit our schedule — or walk 5 minutes to our local theatre to see the newest movie. Instead of listening to the radio in the car, we download music from iTunes and play it back on our ipods on the Tube or bus. In fact, one of my favorite things is to take the 168 South into the City — grabbing the front row seat on the top. I can’t imagine driving about now. In fact, while in India, I hated being in the car for hours at a time. It was exhausting… I can’t believe we used to travel 8 hours roundtrip just about every other weekend when we were in the States!
When we moved here in August 2006, we confidently said that we would be here for 2 years maximum. Now that we’re here, we’re confident that we will move back to the States at some point, but our timescale has now been adjusted. Now, one and a half years in, the thought of even moving back just 3 years after our arrival seems a bit confining.
We’re just beginning to appreciate the merits of what we’ve experienced so far (including true British fare). And it’s changing us, gradually and individually, and our perspective on the world. We’re growing and we don’t want to cut that transition short.
Perhaps in the coming year, we’ll move from embracing our American food and TV and accepting those steps we must take to find them to full acceptance and appreciation of the British equivalent. Time will tell…
In that spirit, I’ve taken a few update photos of our flat today — to update you on its development and progression since our arrival. For comparison, take a look at our photo album from Fall 2006. As for Olie the Bonsai, he’s still living happily outdoors (though he’s in bad need of cropping).
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