Saw my wee granddaughter....

Loved finally seeing and getting to hold my new granddaughter. As other grandparents have told me, the first one is always the most special. For now I have to agree...don't have any other experience with grandparent-hood. Wish I could see her more often....

Every time I go to the US I experience culture shock, even when I go twice a year. Why do there have to be so damn many stores?? Can't they leave a few spots with trees and grass? And the amount of rubbish in the stores! No wonder everybody is the size of a house! Total crap food everywhere.

Some nice memories....

Before we married and I was still in the US - in Tennessee - I worked a regular full-time job at the university, but had also been working on Saturdays as a parking lot attendant. This assignment was for a hospital and I would simply sit in the booth and take people's money when they left. As I was on my own all day I would bring a tape player/radio, books to read, my Gaelic tapes/books to make the time pass. The booth also had a telephone.

My (then) fiance had the cheap international phone deal and so would phone me while I worked. Since this job didn't take any concentration other than counting out change I could easily prop the phone on my shoulder, do my job and talk to him at the same time.

Being newly engaged to a charming Scottish man whose accent I was not yet used to and still in the beginning stages of romance, my face glowed constantly and my eyes sparkled. I wasn't a kid new to romance or infatuation - I was middle-aged. The looks on many people's faces as they were leaving the parking lot and giving me their money/tickets reflected the look I knew I had on my face. The ones middle-aged and older seemed to love it best. They could see I was talking to someone I was in love with and that it was still new.

Travel plans.....

Got 3 trips coming up before the year is out... seeing my granddaughter in two weeks, Oz in about 2 months, then the usual xmas trip to the states.

Flying used to be exciting. Now it's a way to get from one place to another. The excitement is the destination or the people I'll see, not the flight. It seems funny to remember a time when I used to get soooo excited about flying! Take off used to give me such a rush... when the plane speeds up on the runway very fast and you know it's about to lift off. Now that seems so childish. But then I had only flown maybe 3 times before I turned 40. I can't even count the number of flights I've taken now. I have become much better at packing and figuring out how to entertain myself on board. I have a bag of stuff I'll need at my seat and want within easy reach, then the stuff I'll need at some time during flight.

I haven't flown by myself for over 5 years and I'll be doing it twice this year. Now, of course, to include some stress to that I have to wonder who will be sitting next to me for 7 hours at a time and how annoying will they be? If it's someone who wants to gab nonstop I'll have to put on headphones and pretend I'm listening to music while I read, do crosswords or play my electronic solitaire game.

I still enjoy discovering new airports I've never been to. New shops!!

Encountering other Americans in Scotland

It still stops me in my tracks when I unexpectedly hear an American accent. I don't hear it very often in the area where I live even though I know there are quite a few who live here....stayed behind after the US Navy base left about 13 years ago.

I still feel the urge to say something to them but I've done it once or twice with an unfriendly reaction. This is a common reaction as I've heard from many other expats here. Now many of us just don't say anything because the reaction is usually a short reply with the vibes that say 'why would I want to talk to you just because you're American as well?' When I go to touristy areas and in peak season it's very common to hear them and you can always tell which are tourists and which ones live here.

From what I've discovered there are approximately 200,000 Americans living in the UK....many are here temporarily as students or working for a year or two. Haven't a clue how many of us are permanent.

Surprisingly I've had two people (one Scottish, one English) make the assumption that if I were to divorce my Scottish husband (not a chance!!) or become widowed that I would move back to the US. Why? This is my home now. I ai'nt leaving!

Terrorists everywhere!

London hit again as well as the terrorist attacks in other countries. What next for the UK? Will they try to scare the entire population and attack other major cities throughout the UK? These people are insane! What are they proving? They will never win. Do they really think all these societies they are condemning are going to shrug their shoulders and go back to the middle ages - a place where they are stuck?

It's a lovely wee girl!

Over the moon! Have a beautiful granddaughter - Haylee! She's about 4,000 miles away though across that great big pond. Can't see her for another 6 weeks when I'm booked to take time off and fly across. Everyone telling me it's such a fantastic thing when you have your first grandchild, the older ones telling me by the 8th of 9th it's kind of routine. Well, I really don't anticipate having that many! I'd hazard a guess at 2-4 max.

Wow!

Grandchild

Well, here's a test for me. My first grandchild is scheduled to be born tomorrow by c-section (or caesar as it's called here). I'm over the moon - and it's going to be a girl!

I'm very happy living here in Scotland and with seeing family once a year for christmas, but now I'll need to make it twice a year.... wondering if that will be enough and how I'll feel about missing out so much on watching my granddaughter grow up?

London bombings

Very saddened about the bombings in London on Thursday the 7th. It wasn't unexpected because it's been discussed as an easy target for quite a while now. Impressed by how efficient the emergency services were and how Londoners resolved to get on with life and not let terrorists scare them away from their city.

Totally disgusted with comments made by the arseholes on Foxnews.... well, I'm disgusted with them all the time anyway...but these comments were unforgiveable.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200507080005

It can be embarrassing to be an American here with the current administration and the American media - like Fox(news). I've been asked how 49% of the voters could be so stupid to let bush remain prez. I have no answer...haven't figured that out myself.

London Olympics 2012

Am really chuffed to learn that London won the bid for the Olympics in 2012. I wasn't paying much attention to it and didn't care one way or the other till I heard Chiracs' cheeky comments about Britain having crap food - including haggis - a Scottish specialty. Knowing Paris was the favourite to win but that London was close behind...my interest definitely peeked. I watched the announcement live on tv and leapt out of my chair and screamed for joy when I heard London won.

Past the adjustment phase yet?

Life as an expat goes through phases. At 5+ years now I'm well past the initial stage, however I'm still learning new things though not at the speed I did at first. Scots have their own phrases for just about everything. Some I learn because of the elderly clients I care for in my job.

Major changes in the last year: hub retired early, I quit working in office environments and now work part-time with the elderly which involves a lot of travel, we are flexible with travel plans and can stay somewhere for a month at a time....

Answer to question.... yes I'm well past the adjustment phase. I forget sometimes that I don't sound like everyone else, but am reminded when someone stops and stares when they hear me speak.

This forum/message board helped me a lot! http://www.americanexpats.co.uk
Sadly didn't discover it until I'd been here for nearly two years.

Journal - 5 years late....

Instead of kicking myself for not starting a journal when this journey began, I'll just try to remember what it was like when everything here was new to me....and my adjustment to a new world.

Leaving the US:
Stress!!! Selling car, selling/donating other stuff, packing up, how to ship, etc etc..... And excitement! Can't believe this is happening! Wondered if I was just having a really long and nice dream.

Arrival UK - April 2000:
Nervous, excited, ecstatic! Ideal husband and a gorgeous country! Nervous wreck for wedding - didn't know anyone - had only met them all once or twice. Honeymoon - excellent. Saw neolithic sites in Kilmartin, gorgeous scenery, lots of new lambs, beautiful islands.... On my second day here we took the long way from Glasgow to our home taking us by the Rest and Be Thankful and I actually cried because I couldn't believe what a beautiful country and wonderful husband I was getting. (not in that order!)

Adjustment - times that stand out....

• "Why is everyone making fun of me? I don't think I like this taking the piss stuff!"
• Living in Herts near London for a total of 6 months - people are so very anonymous and unfriendly. You can wait with the same people for the same train every morning for years and never acknowledge or speak to each other. !! What the hell!? The village we stayed in was charming with a river running through it which we could see from our window...however, I was most definitely 'not in Kansas anymore'..View from our window in the village of Stanstead Abbotts...
  
  
• Everyone in The City looks like they are going to a funeral. Don't they know what colour is?
• Oh, shite! Bush is appointed prez giving Brits even more fuel for American jokes!
• As an office temp: what does A4 mean? what is an oblique? what happened to all the puncutation? correcting me for saying economic and Birmingham the wrong way. new spellings.
• Cool! I love these old buildings. They have character and history....nothing like most American buildings.
• Before getting first temp jobs I would get a travel card for the day and explore museums and sites in London. Wow!
• There are so many, many, many differences in American English and UK English.
• Going to our home in Scotland during the school holidays - whew! As we got closer to home via train and I could see the loch it felt as though I had been holding my breath and could suddenly breath easily. View from the front door of our home in Scotland...
  
• Living in Scotland - permanently - getting used to accents and all new terms that I didn't hear in London. Everyone is so friendly!
• "Ummm.....sweetheart...where am I supposed to hang my clothes? On the hooks on the doors?? Ahahaha! I think not!"
• Still felt uncomfortable in the temp jobs - but did improve as I got used to people.
• What a difference from London office clothes..... tits hanging out, belly exposed.....
• Being told I had a really strong American accent and it was cool?!
• Lonely having hubby commute to London and being on my own Sunday night to Friday night.
• Exploring our area of Scotland on my own while waiting for temp jobs. Got my own wee automatic car and just went down every wee road, stopping for a cuppa and a fairy cake.
• Driving test! Failed the first practical....butthead tester but I also panicked and did everything wrong. Such a relief and joy when I passed and got my UK licence two weeks later! Whew! At first it was really confusing figuring out the rules of roundabouts. Still freak out at the big ones and refuse to drive in big cities like Glasgow or Edinburgh.
• First bout of serious homesickness - 9/11. Knew no other Americans here at the time so no one was around who understood how distraught I felt. This lasted for many months.
• Culture shock when I return to the states to visit. I never realized how arrogant many Americans are about their country/culture. Of course, I can't blame them as I was the same. It's hard not to feel superior when it's pounded into you practically from birth that you are so lucky to live in the greatest country in the world. We were also told that everybody in the rest of the world wanted to live in America and were jealous of us. Emm.... guess what? That is NOT true! Seeing the US while living in another country opens your eyes to the wider world and you shed your blinders.
• My God! This is a gorgeous country! I love having history at my fingertips and feeling how ancient this culture is.
• Even more new words/phrases I didn't know - even after 5 years.
• Much less thinking about which phrase or word I use and more Scottish words coming out of my mouth unconsciously. Trouble sometimes remembering the American equivalent.
• I will live in Scotland for the rest of my life and America is for holidays and visiting family.

Our home.....