The Flag of England

Did you know that the flag of England is the St. George's Cross, not the Union Jack? I just learned yesterday that the Union Jack flag represents the United Kingdom. According to my one minute of research, the UK flag consists of three elements: the cross of St. George (red on white) for England, the cross of St. Andrew (white diagonal on blue) for Scotland, and the so-called cross of St. Patrick (red diagonal on white) for Ireland. The original Union Jack/Union Flag adopted in 1606 was symmetrical: the red cross of St. George outlined in white overlaid on top of a St. Andrew's flag, which was blue with a white. If you go to London, England today, it is the Union Jack flag that you will see flying and plastered on all the souvenirs. Public buildings are suppose to fly the Union Jack flag and can only fly the St. George's Cross if they have more than one flagpole.

Christmas crackers

The Christmas cracker is a nifty British tradition totally unknown to any of us before we got here. It's a gift-wrapped little tube that snaps like a capgun when it's opened. Ours contained a paper crown, a prize like you might find in a cracker-jack box and a joke on a little slip of paper like in a fortune cookie. Nathan, looking very sharp in his school uniform, shows one moments before we popped it open. The next photo shows the contents on display.

-Dale

Oh the wind...

First thing, I would like to thank everyone for the all the postive comments that I received regarding my first attempt at my blog. I was not sure about posting ALL my feeling about my startup woes here and considered sugar coating things to make things look a bit better. However, I decided that I have to be honest with myself and admit that I was not able to plough on as if nothing happened in my life. That said, I want everyone to know that I am definitely on the upswing. I am becoming familiar with my surroundings and accepting the way things are going to work here.

The wind, however, is something else! As a cyclist, wind has never been much of a friend unless it is behind you. I have learned which way to ride from my house to enable me to have a tailwind on my return journey. The only problem is that I have to face the headwind from the moment I leave the house. That makes getting on my bike a bit more daunting. Yesterday, we had "gales". In the US I think that houses and telephone poles would have been scattered across the state! Here it is just another day. Dale and I were wondering how the double decker buses drive in this weather. It seems that the wind would knock them right over!

Today the wind is less than remarkable which doesn't mean it is calm, but it just means that it is everyday speed. I have posted a picture of our weather for all those to see in the states. I must admit that I am always looking and intrigued with the weather. Perhaps that is because I spend a lot of time outside on my bike. Perhaps I would have been like this regardless. One thing that I find very interesting about the weather here is that it is so WARM considering the UK's position on the globe. The England is on the same latitude as Newfoundland. If you go south to Spain, you have hit the same latitude as Boston. Despite being so far north, England gets little to no snow and the temperature does not flucuate much during day and night. At least we don't have to endure freezing cold here! One small victory! :)

New blog

OK. I have finally started my blog as promised. I know I have been a little quiet since my arrival in England. With this blog, I hope to share with you my everyday experiences of living abroad. I started to keep a journal of our stay here, but I stopped creating entries for a while. This was during my really hard adjustment period when weather always seemed bleak and I had no one to talk to. I am happy to say that I have managed to make it over that hill and I am feeling much more adjusted now. I now truly appreciate what I left behind, but my New Year's resolution is to look forward, not back. I also hope to take a more positive approach to life in general.

Living in England is substantially different than a visit or even compared to my extended stay in France during college. There is no built in structure. There is no person available to tell you what to do, where to go or how to do things. I never sought out that kind of instruction, but that it was there gave me a feeling of stability. I am living in a country where everyone speaks English but half the time I am struggling to figure out the meaning behind the words people say.

Words are different here. British use less words when they say things. They don't expand on any statement unless prodded. They describe things differently using words we rarely use for fear of being thought of as condescending or full of self importance. The British seem much more withdrawn and quiet. I guess that is why it seemed so lonely here at first. I moved from a boisterous, noisy world of friends and people to a place where people are much more stoic and reserved. Everyone is perfectly friendly, but I can tell that it is going to take a long time before I feel a connection between myself and any new friends here.

Paris

Over the Christmas break we stayed in Paris at an apartment owned by a family from State College, PA. The trip from London to Paris took 2 hrs and 45 minutes on the Eurostar "Chunnel" train. We were in the tunnel exactly 22 minutes.

I have been asked a few times since returning how we were treated in France. We were treated exceptionally well everywhere... in the tourist places, off the beaten path, with or without the kids. Everyone was very nice to us.

The Trocadero is right across the river from the Eiffel tower. We had lunch at a little Brasserie on our first full day (Dec 27th). There were Smart cars were everywhere! Alyssa decided to keep a tally and upon departure she had counted over 50!

On Thursdays and Sundays there is a street market right in front of the Apartment. Lots of nice looking produce and many different kinds of birds to eat. We enjoyed walking through the market admiring all the fresh produce, meats, breads, and cheeses. There is such great food available in France! Everything is fresh and easily accessible!

It was quite a bit colder in Paris than it was back in Cambridge. We were bundled up at all times. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and saw Paris lit up in the evening. We explored Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, Montparnasse, and the Louvre. The kids saw the Champs Elysee and we explained the route the Tour de France rides when they were in Paris. :)

The appartment that we stayed in had a lovely view from the 11th floor balcony. You could just see the Eiffel tower to the right of the 59-floor Montparnasse tower. The Tower was lit with lights that flashed so that it looked like it was sparkling when you looked at it from a distance. It was quite a site!

Our trip was a great success and despite all the walking we did, the kids are anxious to return. Since it is so close, I am sure we will go again. Perhaps the next time we go it will be warm and all the "jardins" will be in bloom!

Dale & Cory

December summary

December brought with it the distraction of Christmas which was a welcome relief. The kids had lots of school activities. Nathan was in a play and Alyssa was in a school concert. Nathan even got his picture in the Cambridge Evening News for his role as Dr. Clooney in the Christmas play. It was very fun to watch him at work. He was very serious about his part! :)


Another bright moment was that our furniture finally arrived. After ordering it, then having to reorder it since our order was cancelled by the company on accident, we now have a room full of furniture to sit on! No more sitting on the floor to watch movies!!

We had a quite Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had wonderful presents from everyone! After opening presents on Christmas Day, we started to prepare for our holiday trip to Paris. We had tickets on the Eurostar through the tunnel to Paris. Nathan could hardly wait for the train trip. Even his new Christmas presents were not enough of a distraction for his excitement.

You are stuck with this December summary because I stopped writing for a while. I did not have anything to say. I got tired of people telling me how lucky I was getting to live in a foreign country. All I wanted to say was that it is not as great as everyone thinks! The first few weeks are great since you get a break from life at home. However, that wears off quickly. Soon you are faced with the fact that you are NOT going back. Your friends are there and you are here. There are loads of details you have to work out when you are living in a foreign country as opposed to visiting. Trying to find a doctor under socialized medicine is difficult when you have not lived here long enough an you are a foreigner.

I still have to get up every morning and get the kids to school despite their protests. I still have to do laundry only now it takes a lot more time since I cannot more than one sheet in the washer at a time. I have no dryer so all the clean clothes are stiff from drying on racks that are spread across our kitchen. We have a clothes line outside, but since it is constantly raining, it is useless. My days are now filled with housekeeping, homework, school lunches, and laundry. I have a hard time feeling productive doing housework. Work has never looked so great!

It is a huge lifestyle change. Everyone operates a little differently in life and everyone values different things. I found that a lot of my self worth was based on my ability to provide income for our family. I thought I was doing a good thing by working part time and caring for the kids too. I realize now that I missed a lot of kid stuff along the way. My new lifestyle requires me to redefine my values which does not happen overnight. It is an opportunity given to me. I get to reconstruct my day around myself and my family. I am now faced with the fact that the life I lead is based on my own decisions. If I don't like it, then I have no one to blame but myself. I cannot blame anyone else for my unhappiness. So much for having a scapegoat for your problems! No pressure!

Borrowed bike

If I ever was a bike snob, I cannot be told I am one now. I borrowed a bicycle from Judy, Kate’s mom. She offered it and when she opened her shed and presented it to me, I was speechless. It is a Schwinn bicycle made for females with the sloping top tube. I am pretty sure it weighs more than 50lbs with all the bag racks and fenders on it. It is hard to even push around. It has down tube shifters and hand breaks that are very rusty and hard to squeeze. The left hand break is so rusted that it is pretty much useless. The tires were flat when I retrieved it, but after pumping them up they seemed to hold the air. It has the most enormous seat on it plus a gel saddle cover. I think you could seat two racers on it comfortably. Best of all, it has a bell on it that rings with any vibrations meaning that it rings even when you pedal. However, it means I am free to move about the country since I don’t have a car so after looking at it lean against our shed for several days, I decided to take it for a spin to see if it even works.

When I hopped on the bike, it immediately felt like I was driving a bike version of a Lincoln Continental. The weight of the bike was obvious and the saddle made the need for bike shorts obsolete. It took me a few tries to remember the down tube shifting being that it was not indexed. However, the drive train was smooth and not squeaky and the bike gently rolled up the street. It was actually not too bad. The big, wide tires made riding over rough pavement seem smooth. The roads here are flat so I did not have to lug the bike over any hills. The gym is only a few miles away so no matter the weather conditions at least I won’t have to suffer them very long.

I was happy just be out of the house, away from the laundry and the kitchen. Yippee!!