Cheers, Friends!
As with anything new to adjust to, you suddenly catch yourself playing the comparison game. "Man, I like how I had access to XYZ in America" or "Why don't the Brits use BLANK?" or "Goodness, why don't Americans do things this way?". So after having been in Salisbury for nearly a month now, I find myself daily making little mental notes of what I like and don't like. I thought I would share with you some of the pros and cons to living in England and how I've adjusted mentally and physically to their way of living. If I'm lucky this might give you a sense of some of the unique and wonderful things about life here in the UK and the British people as a whole.
Change is good.
Top 10 reasons to do things the British way....
1. They use POSTCODES. We use Zip Codes. Postcodes are unique to about three houses. So in England, when you type in a Postcode into your GPS (no long address required), you can pretty much get to where you want to go within 100 yards. In America you punch in a zip code in your GPS and you'll get as close as a small town.
2. They use round-a-bouts. Ok, at first I was totally NOT accepting of these. For those of you who don't know what a round-a-bout is, do google it and check them out. The reason they are more user friendly than 4-way intersections is that you never have to stop - you just proceed through the round-a-about and if you miss your turn you just keep going around the circle until you get it right. Plus, this means you NEVER have to make a U-turn. LOVE them now.
3. They are SOOOO patient. Goodness, gracious, don't ever try to act perturbed in a checkout lane or for that matter in line for anything. They are NOT in a hurry. I've realized that this is reflective of their more laid-back, easy-going personalities (remember much of this country is still doing things like the US was doing in the 80s or even older for that matter - not necessarily a bad thing). I've caught myself several times trying to hurry the cashier along only to realize it was useless and convicted me that maybe life wasn't always meant to be played at neck-breaking speed.
4. Fresh Produce - OH MY! There is fresh Fresh FRESH produce everywhere! And it is soooo yummy and sweet! Every Saturday for the past 200+ years, in downtown Salisbury they hold the Salisbury Market. You can get all the local produce you want which is to-die-for. I do miss my Harris Teeter but to buy it local from a fellow whose family has been doing this for centuries is just the coolest thing ever.
5. 240 Watt bulbs/power/etc. Ok, by most accounts this level of wattage is just ridiculous. I mean, when I turn my oven on the entire oven gets smoking HOT, like even to where you can't touch the outside of the oven (not good for kids btw) and when you blow a light bulb in one socket, you will loose power in 3 adjoining rooms (seriously, we've done this). HOWEVER, the very bright side(no pun intended) to British 240 wattage verses our American 120V is that you can blow-dry your hair in literally 90 seconds with their hair-dryers. Talk about a time-saver.
6. Another slightly weird thing they have in ALL sinks (no matter where you go) is that they have 2 faucets. This really puzzled me at first because one is for hot and one is for cold. Duh, right. Well, the problem arises when for instance you want 'warm' water to wash your face. You merely have to cup your hand in the hot, then cold, then hot again, then cold again and wha-la you get warm water. Peculiar, right? However, I have found the brilliant side to this 2-faucet thing of theirs and that is when you help your 2 year old go potty and you both need to wash your hands afterward you BOTH get to do it at the same time (time saver). Natalie gets the cold and if Mummy is really fast she uses the HOT faucet before it has time to reach the scalding point. Love it!
7. Their Gardens. They are as lovely as you've seen in movies. The bright side to getting 11 months of rain here (like Seattle) is that you have GREEN everything. No need to have a green thumb yourself, God does it for you by watering this piece of earth nearly ALL the time.
8. If you are like us and you like Indian food, there is a plethera of it here. In restaurants and the grocery stores. It's EVERYWHERE. Literally, my first trip to the grocery store had an end-cap that said, "Make a little curry tonight?" and had an entire section devoted to such. Kinda the equivalent to our "easter candy" sections. We like this!
9. Coffee Shops. Oooo, I am becoming a huge coffee fan! America does have a coffee shop on every corner but they do too here and they have the most amazing cakes, biscuits, Pasties and treats inside each one. AND, your choices of Latte's is endless. It's much more than your usual Vanilla or Caramel latte. Name it and they have it. Just a few to love are Amaretto, Ginger or my now personal favorite: An ALMOND Latte. Just scrumptious!!!
10. And last but not least...they walk EVERYWHERE. Ok, so I've really not adapted completely to this yet. But I have been forced to try a few times. For instance, the one car we have right now was in the shop last week for 2 days I had to walk my kids to and from school. Not a biggy though, it's only a 10 minute walk. It happened to be absolutely gorgeous those days (thank you Lord) and it really made me think about my choices and how when we choose to take the time to do things the longer, less convenient way like walk instead of taking the car, we find all kinds of new things to love. For example, Natalie was able to point out a "Forest" she and her class went hiking through where they picked leaves for a Fall/Tree craft project. Liam, Natalie and I also had the chance to meet a few new neighbors and help one gentleman find his way through the village. Imagine that. Me, now a local, able to give directions. Liam also showed me some houses where he and his classmates had delivered "harvest" food to some of the elders in the village that aren't able to get out easily. All this would have been impossible to do in a ride that takes 32 seconds by car. Though I am not one to generally take the slower pace, I am doing my best to try and find the good from it when life requires I take that route.
God is really up to something big here in England. I found myself again this morning saying to myself, "Gosh, I just really, really love it here." God is so good and He does know best. He reminded me today of a time earlier this year where my "First" choice for Clark's assignment this go-a-round was Pax River (which is awesome too). But after we stepped out and said, "Yes, we'd like to go to Pax". God quickly (within a day) closed that door and we were told, "No, you'll be going to England instead." It was almost as if He said to me today, "See, I knew which one you'd love the MOST." Our 'good' is not always God's 'best' and we are wise to trust that He knows which is which.
Friends, you are so loved from here. I think about you all the time.
Be blessed today,
Cindy
