"Miss You Mondays": Thunderstorms

Last night it hailed so hard that it woke me up. It was so much, so fast that I thought we were in the middle of a storm. And I have to admit, I was excited by that thought.

You see, most people outside of England think of it as a cold and eternally rainy place. Am I right? That was my impression of it before coming here.

But now that I am here, I can tell you that the rain I expected almost never comes. I have seen more snow and more hail in England than I have seen rain. Instead, England seems to just have this sort of permanent, silent “wetness” that clings to everything. It does rain. But I have only seen it three times since I have been here.

Back home, this time of year brings about days and days of storms. Thunderstorms and tornadoes. Most people would cringe at this. It’s not a heart-warming thought. I have seen terrible damage done by these storms.

But I miss it. I miss the smell of the coming rain on the air and the calm before the storm.  I miss the pounding of the rain on the roof. I miss the steady claps of thunder and flashes of light. There is a comfort and an excitement in those things that I don’t get with English rains. One of my favorite things to do before a Spring storm was to open up all the doors and windows and let the wind and the rainy smell flow into the house through the screens. The rain would sound as though it was in the house.

Can’t do that here. There aren’t screens on the doors or windows. And there hasn’t been any thunderstorms.

The Real Full English

You will recall from several posts ago that I tried my hand at making a “Full English.” (If not, you can read about it here.) And recently, on an outing, my family and I had the opportunity to try the real, authentic thing.

This dish is one of the most popular in all Britain. Most pubs I see include an ad for a “Full English” on their sidewalk chalkboard menus daily.  The few hotels we have stayed at while in England have all offered a “Full English” as part of their complimentary breakfast. This is where I had my first taste of the real thing.

 

This plate contains a few items common in American breakfasts (eggs, sausage link, “bacon” or ham) and some that are not (sautéed mushrooms, baked beans, roasted tomato, and black pudding.)

It seems that my own rendition wasn’t much off the mark. I do not apologize for omitting the black pudding. I didn’t eat it here, either. My husband and kids did try it. Needless to say…they weren’t fans.

Toast, tea, and coffee were also included in the breakfast.

The “bacon” (what we Americans would probably dub “ham”) was very good. But I am a die-hard fan of the American version.  Seriously, til the day I die. Honestly I don’t know how they live without it over here. Thank goodness we have the commissary that provides most of our American staples.

While enjoying our British Breakfast, it occurred to me that the Full English would probably provide the perfect cure for a morning hangover. It has those special hangover cure ingredients you always hear about: starch and grease.

I haven’t been able to prove it, but I would be willing to be that a hangover had something to do with the invention of the Full English…

Oh! And let me just suggest that, should you find yourself using this dish as your hangover cure, don’t substitute the traditional hot tea for coffee. Trust me, the hot tea is much gentler on the delicate state of your stomach.

In Honor of Spring: Out with the Old

I am going to be honest with y’all: I am having a really hard time finding the motivation to write. Most of the time, when an idea comes to mind, I wave it off and ask myself “What’s the point?” I think this is because my heart just really isn’t in it. I chalk that up to a combination of things.

1.)  I’m still homesick and being homesick drains your energy for doing anything.

2.)  This move, and some extra, on-the-side and completely unrelated things, have completely stressed me out and gotten me down in the dumps more than once and for longer than I should have allowed. I’m still struggling.

3.)  The weather. I am one of those unfortunate people whose moods are affected by the weather. Don't judge me. I don’t like cloudy, overcast, windy, dreary, blah days. They make me feel…well, “blah.” I’m from the South. Clear blue skies, brilliantly bright sunlight, and warm temperatures are what make me happy. So needless to say, England was not the best place for me to move to.

(Seriously, in just these few short lines, I have stopped myself twice to ask why I am bothering.)

But I don’t think these issues will go away on their own. I have to take charge.

So this is me taking charge. Starting with a whole new look, a new weekly segment, and a new dedication to writing and publishing posts. I hope the dedication will turn into motivation and spill over into other lacking areas of my life at the moment...

 

The new weekly segment has been in my mind for a while and it is really inspired by my homesickness and coping with being out of my comfort zone (in so many ways that I am sure I will be permanently scarred somehow.) I am calling it “Miss You Mondays” and it will feature an element of my normal life back in the states that is missing or completely unavailable here in the UK (and that I miss more than words can describe). This segment will allow me to vent about the changes I am having to make and will give you a peek into how different the UK is from the US.

And today is your lucky day! Know why? Because it is the first installment of the new segment! So here we go.

Today I am sorely missing: an American-sized washing machine.

To describe UK washing machines as “tiny” completely misses the mark.

I mean, look at this thing.

 

 

One load of our clothes in this consists of maybe two pairs of my pants (or one of my husband’s, or three of my kids’) and maybe three additional shirts. Or I can wash three bath towels. Literally.

Ask yourself how an American family of four manages to wash all of its weekly laundry in this thing.

 

 

Answer: It doesn’t.  

So as I write to you know, I am sitting at the “laundrette” on base, where my (several) weeks’ laundry is going through the motions in four of the industrial-size washers here.

 

By my guess, and I’m only estimating, that is about two loads of an American-sized washer in each industrial washer. So I am currently killing eight loads of laundry. And I didn’t even bring it all.

 

Yes, we had that much.

 

Sigh.

Learning to Adjust

It’s now been two months since we landed and began our new life here in Jolly Old England. It was quite rough at first. We felt out of place. We struggled to get around. We had so. many. errands. to get sorted out with the military. We had no sense of home. To put it plainly, we were miserable.

But with the help of time, we are learning to adjust.

We finally have a home (although renting leaves a taint on the place and reminds me that it’s not really home.  It doesn’t have that permanent feel that real home does, know what I mean?)  We have all of our belongings now, and our car made it here.  There are still boxes here and there full of stuff we don’t yet have a spot for. We don’t have much décor on the walls. But slowly, it’s getting to feel like home.

We have completed all the errands of in-processing that the military required upon our move here. There is still a thing or two every now and then that crops up, but it’s mostly “maintenance,” if you will.

While we still struggle to get around in tight spots (like in Canterbury this past Saturday, O.M.G.!), we don’t let it keep us inside anymore. While parking is, and always will be a problem, Matthew and I are confident enough in our driving and navigating the British roads that we get out and about as much as we can. We have just learned to scout Google Maps for car parks before we head out.

I still feel out of place in new areas, even to the point where I won’t speak above a whisper to my family out in public because I am afraid someone will notice my accent. Especially when we travel any great distance away from the base (they are used to Americans in the towns near base). And I still expect an American accent to come out when a stranger is about to speak to me. This one has really slowed me down a few times on base, where I expect everyone to be an American. Silly me.

But there are other areas where I know I am adjusting on my own, such as when I watch T.V. or listen to the radio, I don’t hear the British accents anymore. Or how I just jump in the car and go without hesitation or the use of a Sat-Nav (that’s “GPS” in American.)

The return of “routine” has been the most helpful factor in adjusting. Having the kids in school on set schedules, and my husband finally settling into a set shift (for now) at work, has helped tremendously with all the trepidations we felt in the beginning. With all the “unfamiliar” wearing off, I know things are looking up.

First Outing

I am happy to report that the snow has finally melted! It was a long time coming, too.  I was beginning to think it would be here all winter. We are very happy to be seeing green again.

But while there was snow on the ground, we took our first sight-seeing trip in England. We had big plans! It was Matthew’s first four-day weekend since being stationed here so we were going to take full advantage.

On the itinerary was Windsor Castle, “official residency of Her Majesty;” and then Stonehenge, “perhaps the most famous prehistoric monument in the world.” We were very excited. We had our GPS set for the destinations in the order they occurred on the route. We were going to get up early to make sure we had time for everything (because both sites closed by 4:30 p.m. and none opened before 9 a.m.)

Now let me start off by explaining that both of these sites are a good distance away from where we are. Windsor is about 100 miles away and Stonehenge is 162 miles.  And on top of the distance, there was still quite a lot of snow on the ground and it was bitterly cold and wet that weekend.

Needless to say, we only made it to Windsor Castle.

First, we got a tad bit lost (we went round the same giant roundabout three times, and took the wrong exit the first time round, before we figured out which exit we needed). Then we spent about an hour looking for parking (I’ll get to that in a minute). Then we had to hike a good ways uphill from where we parked to get to the castle entrance.

But we didn’t let any of that get us down. We loved every minute of the castle. Just to see that kind of history was enough for me. Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take pictures inside the castle. But we took loads outside!

We also ate at a local pub, Royal Oak, while we were in Windsor. It was very classy and the staff was nice. Matthew and I had the traditional British “Fish and Chips” with mash peas (a first for me.) After all, “when in Rome…”

When we left Windsor Castle, and as we were walking through the village back to the car, everyone had to go to the bathroom of course. So we took a detour through a shopping centre down the hill from the castle. We walked through an open area of several cafes and coffee shops. Naturally, Matthew and I couldn’t resist.

I had my first “Cream Tea” there and it was a real eye-opener. This is basically a large cup of tea (or large Americano, as was my case) with a Cornish Scone served with jam and clotted cream. Clotted cream is amazing. Why don’t we have it in the States?? I cannot even describe the flavour. You’ll just have to try it.

 

The café was so quaint. The kind you see in the movies that is out in the open, couches and tables, people bustling by. I loved it. And the pigeons just come right up to you.

I was throwing crumbs to this little guy, much to the offense of the Brits sitting next to me, talking overly loud about how “unsanitary” it is to feed the pigeons as they watched me. Oh well.

Oh,yeah. About the Parking. I hate to keep comparing Britain to America, but it’s just impossible to overlook this one. There is NO parking anywhere in England. America definitely takes the cake on this one. To say that the parking here is “ridiculous” would be the understatement of the century. People literally park right out in the roads (yes, on the teeny-tiny English roads they will just pop a squat.) This is not only annoying to the people trying to drive down these roads, but it is also dangerous for those people’s cars. Drivers will knock your side-view mirror off and just keep going! Not to mention, when you park in the middle of the road like that, you also have to somehow step out of your vehicle into the middle of the road.

In the case of Windsor Castle, there were several pay-to-park lots in the village. This is relatively convenient (and yet, pricey) when you are going to view an attraction. But what about just going to a store or pub? Forget about it. You are parking way down the street somewhere on the road and walking. There are a few exceptions to this and that is usually the superstores or chains, like Sainsbury’s and such, that do have car parks (that’s British for “parking lot”) at the store. Just like Walmart or Kroger in the States, only a tad smaller.

Stay tuned for more stories and outings pictures!

It Gets Better...Right?

It’s been very hard trying to enjoy being in England. With all the military red tape we have been going through since we’ve been here, we have a bad taste in our mouths. My husband commented that, as exotic as it sounds to receive PCS orders to an overseas base, the military drains the excitement once you get there with all of their regulations, stipulations, complications, and a whole bunch of other “tions;” plus their general unhelpfulness with all the matters you have to attend to because of it (“it” being the military).

We continue to try and make the best of things. The thing we are most disgruntled about at the moment is our housing situation. We have been in temporary housing for three weeks now and are desperate to have a “Home Sweet Home.” We have been missing that since October. Also, we found out this week that our “Household Goods” shipment (i.e. the “big stuff,”) has made it into the country and has received the OK from Customs. Hopefully we will have a place to put it soon! We really miss our stuff…

One of the hardest things for me has been the fact that we are in a foreign country (one that I have been desperate to visit since I decided on a bachelor’s in English Lit), and we haven’t been able to get out and explore much. At first, the problem was driving. We were afraid of driving on the British roads and in a British car. (Driving on the right side of the car really messes with your depth perception and spacial judgement! And, the UK has much stricter driving laws. You can get a ticket for driving while drinking a coffee…what?!)

But now that we have overcome that hurdle, we have another obstacle preventing us from exploring our new residence: snow. Ironically, our taxi driver from the airport told us that it hardly ever snows in England and that, this year, they were having an unusually warm winter. Well…our arrival must have upset the balance of things because it has snowed several times since we have been here and has been bitterly cold! And, the icing on the cake, it hasn’t gotten warm enough to melt any of the snow that has fallen.

At first the snow was nice. It was the dry, fluffy kind that makes perfect snowballs and snowmen (and women!) Not the kind of wet, icy snow that makes everything slippery and dangerous, which is what we got in the southern US, where we are from.  

 

This was us on the first day of snow.

This is on the seventh day of snow…from the window in our room in Temporary Lodging, stuck. We are just sick of looking at it.

 

My son, who would brag to people back in the states, saying “I’m moving to England! It snows everyday in England!” (Not sure where he got that idea from, but the point is: he was excited about the snow!) But on the fifth day of having snow in England, he asked, all exhausted and whiny, “When is the snow going to go away?”

Surely. Surely. It will get better…right?

First Impressions

We have now been in England a week and so far…we are not impressed. I know one week isn’t long enough to give it a good go but this has just been a bad week. Not a single thing has gone right, or even gone smoothly or easily, for us since we arrived.

It’s not entirely England’s fault though. In fact, very little of our disappointments have to do with England itself. It’s the military we are put out with. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

There are some things that we have already discovered that we miss about the US. The first thing is the sun! Being from the south, where the sun is ever present (and hot), we love sunshine. But we have only seen the sun on two occasions since we have been here and it lasted probably a total of three hours combined. I noticed the funniest thing about the weather here just as we were flying into London last Saturday. While we were still at “cruising altitude,” I could not only see the sun, but it was brilliantly bright! However, as soon as we began to descend to land, we dropped below an immense dividing line of clouds that completely blocked the sun. It was like a whole other world up there above the clouds!

What really isn’t fair is how the clouds block out the sun and its glorious warmth during the day, while the nights are crystal clear with almost never a cloud in sight.

Another thing we miss is good, reliable internet. Now I cannot speak for all of England; I have heard that you can get good internet here. But where we are, which is “in the country” as everyone keeps reminding us, you cannot get good internet, which is just ridiculous for the technological age we live in and the dependency we have on it.

 Thirdly, we miss good cell phone service. We just got cells on Wednesday and already we can tell that the service here is not comparable to that in America (specifically, with our previous carrier AT&T). By "service," I mean coverage area. Again, everyone keeps saying this is the result of living in the country. But even “in the country,” you can still get a decent signal where I am from. But, I will say this for the carrier we signed with: they have reasonable prices on their plans (not something you will get in America, unless you get a “go” phone) and you practically get your phone for free, depending on the plan you go with.

Now let’s talk about the military side of things.

There really is just too much to say here so I’ll give you the run down. On my husband’s first day of in-processing, someone took him to get a rental car and just dropped him there…with no instructions on how to drive a right-handed car or how to drive on the left side of the road. Not only was that dangerous to all the other drivers on the road, but it was also just plain disappointing on their part. They are supposed to take care of their own.

But he survived. And he is doing fairly well with driving, he usually only hits one or two curbs. Me on the other hand…Well first I had to wait to drive until just yesterday because the rental we had was a stick. I can’t drive a stick. Don’t have the coordination. So when my hubbie bought his car this weekend (that is an automatic), we took it out for a drive and I got to practice.

I did ok until I got into a very busy (and cramped) town and clipped someone’s side-view mirror. I decided I had enough practice after that and I’ll leave the driving to my hubbie for now. But anyway…

Since we have been here, we have received very little direction on how to get settled in. There has been very little communication or instruction from the military (who dictates how and where and when we do get settled.) This is very frustrating for a family that has been in this transition period for months now and is ready to get settled!

My husband was given several checklists of things to get done for his job and his new station. But they haven’t given him any direction as to when he has to get it all done, when he is supposed to report to work regularly, etc. We feel like we have been left to “fly by the seat of our pants,” so to speak. When all we want to do is get back to a routine.

Needless to say, we are all still feeling that “No rest for the weary” sentiment from my last post. Fingers crossed things will start looking up by next post!

Rewind! Fast-forward!

Oh my goodness, time flies! I have so much to tell y’all!

I guess you can tell from the countdown clock that we are finally in England! (And our visas came in!) YAY! It was a whirlwind trip too, let me tell you. But more on that later.

First, let me back up to Christmas. It snowed very heavily here at Christmas, which was a sweet surprise. We rarely get a White Christmas here. But this year, it was a tiny bit of a nuisance because, well, we had things to do!

We had been waiting until after Christmas to drive our car to Dallas for it to be shipped to England. The snow made this difficult but we couldn’t let it stop us. So we rented a car and drove both, our car and the rental, to Dallas in snow and ice.

We have heard so many horror stories about other military members having to wait 2 and 3 months for their cars to arrive wherever they were stationed. But our paperwork says it should arrive no later than February 11. Which is only about 5-6 weeks after we dropped it off to be shipped. I guess we’ll see…

Since the military will only pay to ship one vehicle overseas, we had to sell our other one quickly after the Dallas trip.

Then we had to vacate our townhouse and move into TLF on base. (That’s Air Force lingo for “Temporary Lodging Facility.”) Now, I’m sure that doesn’t sound like much since all of our belongings had already been shipped. But we had 14 suitcases (10 full-size and 4 carry-ons) to tote in our tiny Toyota Corolla rental. It took several trips… This was essentially the culmination of our “Hurry Up and Wait” period before getting on the plane. Our departure date ended up being rescheduled to two days earlier than it was supposed to be. But that worked out because, by that point, we were so tired of waiting around.

So here we are! And I’ll have you know, this move encompassed my very first plane ride! Yep. Never been on a plane before. And neither had the kids. (Being in the AF, my hubbie was an “Old Pro” at flying.) But in a matter of 18 hours, we flew over 3500 miles in two flights. That was quite an experience.

The first plane ride really scared me. It was only an hour and 20 minutes but it was a small plane (only two rows of seats) so I felt all of the taking off and landing very strongly. The kiddos thought it was super fun though! They did really well on that first flight. Much better than me.

The second one was different. It was a much bigger plane (Boeing 767) with many more people on it. In fact, it was completely sold out. Now, I am just a tad claustrophobic so this ride was much more nerve-racking for me than the first, if that makes any sense. But this plane also had more to offer (like TVs in the headrests, dinner, breakfast, etc.) so that made it a little more tolerable…Until we all got sleepy.

Fortunately, the kids slept for a few hours. They were in the two window seats across the aisle from us so they had plenty of room for their tiny selves to sleep. But Hubbie and I didn’t sleep a wink. We were in the middle three seats (with me smack in the middle of him and a stranger). It was muy uncomfortable. So when we landed in London, we had been awake for almost 24 hours (taking into account the 6 hour difference) and were so grumpy and exhausted.

But as if that wasn’t enough, we then had to fumble our way through London Heathrow and find our 10 suitcases (4 carry-ons in tow) and locate our taxi drivers (Thank God those had been pre-arranged!) We had about an hour and a half drive from London to RAF Mildenhall. The kids slept the whole way. I tried to stay awake and view the scenery but I did fall asleep for about 30 minutes in the taxi. After we got to the base, we had to check in to TLF and then lug all of our suitcases to our room. But we couldn’t rest yet…

Not 30 minutes after we got to our room, my hubbie’s supervisor called and wanted to come by. Talk about an unwelcome guest. But you know what they say… “No rest for the weary” (or the military!)