Guess what? We're Normal

Have any of you published your blog into a hard cover book? I did this just before Christmas and I love it. And I'm especially glad I've inundated you with pictures in every post because who doesn't love a book with pictures? I used this site and I'm happy with the finished product. And this really has nothing to do with anything except my mom has been reading my 'book' which reminded me that I wanted to mention it here.

Just giving you the heads up....My husband is traveling so I may have more random words than usual this week.

Saturday was a beautiful day...sunny and almost mild. For January anyway. My husband flew to Japan on business Saturday morning so the pup and I drove to my moms house to spend the night. We went to church on Sunday morning then drove back to my house to spend a few days together. That's something I love about my new home...I'm only a short two hour drive from my mom.

Speaking of things I love/don't love about my new home...Friday was good. Several people asked me what repatriation is all about. I wrote about it in this post but in a nutshell...when you move to a foreign country you experience culture shock. Over time you adapt to your new country's customs, speech and way of life. You live in the foreign country for several years. It becomes home. And then one day you return to live in your real home country. You experience something known as reverse culture shock. And every now and then you need to talk about it with someone who understands the feelings and the phenomenon. And Friday was our day to do just that.

We talked all day. I only cried once. Besides all the talking we did a few exercises that went something like this-

List three things you miss about life there-

1. the village life

2. British humor and language

3. my friends

only 3?

List three things you are happy not to have to deal with here:

1. ridiculously narrow parking lots and spaces

2. a dorm sized refrigerator/freezer that is not frost free

3. 17 varieties of lightbulbs in a single house

List three things you are happy to have here:

1. closets

2. big wide roads and car parks

3. an ice maker

etc. etc. etc. It felt good to talk and laugh and set some goals. Oh, and to be told we are normal...always nice to hear that. Have a great Monday!

Seven Years and a Few Million Memories Later

My Friday is going to be filled with talking. And a little reflecting. And some analyzing. And a whole lot of remembering. A woman is coming to our home today to meet with the hubs and I as part of our repatriation package. Sorta like repatriation counseling? Actually I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen today but I know she is going to be here all day.

We had expatriation counseling prior to moving overseas and the wonderful woman who met with us way back then spent two full days at our home in Maryland. When my husband told me she was coming and that we should plan on two full days I remember thinking WHAT? Two days? To talk about life in England? Where they speak English? Seriously? Ignorance is bliss y’all.

But I’m not ignorant on this whole ex-pat/re-pat thing anymore so when hubs said the person coming today asked for a full day I didn’t even blink. I have snacks and lunch ready, I’m putting on the coffee and I’m steeling myself to spend an entire day discussing our experience as ex-pats and our gradual transition ‘home’.

And thankfully on Wednesday someone gave my husband this -

I think it is quite likely I will be breaking into it before the day is over.