Looney Loner

I don't know if any of you will find this funny, but for me, one of the funniest things I have encountered here so far is the pronunciation of my name. My name is Alonna, but many of the people I know call me Loni. I know my names are not very common, but anyone in the US, can say them. I just assumed that anyone who natively spoke English would be able to pronounce my names. I guess that was a little naive.

Before we left I began thinking that I might want to introduce myself as Alonna because I know in England Loni or more so Lonnie is a boys name. When we got here I told a few people that my name was Loni. I was surprised at how different the pronunciation was, but when someone finally pronounced it as 'Looney' that was the end of that.

So my name has been Alonna to everyone since then. But even that isn't safe. A lot of people were pronouncing it 'Alaner'. For quite some time, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Then I finally realized, it's MY accent! When they say 'clever' it sounds to me like 'cleva', so their 'er' and 'ah' sounds are very similar. But as I have discovered, they can definitely tell a difference. The way I was pronouncing my name with an 'ah' at the end to them sounded like an 'er'! I even had one person pronounce it 'A-loner'. Brilliant! I'm a 'Looney Loner'!

We've had the same problem with Zariah's name too. It's hilarious. Thankfully Zoe is something they're familiar with.

I'm not writing this to criticize, I just find it so amusing that there is that much of a difference in the way we speak, despite our speaking the same language. It's crazy.

Police searching my flat?

Yesterday afternoon, I was making good use of my free time during Zariah's nap when the door phone rang. I picked up,
"Hello?"
"Yes, this is the police can we come up?"
"Ummm, sure...", I trailed off. Wait a second, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I just told them I would let them in, but at the same time, I wasn't about to just buzz in someone who randomly calls up claiming to be the police. What would the police want with me anyway. "I'll come right down" I say quickly so that I can meet them at the door and check things out.

When I got downstairs and the officer was showing her badge, through the glass, so I opened the door. I looked at her and she looked at the man who was standing next to her who flashed some identification. He told me who he was and what organization he was with and then went on to say that there was no television registered and licensed to our flat! "That's because we don't have one" I said shocked and yet wanting to laugh at the same time. "May we come up and check it out?"

Wow, I thought as we made our way up the stairs. I had heard about the television license before we came, and thought it was pretty ridiculous, but this was crazy! I guess having a license for you telly is serious business here. They came into the flat, searched through the rooms and were on their way. Leaving me behind to chuckle at the thought that the police had just searched my flat.

On another note, I began potty training Zariah today. I'm not sure what's wrong with me and why I can't plan things like this. I just got up this morning and knowing that we were going to have to stay in today to wait for a package, figured why not?

I have put this off for a while. Before we moved here I kept thinking that I didn't want to do it right before a big move, because I hear that children revert after big changes like that. So I had planned on planning on it about a month after we moved here and had settled in.

This morning I took off her diaper and told her she didn't have to wear one today. I also explained that when she went on the toilet, that she could have some candy. Then I gave her a cup of juice and let the games begin!

The first time she went, I got her a piece of candy and she was so excited about this little piece of candy that she was giggling so hard she could hardly even eat it. Then for about two hours she went every one to ten minutes. It was exhausting. Unfortunately after the first 10 pieces of candy she got sick of it. Thankfully she kept going for a while. Then she had her first accident on the floor, and let me tell you, that was fun! Of course it wouldn't be the type of accident that was easy to clean up either! Any of you who have been jealous of us moving out here don't need to be jealous anymore.

Spoiled

I love it here! I heard that people here were very polite, but not as friendly as they are in the US. In my experience so far that is only true for people you see in the street, and well, half the time not even then. Most everyone we have met has been very friendly. I go to a mother toddler group on Friday and a woman there that I've only really met twice invited me to go swimming with her and her friend and their babies. Today was our third Sunday at church and several people gave me hugs when they saw me. And of course there's Bethany who has been so wonderful and sweet to me and Zoe. Today we were invited over to another families house in the ward for yet another fantastic English dinner and wonderful company. Last night the South Korean Family downstairs offered to make us a traditional Korean dinner. Wow! It was so yummy and we had a great time visiting and getting to know them a little better. We are really getting spoiled here.

I really love the area too. Twice it has been mentioned to me that the road I was on was originally built by the Romans in 70's AD. It is so cool being in a place that is so historically documented. I have found it to be an extremely eclectic city. The buildings are the best illustration of that. There are beautiful exquisite structures like the John Rylands library, cathedrals, the main University of Manchester buildings and others. Then there are quite a few old stone buildings especially downtown. There are also some ugly sixties and seventies buildings on the way out of downtown. There are some random plain buildings from the eighties, then starting in the nineties, it seems like they finally started getting creative. In the past ten years everyone has been telling us that Manchester has just exploded with growth. There are a lot of new fun, modern buildings.

That is actually one of the things I liked so much about the area that we are in. Come to find out, we are currently living in what used to be the worst part of the city slums you could find. Then I guess it underwent a massive rebuild, where they tore down a lot of the area and built it all back up. I would have never guessed. It is still, as we are finding out, a somewhat dangerous area, but only at night. I had been making some evening grocery store trips because it was easier to go without Zoe. So Brent was staying home with Zoe and study and I would walk about a half mile to the Store. I told someone what I had been doing and they told me that I was lucky and that I should never go out at night by myself in our area again. I'm not sure what I was thinking anyway. Duh! Not in Kansas anymore. It does seem like a really nice area though and I guess I just got used to the security of Utah Valley. I just needed someone to point out that I was being stupid.

Anyway, we went on a city bus tour on Saturday. I think tourist season is over because we were the only people on this huge double decker bus. It was really fun though and a great way to get an overall view of the area.

What City do I Belong in?

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

I thought this was so funny! I know I'm not actually in London, but the fact that I just moved all the way to England from the Rockies, is pretty close in my book. I also like the description. I've always been a little bit of everything, in every personality test, learning style test, color test, etc., that I could find. I guess that's just me though, a little bit of everything.

So yeah, I thought this little quiz thing was so cool and I decided that I wanted Brent to take the quiz to see what city he belonged in. These were his results:

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

We both had a good laugh when his results came up. Any of you who actually know Brent will find this extra amusing.

It's always fun when a dumb little quiz pegs you right on the nose, but this a perfect illustration of how random they really are.

Architecture, Books and Eating Kidneys

We are so close to the most popular area of downtown and I didn't even know it! I remember looking on a map and seeing that we were really close, but when I went out on foot, I couldn't find it. I figured that the proportions on the map must have been a lot bigger than I realized. What I discovered this week is that I went down the WRONG street! LOL, it's only a few blocks to get to this area and it's taken me three weeks to figure that out! It's funny because behind us is this huge bridge that goes over a large road. Every morning and evening I see people all dressed up in suits and ties or fashionable skirts or whatever, just looking very nice walking over this bridge. I would even see people drive here, park on the street out front of our apartments and go over this bridge, but I couldn't figure out where they were going! Wow, I'm such an idiot!

So it has been a fun week exploring downtown. I found the John Rylands Library. Two of my favorite things are architecture and old books, so it doesn't get much better for me than the combination of a beautiful old gothic church-like building combined with some of the oldest books in the world. The exterior of the building alone is awe inspiring. The entrance is a new one attached to the back of the building. It is owned by the University of Manchester and I was afraid it wouldn't be open to the public. I was also unsure that even if we could go in, I might not be able to see the areas that I had seen in pictures, but we ventured in anyway.

When the doors of the elevator opened it revealed this amazing hallway with beautiful archways and stone work. As we walked down the hall, I was a little disappointed to see that it only led to exhibits. I began walking through the exhibits. As I was in one room I saw a door way that led to another room. I made my way over to the doorway and gasped when I saw inside. There was a lovely soft light shining through a high window that illuminated a room filled with the most beautiful collection of books I have ever seen. I was so awestruck it almost brought me to tears. The room was two stories high and filled with gorgeous wooden shelves that housed these ancient books almost all the way to the ceiling. From that moment on, it only got better. I finished exploring the exhibits on that floor and then asked a member of the staff about the pictures I had seen. They said it was the next floor up.

We got back on the elevator and rode up to one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever been in. It is called the historic reading room and there is a picture of this on my slide show. Wow. That's pretty much all I can say.

I haven't even scratched the surface of exploring this area of downtown! It is actually the part of town the the IRA set off several bombs in a few years ago demolishing a few of the buildings. I don't know if any of you remember that, but I did.

We ate at one of the local pubs. It’s interesting here. In our experience we have come to find that most of the restaurants are actually pubs first and restaurants second. Brent had Fish and Chips with mushy peas. I had Steak and Kidney pie with mash and carrots. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, I just couldn’t resist the urge to try something new. I probably won’t be ordering that particular dish again. For those who don’t know, Steak and Kidney pie is not steak with kidney beans, it’s real kidney. I think the gravy was actually made from kidney drippings as well. To top it all off it was loaded with mushrooms, and anyone who knows me knows that I believe that mushrooms were placed here on this earth by satan himself. The first few bites actually weren’t that bad, but then it hit me. Kidney is a bit to strong of a flavor for me, at least for now.

This weekend we are going on a city bus tour. We have a few other things planned as well, so I’m sure I will have more to write soon.

Kissing my Daughter's Behind

When I thought about what it would be like to be a mother, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be asked to kiss my daughter's bottom and actually consider it. Today at the tender age of 2, my daughter asked me to kiss her bum and fully expected me to without hesitation.

I don't remember how it started, but I am one of those mothers that has got into the habit of kissing her child's ow-ie's. I think at first it was just a phrase "Do you want me to kiss it better?" But then she started responding with the ceasing of tears and a joyful "All Better" once the deed was done. So "kissing it better" has become a ritual between my daughter and I when she is hurt.

Most of the time it is endearing and sweet. I have found myself even kissing her feet at times, but today when she asked me to kiss the ow-ie on her bum to make it better, I wasn't exactly sure what to do. "Mommy kiss it better", she persisted. My husband stood nearby with a smirk on his face, "Yeah honey, kiss it better. Go on, your daughter's hurt, she needs you to kiss it better". I thought about kissing the outside of the diaper, that wouldn't be too bad, but it would still be me kissing my daughters bum. Groping for ideas, I kissed my fingers and patted them on her bum and proclaimed "All better!" I watched with relief as a satisfied smile appeared across her face and she bounced away into the other room. Whew!

If You Haven't Been Following Along

If you haven't been reading on myspace, this is a reposting of my blogs about our "moving to England" experiences so far. Have fun catching up.

08 Sep 2007
Going to England update

Today is our official move-out date. Things have been going really well. Everything is out of our apartment except cleaning supplies. We sold or gave away almost everything we owned. Wow. It has all happened so fast. We will be staying with my parents until Tuesday morning.

We found out that if we get our visas in person in LA, that it only takes one day to get them instead of 3 weeks +/- through the mail. It's a good thing too, because we simply ran out of time.

So here's what's happening. Tuesday morning we will hop into our mini-van rental that will hopefully be large enough to house us, six suitcases and three carry-ons; and drive down to LA. Wednesday Brent has an appointment at the British Consulate office. Wednesday morning we spend another 12 hours on a flight and arrive at 8am (1am MST) in Manchester.

You'll never guess how much we got our tickets for. We were really excited about flying out of SLC for $400, but because of visa delays, we couldn't buy tickets and the prices went up to $800. Unfortunately, we had already planned on only $400 a piece. So we decided that Brent would fly out on the 13th and Zariah and I would come a few weeks later when the prices went down. We had already been planning on Brent flying down to LA to get the visas and then coming back and flying to manchester out of SLC. He posed the idea of checking LA to Manchester. I looked on one site and found tickets for $300! We decided that for that price, we could just rent a car and all of us would fly out of LA. But I wanted to check one more site to see if we could get them any cheaper and we found them on Orbitz for $250 bucks! I am still amazed by that! Seriously, $250 from LA to England! That's insane.

So we have three days left to finish cleaning, running errands, visit the dentist, spend time with family and friends and hopefully rest.


13 Sep 2007
California, Visas, Beach

We're in Cali tonight. We rented a car and drove down yesterday. We got a hotel a 5 minute walk from the British consulate office and Brent got our visas this morning. The people I kept talking to made it sound so difficult to get the visas. They had me so paranoid. Brent said they looked at the paperwork for no more than 5 minutes, asked him a couple questions and then approved us. wow I am so relieved!

We are also only 2 miles from the beach and Santa Monica Pier. So we went to the beach and got ice cream on the pier. It was fun. When we were about to leave though, Zariah decided she didn't want to go and started going limp to try and get me to let go of her. She did something to her wrist and has been whimpering ever since. Even now in the hotel room as she is asleep she keeps waking up and crying a little and then going back to sleep. I feel so bad for her. The same thing happened at the end of the day when we went to Disneyland in March. We took her to the first aid office and they said there wasn't much we could do except put ice on it and wait until it pops back into place. It popped back into place the next morning and that was that. Hopefully, it won't be long before it pops back in this time.

I am actually kind of glad we have experience with this happening before because if we didn't, we might have taken her to the hospital and paid a bunch of money for them to tell us there is nothing they can do.

Wow, we fly out tomorrow morning. I still can't believe we are moving to England. It is starting to register though.


14 Sep 2007
The Demons

What an ordeal! Um, we are definitely not coming home for Christmas. I don't want to do all that again for a very long time. I would like to take a moment and express my deepest gratitude to inventors of candy. I honestly don't think I would have made it here if it weren't for candy. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now let's see, where do I start. During the last 24 hours a bunch of little demons possessed the body of our two year old child. Our wonderful, beautiful, sweet daughter literally almost bit off my finger. I am dead serious, it's been over 24 hours and it's still sore. She bit and pulled with her sharp little teeth like it was a piece of tough meat. This is why every child should have two parents; so when the demons come, one parent can take them so that the other is not hauled off to jail for trying to strangle them out of their child.

Let's see, what else. The demons made her scream at the top of her lungs every time something was our idea and not hers. Things like boarding the plane, or pushing the stroller, or eating food, or reading books. The demons also decided that our child was not going to be happy unless her feet were somehow pushing on or kicking the seat in front of her. Our extreme, consistent efforts to keep her from doing so, only made the demons want to do it more. Thankfully the seat belonged to a very understanding sweet gentleman who had been in our shoes before. Even more thankfully, Zariah did eventually fall asleep so everyone could get some rest.

For those of you who have children, I'm sure you are acquainted with these demons and what they can do. For those who are not around children often, it may just sound like my daughter is a snot-nosed brat. While that is definitely the case when she is possessed (aka severely sleep deprived), it is quite the contrary when she is well rested, as is the case with most all children. She is actually compliant and sweet. She loves to talk to people. She would sing and dance for you and give you hugs and kisses if you but ask. There were moments when Zariah was able to overcome the demons and was quite the charmer who provided a reprieve and mild entertainment for weary airport patrons and passengers. Those moments, however, were not enough to counter the overall experience the demons created for us during the last 24 hours.


15 Sep 2007
Our arrival

Today is our second day in Manchester. We are seven hours ahead of MST. It is about 3pm. Zariah is down for a nap, Brent is at an orientation seminar and I finally have some more time to write. If you read my last blog, you know in a nutshell how the flight went. It wasn't all bad, but it was bad enough.

I took the brunt of things with Zoe and Brent took the brunt of carrying all the luggage. We had three carry-ons, a push-chair (or stoller, I'm getting used to the words they use here, it's like I'm speaking a different language if I say stroller), and a large toddler car seat as well as six large suitcases. When we arrived in Manchester, Brent creatively loaded everything except the push-chair onto two carts and then carefully pushed one and pulled the other one behind him. I had to deal with Zariah, who by this time was so dreadfully tired, there was almost nothing we could do to subdue her. She refused to sit in the push-chair and insisted on pushing it herself. Anything short of that resulted in an all out tantrum complete with ear piercing screams.

Brent had arranged to be picked up through the University. They had a booth set up in the pick-up area of the airport by the International Society. The look on their face when the saw us was hilarious. It was very apparent that they had only dealt with single students up to that point who only had two pieces of luggage and one carry-on. That's pretty much all we had, just multiplied by three and topped off with a push-chair and car seat. I'm sure it was a bit overwhelming for them as it was for us. They were very nice though.

We had to wait a while for the shuttle. When the time came to walk out and meet the shuttle, the International Society Rep. told everyone to get their bags and follow him. Brent of course had the two carts that I desperately wanted to help him with, but could not because I was closely following our temperamental daughter who kept wanting to blindly take the push-chair into the street. She couldn't see over it and was walking extremely slow, so much so that we were even falling behind Brent who was significantly behind everyone else. I finally picked her up and pushed the stroller with one hand. This of course prompted the screams and her slapping and scratching my face, so I threw her over my shoulder so she was upside down, still screaming and kicking as much as possible. So much for making a scene.

Once we were all loaded up, I had my first experience with riding on the left side of the road. Before we left I thought, "no big deal, it's just the opposite of everything we do in the States." As we were riding around I figured I would watch closely and see how bad it was. It only took a couple minutes for me to be completely turned around and utterly confused. I don't think I'll be driving much for the next year.

By the time we got to the hotel, I was extremely tired, hungry, super stressed due to my daughter and the previous 15 hours and all I really wanted to do was cry and go hide out in our room. I had this overwhelming feeling of "What did we do!" I didn't pay too much attention to any of those feelings, because we had to go find some food. We found a little market, went back to the hotel and ate some lunch. Brent wanted to get some things done so I let him go off on his own and Zariah and I finally got some sleep.

I don't think I function properly when I am sleep deprived. I say this because when I woke up five hours later, I couldn't believe that I had just felt all those things I described in the paragraph above. All those feelings were replaced with pure excitement! I couldn't wait for Brent to get back so we could all go out and explore together. (I guess that's just one more insight into what life is like for my daughter)


15 Sep 2007
Downtown Manchester

Our hotel is right in the middle of downtown. I know a few people in particular that are going to want me to describe everything in detail, so here you go. In all honesty, I've really never seen anything quite like this place, but I will do my best to tell you about it. Also keep in mind that I've only been here two days.

It is expansive like LA. It's a HUGE city, but it's almost like you can't really tell because you just can't see it all. For example, I didn't even realize how downtown we were until we began exploring and we are about 200 feet from a Picadilly Gardens which is a huge, central downtown, shopping area.

There are not really any sky scrapers. I would say on average the buildings are only 5 to 10 stories high. They get higher and shorter than that, but 5-10 would be the average. It is closed in like Manhattan. Lots of small streets, some of them stone instead of pavement. Lots of brick and mortar buildings.

It is modern. Even just as far as the shops, signs and advertisements go. It's one of my quirks to critique the way businesses appeal to customers through advertisements, signs, store design and location. I even make predictions as to who will do well and who will go out of business because of it. I always enjoy artistic or well done advertising, and it is everywhere here!

I think part of the reason it is so modern because it has an EXTREMELY young population to appeal to. That was another thing that threw me off about being downtown. 80% of the crowd had to be twenty-somethings. It almost felt like a college campus. It was weird.

I don't have a blow-dryer, and have not been able to wear my hair straight yet. I usually gage the humidity by what my hair does when it's straight. Without my hair as my guide however, I would say the humidity is very comparable to San Diego or San Francisco. It's not that bad. The weather has been lovely. It is that wonderful crisp autumn weather where a jacket is nice, but doesn't really matter. It has been overcast, but no rain at least while I've been outside.

So far, Brent and I both love it. As we walked around the city, we kept poking each other in the ribs to "look at that building" or "look at that beautiful street" or just "look at that". Today when I was coming back to the hotel with Zoe, we passed some guys playing music in the street that I actually REALLY liked. I have never, ever encountered street artists that play music of that caliber. It was really difficult for me not to buy their CD, but we've got to be frugal.

So things are great. We will go to church tomorrow and see how that is here and also move into our new apartment in the next few days. I will write more about those things soon.


16 Sep 2007
More details

Brent pointed out that Picadilly Gardens, the area we are closest to has so much shopping, it would basically be like a mall. This had me very relieved because it explained the young population. The more I had to go through Picadilly Gardens, the more annoyed I was getting. The area was still really cool, but the general public was so young they were kind of loud, obnoxious and immature. You know, like a group of boys throwing things at a group of girls, or a boy puffin up his chest as he talks trash to another one and other such lame, social rituals of the young. I'm sure you can imagine how relieved I was when I realized that this was not a representation of entire population of Manchester. *whew* I actually feel kind of silly assuming that it was now that I think about it.

I looked up a census for the area before I left and the statistics on ethnicity for the area didn't seem much different from what you would find in SLC. I have been very relieved to find that it is not that way at all. It is EXTREMELY diverse and I am lovin it!

We went to church today. Zariah has developed a nasty cough so we decided we would only stay for the the first meeting. We had some trouble getting there and arrived late. As we walked in I could hear them all singing in unison with their awesome British accents. The only seats were of course on the very front row. When we opened the door, the missionaries practically catapulted out of their seats. It was so funny as we walked to our seats most EVERYONE was looking at us excitedly. We didn't get too much of a chance to meet people afterward because we had to go, but everyone we did meet was very nice and happy to have us there. Right before we went to leave a woman with a little girl Zoe's age came up to us and asked us is Zoe would be going to nursery. I told her she was sick and that we were about to leave. The little girl looked so sad and the woman explained to me that she was the only one in nursery and during the meeting she had exclaimed "look it's another little girl!" We discovered her name was Nina and I promised her that Zariah would come play with her next week. The building was pretty typical. It is certainly different from the buildings in Utah, but not unusual for an LDS church building.

When Zariah and I were taking a nap, Brent went to pick up the keys to our apartment and he got a quick look at it. When he got back I started asking him all sorts of questions and he wouldn't give me any answers, just sideways nod and a funny look. Finally I looked at him and asked "Is it a dump?" He replied "Sort of". Sort of! Sort of a dump. hmmmm. I guess we're gonna live in sort of a dump for the next year then. lol. Great. I'll tell you more about it when I see it.

Oh yeah and I've got to tell everyone about this stuff we discovered in Santa Monica. Zoe had been sick for a few weeks before we left. Brent and I thought we had dodged it, but on Tuesday Brent said he was starting to feel it. On Wednesday I started to feel sick too. I was pretty upset that we were getting colds just before our plane ride and arrival in Manchester. I went to the store to find some sort of cold remedy. Stuck in there with all the other regular medicines was something I had never seen before. It was called "No time for Colds". It said it relieves major cold symptoms in 24 hours guaranteed or your money back. I was really skeptical, but it was also homeopathic and I liked that. I figured we'd try it out and get something else later if it didn't work. It comes in the form of lemon lozenges that you let dissolve in your mouth. They feel so good when they are dissolving! We followed the directions exactly because if this stuff really worked like it said on the box, I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. A few hours after taking it we felt better and the next day, although we continued to take the lozenges just in case, we felt fine! It's been four days and we are still fine! That stuff is awesome! I also found out that you can get it in Rite Aid or Walgreens. My friends tease me about being a walking commercial, but hey when I find something this awesome, I’m gonna spread the word.


20 Sep 2007
Back online!

Well, we've been offline for a while. We had internet at the hotel but lost it as soon as we moved into our new apartment. Trying to get internet, phone or any public service here has been a joke because in the UK, as we've been told, it's pretty much like we don't exist. Thankfully, my wonderfully smart husband opened a bank account a few hours after getting off the plane. That was a big help. It's been hard getting oriented to the area without the Internet. I don't have a map and can't look up services, but we've just been exploring by foot.

I did write a blog while we were offline, I just didn't post it, so here it is:

I'm sure if you read my last blog, you're probably dying to know if our flat really is a dump. Well.............. yes and no. Brent explained to me that he only got a very brief look and that the previous occupants had just left that day. He said they left the place a mess and there was a cleaning crew in there, but there was junk everywhere. When I finally arrived, I didn't quite know what to think. The first and strongest impression was "It stinks". It was also extremely obvious that the last tenants and probably the tenants before them and so on, took terrible care of this place. Other than that, it's not that bad. It's nothing special, but besides some grime and the smell, it's probably better than our last basement apartment. We're on the third floor in the corner. In our living room, which is in the corner of the building, there is a bay window and a window seat which is kind of fun. We have nice views of the treetops and a bit of the city.

Unfortunately, there is one other major drawback to this flat. It is "furnished" and the furnishings it came with are very socialistically dull and depressing. I am trying to devise some super cheap ways to add some color and make it a little more inviting so we actually want to be here.

I have been scrubbing and trying to get the smell out, but it's hard because I don't know exactly what smells, it just smells. If anyone has any ideas for getting smells out of a house let me know.

I think that the only people who live in these apartments with us are all international students because we were the only ones who couldn't see it before we signed the contract. It's kinda cool though. In the four apartments our entrance leads to, there is a family from South Korea, one from Japan, one from Nigeria and us. The family from Japan has a little girl that's two and a half and the family from South Korea has a little girl who is three and a half. So Zoe will have some kids to play with.

The adjustment is still coming. I am trying to get used to not saying pants (which means panties) or trash, miles, candy, diaper, and dozens of other words. We have mostly been shopping at little markets, but it can be frustrating, because what they have is very limited. It's basically like doing most all of your shopping at a slightly larger than normal convenience store. Unfortunately, the closest thing they have to stores in the U.S. is the local ASDA which is a Walmart. Although I hate going to Walmart, I was just hoping that Brent wouldn't find that out because I really just wanted a store with everything I needed in one shopping trip. But no, as we walked up to the store they had to advertise in a big bold Walmart font "a member of the Walmart family". Thankfully Brent didn't put up much of a fuss, I think he was frustrated with the local markets too.

Shopping was so strange, because I was walking around in a Walmart building, but I hardly recognized anything. I didn't really expect that, but at times I hardly knew what aisle I was in because I wasn't sure what the products were. It didn't help that we couldn’t get everything we needed right then, so we had to make a lot of hard decisions. And then of course Brent isn't a big fan of Walmart or shopping so he was standing behind me rushing me; "hurry", "are we done?", "I don't know just pick one". I hardly had time to think straight, let alone try to figure out what all the merchandise was. It was an interesting trip. We'll probably stick with the market for now, it's closer.

I didn't think I would have any difficulty understanding people, but there is a thicker accent this far north. I can understand people about 95% of the time, but when the accent is really thick it can be kind of hard. They emphasize their "o" and "u" sound quite a bit. The other day I played my 'smile and nod' card, but unfortunately they were asking me a question, so I just embarrassed myself even more instead of saving face. I have been practicing my accent and it's coming along. It's funny with the encouragement of the locals, sometimes the accent just pops out of me even when I'm not expecting it. It makes me laugh. If I keep going at this rate, by the time I get back, it will be second nature.

We had our first political conversation with a Brit the other day. He was actually really excited to meet some Americans and ask them what they thought about what was going on. We of course felt the same way about getting a Brit's opinion. He said that there have been quite a few documentaries aired in the UK about what is going on over there. The conversation wasn't nearly as long as I wanted it to be, but he assured me that it wasn't necessarily Americans that everyone hated, it was just the current administration. He said "everyone knows that the Americans are people just like us, and that there isn't much they can do when there is a dictator in power like Bush." He also compared Bush to Hitler later in the conversation. He said that "Bush basically said 'I'm going to do whatever I want and I don't care if you like it or not' to the rest of the world", and that it has not gone over well. Wow, that was interesting. I was a bit thrown off by "dictator" and "Hitler", but it was basically what I expected. I hope there will be an opportunity to get some political opinions from our neighbors. That would be interesting!


20 Sep 2007
What a beautiful day!

Today was an awesome day! There was nice crisp weather with strong breezes, but no rain. Zariah and I went out to the courtyard to blow bubbles. That was fun, I have never seen bubbles get whipped up so high so quickly without popping. One dip of the wand practically filled the whole courtyard. We met some more neighbors too.

We finally got a working fridge too! I'm thrilled about that! Right now in our kitchen we have a fridge, oven, electric tea kettle (a british staple), a baking sheet and a couple of cooking utensils. We have been eating off of paper goods and just going to the market once or twice a day. We are hoping to get some pots and pans soon.

After Brent got home from school we went to an international society meeting. The meeting was on campus which is downtown. I LOVE going downtown. It makes me so happy. I thrive when I'm in a bustling city or any large crowd for that matter, I don't know why I love it so much, but it makes me so happy. I guess I just love being around people. I like to watch people too, they are so fascinating.

At the meeting we learned a little bit about how socialized medicine works and how to get started. I also found out that the international society does this thing every year that's kind of like a jumble sale (yard sale), except everything is free. International students from previous years leave things they didn't want or need to pack for students the next year! I am very excited about that. Oh yeah, and there is this really cool host program they have. We fill out this request form and mention which part of the country we want to go to and a British family invites us to spend the weekend with them and basically get explore that area and spend time with them and learn a bit about more about british culture. We are thinking about doing that for Christmas, we really wanted to experience a traditional British christmas, and this will be perfect!

I also learned more about the mother's group that meets there every Thursday. They have all sorts of outings around the city. I'm excited for that. I have been hearing about a lot of groups like that all over town. There is one at the local library and one at an Art Centre, which are both only two blocks from our flat.

After the meeting we came home and we were finally able to get connected to the Internet! So yes it has been a great day actually.

I am also liking our flat more and more simply because of the location. We are 1/2 mile to downtown. We are also actually in an area that I was really impressed with when I was searching for housing when they supposedly had no vacancies here. It is definitely a nicer part of town. There is a huge park across the street. On the other side of the park is a market, cafe, Art Centre, Library and a few other businesses. It's awesome!


26 Sep 2007
Saved the day!

The Demons have still not completely left the body of my two year old. She still suffers from some sleep deprivation and it's worse when we're cooped up in our apartment, but I think she's a little weirded out by the shock of all this change and she's probably missing her grandparents and other family and friends back home.

Just because I understand her, unfortunately doesn't make her new Tasmanian devilish personality drive me any less crazy. Yesterday was so frustrating and right at the peak of my frustration, our door phone rang. It was Bethany. She is a really sweet friend I've made. She is the mother of pretty much the only other little girl in the ward, who just happens to be Zoe's age. I met her at church on Sunday and she invited Zariah and I to lunch on Monday and then Tuesday afternoon she came randomly ringing on my door phone. She said the she was just checking to see if I was home and had something in her car that she was going to go grab and she would be right back. She came back and I buzzed her in and went down to meet her on the stairs. She was carrying several bags of all sorts of kitchen supplies and toys she had just bought at the store. I couldn't believe it. A few moments earlier I was on the verge of tears out of sheer frustration with my daughter, and then Bethany showed up and swung my emotions to the opposite extreme and I cried a little anyway. I was overwhelmed and extremely grateful.

She brought just the right things too. Both a ceramic and plastic set of dishes, a set of glasses, eating and cooking utensils, some pans and a few other things as well as some play dough, a baby doll and a stroller for Zoe! A couple of the things she brought we had already acquired just that morning when we walked over to the International Society giveaway, but everything we still needed that I didn't get that morning, she brought over that afternoon. As for the one or two things we have doubles of, I'll just find someone who needs them around here, it won't be hard.

Zoe has had so much fun with the toys too. I brought one of her a baby dolls that for some reason she has refused to play with, but the one that Bethany brought over she can't get enough of. It is hilarious watching her push her stroller around, she just runs and giggles. Bethany literally saved the day!

I posted another blog before this one that got erased, but it was just basically venting frustrations and an actual inability to comprehend how our apartment got this messy. It's taken me 6 days straight to get the mold out in the bathroom. The crazy amounts of grease with dirt and dust accumulated on top of it that is found all over the kitchen is slowly, but surely coming off. I'm finding that with all the grime slowly disappearing I am actually starting to like this flat, it's starting to feel more like a home.


27 Sep 2007
Am I alright? Of course I’m alright!

Before we came here I was extremely curious as to what the differences in culture would actually be. There are a lot of little things I heard about, but many of them seem to be outdated. I have discovered that for the most part, people do actually know what I am talking about if I use the American version of the word. It is helpful to know the UK version, just in case because I have had quizzical expressions when I say certain things, but for the most part, there's not too much need to change vocabulary unless you don't want people to know you are an American. I wonder how much this has to do with American movies that are released here. I have noticed that several of the movies coming out before we left are coming out here too. Maybe it's the movies that have familiarized them with our culture enough to the point that we don't have to worry about little word differences anymore.

One of the biggest things that has thrown me is their use of the common expression "Are you alright?" in place of "How are you?" or even just "Hi". I still haven't quite got used to it yet. This happens with people everywhere that I meet. We see each other and smile and they say "Are you alright?" It throws me every time, for a few seconds thoughts race through my mind; "Why did they ask if I'm alright? do I not look alright? do I look like I've been crying? where's my daughter? is she alright? Do they think there's something wrong with me because I smiled at them? Should I have not smiled at them? WHY DID THEY ASK ME IF I'M ALRIGHT?!" Then I look at them and they are still smiling waiting for a reply as I look at them strangely and say "Umm, yes." Then they nod and go about their business as I am left still stumbling over why they asked me if i was alright.

I guess I am getting used to it a little bit, but I still stumble with my reply because it still throws me off a bit.


30 Sep 2007
Drinking songs and English Dinner

The buildings we live in are right next to a major road that I thought was a freeway, but apparently it's not. When you are out on the grounds, if you walk to the edge there is a fence and at that fence your only about 10 feet away from the cars on the road. Yesterday Zariah and I were out there playing. It was during some traffic and all of a sudden something caught our attention. The was a Minibus on the road filled with about 15 guys and they were all raucously singing a drinking song in unison. It was very amusing. Zariah had noticed the singing too and was looking around for it. I pointed out the minibus to them and she smiled. Apparently the men noticed they had an audience. They started looking at us excitedly and singing louder. We had a bit of a show for a few minutes while they were stuck in traffic. It was quite the sight and it made me laugh. I'm guessing they were a rugby team who had just won their match. It was so funny and enjoyable to listen to it almost made me want to go hang out in a pub, just to hear more.

Today was Sunday. We met quite a few more people at church today. We were invited to dinner with a lovely couple in the ward. We were also joined by another couple from Poland, their twins and some missionaries. It was nice to be in a full house and what was even nicer was our first traditional English meal. It was roast with mash, yorkshire pudding, baked cauliflower and cheese, mashed carrots and sweets and cordial to drink. I'm not sure if the cut of meat was different or not, but the roast was delicious and very unlike anything I've ever had. Yorkshire pudding is a sort of pastry type roll, I don't know why pudding is attached to the name but it is. The cauliflower and cheese sauce was very yummy. It was made with Red Leicester cheese. I guess each region of england has their own cheese. Cheddar comes from down south near the Cheddar Gorge, and is apparently the only one that made it over to the states with the immigrants. A quick side note; British dairy foods are AMAZING! Even the low-fat milks are smooth and creamy and almost sweet. American milk almost tastes sour in comparison. They must give their cows the royal treatment. Back to dinner. I still don't know exactly what sweets are, but it is some type of vegetable that’s not a sweet potato. But it was mashed carrots and sweets together, it was good. And cordial to drink. There are all sorts of cordials. They come in tall bottles with thin necks and all sorts of flavors. It is generally concentrated fruit juices combine with other flavorings. A little bit is poured into the bottom of a pitcher and the rest is filled with water. It was pretty good. It is extremely popular around here. So there you have it. Our first English dinner, it was awesome!