Hello peeps,

Diving right in!

Small talk:

The weather is crap (I told you it's a lot like Seattle's). We've had a couple of streaks of really springy/early summer weather followed by streaks of serious (even angry!) rain. This past Saturday we headed to Hampstead Heath for a picnic with Andy, a fellow Seattle expat. Yep, super romantic with the three of us.  There were tons of people out and the Sun was hanging with us, too. I should have realized when I found myself putting on my sunglasses, taking them off a few minutes later and then putting them on again that Sun was feeling fickle. After an hour, Sun packed it up quickly and left completely. Then its lame cousin, Pouring Rain came, in its 'stead. We found cover under some trees for 15 minutes until Puffy White Cloud came and chased Pouring Rain away and we were able to walk home. The end.

In financial news, the £ is down against the $ so I guess our wallets aren't suffering as much. Since we moved to London nine months ago, the exchange rate average has been hovering around $1.65 to the £, with a high of $1.80 and a low of $1.41.  Right now it's $1.44.  You could say it's like getting a raise, but not really. A raise is a fixed increase to be received consistently, predictably and in perpetuity (during employment) while an exchange rate fluctuates. So to all you HR people out there: Nice try. 

What I Learned in America

Two inevitable facts of life: taxes and getting sick when you're on vacation

Peter and I were stateside for 18 days at the end of May. I know the exact number of days because you are only allowed, per US IRS rules, to be back in the US for 35 days in a consecutive 12 month period if you want to claim foreign income benefits on your US federal tax return*.  Our North American tour included a visit to see both of our families (Michigan and NJ) and a trip to the left coast to visit friends in Seattle. We weren't in any one place for more than a few days, so if we didn't see you, it was nothing personal.  I got super sick just as we arrived in SEA (new meaning for homesick?) which le sucked. Still, it was really good for the soul to see our friends, family and kitties. So thanks to all of you who didn't shun me for my cold while I was in Seattle. Thanks, too, for not commenting constantly about my lack of a Madonna-style British accent. If you were one of the people who did make a crack about it, you get one free pass. 

Consumerism

While we were back, I marveled at how inexpensive things were, just as I remembered them to be, only now I really appreciate it. But having a more London-centric viewpoint, it seems apparent why there's so much waste and wasteful spending in the US. I spent a lot of American dollars shopping (still haven't figured out UK clothing and shoe sizes so well, let alone brands and stores I like). I also took advantage of the fact that I could actually understand the version of English being spoken, so I "spent" a lot of words, too. 

We both still miss American grocery stores and their fabulous selection. If you think that it's some kind of new, en vogue movement to buy local, seasonal food, think again. People here don't do it as a fad, they do it because it just costs too much to ship out of season produce to/from all over the place.  So you can probably find the same things you'd find in an American grocery store, but you have to search high and low for it and then pay through the nose. This means, of course, we went to Trader Joe's and did a little bit of stocking up on things like marcona almonds and hit up Peter's parents for a big bag of dried cherries.

Transportation

It wasn't all that weird to drive or ride around in a car for our main mode of transport, probably because we haven't been gone that long. But it was a mental shift to realize that we HAD to take a car to get anywhere and that we couldn't just walk for a few blocks and jump on the tube. I had no idea what gas prices are since we haven't had to fill a gas tank since we went on a trip to Shropshire with Aaron and Stacy last October. Even so, it's cheaper than it is in the UK and Europe. where you pay about the same price but for the liter.

Dentistry

Both of us went in to our respective dentist's office and had cleanings while we were back. Findings: 1) Peter has his first ever cavity. >>wah wah<< 2) The super, super hard water here will not leave mineral deposits on my teeth.**

Bathrooms

I still hate the bathrooms here with their lack of enclosed bathtub/shower space. But while traveling in the US, I missed the hot water on demand that we enjoy in our flat. On the upside, I did find a cleaning product that removes the limescale from your toilet bowl, so our toilet doesn't look all ghetto anymore.

Conclusion: I prefer American bathrooms because I can always get around the running out of hot water thing by making sure I get up before Peter. 

Balance

Finding some work-life balance for the second half of 2010 is a big priority for me right now. I'm working on a couple of personal projects. One is a one woman revolution in note writing to strangers. The other is starting a proper blog about being an expat (rather than just a place where I post my rambling irregular dispatches). I'll let you know when either project launches. I actually have a third, ongoing project that's been in the works for a few years: being less judge-y of people who are training for a Darwin Award. Aw, shit. I blew it again.

Peter is working on that, too. He's still working as a contractor for an East London design agency but is spending more focused time on his own personal projects like this one. He's also working on some more arty, web based things, which are fun.  "Multiple hot stews" came from Andy's mouth (he has a special way with words - check out his Twitter bio, which is occasionally updated, always a haiku).

Book report summary

I knew this trip would be a test of sorts to see how I felt about staying in London versus going back to Seattle at the end of August. The short version is what I suspected all along: I'm not ready to go back to Seattle just yet. Peter isn't ready to go back, either. London is still revealing itself to me, so it seems premature to end the relationship. But I do find myself beginning to understand what some other expats I know have said, which is that if we move around all the time, we'll end up not really belonging anywhere. Maybe it was an expat who coined the phrase "home is where the heart is". Maybe long term expats don't have hearts. Wait, that can't be true. Have you met Jonty? He's moved all over the world, is a pretty dang nice guy and apparently still had enough love in his heart to find and marry a very nice lady from Montana.  

By the end of our tour, I was ready to be back in London. That was in part due to not sleeping in my own bed for 2.5 weeks (not a slam on any of our very gracious hosts, but c'mon - your bed is your bed). But, more importantly, I realized I now identify London as 'home'. I haven't sorted out yet whether t's just because that's where my stuff is and there's a stranger (a pretty nice one, it turns out - we met him!) living in our Seattle house. Or maybe it's because it's been the backdrop for the routine of my life for the last several months. Or because we left and everyone had babies (if I made a graph of the number of friends who had babies around when/after we moved, it would point to a serious explosion in fertility rates amongst our friends). I'm not sure. What I do know is that when we got back to London, things looked familiar and felt comfortable, just like they did while we were in the States. And while I miss my friends, I kind of like getting to know my inner introvert (no, I don't think that's redundant) while in London. I stopped seeing my little (half) circle of friends as such a limiting, detractor of quality of life in London and am starting to see it more as freedom to be self indulgent for a while. But without having visited with some of my good friends and family back in the States, this wouldn't be possible, because, in the back of my mind, I know I have you peeps to call on. You're my foundation, so thanks for that!

I know you're all still wondering if we're going to stay here past the end of August.  That's still in development, so stay tuned for an update on how much longer we'll be here. You'll be the second to know, I promise.

xo,

L

 

*Don't quote me on this. I am not, and do not wish to be, a CPA, tax attorney or any other kind of financial advisor. I think I need more shoes. 

** I'm not sure I really believe the dental hygienist.