Reflections after 2,5 weeks
Happy New Year to all my dear friends!
Time has just flown on this side. There is so much to do and the days are just not long enough to fit everything in that has to be done. I must admit that it's not too stressful! There is far too much tea drinking and socializing in between the errands.
Here are my thoughts on our situation after this brief period of time:
Positives:
* James is having an absolute ball! He plays outside from morning till night. He knows all the dogs' names and feeds them copious amounts of biscuit treats (so he's a real favourite with them too). He feeds the koi fish with my Dad. He has not worn shoes since we arrived, except for brief forays into the mall - which he hates! :)
His speaking has developed in leaps and bounds. He is saying "me" now, which for us is a major milestone, as in "doggie lick me".
It is wonderful and heartwarming to see how he is thriving.
* We have a HOUSE!! More about that later.
* Having a family support structure for us and James. Even when dealing with things as simple as getting a gardener. (Yes, we have a gardener - YIPPEEEE!)
*Summer weather.
*South African food. I had THE most delicious salad yesterday with litchis and chicken and real tomatoes.
* I feel much more confident asserting myself here than I did in the States. Probably has something to do with insecurities about my accent there. And those of you who were witness to my rantings about "not belonging" in the US - my hips and butt fit in perfectly in South African society these days. :)
* Clothes shopping while Mom looks after James and then meeting the family for lunch at Mugg and Bean! I am a spoilt chicken at the moment and enjoying every minute!
Negatives:
* Arrrggggghhhh! Can I say frustrating bureaucracy? Opening bank accounts, cell phones, getting temp driver's licences etc are all interesting experiences. We have had to mostly rely on "not what you know but whom.." when dealing with all these admin details. For example, we have a home loan with Std Bank, but they wouldn't open a cheque account for us. Had to go through my Dad's contacts there and Msft had to get our cell phones for us. (BTW, I have a bright pink cell phone now - I can hear you all chuckling). On the plus side, everyone is most friendly (maybe has to do with just having been on holiday). The sales people or consultants joke in a very familiar way, which would be totally frowned upon in the US.
* I have not once felt unsafe here, but there is definitely an undercurrent of "being careful." I can't just string my bag across the back of my chair in a restaurant - I have to put it under the leg of the chair and under the seat in the car. Before we can move into our house we have to put up a 6 foot wall, otherwise we just couldn't move in.
* Enjoy the selection of stuff in the US! Shopping for Christmas presents for James was dismal.
-----------------------------
I know we are still in the euphoric stage of life here and it will certainly get much harder as time progresses! We are under no illusions, I promise you. But I am feeling very positive. I do think it will take a huge amount of time to reintegrate with our friends here because we are on such different pages. I think it helps that we are all starting or have just started families. Anyway, what I'm getting at by saying this is that I miss you guys. You are all so special.
Time has just flown on this side. There is so much to do and the days are just not long enough to fit everything in that has to be done. I must admit that it's not too stressful! There is far too much tea drinking and socializing in between the errands.
Here are my thoughts on our situation after this brief period of time:
Positives:
* James is having an absolute ball! He plays outside from morning till night. He knows all the dogs' names and feeds them copious amounts of biscuit treats (so he's a real favourite with them too). He feeds the koi fish with my Dad. He has not worn shoes since we arrived, except for brief forays into the mall - which he hates! :)
His speaking has developed in leaps and bounds. He is saying "me" now, which for us is a major milestone, as in "doggie lick me".
It is wonderful and heartwarming to see how he is thriving.
* We have a HOUSE!! More about that later.
* Having a family support structure for us and James. Even when dealing with things as simple as getting a gardener. (Yes, we have a gardener - YIPPEEEE!)
*Summer weather.
*South African food. I had THE most delicious salad yesterday with litchis and chicken and real tomatoes.
* I feel much more confident asserting myself here than I did in the States. Probably has something to do with insecurities about my accent there. And those of you who were witness to my rantings about "not belonging" in the US - my hips and butt fit in perfectly in South African society these days. :)
* Clothes shopping while Mom looks after James and then meeting the family for lunch at Mugg and Bean! I am a spoilt chicken at the moment and enjoying every minute!
Negatives:
* Arrrggggghhhh! Can I say frustrating bureaucracy? Opening bank accounts, cell phones, getting temp driver's licences etc are all interesting experiences. We have had to mostly rely on "not what you know but whom.." when dealing with all these admin details. For example, we have a home loan with Std Bank, but they wouldn't open a cheque account for us. Had to go through my Dad's contacts there and Msft had to get our cell phones for us. (BTW, I have a bright pink cell phone now - I can hear you all chuckling). On the plus side, everyone is most friendly (maybe has to do with just having been on holiday). The sales people or consultants joke in a very familiar way, which would be totally frowned upon in the US.
* I have not once felt unsafe here, but there is definitely an undercurrent of "being careful." I can't just string my bag across the back of my chair in a restaurant - I have to put it under the leg of the chair and under the seat in the car. Before we can move into our house we have to put up a 6 foot wall, otherwise we just couldn't move in.
* Enjoy the selection of stuff in the US! Shopping for Christmas presents for James was dismal.
-----------------------------
I know we are still in the euphoric stage of life here and it will certainly get much harder as time progresses! We are under no illusions, I promise you. But I am feeling very positive. I do think it will take a huge amount of time to reintegrate with our friends here because we are on such different pages. I think it helps that we are all starting or have just started families. Anyway, what I'm getting at by saying this is that I miss you guys. You are all so special.
posted by Jules@home | 8:06 am
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