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Published: March 4th 2008
With just a few weeks to go, moving is now a reality that can’t be ignored or dodged. Yesterday, we organized our container, which will be filled with our belongings and shipped off to the United Arab Emirates. According to the customs information, prohibited items include alcoholic beverages and anything of Israeli origin. Religious material needs prior approval from the Ministry. Since a large part of our shipment will be made up of the Toddler’s toys, books and his Thomas the Tank Engine table, I’m pretty confident that our container won’t raise any suspicions at customs (though they may think that we’re going to flood the market with matchbox cars).
Our house is also being shown to potential renters - a process that here in America involves keeping your house immaculate (a big joke with a two-year-old in residence) and vacating the premises when people are being shown round. When we were house hunting, I loved nosing around other people’s spotless homes, but now that the tables are turned, it’s quite a challenge. Half an hour before a viewing - as the Toddler throws his lunch on the floor and disassembles the sofa to make a trampoline - I’m in
a complete spin. Then we have to evacuate pronto before our agent and her client arrive. It’s not like the Toddler and I can just go out for a coffee, so I have to think of a plan that’ll keep him entertained and me sane.
As fast as I can pack a box, the Toddler unpacks it. His helpfulness knows no bounds these days, and the same can be said for his independence (aka stubbornness). He answers nearly everything he’s asked with a resounding no. “Max, do you want to do your most favourite thing ever?” “NO” I even heard him utter a resolute NO in his sleep the other night. “Max do it” is another refrain we hear a lot - like when we get in the car and he wants to do his seat belt up by himself, making us even later than we already are. I’ve made a little bit of progress in our running battle over wearing clothes by letting him choose his outfit. This means he goes out plastered in as many car, truck or train motifs as possible - if I let him, he’d wear his Thomas the Tank engine pajamas everywhere we
go.
Farewell America
Wide-open spaces, drive-thrus, doggy bags - there’s so much about America I’m going to miss. I used to think a two-hour drive was a long time to be in the car, then I got introduced to the concept of the “road trip”. Our 14-hour drive from Florida to my in-laws’ home in Virginia took us past such delights as America’s second biggest ball of yarn. Driving is actually far more pleasurable here than in the U.K., due in part to the feeling of freedom you get when travelling on the open road, across states that are bigger than Britain.
My request for “something small” to drive when we first moved to the Mid West morphed into a desire for a spacious, gas-guzzling SUV (actually, it’s not too bad!), and, in fact, when we get to Dubai I’m hoping for something tank-like as the roads look busy and horrible.
I’ll miss the seasons, even the wide variations in temperature. Here in Minnesota the seasonal extreme can vary by as much as 150 degrees F. The sweltering hot summer gives way to the brilliant red and gold hues of Fall, followed by four or five months
of snow on the ground. Cross-country and down-hill ski-ing, ice-skating and snow-shoeing are just some of the activities that Minnesotans keenly partake in during the long winter months. I even took ice skating lessons myself and, pre-Max, would take myself off to a frozen pond to practise. But I was no Jayne Torvill, and though I learnt to swizzle, I was put off by the six-year-olds who could pirhouette.
With such a wide temperature range, it’s just a different way of life here. In the summer, you shut your windows and crank up the air conditioning. Then in winter, you ditch coats you thought were warm in England and buy fleece-lined mountain gear and start warming up your car 10 minutes before you plan to leave.
I’ll also miss the random conversations you get into with strangers here. It took me a couple of years to shed my Britishness and not feel embarrassed when strangers started talking to me, but now I talk right back! By the same token, I’ll miss being asked about my accent - my best asset here, apparently! Not a week goes by without someone commenting, and I’ve lost count of the number of
times I’ve been asked if I’m from Australia. When I was having my C-section, the anaesthetist even asked me if I knew his mate in London. We’re curious to see what accent the Toddler develops - funnily, I think he sounds Australian every now and then.
There’s no doubt that portion sizes in restaurants here are huge and we’re continually tempted by ‘King size’ burgers, ‘Meal Deals’ and ‘Triple pack’ sandwiches. While researching this subject, I discovered that, over the past 30 years, pasta servings have increased by 500%, muffins by 333% and chocolate chip cookies by a whopping 700%! Parlour-bought milkshakes and ice creams can contain more fat and calories than burgers, and as if coronaries in cones weren’t bad enough, some single desserts provide two days’ worth of saturated fat! Still, eating out here is a real bargain as you can put your left-overs (often half the meal) in a box to take home. The Toddler’s favourite restaurant is an all-you-can-eat buffet and we like it, too, as it’s so quick and he can combine his favourite foods (fries and grapes) to his heart’s content. If supersizing of restaurant portions has any British readers worried, it’s true
- if oversized and over here doesn't apply already, it will soon.
For a short time, we were part of America’s 45 million who don’t have access to health insurance - an experience I wouldn’t want to repeat and a situation that needs to be sorted out urgently. Once we did get medical coverage, we were treated to hospitals with waterfalls and private rooms with tellys, etc. Even our cats had amazing healthcare here, though sometimes it felt a bit too good - like when the vet told us the cat had an ear infection (as though the Toddler’s 10 or more ear infections weren’t enough), and the time when George, who has a habit of eating out, got sick after munching on a mouse past its sell-by date, costing us a thousand bucks in emergency vet fees. The phone call the next day from the vet asking us how George is feeling is very nice, and all, but it was really our bank account that was suffering by then.
The “can-do” attitude here really is quite amazing. If I wanted a cinema-screen and bouncy castle installed in our basement by Monday, I could probably do it. Hourly
daycare for the kids? No problem - Club Kid takes care of that. Heating or air conditioning broken? Someone will come out to fix it that same day. If I wanted, I could grocery shop at 3 in the morning. Your bags are packed with a smile, and you don’t even have to carry them - I can just get in the car and “drive up”, then sit back while someone loads up the “trunk”. Convenience rules and the service is usually good. I just heard about a pet adoption service that even matches the animal’s personality to the potential owner’s! All this comes at a high price, though - Americans work really, really hard, averaging only about two weeks vacation a year.
With so little time off, it’s actually understandable that Americans don’t travel as much as Brits. With the exception of Canada and Mexico, the U.S. is so far away from everywhere. In fact, Paris seems exotic now. Plus, every landscape you could possibly want to see, from desert to beaches to snow-capped mountains, can be found within America’s borders. We’ve visited some wonderful places while living here - I’ll let the photos speak for themselves and
get back to the packing!
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Linda
non-member comment
Moving on
Dear Marianne, You write so well, I can picture the scenes you're describing. The bit about being later than you already are made me laugh! I seem incapable of leaving the house on time anymore. I used to be really punctual. I love America too and have fond memories of several holidays. I'm interested to see if you become a mum when you're not in America (as opposed to mom!) I'm looking forward to hearing about Dubai. Wow, what an experience that's going to be. Thanks for all the photos of America, they really sum up the different places. Good luck with the rest of your packing and please have a giant burger with extra large fries for me before you leave! love Linda x