So our first Thanksgiving as a family has come and gone. I felt a little disingenuous telling people at work that it was my first Thanksgiving in America, but given that the first one was 13 years ago when our relationship was but a few months old, and I hadn't realized the significance of the dates that I had bought the tickets for, I still think I get to count this year as my first.
The actual day ran as I thought it would. I spent the morning cooking stuffed mushrooms and an apple crumble (got to bring something British to the table, and I wasn't sure how well crumpets and marmite would have been received) and we went over to my wife's parents place for an afternoon of family, food and fun.
It was delightful to see Jake as a play leader with his cousins; most family get togethers previously have seen him stick closely to me or my wife, even with the temptation of similarly aged playmates nearby. However, this time, from the moment we got there, he ran off and started playing, even leading the charge to go outside and run around in the cold. Maybe it was that he finally felt comfortable around them, or maybe it's because we spent 6 months at their house so he felt at home there, but in either case, it was great to see him so confident around other children, and we're looking into ways to get the cousins together again.
Sophie was a cheery delight as always, and as she's getting her walking under control, it's great fun to watch her toddle around. She's much more sociable than Jake was at this age, and is happy being passed from person to person with her big hair and even bigger smile always attached to her face. She seems to have developed a lot in the last couple of months, which may just be her age, or in part due to her new day care, but she's definitely entering toddlerdom with enthusiasm, playing games and doing things because she finds them funny. Whilst 2 kids is a lot of work sometimes, there are days, like on Thanksgiving, that we are able to bask in their joyfulness and simplicity.
Every year (up until a couple of years back) we held a Thanksgiving party in the UK for our friends. What started out as a small dinner party to stop my wife feeling quite so homesick in her first year in the UK evolved into a big house party that brought our friends back to Leeds from the far flung corners of the country that they had moved to. The food moved from a full turkey dinner to a bring your own dish pot luck, so it was strange to see a very set menu (turkey, ham, mash potato, stuffing) that is the apparent staple of New England Thanksgiving. My offer of a chicken pot pie was shot down as being the wrong food, which opened my eyes to the deep-rooted traditions that American holidays seem to have. Having said that, I will never turn a good meal, even though it was missing Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes...maybe for next year.
The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving were always tough in our household, as my wife would always get homesick (to a greater or lesser extent depending on how things were going) as she knew the rest of her family were getting together for this big set piece celebration that she wouldn't be part of. After a few years, she wouldn't even call in to the party as she didn't wanted to be reminded of her absence, so our UK Thanksgiving was always a welcome distraction. This year, it was my turn to feel homesick. It was quite unexpected, and took a couple of conversations between me and my wife to work out what was making me feel sad and grumpy. I think it took so long because there is no party going on that we were missing out on, and life back in Leeds would look and feel very different if we were to move back. I'm also incredibly happy here with the life that we are forging for ourselves, so I think homesickness is the wrong word. Maybe wistful nostalgia is a better definition, as thinking and remembering Thanksgiving past brings to full light the fact that for all the positives of being here, we left a lot of good strong friendships behind, and that it takes a long time for new friends to become old friends (to quote my mother). The world is made smaller through Facebook, Whatsapp and email, but there is something lost in not being able to see each other real time, going round for dinner or just hanging out. The age and the strength of our friendships will mean that we will find ways to make them work, but I think my brain associates Thanksgiving with seeing friends old and new and I miss them.
Homesickness also feels like the wrong word because it implies that home is still the UK. I don't think I've yet to work out where home truly is, or whether it has to be in one place only, but home definitely revolves around my wife and Jake and Sophie, so home is here. Saying I'm homesick makes it sound like we're just here on a long vacation, and while our plan was always to move back to the US at some point (even though many people didn't think it would ever happen!), now that we're here, there's no plan to return to the UK permanently any time soon. So maybe it's that I'm missing the important people in our life as we adjust, and that maybe each November will be tough. But I'm thankful for our time in the UK and for our new life here in New Hampshire and the friends and family that we have there and here. They have helped make us the family that we are today, and for that I am truly thankful.
Tuesday 29 November 2016
Tuesday 22 November 2016
Swimming
One of the many changes that moving our whole lifestyle to another country has brought about is the ability and desire to make other changes to our lives. Yes, a lot of it feels the same, like cooking family dinners and working in schools, but the option of doing things differently feels much more real now. For example, I now live less than a 10 minute drive from the trailhead of my favorite hike, and have already been to the summit half a dozen times since we've been here. Hiking was something that was never on our radar in the UK unless we went to the Lake District.
All of this ruminating on change brings me to swimming. I always talked about how I used to swim competitively as a kid (up to the age of 16) and indeed I'm still in touch with some of my swim club buddies on Facebook. I've religiously carried around all the medals that I won during my youth (now all knotted and tangled) and more interestingly my PB book which my mum kept for me, with all of my best times. I toyed with the Leeds Masters a couple of times, but our lifestyle never seemed to suit a return to swimming, and our behaviour patterns as a married couple got a bit more set as time went by. I still maintained a dream somewhere of going back to the pool and working on my PB (for a year or so, my password for non-essential accounts referenced my 100m freestyle goal)
When we moved here, I started looking for ways to get back into shape. I had used the parkrun 5k runs in Leeds as a way of maintaining my fitness and keeping in touch with friends (indeed, Facebook keeps prodding me with memories of me and Jake in a running stroller), but after Jake was too big and we had Sophie, I found finding time for exercise to be tricky. The idea of swimming came back to me when Jake picked up my box of medals and asked me about them, so I told him about swim meets.
A bit of online research later took me to Great Bay Masters, and the glory that is Amazon provided a new pair of swimming shorts (no more Speedos for me!) and a good pair of goggles. Thus armed, I went to my first session at the Jenny Thompson outdoor pool in Dover one Sunday morning. I didn't realise it's a 50m length (my least favourite kind of pool) and that this was a serious swimming team. I think I lasted around 1500m before I couldn't take it any more, and my poor muscles ached for days after, especially those that hadn't had a serious workout since 1998.
I think I surprised our coach when I came back the following week given how miserable I must have looked getting out of the pool the first time. Despite one bad case of sunburn (who knew you needed to wear sun cream when swimming outside in 30 degree sunshine!), I managed to make a few appearances over the tail end of the summer, but started to pick up my game once school started. I'm now training twice a week (for the most part) and have even invested in a pair of fins as they seem to get used in just about every session.
The biggest shock that I've had is how bad my stroke was. When I was a lifeguard in New York in the PBE and PKE, I took advantage of a local swimming coaching course, part of which taught us how to do each stroke "perfectly". I've been using this as the basis for coaching a lot of my friends and family, but in the intervening 13 years, strokes have changed and my coach at Great Bay has worked with me on a lot of different bad habits and ideas that were slowing me down. I remember returning to swimming for a while, only for a familiar shoulder pain to stop me after a few sessions. With my stroke corrected, my shoulder pain has gone and I can feel myself becoming fitter and stronger with each passing week.
I had forgotten how much I love the sensation of my body moving quickly through the water. Whenever I've been splashing around in a pool or lake, I always feel at home in the water, but it wasn't until we started doing short sprints that I realised how good it feels and the thrill of trying to beat a time (whether it's set by yourself or a coach). I've managed to get myself down to just under 14 seconds for 25 yards on a good day, so we'll see if I can keep that pace up over 100 yards!
The next big meet is on 10/11 December, and I'm still trying to work out if I want to enter or not. It's a long way away in Massachusetts and the timing means that I'd be swimming in mid-afternoon, leaving my wife with the kids for the majority of the day. I may wait for something closer to home to re-enter competitive swimming, but when I do, keep your eyes on here for my progress!
All of this ruminating on change brings me to swimming. I always talked about how I used to swim competitively as a kid (up to the age of 16) and indeed I'm still in touch with some of my swim club buddies on Facebook. I've religiously carried around all the medals that I won during my youth (now all knotted and tangled) and more interestingly my PB book which my mum kept for me, with all of my best times. I toyed with the Leeds Masters a couple of times, but our lifestyle never seemed to suit a return to swimming, and our behaviour patterns as a married couple got a bit more set as time went by. I still maintained a dream somewhere of going back to the pool and working on my PB (for a year or so, my password for non-essential accounts referenced my 100m freestyle goal)
When we moved here, I started looking for ways to get back into shape. I had used the parkrun 5k runs in Leeds as a way of maintaining my fitness and keeping in touch with friends (indeed, Facebook keeps prodding me with memories of me and Jake in a running stroller), but after Jake was too big and we had Sophie, I found finding time for exercise to be tricky. The idea of swimming came back to me when Jake picked up my box of medals and asked me about them, so I told him about swim meets.
A bit of online research later took me to Great Bay Masters, and the glory that is Amazon provided a new pair of swimming shorts (no more Speedos for me!) and a good pair of goggles. Thus armed, I went to my first session at the Jenny Thompson outdoor pool in Dover one Sunday morning. I didn't realise it's a 50m length (my least favourite kind of pool) and that this was a serious swimming team. I think I lasted around 1500m before I couldn't take it any more, and my poor muscles ached for days after, especially those that hadn't had a serious workout since 1998.
I think I surprised our coach when I came back the following week given how miserable I must have looked getting out of the pool the first time. Despite one bad case of sunburn (who knew you needed to wear sun cream when swimming outside in 30 degree sunshine!), I managed to make a few appearances over the tail end of the summer, but started to pick up my game once school started. I'm now training twice a week (for the most part) and have even invested in a pair of fins as they seem to get used in just about every session.
The biggest shock that I've had is how bad my stroke was. When I was a lifeguard in New York in the PBE and PKE, I took advantage of a local swimming coaching course, part of which taught us how to do each stroke "perfectly". I've been using this as the basis for coaching a lot of my friends and family, but in the intervening 13 years, strokes have changed and my coach at Great Bay has worked with me on a lot of different bad habits and ideas that were slowing me down. I remember returning to swimming for a while, only for a familiar shoulder pain to stop me after a few sessions. With my stroke corrected, my shoulder pain has gone and I can feel myself becoming fitter and stronger with each passing week.
I had forgotten how much I love the sensation of my body moving quickly through the water. Whenever I've been splashing around in a pool or lake, I always feel at home in the water, but it wasn't until we started doing short sprints that I realised how good it feels and the thrill of trying to beat a time (whether it's set by yourself or a coach). I've managed to get myself down to just under 14 seconds for 25 yards on a good day, so we'll see if I can keep that pace up over 100 yards!
The next big meet is on 10/11 December, and I'm still trying to work out if I want to enter or not. It's a long way away in Massachusetts and the timing means that I'd be swimming in mid-afternoon, leaving my wife with the kids for the majority of the day. I may wait for something closer to home to re-enter competitive swimming, but when I do, keep your eyes on here for my progress!
Wednesday 9 November 2016
Elections
Yikes. 2 months since my last post. So much has changed since the start of September that I need to update this blog before the year that it was intended to mark runs out. However, with the results of the US election now in, I want to get down some of my thoughts and feelings as a way of dealing with them.
2016 has been a tough year for me, politically. In June, I watched in despair as lies, fear and frustration ruled in the Brexit vote, and it's only now becoming clear what an absolute mess the whole situation is. None of the key players are still around to be held accountable for their actions, the country has been given a Prime Minister who hasn't been voted for and the entire Brexit process seems to be one unending shambles. The hardest part, I thought at the time, was that there was no one really here who I could explain my sadness to. I'm a hearty believer in unity, so I was always going to be pro European, and the vote to leave it signaled a change in society that I couldn't fathom. It was at that time that I felt a long way from my friends and family, and I'm still not sure I've been able to talk through it properly. People over here were curious, but my conversations would only last a few lines before I could see them ready to move on.
Last night, I again watched in horror as lies, fear and frustration won the US election and I've spent today in a sort of fugue, easily distracted by work, but every now again realizing the situation the electorate has put everyone in. The Brexit part of my brain tries to square things off by saying that it will all work out in the end, and that we need to pull together, but when I look at the Republican President, Senate, Congress and Supreme Court, so many progressive ideals that I hold dear, like marriage equality, universal affordable healthcare and welfare, are in immediate if the rhetoric of the winner's campaign is anything to go by. I thought it would be better here as I'd have people to talk to about it, but today has been hard because I've found myself deliberately not wanting to discuss, at least with anyone who doesn't hold the same passion for change. I think it's that deep sense of loss and sadness at the direction society seems to be taking that hurts the most, and discussing and dealing with that hurt will take a long time to reconcile.
Of course, there is the possibility that the President Elect's statements of being "for all Americans" will be true and he will somehow change into a healing force. I dream that this could be true, but nothing I saw in the campaign makes me believe that he will act in anyone's best interests but himself and those like, and that when it comes to hard tasks like "draining the swamp", fixing the economy, dealing with complex foreign situations or trying to heal the racial divides, he simply won't be up to the task, and won't have surrounded himself with people equipped to do anything but muddy the waters further.
The discussions amongst my friends and family, both in the UK and US, have been those of disbelief, of sadness and of fear for the future. The one glimmer of hope came from an article entitled How do we tell the children which, being a 4th grade teacher and a parent of 2, was one of my major concerns of the campaign. The article is a call to arms to spread the messages of standing up to hate, fighting bigotry, how to engage in productive political discussions and how to build a united community. Among all the pain today, this article gave me hope that all is not lost.
My email signature reads "Every thousand mile journey begins with a single step". A student asked me today at school why I have this on every email I send him. My response to him felt even more pertinent today when I told him that every big change has to start somewhere, and it starts with one person making choices; choosing to unite instead of divide, choosing to teach acceptance over fear, and choosing love over hate. That person is me, and every person who out there feeling my pain. Together, we can do something to bring about a brighter tomorrow and we can start today.
2016 has been a tough year for me, politically. In June, I watched in despair as lies, fear and frustration ruled in the Brexit vote, and it's only now becoming clear what an absolute mess the whole situation is. None of the key players are still around to be held accountable for their actions, the country has been given a Prime Minister who hasn't been voted for and the entire Brexit process seems to be one unending shambles. The hardest part, I thought at the time, was that there was no one really here who I could explain my sadness to. I'm a hearty believer in unity, so I was always going to be pro European, and the vote to leave it signaled a change in society that I couldn't fathom. It was at that time that I felt a long way from my friends and family, and I'm still not sure I've been able to talk through it properly. People over here were curious, but my conversations would only last a few lines before I could see them ready to move on.
Last night, I again watched in horror as lies, fear and frustration won the US election and I've spent today in a sort of fugue, easily distracted by work, but every now again realizing the situation the electorate has put everyone in. The Brexit part of my brain tries to square things off by saying that it will all work out in the end, and that we need to pull together, but when I look at the Republican President, Senate, Congress and Supreme Court, so many progressive ideals that I hold dear, like marriage equality, universal affordable healthcare and welfare, are in immediate if the rhetoric of the winner's campaign is anything to go by. I thought it would be better here as I'd have people to talk to about it, but today has been hard because I've found myself deliberately not wanting to discuss, at least with anyone who doesn't hold the same passion for change. I think it's that deep sense of loss and sadness at the direction society seems to be taking that hurts the most, and discussing and dealing with that hurt will take a long time to reconcile.
Of course, there is the possibility that the President Elect's statements of being "for all Americans" will be true and he will somehow change into a healing force. I dream that this could be true, but nothing I saw in the campaign makes me believe that he will act in anyone's best interests but himself and those like, and that when it comes to hard tasks like "draining the swamp", fixing the economy, dealing with complex foreign situations or trying to heal the racial divides, he simply won't be up to the task, and won't have surrounded himself with people equipped to do anything but muddy the waters further.
The discussions amongst my friends and family, both in the UK and US, have been those of disbelief, of sadness and of fear for the future. The one glimmer of hope came from an article entitled How do we tell the children which, being a 4th grade teacher and a parent of 2, was one of my major concerns of the campaign. The article is a call to arms to spread the messages of standing up to hate, fighting bigotry, how to engage in productive political discussions and how to build a united community. Among all the pain today, this article gave me hope that all is not lost.
My email signature reads "Every thousand mile journey begins with a single step". A student asked me today at school why I have this on every email I send him. My response to him felt even more pertinent today when I told him that every big change has to start somewhere, and it starts with one person making choices; choosing to unite instead of divide, choosing to teach acceptance over fear, and choosing love over hate. That person is me, and every person who out there feeling my pain. Together, we can do something to bring about a brighter tomorrow and we can start today.
Elections
Yikes. 2 months since my last post. So much has changed since the start of September that I need to update this blog before the year that it was intended to mark runs out. However, with the results of the US election now in, I want to get down some of my thoughts and feelings as a way of dealing with them.
2016 has been a tough year for me, politically. In June, I watched in despair as lies, fear and frustration ruled in the Brexit vote, and it's only now becoming clear what an absolute mess the whole situation is. None of the key players are still around to be held accountable for their actions, the country has been given a Prime Minister who hasn't been voted for and the entire Brexit process seems to be one unending shambles. The hardest part, I thought at the time, was that there was no one really here who I could explain my sadness to. I'm a hearty believer in unity, so I was always going to be pro European, and the vote to leave it signaled a change in society that I couldn't fathom. It was at that time that I felt a long way from my friends and family, and I'm still not sure I've been able to talk through it properly. People over here were curious, but my conversations would only last a few lines before I could see them ready to move on.
Last night, I again watched in horror as lies, fear and frustration won the US election and I've spent today in a sort of fugue, easily distracted by work, but every now again realizing the situation the electorate has put everyone in. The Brexit part of my brain tries to square things off by saying that it will all work out in the end, and that we need to pull together, but when I look at the Republican President, Senate, Congress and Supreme Court, so many progressive ideals that I hold dear, like marriage equality, universal affordable healthcare and welfare, are in immediate if the rhetoric of the winner's campaign is anything to go by. I thought it would be better here as I'd have people to talk to about it, but today has been hard because I've found myself deliberately not wanting to discuss, at least with anyone who doesn't hold the same passion for change. I think it's that deep sense of loss and sadness at the direction society seems to be taking that hurts the most, and discussing and dealing with that hurt will take a long time to reconcile.
Of course, there is the possibility that the President Elect's statements of being "for all Americans" will be true and he will somehow change into a healing force. I dream that this could be true, but nothing I saw in the campaign makes me believe that he will act in anyone's best interests but himself and those like, and that when it comes to hard tasks like "draining the swamp", fixing the economy, dealing with complex foreign situations, trying to heal the racial divides, he simply won't be up to the task, and won't have surrounded himself with people equipped to do anything but muddy the waters further.
The discussions amongst my friends and family, both in the UK and US, have been those of disbelief, of sadness and of fear for the future. The one glimmer of hope came from an article entitled How do we tell the children which, being a 4th grade teacher and a parent of 2, was one of my major concerns of the campaign. The article is a call to arms to spread the messages of standing up to hate, fighting bigotry, how to engage in productive political discussions and how to build a united community. Among all the pain today, this article gave me hope that all is not lost.
My email signature reads "Every thousand mile journey begins with a single step". A student asked me today at school why I have this on every email I send him. My response to him felt even more pertinent today when I told him that every big change has to start somewhere, and it starts with one person making choices; choosing to unite instead of divide, choosing to teach acceptance over fear, and choosing love over hate. That person is me, and every person who out there feeling my pain. Together, we can do something to bring about a brighter tomorrow and we can start today.
2016 has been a tough year for me, politically. In June, I watched in despair as lies, fear and frustration ruled in the Brexit vote, and it's only now becoming clear what an absolute mess the whole situation is. None of the key players are still around to be held accountable for their actions, the country has been given a Prime Minister who hasn't been voted for and the entire Brexit process seems to be one unending shambles. The hardest part, I thought at the time, was that there was no one really here who I could explain my sadness to. I'm a hearty believer in unity, so I was always going to be pro European, and the vote to leave it signaled a change in society that I couldn't fathom. It was at that time that I felt a long way from my friends and family, and I'm still not sure I've been able to talk through it properly. People over here were curious, but my conversations would only last a few lines before I could see them ready to move on.
Last night, I again watched in horror as lies, fear and frustration won the US election and I've spent today in a sort of fugue, easily distracted by work, but every now again realizing the situation the electorate has put everyone in. The Brexit part of my brain tries to square things off by saying that it will all work out in the end, and that we need to pull together, but when I look at the Republican President, Senate, Congress and Supreme Court, so many progressive ideals that I hold dear, like marriage equality, universal affordable healthcare and welfare, are in immediate if the rhetoric of the winner's campaign is anything to go by. I thought it would be better here as I'd have people to talk to about it, but today has been hard because I've found myself deliberately not wanting to discuss, at least with anyone who doesn't hold the same passion for change. I think it's that deep sense of loss and sadness at the direction society seems to be taking that hurts the most, and discussing and dealing with that hurt will take a long time to reconcile.
Of course, there is the possibility that the President Elect's statements of being "for all Americans" will be true and he will somehow change into a healing force. I dream that this could be true, but nothing I saw in the campaign makes me believe that he will act in anyone's best interests but himself and those like, and that when it comes to hard tasks like "draining the swamp", fixing the economy, dealing with complex foreign situations, trying to heal the racial divides, he simply won't be up to the task, and won't have surrounded himself with people equipped to do anything but muddy the waters further.
The discussions amongst my friends and family, both in the UK and US, have been those of disbelief, of sadness and of fear for the future. The one glimmer of hope came from an article entitled How do we tell the children which, being a 4th grade teacher and a parent of 2, was one of my major concerns of the campaign. The article is a call to arms to spread the messages of standing up to hate, fighting bigotry, how to engage in productive political discussions and how to build a united community. Among all the pain today, this article gave me hope that all is not lost.
My email signature reads "Every thousand mile journey begins with a single step". A student asked me today at school why I have this on every email I send him. My response to him felt even more pertinent today when I told him that every big change has to start somewhere, and it starts with one person making choices; choosing to unite instead of divide, choosing to teach acceptance over fear, and choosing love over hate. That person is me, and every person who out there feeling my pain. Together, we can do something to bring about a brighter tomorrow and we can start today.
Tuesday 6 September 2016
Daycare - revisited
I hadn't intended to post twice in a day, but a) the Red Sox are playing late in California and b) I was scanning through my previous posts and wanted to keep up to date with the news of our first year over here.
Everything was seemingly OK with the kids daycare, until 2 things happened. The first was that Sophie's main teacher made it clear to us that she felt she was struggling to make a relationship with Sophie. This became more apparent by her lack of enthusiasm when greeting Sophie in the morning, and when discussing her at pick up. Now Sophie can sometimes be picky about who she wants to be held by, especially when tired first thing in the morning, but she's a happy kid on the whole and has a thousand-watt smile that is hard to resist. This rang some alarm bells.
The second difficulty was a letter we received home, written in the owner's inimitably confusing style, which concluded with the brief statements that the centre would close at 5pm and that the fees (which we already felt were high) were to be increased by 5% in September. Given that we'd already had some trouble being late for 5.15, the early closure would mean even higher fees.
This meant that we were on the market for a new daycare. Whilst my parents were visiting, we drove through the town where my school is and we spotted a daycare literally on the other side of the road to my school. I investigated and found that it had spaces. It also felt much more like Jake's daycare back in Leeds, with plenty of kid artwork on the wall, small seats even in the infant section and lots of toys in the outdoor areas. The best part is that they feed her as part of the fees!
More tricky to organize was Jake. We're moving to a town with just under 4000 people, and one school that runs the gamut from K - 8, so daycare options there are limited. We were keen to have him start there, however, as this time next year he'll be starting kindergarten (given the spate of "first day at Reception" photos I've seen on Facebook, I feel quite relieved that he's got another year before formal schooling starts). Eventually we found an in-home care which also runs the before and after school care at Strafford school. Not only will Jake get good pre-k support, but he'll also start visiting school as part of this club in January, meaning that he'll already have an idea of where his kindergarten is and who will be in his class.
All of this has taken some time to organise, including who will drop off and pick up the kids on different days. However, the benefits include: Me leaving my classroom at 4.55 and cuddling Sophie at 5.00, no time limits on picking either kid up and no charges for not attending over the summer vacation. We should end up saving a bit of money in the short run, and even more when they turn 2 and 5 next summer. Going on vacation to Europe will suddenly save us $450 a week! Both kids seem to be enjoying the transition, and Sophie even gave her keyworker a cuddle this morning instead of screaming the house down. Watch this space for more developments in the future, but we think we've found a good system that works.
Everything was seemingly OK with the kids daycare, until 2 things happened. The first was that Sophie's main teacher made it clear to us that she felt she was struggling to make a relationship with Sophie. This became more apparent by her lack of enthusiasm when greeting Sophie in the morning, and when discussing her at pick up. Now Sophie can sometimes be picky about who she wants to be held by, especially when tired first thing in the morning, but she's a happy kid on the whole and has a thousand-watt smile that is hard to resist. This rang some alarm bells.
The second difficulty was a letter we received home, written in the owner's inimitably confusing style, which concluded with the brief statements that the centre would close at 5pm and that the fees (which we already felt were high) were to be increased by 5% in September. Given that we'd already had some trouble being late for 5.15, the early closure would mean even higher fees.
This meant that we were on the market for a new daycare. Whilst my parents were visiting, we drove through the town where my school is and we spotted a daycare literally on the other side of the road to my school. I investigated and found that it had spaces. It also felt much more like Jake's daycare back in Leeds, with plenty of kid artwork on the wall, small seats even in the infant section and lots of toys in the outdoor areas. The best part is that they feed her as part of the fees!
More tricky to organize was Jake. We're moving to a town with just under 4000 people, and one school that runs the gamut from K - 8, so daycare options there are limited. We were keen to have him start there, however, as this time next year he'll be starting kindergarten (given the spate of "first day at Reception" photos I've seen on Facebook, I feel quite relieved that he's got another year before formal schooling starts). Eventually we found an in-home care which also runs the before and after school care at Strafford school. Not only will Jake get good pre-k support, but he'll also start visiting school as part of this club in January, meaning that he'll already have an idea of where his kindergarten is and who will be in his class.
All of this has taken some time to organise, including who will drop off and pick up the kids on different days. However, the benefits include: Me leaving my classroom at 4.55 and cuddling Sophie at 5.00, no time limits on picking either kid up and no charges for not attending over the summer vacation. We should end up saving a bit of money in the short run, and even more when they turn 2 and 5 next summer. Going on vacation to Europe will suddenly save us $450 a week! Both kids seem to be enjoying the transition, and Sophie even gave her keyworker a cuddle this morning instead of screaming the house down. Watch this space for more developments in the future, but we think we've found a good system that works.
Hiking: Kids of the River
Initially, when I found out that Barrington had a town forest, I laughed until I cried. Given that this town of 48 square miles (Milton Keynes, my hometown is 34 square miles for comparison) must at least 75% trees, the idea of having a dedicated section of this as a "town forest" seemed like a waste of time. However, the more I live here and see how much land each housing development takes up (our new home has just over 1.5 acres, for example), and the idea of having sections of the town that are protected from development makes much more sense.
As part of my effort to become fitter, and also as my natural curiosity about my surroundings kicks in, I wanted to see what trails existed in Barrington for me to explore with the kids. This led me here:
http://www.barringtonconcom.org/Barringtons_Trails_%26_Conserved_Lands.html
Apart from wanting to join this association (I wonder if they have one for Strafford, our new home town?), I was instantly intrigued by the listing of 16 tracks of land that are town protected, and in particular the 12 trails that are linked. Always one for a good project, I started looking into these, and whilst none of them will represent a huge day hike, they all look emminently doable with a baby in a backpack and my son by my side.
So that brings us to today. It's the 4th of September and 75 degrees outside (a delightfully warm temperature without being too hot) and the humidity of previous weeks seems to have gone for now. Jake was snoozing, so I decided to take Sophie out for our first adventure, labelled Kids of the River.
This is a short hike towards the Isinglass River, one of the many waterways that crisscross Barrington, and one of my favorites, mainly because of it's middle earth sounding name. It's also shallow enough to play in and deep enough to canoe in (in a year that didn't have a drought). The trail itself starts less than 10 minutes drive from our house, though the sign is a little small, and you have to know that it's there to find it.
However, once you've parked up, the woods of New Hampshire are there for the taking. The path runs behind some houses (with some less than friendly signage), before heading left into the forest proper and towards the Isinglass. At the time of writing, the Barrington library has taken the book Sal's Blueberries and planted the pages on placards every 50 feet or so along the trial. I really want to take Jake on the hike before they remove it as I think it's a cute idea.
As part of my effort to become fitter, and also as my natural curiosity about my surroundings kicks in, I wanted to see what trails existed in Barrington for me to explore with the kids. This led me here:
http://www.barringtonconcom.org/Barringtons_Trails_%26_Conserved_Lands.html
Apart from wanting to join this association (I wonder if they have one for Strafford, our new home town?), I was instantly intrigued by the listing of 16 tracks of land that are town protected, and in particular the 12 trails that are linked. Always one for a good project, I started looking into these, and whilst none of them will represent a huge day hike, they all look emminently doable with a baby in a backpack and my son by my side.
So that brings us to today. It's the 4th of September and 75 degrees outside (a delightfully warm temperature without being too hot) and the humidity of previous weeks seems to have gone for now. Jake was snoozing, so I decided to take Sophie out for our first adventure, labelled Kids of the River.
This is a short hike towards the Isinglass River, one of the many waterways that crisscross Barrington, and one of my favorites, mainly because of it's middle earth sounding name. It's also shallow enough to play in and deep enough to canoe in (in a year that didn't have a drought). The trail itself starts less than 10 minutes drive from our house, though the sign is a little small, and you have to know that it's there to find it.
After the turn, the path runs in a straight line through the woods before bearing left at 90 degrees about a quarter of a mile in. The path is unmistakable, if nothing else for the story placards along it.
However, for those feeling more adventurous, there is a marked "white" trail up a hill just after the "red" trail leaves the houses. It runs uphill for a couple of hundred yards before depositing you on a rocky outcrop which is quite beautiful in the dappled sunlight.
The white trail then runs downhill and brings you out just at the end of the red trail, where you'll find a picnic table next to the babbling Isinglass. It's a secluded spot and one that is ideally suited for a snack for hungry walkers. As we didn't have Jake with us, we simply signed the visitors book and turned for home, ready to return with more walkers and some smackerels for the picnic table.
As I walked back to the car, I ruminated on the fact that the walk would not have felt out of place in the UK, if it wasn't for the fact that there, the edge of the forest would have been fairly close and there would have been a dozen other families on the route. Here, the forest continues for miles in all directions and the trail is a small project run by some school kids and the local library. These will be a very different series of hikes.
Wednesday 24 August 2016
Reminders
I struggled to come up with a suitable title for this post. I wanted to talk about a couple of things this last week that have made me think about the UK, and I would normally think about this as being homesick. However, that's the wrong word because I don't particularly miss the UK (the people there for sure) and being homesick implies that we're here temporarily, to return one day. While that may be true down the line, we've set up home here and the UK is now somewhere we'll visit on holiday, rather somewhere to return back to. Therefore, I can't be homesick in the traditional sense of the word. This is why I chose "reminders" as these things reminded of our life in the UK and made me smile in remembrance.
The first was a British tea party hosted by one of my new friends at school. For clarification, the tea party was held by an American with a strong British affiliation, and the decor and little touches were fantastic, right down to the white bread cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. However, the reminder that stirred me was the sausage rolls. There's something visceral about pastry and meat together, but had you asked me before to name a food that I missed from the UK, it wouldn't have immediately come to mind. However, as soon as I bit through the puff pastry, my mind raced 3000 miles away into Greggs, and I realized that good sausage rolls and pasties would be hard to come by over here.
The second reminder came as part of a long winded saga with our new doctor's practice over here. We've been trying to catch up Sophie's immunisations since she turned one, but trying to convince them to use the little red book that everyone gets in the UK with their baby has been hard. I ended up having to call our doctor's surgery in Leeds and was greeted by a lass with a broad Yorkshire accent. Now, I've had to make calls to the UK before, but always ended up in some Scottish/London/Indian call centre. I've also talked to my friends and families multiple times, but there's something instantly soothing and smile-making about the Yorkshire accent. It made me smile for the rest of the day, and I had to use my best Yorkshire voice when relaying the story to my wife.
There will be more reminders as the months and years go by over here, and each of them will make me remember different parts of our life in the UK, and hopefully each one will make me smile as much as the first two.
The first was a British tea party hosted by one of my new friends at school. For clarification, the tea party was held by an American with a strong British affiliation, and the decor and little touches were fantastic, right down to the white bread cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. However, the reminder that stirred me was the sausage rolls. There's something visceral about pastry and meat together, but had you asked me before to name a food that I missed from the UK, it wouldn't have immediately come to mind. However, as soon as I bit through the puff pastry, my mind raced 3000 miles away into Greggs, and I realized that good sausage rolls and pasties would be hard to come by over here.
The second reminder came as part of a long winded saga with our new doctor's practice over here. We've been trying to catch up Sophie's immunisations since she turned one, but trying to convince them to use the little red book that everyone gets in the UK with their baby has been hard. I ended up having to call our doctor's surgery in Leeds and was greeted by a lass with a broad Yorkshire accent. Now, I've had to make calls to the UK before, but always ended up in some Scottish/London/Indian call centre. I've also talked to my friends and families multiple times, but there's something instantly soothing and smile-making about the Yorkshire accent. It made me smile for the rest of the day, and I had to use my best Yorkshire voice when relaying the story to my wife.
There will be more reminders as the months and years go by over here, and each of them will make me remember different parts of our life in the UK, and hopefully each one will make me smile as much as the first two.
Sunday 21 August 2016
21st Century Homesteading - some lessons learned
With only a week left of the summer vacation (or "my relaxed life in America" as I've learned to call it), the garden here is also starting to wind down. We recently picked the last of the cukes, zucchini and summer squash, the basil has gone and the sunflowers all now have their heads. The tomatoes and peppers are still going strong, so we've still got some picking left, but I wanted to record some things I've learned to think about for my own patch next year.
1. Grow what you like
This year, we've grown lots of different vegetables, most of which I like to eat, but some, like the summer squash, I've not been a big fan of. Now admittedly it's not my garden, so I've been very much under the guidance of Kelsey's mother who has her own preferences, but for next year, I want to make sure that I'm excited to eat everything that comes off the land. Next year, I definitely want to be a position to make a meal fully out of the garden, so that will involve growing my own onions, garlic and salad leaves, as well as the tomato, basil, cukes and zucchini from this year.
2. Grow what you need
Today I put the final pieces of zucchini into some zucchini bread (my best effort yet!), and whilst it's been a tasty adventure through many zucchini recipes (including zucchini spaghetti with a spiralizer - tomato based sauces only!), we've still had throw multiple ones in the compost because we couldn't eat/use them quick enough. Whilst there's no official food wastage involved as they'll simply get reused to kick start next year's crop, there's part of me that cringes about throwing away good food.
The difficult here is that they tend to sell the seedlings in 4 packs, and whilst they don't look big and intimidating in the garden centre, each zucchini plant spread around 6 feet in diameter. Multiply this by a similar spread from the cukes and summer squash and suddenly the 300ish square feet of garden becomes much smaller. Whether the answer is to discard those that we don't need, or find other keen gardeners to take the unwanted seedlings, I'm not sure, but I do know that I want to maximise the efficiency of the lot next year.
3. Keep pictures of the final product
I was incredibly excited to discover that I could grow fresh chillies outside here, as the temperature gets hot enough for most varieties to grow to full height. My friend Matt wages an annual war in his greenhouse to make them grow, so having them as a simple part of my garden has been satisfying. However, I've run into problems as whilst I know what a ripe tomato or zucchini is meant to look like, there's at least two species of chilli out there that I only know by name, and I'm not sure when I should be picking them. Pictures on the internet are ok, but when the shade difference is from light green to yellow, it's hard. For some, however, my wife's mother put the label that came with the seedlings into the ground, and this has made it easier to recognise the fruit and when it's ready to be picked. Whether I keep the tags inside or out next year, I want to make sure I recognise the ripe goods when I see them.
4. Soil composition
We've had a particular problem with end rot in the zucchini and summer squash plants this year, and a couple of the tomato plants withered a fair bit before bearing fruit. All our research points to a lack of nutrients in the soil. This may be because there's a lot of big plants growing together, or that there's been a chronic lack of rain this year in New Hampshire, or simply that the soil is old and needs refreshing. In any case, I want to start my research early about the soil preferences of each of the vegetables that I want to grow so that I can prepare my fresh beds with the optimum composition of minerals and natural fertilisers.
5. Keep it organic
I've never really understood/thought about the organic movement in any great detail until we started discussing the vegetable patch this year. My wife's mother is a great proponent of pesticide free gardening and I've bought wholesale into this idea. Not only does it mean that the kids can eat straight off the plants, but it will help with our bee keeping project next year. It does mean a bit more time watching out for bugs and finding natural fertilisers for the soil, but it fits with my homesteading ideals, so it will be coming with me next year.
As we wade through chilis and tomatoes over the next month, think of me with a massive smile on my face each time I make a bolognese with just a few less ingredients from a supermarket.
1. Grow what you like
This year, we've grown lots of different vegetables, most of which I like to eat, but some, like the summer squash, I've not been a big fan of. Now admittedly it's not my garden, so I've been very much under the guidance of Kelsey's mother who has her own preferences, but for next year, I want to make sure that I'm excited to eat everything that comes off the land. Next year, I definitely want to be a position to make a meal fully out of the garden, so that will involve growing my own onions, garlic and salad leaves, as well as the tomato, basil, cukes and zucchini from this year.
2. Grow what you need
Today I put the final pieces of zucchini into some zucchini bread (my best effort yet!), and whilst it's been a tasty adventure through many zucchini recipes (including zucchini spaghetti with a spiralizer - tomato based sauces only!), we've still had throw multiple ones in the compost because we couldn't eat/use them quick enough. Whilst there's no official food wastage involved as they'll simply get reused to kick start next year's crop, there's part of me that cringes about throwing away good food.
The difficult here is that they tend to sell the seedlings in 4 packs, and whilst they don't look big and intimidating in the garden centre, each zucchini plant spread around 6 feet in diameter. Multiply this by a similar spread from the cukes and summer squash and suddenly the 300ish square feet of garden becomes much smaller. Whether the answer is to discard those that we don't need, or find other keen gardeners to take the unwanted seedlings, I'm not sure, but I do know that I want to maximise the efficiency of the lot next year.
3. Keep pictures of the final product
I was incredibly excited to discover that I could grow fresh chillies outside here, as the temperature gets hot enough for most varieties to grow to full height. My friend Matt wages an annual war in his greenhouse to make them grow, so having them as a simple part of my garden has been satisfying. However, I've run into problems as whilst I know what a ripe tomato or zucchini is meant to look like, there's at least two species of chilli out there that I only know by name, and I'm not sure when I should be picking them. Pictures on the internet are ok, but when the shade difference is from light green to yellow, it's hard. For some, however, my wife's mother put the label that came with the seedlings into the ground, and this has made it easier to recognise the fruit and when it's ready to be picked. Whether I keep the tags inside or out next year, I want to make sure I recognise the ripe goods when I see them.
4. Soil composition
We've had a particular problem with end rot in the zucchini and summer squash plants this year, and a couple of the tomato plants withered a fair bit before bearing fruit. All our research points to a lack of nutrients in the soil. This may be because there's a lot of big plants growing together, or that there's been a chronic lack of rain this year in New Hampshire, or simply that the soil is old and needs refreshing. In any case, I want to start my research early about the soil preferences of each of the vegetables that I want to grow so that I can prepare my fresh beds with the optimum composition of minerals and natural fertilisers.
5. Keep it organic
I've never really understood/thought about the organic movement in any great detail until we started discussing the vegetable patch this year. My wife's mother is a great proponent of pesticide free gardening and I've bought wholesale into this idea. Not only does it mean that the kids can eat straight off the plants, but it will help with our bee keeping project next year. It does mean a bit more time watching out for bugs and finding natural fertilisers for the soil, but it fits with my homesteading ideals, so it will be coming with me next year.
As we wade through chilis and tomatoes over the next month, think of me with a massive smile on my face each time I make a bolognese with just a few less ingredients from a supermarket.
Thursday 21 July 2016
State of the union - 100 days
As we fall into routines and patterns, the number of days becomes less important and whilst we still count ourselves in "phase 2" (with jobs but no house yet), the rhythm of life definitely feels more familiar as we start "phase 3" (house hunting). However, this Sunday marked the 100th day here (which seems crazy, given that the longest holiday we'd ever spent here was 43 days), and I've been meaning to celebrate it with a general update, and probably some photos on Facebook. Everyone is out tonight, so with a bowl of Goldfish crackers on one side, a beer on the other and the Red Sox crushing the Minnesota Twins on the TV, let's go through the family.
Sophie
Let's start with the smallest. Sophie turned 1 in June (I need to write and back date her letter!) and is slowly revealing her personality to us. She has an infectious giggle and the most charming, engaging smile that I've seen. After Jake, who was always slightly suspicious of strangers (and still is to an extent), she will smile and gurgle at anyone, and the combination of her big grin and crazy curls means that she makes friends wherever she goes. She's learned to crawl at fast pace (watch out Marlowe and Brody!) and is currently climbing up and pulling herself up on everything. Walking is not far away at all, and it's crazy to see her small little body getting ready to move.
Jake
Jake becomes a young boy with every passing day. Whilst he's only grown half an inch since we arrived (I measured) he seems taller and bigger than that. It might be that he's that much more confident, or that much more happy or just that spending so much time out in the sunshine and fresh air is stretching him. In any case, he is turning into a much more friendly and socialable kid with other people. We went to see the cats on the farm (not a euphemism!) and he chatted and went with the farm owner who he had never met before. We also went to a birthday party a while back and it was delightful to watch him play with his friends from daycare, freeing me up to make some friends of my own. He's also becoming a book worm, easily wrangling two or three books a night out of anyone who will read to him (including Nana checking in him whilst Kelsey and I were out!), and I leave him each night reading a book to Hobbes. It's such a sweet routine, and I can't wait for him to start being able to read (he picked out something with his name on the other day, so the process is starting).
Kelsey
Kelsey is quickly getting up to speed with her new job. It's quite an intense role, attempting to integrate new Americans and refugees into the school system. The organisation that she's working for seems to be a little chaotic, but I can see her making changes to make it all more efficient. The "so today at work" stories continue, but tend to be about crazy kids rather than work colleagues making her life difficult. It's a trek across to Concord each day, and her summer schedule has her working long hours. We're hoping that it will calm down when schools starts, but it may be a while before she's can do the routines quickly.
Me
As for me, I'm loving being out here. My job starts up properly in September, but I've filled my summer with some summer school work and a whole bunch of training. My school district is part of some big educational changes (more of this in another post when I've got my head more fully around it) and it's an exciting time to be a teacher in Kingston. My parents arrive in New Hampshire next weekend for a family holiday in Ossippee, which is going to be fantastic to see everyone! They're then with just us for a week, including a game at Fenway Park with my dad (very excited, the tickets have already arrived!), so whilst I'm officially on summer vacation, my schedule is booked up until school starts.
We have the periodic conversation about whether we made the right decision. I honestly don't think that the move could have been any better. It still feels like an adventure, and our recent decision to actively start looking for houses (seen 5 so far, with no hits) brings the exciting next phase as a close reality. That's when the real adventure will start.
Sophie
Let's start with the smallest. Sophie turned 1 in June (I need to write and back date her letter!) and is slowly revealing her personality to us. She has an infectious giggle and the most charming, engaging smile that I've seen. After Jake, who was always slightly suspicious of strangers (and still is to an extent), she will smile and gurgle at anyone, and the combination of her big grin and crazy curls means that she makes friends wherever she goes. She's learned to crawl at fast pace (watch out Marlowe and Brody!) and is currently climbing up and pulling herself up on everything. Walking is not far away at all, and it's crazy to see her small little body getting ready to move.
Jake
Jake becomes a young boy with every passing day. Whilst he's only grown half an inch since we arrived (I measured) he seems taller and bigger than that. It might be that he's that much more confident, or that much more happy or just that spending so much time out in the sunshine and fresh air is stretching him. In any case, he is turning into a much more friendly and socialable kid with other people. We went to see the cats on the farm (not a euphemism!) and he chatted and went with the farm owner who he had never met before. We also went to a birthday party a while back and it was delightful to watch him play with his friends from daycare, freeing me up to make some friends of my own. He's also becoming a book worm, easily wrangling two or three books a night out of anyone who will read to him (including Nana checking in him whilst Kelsey and I were out!), and I leave him each night reading a book to Hobbes. It's such a sweet routine, and I can't wait for him to start being able to read (he picked out something with his name on the other day, so the process is starting).
Kelsey
Kelsey is quickly getting up to speed with her new job. It's quite an intense role, attempting to integrate new Americans and refugees into the school system. The organisation that she's working for seems to be a little chaotic, but I can see her making changes to make it all more efficient. The "so today at work" stories continue, but tend to be about crazy kids rather than work colleagues making her life difficult. It's a trek across to Concord each day, and her summer schedule has her working long hours. We're hoping that it will calm down when schools starts, but it may be a while before she's can do the routines quickly.
Me
As for me, I'm loving being out here. My job starts up properly in September, but I've filled my summer with some summer school work and a whole bunch of training. My school district is part of some big educational changes (more of this in another post when I've got my head more fully around it) and it's an exciting time to be a teacher in Kingston. My parents arrive in New Hampshire next weekend for a family holiday in Ossippee, which is going to be fantastic to see everyone! They're then with just us for a week, including a game at Fenway Park with my dad (very excited, the tickets have already arrived!), so whilst I'm officially on summer vacation, my schedule is booked up until school starts.
We have the periodic conversation about whether we made the right decision. I honestly don't think that the move could have been any better. It still feels like an adventure, and our recent decision to actively start looking for houses (seen 5 so far, with no hits) brings the exciting next phase as a close reality. That's when the real adventure will start.
Tuesday 5 July 2016
Banking
I've had fairly few dealings with the American banking system over the years, mainly moving money from the UK to the US and adding myself to Kelsey's account. However, being here permanently means a more intensive relationship and working out how processes happen over here. Some things are great, some things are annoying and some things are just downright amusing:
The Great
As with most things over here, the customer service that I've received has been uniformly helpful, cheerful and quick. I've not had to wait more than 5 minutes on the phone and in the banks I feel like a valued customer. It's been easy to set things up, like savings accounts and, surprisingly, a credit card. Whilst I have no credit here, they know me from having an account here, and that combined with my visa status was enough to get me past the credit checks. The online banking here is much quicker than in the UK, with payments appearing on my statement within minutes of being made (meaning I can call Kelsey to ask her why she spent $43 at the pet store, and other such fun conversations!). You can pay checks in using an app, an invention that makes so much sense in an age where banks refuse to change their opening hours to suit people who also work 9 - 5. Finally, let me talk about drive up ATMs. Just about everything has a drive thru (sic) here, so it makes sense that banks do the same. It's such a better system than having to find somewhere to park up and run in to get some cash.
The Annoying
The main downside that I've found with the American banking system is that there is a fee attached to everything. Often times, you can avoid these by meeting certain criteria, or doing things in a different way, but you have to read the small print and think carefully about what you're doing. For example, withdrawing money from an ATM that belongs to your bank is fine and free, but try using another system and not only will you be hit with a fee from their bank for the privilege, but you also incur one from your own bank for sending the money. I never realised how useful the LINK system in the UK actually was! Other fees include not paying a set amount into your account each month, ordering a check book (again, I didn't realise how good it was to have free checks in the UK!) and trying to send payments to people online.
The Amusing
This last point gets me onto to a discovery that I made last week that I still can't quite get my head around. We pay for Jake and Sophie's daycare by check each week (and weep when we do over the cost of it), but since I have to pay for each check book, I decided to see if I could do it online. In the UK, this is a simple and free process to set up a standing order, and most of my payments and bills were made this way. I logged onto to my banking here and lo and behold there is a process called BillPay that allows you to do this. However, when I went to set up the payment, I couldn't find anywhere to enter the account details. I could enter their address however, so I went ahead and did it. It didn't quite seem right to me, so I called up (on hold for less than 1 minute!) and discussed it with the bank. Apparently what happens here is that they will send a check out on my behalf (they can verify my signature from the times when I've been in the bank in person) to the nursery. For free. However, it costs between $3 and $10 to transfer money online, without the need for checks, printing and postage costs. I still don't get how this is cost efficient for the bank, but in the meantime I'll be making use of it.
Next step in my banking adventure is to see how getting a mortgage stacks up - more on this in another post!
The Great
As with most things over here, the customer service that I've received has been uniformly helpful, cheerful and quick. I've not had to wait more than 5 minutes on the phone and in the banks I feel like a valued customer. It's been easy to set things up, like savings accounts and, surprisingly, a credit card. Whilst I have no credit here, they know me from having an account here, and that combined with my visa status was enough to get me past the credit checks. The online banking here is much quicker than in the UK, with payments appearing on my statement within minutes of being made (meaning I can call Kelsey to ask her why she spent $43 at the pet store, and other such fun conversations!). You can pay checks in using an app, an invention that makes so much sense in an age where banks refuse to change their opening hours to suit people who also work 9 - 5. Finally, let me talk about drive up ATMs. Just about everything has a drive thru (sic) here, so it makes sense that banks do the same. It's such a better system than having to find somewhere to park up and run in to get some cash.
The Annoying
The main downside that I've found with the American banking system is that there is a fee attached to everything. Often times, you can avoid these by meeting certain criteria, or doing things in a different way, but you have to read the small print and think carefully about what you're doing. For example, withdrawing money from an ATM that belongs to your bank is fine and free, but try using another system and not only will you be hit with a fee from their bank for the privilege, but you also incur one from your own bank for sending the money. I never realised how useful the LINK system in the UK actually was! Other fees include not paying a set amount into your account each month, ordering a check book (again, I didn't realise how good it was to have free checks in the UK!) and trying to send payments to people online.
The Amusing
This last point gets me onto to a discovery that I made last week that I still can't quite get my head around. We pay for Jake and Sophie's daycare by check each week (and weep when we do over the cost of it), but since I have to pay for each check book, I decided to see if I could do it online. In the UK, this is a simple and free process to set up a standing order, and most of my payments and bills were made this way. I logged onto to my banking here and lo and behold there is a process called BillPay that allows you to do this. However, when I went to set up the payment, I couldn't find anywhere to enter the account details. I could enter their address however, so I went ahead and did it. It didn't quite seem right to me, so I called up (on hold for less than 1 minute!) and discussed it with the bank. Apparently what happens here is that they will send a check out on my behalf (they can verify my signature from the times when I've been in the bank in person) to the nursery. For free. However, it costs between $3 and $10 to transfer money online, without the need for checks, printing and postage costs. I still don't get how this is cost efficient for the bank, but in the meantime I'll be making use of it.
Next step in my banking adventure is to see how getting a mortgage stacks up - more on this in another post!
Friday 24 June 2016
Voting
This started as a Facebook post, but a) it will be waaay too long for most people to read on there and b) it touches and mingles on some other issues that I think belong better on this blog instead.
So let's start with the EU referendum. One major source of frustration is that whilst I followed all the rules for registering for a postal vote, and it was officially handed to the Royal Mail in time, I didn't receive it. Despite nagging, querying and chasing, I ended up without a say in the most important vote of a generation. I feel gutted by this, not because it would have made a difference, but because without a vote, there's no point in living in a democracy. Hopefully it will be resolved by the next vote.
Onto the Brexit outcome. I've seen a couple of my friends on Facebook post thought-provoking items about how, in essence, last night was democracy in action and we should start to learn how to live with the decision, so we shouldn't be sad or frustrated and definitely shouldn't be hurling abuse at the supporters of the other side. I agree with these sentiments entirely, but I still can't get rid of the sadness that the result implies to me. My sister posted this article from the Guardian: http://bit.ly/296Awev which accepts the results but puts into words my sadness:
"We are also diminished. Our politics are poisoned, our discourse is fragile, our leaders are discredited. Facts ceased to matter, knowledge ceased to be valued, compassion appeared to evaporate. As large majorities for one side or the other racked up in various parts of the country it became clear that for many of us, beyond our families, we didn’t just disagree with the other side. We literally didn’t know them. Britain is not greater for this decision and this campaign but smaller, weaker and more vulnerable."
The rest of the article is well written and thoughtful, but this section stuck out to me. The Brexit vote may work out or it may catastrophically fail. In either case, we are a country divided, with over half willing to sacrifice the rest on the basis of mis-represented truths and perceptions.
When Michael Gove was allowed to say "people are fed up of listening to experts" without condemnation or judgement, it makes me worry for our future as a species. When within 2 hours of the referendum result, the claims on £350 million being spent on the NHS instead of the EU and that leaving the EU would reduce our immigration fears had both been retracted, it makes me worry that politics is just becoming a game where you can say whatever you want without being accountable for it.
This became startlingly clear with the murder of Jo Cox, where the fear and hatred being stirred up by the debates were being used to gain votes without a second thought that these feelings were being internalised by millions.
This brings me to why I decided to put these thoughts on my blog about moving and living in America. There is a similar pattern of mis-truths and false reporting going on in the presidential election, with an ever increasing fear that Donald Trump could end up as leader of this country. Again, it won't be for anyone to throw insults or complain about the democratic process if he wins, but it will mark a divergence in the vision for America. Hillary will continue the liberal legacy of Obama and those before him, whilst Trump makes the world a smaller, more suspicious and less trusting place.
I hope that the Democrats look at what happened last night and learn the lessons. There are lots of angry, frightened people out there who need to be listened to and convinced that voting Trump isn't an appropriate way of "sticking it to the man". I hope that the election campaign doesn't run on fear, mis-truths and mudslinging. I hope not to feel the sadness and desperation that I feel now.
I hope all of these things as once again I will be a spectator in the democratic process, watching and listening without speaking.
So let's start with the EU referendum. One major source of frustration is that whilst I followed all the rules for registering for a postal vote, and it was officially handed to the Royal Mail in time, I didn't receive it. Despite nagging, querying and chasing, I ended up without a say in the most important vote of a generation. I feel gutted by this, not because it would have made a difference, but because without a vote, there's no point in living in a democracy. Hopefully it will be resolved by the next vote.
Onto the Brexit outcome. I've seen a couple of my friends on Facebook post thought-provoking items about how, in essence, last night was democracy in action and we should start to learn how to live with the decision, so we shouldn't be sad or frustrated and definitely shouldn't be hurling abuse at the supporters of the other side. I agree with these sentiments entirely, but I still can't get rid of the sadness that the result implies to me. My sister posted this article from the Guardian: http://bit.ly/296Awev which accepts the results but puts into words my sadness:
"We are also diminished. Our politics are poisoned, our discourse is fragile, our leaders are discredited. Facts ceased to matter, knowledge ceased to be valued, compassion appeared to evaporate. As large majorities for one side or the other racked up in various parts of the country it became clear that for many of us, beyond our families, we didn’t just disagree with the other side. We literally didn’t know them. Britain is not greater for this decision and this campaign but smaller, weaker and more vulnerable."
The rest of the article is well written and thoughtful, but this section stuck out to me. The Brexit vote may work out or it may catastrophically fail. In either case, we are a country divided, with over half willing to sacrifice the rest on the basis of mis-represented truths and perceptions.
When Michael Gove was allowed to say "people are fed up of listening to experts" without condemnation or judgement, it makes me worry for our future as a species. When within 2 hours of the referendum result, the claims on £350 million being spent on the NHS instead of the EU and that leaving the EU would reduce our immigration fears had both been retracted, it makes me worry that politics is just becoming a game where you can say whatever you want without being accountable for it.
This became startlingly clear with the murder of Jo Cox, where the fear and hatred being stirred up by the debates were being used to gain votes without a second thought that these feelings were being internalised by millions.
This brings me to why I decided to put these thoughts on my blog about moving and living in America. There is a similar pattern of mis-truths and false reporting going on in the presidential election, with an ever increasing fear that Donald Trump could end up as leader of this country. Again, it won't be for anyone to throw insults or complain about the democratic process if he wins, but it will mark a divergence in the vision for America. Hillary will continue the liberal legacy of Obama and those before him, whilst Trump makes the world a smaller, more suspicious and less trusting place.
I hope that the Democrats look at what happened last night and learn the lessons. There are lots of angry, frightened people out there who need to be listened to and convinced that voting Trump isn't an appropriate way of "sticking it to the man". I hope that the election campaign doesn't run on fear, mis-truths and mudslinging. I hope not to feel the sadness and desperation that I feel now.
I hope all of these things as once again I will be a spectator in the democratic process, watching and listening without speaking.
Sunday 12 June 2016
21st century homesteading - part 1
One of the big drivers for me moving to the USA is the idea that I could move towards self-sufficiency in terms of growing my own food. Regular followers of my blogs might recall my lack of success growing a pineapple in Yorkshire, and my previous garden wasn't conducive to growing more than moss and an enormous rose bush. So I start on my homestead dreams with little in the way of experience, but lots in the way of manpower, enthusiasm and people willing to help me on the way.
I've forayed recently into growing veg and herbs in a ready made garden (thanks to Karyn) and learned a lot about planting distances, mulching and the use of black plastic. Only 3 plants (out of several dozen) have failed to transplant successfully, and the carrots, basil and sunflower that we're growing directly from seeds are all growing well, apart from the sunflower seeds that were eaten by animals unknown one night. We've bought some floating covers to put over the rest for protection, so we'll see how they progress.
I'm constantly in awe of the fact that you can put stuff in the ground, give it some dead stuff (compost) and water, and the seeds just do their thing, providing us with things that we can eat.
Today marks the biggest project that I've embarked on independently (or as independently as possible). Jake has been fanatical about watermelon from a young age, and for some reason it just tastes better and juicier over here, so naturally when we found plants at the world's most amazing garden shop, we bought one. Watermelons apparently need a lot of room to grow (they recommend 6 feet(!) between plants) and the vines can grow around 1 foot a week...yikes!
We didn't have space to do this in any of our current garden beds, so I made a new garden (the benefits of having 17 acres of land is you can just repurpose land as you see fit). It was a guided adventure, with plenty of advice and support from Dan and Karyn, but it was still easily one of the satisfying things that I've ever done. I'm documenting it here because a) this will be the basis of my future homesteading so I want to remember how to do it and b) I'm seriously proud of what I produced. Whether it makes any watermelons, and whether they're edible or not, will be another question, but one that is sort of beside the point. Cue photos!
I've forayed recently into growing veg and herbs in a ready made garden (thanks to Karyn) and learned a lot about planting distances, mulching and the use of black plastic. Only 3 plants (out of several dozen) have failed to transplant successfully, and the carrots, basil and sunflower that we're growing directly from seeds are all growing well, apart from the sunflower seeds that were eaten by animals unknown one night. We've bought some floating covers to put over the rest for protection, so we'll see how they progress.
I'm constantly in awe of the fact that you can put stuff in the ground, give it some dead stuff (compost) and water, and the seeds just do their thing, providing us with things that we can eat.
Today marks the biggest project that I've embarked on independently (or as independently as possible). Jake has been fanatical about watermelon from a young age, and for some reason it just tastes better and juicier over here, so naturally when we found plants at the world's most amazing garden shop, we bought one. Watermelons apparently need a lot of room to grow (they recommend 6 feet(!) between plants) and the vines can grow around 1 foot a week...yikes!
We didn't have space to do this in any of our current garden beds, so I made a new garden (the benefits of having 17 acres of land is you can just repurpose land as you see fit). It was a guided adventure, with plenty of advice and support from Dan and Karyn, but it was still easily one of the satisfying things that I've ever done. I'm documenting it here because a) this will be the basis of my future homesteading so I want to remember how to do it and b) I'm seriously proud of what I produced. Whether it makes any watermelons, and whether they're edible or not, will be another question, but one that is sort of beside the point. Cue photos!
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| The start (not this particular patch, but I forgot to take a "before" photo! |
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| Step 1 - rototill on the R setting. Measure out the area first so you know where to go, and make sure that each pass overlaps the previous for better coverage. |
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| Clear out all the grass. This is time consuming and works better if you have some sort of sieve (I used a plastic bucket with holes in) and someone like Jake to talk to. This was the best part of my day, if not my entire time here, spending an hour with my hands in the dirt and my delightful son chatting away and "helping" |
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| Rototill again, this time on the L setting. The soil should be much looser after the first pass and the grass sifting. Rake through to clear out any missed clumps of grass, rocks and other debris. |
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| Add compost or similar. We also added a whole pack of peat moss and spread it around. Again, a helpful four year old with their own garden tools makes this a lot more fun. |
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| Add loam. In the end, we had about 5 buckets worth. A big tractor helps here. |
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| Once everything is all piled up, give it a mix and roughly spread it out. Don't make it too perfect as you'll want to add the ties in around the edge. |
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| Measure out the area, preferably by using the length of one tie (in this case, 12 feet) as a guide to make things easy. If you need to make some shorter, find a helpful man with a chainsaw. Make sure they are all level, which can mean digging around and straightening out for a while. Keep at it, because it looks good when they're all in the right place. You can fill in underneath and around with the mixed up dirt. |
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| Almost finished! Try to have the corners overlapping so you can screw them together (important when your four year old likes to walk along and balance on them! |
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| One last rototill, made easier by a smiling baby on your back. Watch out for the ties if you haven't screwed them in yet! |
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| Completed! Just need to plant up the watermelons now (more of which in another post perhaps) |
Daycare
With Kelsey starting a new job and me filling my weeks with some 1:1 SEN work and training for September, we've now got the kids into daycare (though part of my brain still insists on calling it nursery from time to time!). At the very basics, there's a lot of similarities between here and the UK as it's a service designed for small children ranging from babies up till school age, so the focus still remains on social skills, following rules and routines and (for Jake at least) a gentle introduction to letters, words and numbers. However, there are some differences with our daycare that I want to look at (NB: some of these will be particular to the experiences we had with our particular daycare in Leeds, some may be more widespread)
Outside space
This one I know is particular to our nursery in Leeds, which was in an industrial area of the city, and whilst there was a little muddy patch outback, there was only a small space to play outside. This used to be tarmac, but got covered by outside carpet, and whilst it did the trick, the combination of small space and poor weather meant it didn't get used that much. At our new daycare, they spend most of the time outside, even if when it's poor weather (no such thing as poor weather, just poor preparation!). There's lots of little sections, including a little forest of trees perfect for climbing, a massive sandy area (which Sophie loves) and a small obstacle course. The effect is that whenever I pick up Jake, he's running around playing some of creative game with his friends, and this for me ticks one of the boxes for why we moved over here (to give the kids an outside lifestyle).
Cost
This is one aspect that has made us gasp a little. We looked at 4 places, and chose one that best matched our needs for location, quality of provision and cost. Now, I think we got lucky in the UK as we had a teacher's contract, so we only paid 75% of the fees as Jake was only in for 75% of the time, and we had a year or so of 15 free hours, and we had pre-tax childcare vouchers to help cut costs. Even so, it felt like we were getting a good deal. However, here we have 2 kids and no discounts, so we're paying what feels like an eye-watering amount. Fortunately, we only have a year (!) till Jake goes to kindergarten and I'm pretty sure there's some sort of tax credit help out there. Watch this space.
Resources
What doesn't help with mentally dealing with the cost of the provision (or tuition as it's called) is that nothing is included with it. We have been used to diapers and wipes being provided when Jake was small, and all food and drink being cooked on site (meaning that we'd rarely pick him up before 4.30 so he could eat a proper tea there!). Here, nothing. We have to send Sophie in with food, diapers and wipes, and Jake with a packed lunch each day, and we end up playing up safe with both of them to make sure that they'll eat during the day (as well as having to remember to pack bottles for Sophie's formula...only forgot them once!). We're getting used to the routine of emptying and restocking their lunches the night before, but there's part of me that is annoyed that we're paying such a large amount of money and have to provide these resources too.
Parent contact
This is another area where I feel that we've got an improvement. Information at pick up at our old day care would very much depend on who was around and whether that person had seen Jake in action at all. It would always be "he's had a good day", but some of the stories that Jake would tell on the way home about being hit or getting in trouble would have been better coming from an adult so we could follow up from home. Here, Jake's teacher is on site at the end of the day and will take the time to talk me through what he's been up to. Fortunately, there seems to be a lot of less rough and tumble and the bruises on Jake's legs are coming from falling off things. Sophie's communication is fantastic. Around 5pm (so as I'm driving home with them), I get a detailed email about her day, including the precise timings of naps and nappy changes, and what and when she ate. This is a huge bonus as I can tell when she'll be ready to eat, how tired she'll be and what to pack her for lunch the next day. For both of them, we have given photo permission to the daycare which means that most days, I get a photo sent to my phone of my kids in action. Now, I'm not a nervous parent, and I fully trust the daycare staff to love, care for and nurture my kids, but when Sophie cries when I drop her off, something inside me breaks, and it's really tough to walk out of the door instead of scooping her up and taking her with me. I know it's good for her, and the photos I get sent of her smiling and playing make the drop off process a whole lot easier.
Overall, though, it's a positive experience! The kids are making friends and coming home tired enough to sleep all night (especially Sophie!). We've already had one birthday party invitation, and there's a party for the kids leaving the daycare next week, which will be a good opportunity to meet some other parents and start making some new friends over here.
Outside space
This one I know is particular to our nursery in Leeds, which was in an industrial area of the city, and whilst there was a little muddy patch outback, there was only a small space to play outside. This used to be tarmac, but got covered by outside carpet, and whilst it did the trick, the combination of small space and poor weather meant it didn't get used that much. At our new daycare, they spend most of the time outside, even if when it's poor weather (no such thing as poor weather, just poor preparation!). There's lots of little sections, including a little forest of trees perfect for climbing, a massive sandy area (which Sophie loves) and a small obstacle course. The effect is that whenever I pick up Jake, he's running around playing some of creative game with his friends, and this for me ticks one of the boxes for why we moved over here (to give the kids an outside lifestyle).
Cost
This is one aspect that has made us gasp a little. We looked at 4 places, and chose one that best matched our needs for location, quality of provision and cost. Now, I think we got lucky in the UK as we had a teacher's contract, so we only paid 75% of the fees as Jake was only in for 75% of the time, and we had a year or so of 15 free hours, and we had pre-tax childcare vouchers to help cut costs. Even so, it felt like we were getting a good deal. However, here we have 2 kids and no discounts, so we're paying what feels like an eye-watering amount. Fortunately, we only have a year (!) till Jake goes to kindergarten and I'm pretty sure there's some sort of tax credit help out there. Watch this space.
Resources
What doesn't help with mentally dealing with the cost of the provision (or tuition as it's called) is that nothing is included with it. We have been used to diapers and wipes being provided when Jake was small, and all food and drink being cooked on site (meaning that we'd rarely pick him up before 4.30 so he could eat a proper tea there!). Here, nothing. We have to send Sophie in with food, diapers and wipes, and Jake with a packed lunch each day, and we end up playing up safe with both of them to make sure that they'll eat during the day (as well as having to remember to pack bottles for Sophie's formula...only forgot them once!). We're getting used to the routine of emptying and restocking their lunches the night before, but there's part of me that is annoyed that we're paying such a large amount of money and have to provide these resources too.
Parent contact
This is another area where I feel that we've got an improvement. Information at pick up at our old day care would very much depend on who was around and whether that person had seen Jake in action at all. It would always be "he's had a good day", but some of the stories that Jake would tell on the way home about being hit or getting in trouble would have been better coming from an adult so we could follow up from home. Here, Jake's teacher is on site at the end of the day and will take the time to talk me through what he's been up to. Fortunately, there seems to be a lot of less rough and tumble and the bruises on Jake's legs are coming from falling off things. Sophie's communication is fantastic. Around 5pm (so as I'm driving home with them), I get a detailed email about her day, including the precise timings of naps and nappy changes, and what and when she ate. This is a huge bonus as I can tell when she'll be ready to eat, how tired she'll be and what to pack her for lunch the next day. For both of them, we have given photo permission to the daycare which means that most days, I get a photo sent to my phone of my kids in action. Now, I'm not a nervous parent, and I fully trust the daycare staff to love, care for and nurture my kids, but when Sophie cries when I drop her off, something inside me breaks, and it's really tough to walk out of the door instead of scooping her up and taking her with me. I know it's good for her, and the photos I get sent of her smiling and playing make the drop off process a whole lot easier.
Overall, though, it's a positive experience! The kids are making friends and coming home tired enough to sleep all night (especially Sophie!). We've already had one birthday party invitation, and there's a party for the kids leaving the daycare next week, which will be a good opportunity to meet some other parents and start making some new friends over here.
Thursday 2 June 2016
State of the Union - 50 days in
As with all new experiences, time seems to have picked up speed in the last couple of weeks, bringing up an important milestone of 50 days. Most government administrations release a press statement after 100 days in charge, but I'm too impatient, so I'll do one now and one then too. Beyond the important news of both of us getting jobs and the kids starting daycare, there's lots of smaller changes happening here too that I wanted to record:
Sophie Is On The Move
For those of you who knew Jake as a little kid, you'll remember with fondness the bum shuffling and the abrupt decision to stand up and walk by himself. Sophie shows signs of being very different to her brother in lots of ways, most notably that she's always been happy with tummy time and has started crawling army-style. This has led to the first cry of "Daddy, Pophins is taking my cars!", first of many I think! It's very cute to watch her move around and even start to push herself up ready to start cruising. A very different experience to Jake but equally as fascinating.
A New Car
Today has seen us drive home in a brand new car, and not just one that is brand new to us. Jake even commented on the smell of it, and I've never driven in something so clean. Annoyingly, Kelsey is the only one with a valid US license for insurance purposes, so we've had to leave me off for now, meaning that I only get to be a passenger. It's still pretty sweet though, with built in satellite radio and back up camera, but the best thing is it's a hybrid, meaning that I get to watch us drive around for free on the electric engine. Now comes the fun part of registering it and getting our own vanity plates - cheap at $40 per year!
Doggie Decisions
In amongst all of the excitement and happiness of the previous 50 days lies a moment of sadness. Hayden, the beloved family black lab, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away one Sunday morning. His loss is still being felt all round, most particularly by Brody (the other dog and his constant companion) and Jake, who describes him as his best friend, and who still talks about him several times a day. It was a crash course in dealing with grief and death for Jake, and for us, and he still talks about him daily. We've found the best approach is to let him talk, acknowledge his feelings and let him know that we're missing Hayden too. The family are also looking at getting another dog as a companion to Brody, who is slowly going stir-crazy by himself all day. Watch this space!
Weekend Routines
It's always interesting hearing another person's point of view on the same events, and so it proves to be when talking to Dan and Karyn (Kelsey's parents) about our move over. There's always a slight concern that we're imposing on them (with 2 small kids, their calm and tidy house has certainly changed somewhat since our arrival), but we are regularly assured that they take as much pleasure in us being here as we do.
This is particularly evident at the weekend, when both of them get to fulfill some of their grandparent dreams. Dan packs up the "Papa truck" with the recycling, loads Jake's car seat and they disappear to the dump and the baseball fields. This usually involves a smackerel along the way somewhere too, but even so, Jake is always keen to go, especially now that Dan allows him to sit on his lap and "drive" up the driveway.
Karyn has always been a big reader, so now that Jake is really into books, she takes delight in taking him to the library and getting a fresh set of books. This tends to involve a big reading session when they get home, going through each and every book. For me, it's a great way of keeping the bedtime stories fresh (even though we've now got all of Kelsey's childhood books to add to our selected favourites), and we're all impressed at how Jake keep tracks of who has read him which book at bed time.
Learning To Homestead
One of the biggest draws of America, for me at least, is being able to have enough space to start my own homestead. I've affectionately called this my "hippie commune" dream for years, and whilst I know I wont get close to being entirely self-sufficient, I want to live off what I grow as much as possible. To this end, I've got a lot to learn, given that my gardening experience so far has been a failed attempt to grow Yorkshire pineapples and some successful mint growing (and a heck of a lot of moss!). This weekend saw me (and Jake) help plant out the vegetables and herbs for the summer, and I've found heaven on earth at Wentworth's garden centre. It smells amazing and sells pre-grown seedlings of just about anything you could wish for.
The more interesting part of learning to homestead is the bee keeping course I attended a couple of weeks back. It was run by a fascinating woman who works on "permaculture" principles, which boils down to organic, pesticide free farming. It's definitely something I want to get in too, so my mother-in-law and I will be going to "bee school" in the autumn, with a view of getting bees in January of next year. It's great having someone else's garden to practice on!
I've also been talking to the assistant prinicipal at my school who has a big orchard with plenty of maple trees. Her husband has started a sugar shack to create maple syrup, and again this is something that sounds pretty fun (if not a large amount of effort!).
All of these things tick the box of "living the dream" an I know I'll be able to bring the family with me on these adventures as we take pleasure in eating food that was made in our very own garden.
The first 50 days have been an absolute rollercoaster, but a definite confirmation that home for me is where Kelsey, Jake and Sophie (and Hobbes) are. No matter what bit of life admin we're up to, I can always take a break to enjoy the trees and sunshine with them all.
Sophie Is On The Move
For those of you who knew Jake as a little kid, you'll remember with fondness the bum shuffling and the abrupt decision to stand up and walk by himself. Sophie shows signs of being very different to her brother in lots of ways, most notably that she's always been happy with tummy time and has started crawling army-style. This has led to the first cry of "Daddy, Pophins is taking my cars!", first of many I think! It's very cute to watch her move around and even start to push herself up ready to start cruising. A very different experience to Jake but equally as fascinating.
A New Car
Today has seen us drive home in a brand new car, and not just one that is brand new to us. Jake even commented on the smell of it, and I've never driven in something so clean. Annoyingly, Kelsey is the only one with a valid US license for insurance purposes, so we've had to leave me off for now, meaning that I only get to be a passenger. It's still pretty sweet though, with built in satellite radio and back up camera, but the best thing is it's a hybrid, meaning that I get to watch us drive around for free on the electric engine. Now comes the fun part of registering it and getting our own vanity plates - cheap at $40 per year!
Doggie Decisions
In amongst all of the excitement and happiness of the previous 50 days lies a moment of sadness. Hayden, the beloved family black lab, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away one Sunday morning. His loss is still being felt all round, most particularly by Brody (the other dog and his constant companion) and Jake, who describes him as his best friend, and who still talks about him several times a day. It was a crash course in dealing with grief and death for Jake, and for us, and he still talks about him daily. We've found the best approach is to let him talk, acknowledge his feelings and let him know that we're missing Hayden too. The family are also looking at getting another dog as a companion to Brody, who is slowly going stir-crazy by himself all day. Watch this space!
Weekend Routines
It's always interesting hearing another person's point of view on the same events, and so it proves to be when talking to Dan and Karyn (Kelsey's parents) about our move over. There's always a slight concern that we're imposing on them (with 2 small kids, their calm and tidy house has certainly changed somewhat since our arrival), but we are regularly assured that they take as much pleasure in us being here as we do.
This is particularly evident at the weekend, when both of them get to fulfill some of their grandparent dreams. Dan packs up the "Papa truck" with the recycling, loads Jake's car seat and they disappear to the dump and the baseball fields. This usually involves a smackerel along the way somewhere too, but even so, Jake is always keen to go, especially now that Dan allows him to sit on his lap and "drive" up the driveway.
Karyn has always been a big reader, so now that Jake is really into books, she takes delight in taking him to the library and getting a fresh set of books. This tends to involve a big reading session when they get home, going through each and every book. For me, it's a great way of keeping the bedtime stories fresh (even though we've now got all of Kelsey's childhood books to add to our selected favourites), and we're all impressed at how Jake keep tracks of who has read him which book at bed time.
Learning To Homestead
One of the biggest draws of America, for me at least, is being able to have enough space to start my own homestead. I've affectionately called this my "hippie commune" dream for years, and whilst I know I wont get close to being entirely self-sufficient, I want to live off what I grow as much as possible. To this end, I've got a lot to learn, given that my gardening experience so far has been a failed attempt to grow Yorkshire pineapples and some successful mint growing (and a heck of a lot of moss!). This weekend saw me (and Jake) help plant out the vegetables and herbs for the summer, and I've found heaven on earth at Wentworth's garden centre. It smells amazing and sells pre-grown seedlings of just about anything you could wish for.
The more interesting part of learning to homestead is the bee keeping course I attended a couple of weeks back. It was run by a fascinating woman who works on "permaculture" principles, which boils down to organic, pesticide free farming. It's definitely something I want to get in too, so my mother-in-law and I will be going to "bee school" in the autumn, with a view of getting bees in January of next year. It's great having someone else's garden to practice on!
I've also been talking to the assistant prinicipal at my school who has a big orchard with plenty of maple trees. Her husband has started a sugar shack to create maple syrup, and again this is something that sounds pretty fun (if not a large amount of effort!).
All of these things tick the box of "living the dream" an I know I'll be able to bring the family with me on these adventures as we take pleasure in eating food that was made in our very own garden.
The first 50 days have been an absolute rollercoaster, but a definite confirmation that home for me is where Kelsey, Jake and Sophie (and Hobbes) are. No matter what bit of life admin we're up to, I can always take a break to enjoy the trees and sunshine with them all.
Friday 13 May 2016
Job hunting - me
I started to write this post to keep in theme with my "one post a week" start, but quickly realised that I would have had to come back and edit it multiple times as our respective job hunts have evolved. I want to document the processes that we've gone through so far, noting some of the differences between the two countries.
I worked hard to get my NH teaching qualification ahead of time with the aim being that I would catch all the job adverts for a September start. The main issue is that whilst New Hampshire as a state has a similar population to Leeds (and thus a corresponding number of schools), and much smaller class sizes, the land area is roughly the same as the whole of Yorkshire. This narrows down the list of possible schools for me to apply to considerably, but I found 3 or 4 to apply to. There is no common application process, though most have an online application form system, but still require you to upload your resume, cover letters and reference letters (again, I had all these prepped ahead of time). I submitted 3 applications in the first of week of being here, and was suprised by the quick response rate. One school replied the following morning after my submission and the other replied within 2 hours to ask me to come into school for an interview.
In the UK, I've been used to having the whole interview process happen in a day (teaching practice, meet some teachers, interview) and a decision being made by the end of the working day one way or another. It's been a very different experience here. Firstly, with both schools, I had the formal interview first. I guess this is a good way of seeing if someone fits the school ethos and team set up before checking if their teaching practice matches their resume. It still felt odd to be in that situation as a first introduction to each school. However, I progressed past both stages and spent a while trying to toss up which school I would pick if both offered me the job.
The next step was different at each school. One had me come in and teach a lesson (it felt good to be back in charge of my own lessons after days of teaching from other people's plans!) whilst the other had me come back for another interview, this time with teachers as well as the SLT (8 people in total!). These were within a day of each other, but both principals left me with a "we'll get in touch soon once we've had seen all the applicants". I had felt both interviews had gone well, so I was pleased when I was called by the DJ Bakie school in Kingston the following day to offer me a job.
Well, when I say offer me a job, it was merely the start of a new process. Firstly, they had to confirm my references (not easy to do with a 5 hour time difference!) and wanted a personal reference of someone in the USA who knew me who wasn't family. Once those had been checked out, I then had to make an appointment with the superintendent for the district (the big boss of around 5 schools), who would review my application, interview me again and would be the one who could offer me a job. I duly did this, feeling slightly intimidated by his big mahogany desk and Alan Sugar-like demeanour. It's hard to say whether this is a formality, or whether he could have turned round and rejected the principal's recommendation, but fortunately he offered me the job at a considerable pay rise to my UK teaching position. However, it's got to go before the district board next week, which is a formality, before I get a contract.
You may have noticed that this school didn't once see me teach, which I find interesting. They were very keen to see if I fit into the mold of their team and I guess they made the assumption from the way that I talk about my practice that I would carry it into the classroom. Who knows. All I care about is that I've got myself a job for September, some permanent supply work till the end of June and a glorious relaxing summer (with sunshine!) with my family before the craziness begins again!
PS an addendum. The school who did see me teach took over a week to get back to me. We've played phone tag today, but as they haven't replied to my answerphone message, I'm assuming that it's a non urgent phone call. Fortunately, I would have turned it down anyway :)
I worked hard to get my NH teaching qualification ahead of time with the aim being that I would catch all the job adverts for a September start. The main issue is that whilst New Hampshire as a state has a similar population to Leeds (and thus a corresponding number of schools), and much smaller class sizes, the land area is roughly the same as the whole of Yorkshire. This narrows down the list of possible schools for me to apply to considerably, but I found 3 or 4 to apply to. There is no common application process, though most have an online application form system, but still require you to upload your resume, cover letters and reference letters (again, I had all these prepped ahead of time). I submitted 3 applications in the first of week of being here, and was suprised by the quick response rate. One school replied the following morning after my submission and the other replied within 2 hours to ask me to come into school for an interview.
In the UK, I've been used to having the whole interview process happen in a day (teaching practice, meet some teachers, interview) and a decision being made by the end of the working day one way or another. It's been a very different experience here. Firstly, with both schools, I had the formal interview first. I guess this is a good way of seeing if someone fits the school ethos and team set up before checking if their teaching practice matches their resume. It still felt odd to be in that situation as a first introduction to each school. However, I progressed past both stages and spent a while trying to toss up which school I would pick if both offered me the job.
The next step was different at each school. One had me come in and teach a lesson (it felt good to be back in charge of my own lessons after days of teaching from other people's plans!) whilst the other had me come back for another interview, this time with teachers as well as the SLT (8 people in total!). These were within a day of each other, but both principals left me with a "we'll get in touch soon once we've had seen all the applicants". I had felt both interviews had gone well, so I was pleased when I was called by the DJ Bakie school in Kingston the following day to offer me a job.
Well, when I say offer me a job, it was merely the start of a new process. Firstly, they had to confirm my references (not easy to do with a 5 hour time difference!) and wanted a personal reference of someone in the USA who knew me who wasn't family. Once those had been checked out, I then had to make an appointment with the superintendent for the district (the big boss of around 5 schools), who would review my application, interview me again and would be the one who could offer me a job. I duly did this, feeling slightly intimidated by his big mahogany desk and Alan Sugar-like demeanour. It's hard to say whether this is a formality, or whether he could have turned round and rejected the principal's recommendation, but fortunately he offered me the job at a considerable pay rise to my UK teaching position. However, it's got to go before the district board next week, which is a formality, before I get a contract.
You may have noticed that this school didn't once see me teach, which I find interesting. They were very keen to see if I fit into the mold of their team and I guess they made the assumption from the way that I talk about my practice that I would carry it into the classroom. Who knows. All I care about is that I've got myself a job for September, some permanent supply work till the end of June and a glorious relaxing summer (with sunshine!) with my family before the craziness begins again!
PS an addendum. The school who did see me teach took over a week to get back to me. We've played phone tag today, but as they haven't replied to my answerphone message, I'm assuming that it's a non urgent phone call. Fortunately, I would have turned it down anyway :)
Saturday 30 April 2016
Week 3 - things that I didn't know I liked
Week 3 seems to have hurtled by, which is surprising given that it's a vacation week from school, so I've been at home with my wife and the kids. The main focus has been on getting her a job, and we finally have an interview in hand for her. It's next Thursday (after mine on Tuesday and Wednesday) so watch this space! Things are slowly coming together on the job front, and we've decided to end the kids' endless holiday by signing them up for daycare, more of which when they actually start.
For this post, I wanted to focus on some of the smaller things that I've found that I like about being here:
1. Driving
Whilst I've driven before in America, it's been very infrequently and usually only a short drive to the shops and back when we've forgotten something. Now I'm out and about by myself (or with the kids) a bit more, I've found a lot of joy on the roads. For example, there's right on red, which means that if you're turning right and there's a red light, you can go as long as it's clear. There's cruise control (I know this isn't particular to America) which I love, as well making sure I don't get done for a ticket. Finally there's the slower speed limits. I thought this would annoy me, but it feels quicker than the stop start nature of Leeds traffic and means I can enjoy the beautiful scenery whilst I'm driving.
2. Supermarket bag packers
Again, I've been in supermarkets before over here, and always felt a little silly/frustrated that there's someone packing my bags for me. However now with 2 kids in tow, it makes my life unbelievably easier to have someone else sort the food for me (including using different colour bags for cold and dry food!), leaving me to play with Sophie, chatter with Jake and pay at my leisure. Take note, Sainsbury's!
3. Manners
The number of random people I've talked to over the last few weeks has been incredible, and everyone I've met is so polite. It's strange that there is a perception of British people have impeccable manners, but I know that I couldn't strike up conversations in parks and shops as I'm able to do here. My accent definitely helps, as does having a couple of cute kids, but even so, the response has been great. My favourite part of all is being welcomed to America by every person I talk to. A typical conversation goes like this:
Them: So where are you from?
Me: England/across the pond
Them: How long have you been here?
Me: Oh a couple of weeks now
Them: When are you heading back?
Me: We're not, we've moved here permanently.
Them: Well, welcome to America!
I've had this conversation at least a dozen times so far and I'm still not bored of the friendliness and manners yet.
4. Predictable weather
I realise that there is a lot of smugness in most of the photos that I send to my friends and family back in the UK, mainly based on the clear blue skies and sunshine that we've had nearly every day since we've been here. However, what I like most about the weather is that a week in advance, the weather apps tell you what it will be like and lo and behold it is. Makes planning outings much easier. My favourite example is last week, when it said it was going to snow on on Tuesday. I sat there incredulously on Monday afternoon playing with Jake and Sophie in the glorious sun thinking that there was something wrong with my phone. It was cloudy when I woke up on Tuesday and it got progressively colder. By lunchtime there was sleet, and when we were driving home in the afternoon, we got about half an inch of snow, as predicted.
5. State quarters
The inner geek in me finds money, and in particular coins, fascinating. I like it when new designs come out in the UK and always have a soft spot for the old 50p pieces, mainly from the book The Queen's Nose which I always wanted to be real. However, here, whilst I disagree with having the largest coin being 25c, they have gone to town in recent years by giving each state a quarter to decorate. You can then collect the whole set and mount them (and by "you" I mean "I"). I've started raiding the change slots in my wife's family's cars as well as the penny jar upstairs. I got Jake and his cousin to help, and I think I have around 40 already. I like the little challenge that goes with it, as well as getting people to help out.
As with all of these posts, there will be more to add to this list.
Friday 22 April 2016
Week 2 - reflections on American education
Today sees the end of our second week in the US, and it's been a busy one. I've managed to notch up another interview, and have 2 second interviews scheduled for the first week in May (next week is a school vacation week...good to know for next year!). I've also done my first paid in America as a substitute this week, as well as spending two whole days in different schools shadowing teachers and asking lots of questions. There's a lot of familiarity in schools (after all, kids are kids the world over, especially in the West) but there's a lot of differences. Some are positive, some are negative, some will need me to be a teacher here for a while before I can gauge my opinions about them. Here are my top 5 observations from this week:
Uniforms
In the US, there are none. Each school has guidelines that run along the lines of no midriffs, no offensive words and no jewelry, but everything else is fair game. It feels strange after the uniformed order of English schools to see children in what I see as weekend wear and my gut instinct says to prepare for a slack day as this is generally what happens in the UK on non-uniform days. I guess that it's normal for them, but apparently there are discussions regarding uniforms. I'm undecided on this, time will tell on my thoughts.
Unified Arts
In the UK, an elementary school teacher is expected to be a jack of all trades; teaching core subjects of English and maths in the morning, then juggling a hefty load of foundation subjects in the afternoon (art, music, science, PE etc). Here, they have specialists for the Unified Arts (art, music, PE for definite, schools vary on the others) and classes attend these without their regular teacher. In one respect I think this is great: you get a good 45 minute chunk per day to mark, prepare, have meetings as opposed to one big chunk of PPA each week, and the kids get specialist teaching (great for my classes in art where I always felt they got short changed!). On the other hand, it's hard to create any flow and limits the amount of true cross-curricular learning that can take place. There doesn't seem to be many opportunities for discussion or liaison between the specialists and class teachers, so it's hard to see a way in which they don't operate independently. Again, time will tell which of these viewpoints I side with more.
Class Size
The average class size that I've seen this week has been less than 20, making me feel as if I've lost a large number of pupils, setting off a mild panic. This I can only see as a positive, as immediately I felt like I had a better handle on the kids even as a substitute (18 names are easier to remember than 30, especially with gems like Talon, Kennis and Tallis...) and I could give more individual attention over the course of a lesson. The smaller class size will hopefully have a knock on effect on my workload, though talking to other teachers this week makes me think that there are other pressures on their times if their stories are to be believed. In any case, the smaller class sizes will make a positive difference to my teaching and I'm looking forward to this closer approach.
Day Timings
Not all schools run to the same timings, but there is a definite preference for an early start and early finish. In both schools I've been in this week, pupils start arriving around 8/8.15, but due to the staggered nature of the school bus routine, there is an awful lot of time wasted (or what feels like wasted time) waiting for everyone to come in, given that the end of the school day is 2.30/2.45. You also end up with ridiculous things like the first graders eating lunch at 11am (though this may explain Kelsey's preference for early meal times) and no morning recess across school. Again, I will adapt to these things, and I've thoroughly enjoyed being home before 3.15 (though this will change when I'm teaching full time), but the pace of the day seems intense for such young children.
Technology
Even what I was assured was a not well off elementary school this week, there was a fully functioning computer suite of new iMacs, a set of iPads and Chromebooks shared across the school and a few netbooks in each class. In one school that I'm interviewing in, their computing budget is $100,000, well over the total learning resource budget for all subjects from my previous school. There is a big push in all schools to incorporate technology, to the point where all pupils have Google logins, and Google Drive and Classroom is being used to share work. I'm keen for to be part of this and to see how my knowledge and expertise can be used to push things even further.
Behaviour Systems
Finally, whilst the general standard of behaviour has been good (polite manners, kids responding to adult instructions, helping each other), there seems to be a massive slackness on allowing kids to talk at any time, and not pay attention. I've had to bite my tongue when shadowing on numerous occasions on things that I wouldn't accept in my class, and when I was in charge, I laid my rules out quickly and clearly at the start of each lesson. I'm not sure if it's across all schools, or just in the classes that I've seen, but it's more commonplace than I would have imagined, or maybe I'm just going to be that strict teacher from England. I think in part it's due to the fact that I've not seen a discernible reward system in place in any school (I'm thinking Class Dojo or house points for example) to give quick boosts in class and focus positive attention on the kids doing the right thing. On the flip side, there seems to be no formal visible system of consequences either, so it may be that schools don't feel they're necessary. However, with the amount of low level disruption that I saw and clamped down on, I may have to dig further as to why I've not seen these things in place.
A "week off" next week in which we'll step up the job hunt for my wife and start talking serious day care, then on with the interviews and further substitute work towards the end of the school year.
Uniforms
In the US, there are none. Each school has guidelines that run along the lines of no midriffs, no offensive words and no jewelry, but everything else is fair game. It feels strange after the uniformed order of English schools to see children in what I see as weekend wear and my gut instinct says to prepare for a slack day as this is generally what happens in the UK on non-uniform days. I guess that it's normal for them, but apparently there are discussions regarding uniforms. I'm undecided on this, time will tell on my thoughts.
Unified Arts
In the UK, an elementary school teacher is expected to be a jack of all trades; teaching core subjects of English and maths in the morning, then juggling a hefty load of foundation subjects in the afternoon (art, music, science, PE etc). Here, they have specialists for the Unified Arts (art, music, PE for definite, schools vary on the others) and classes attend these without their regular teacher. In one respect I think this is great: you get a good 45 minute chunk per day to mark, prepare, have meetings as opposed to one big chunk of PPA each week, and the kids get specialist teaching (great for my classes in art where I always felt they got short changed!). On the other hand, it's hard to create any flow and limits the amount of true cross-curricular learning that can take place. There doesn't seem to be many opportunities for discussion or liaison between the specialists and class teachers, so it's hard to see a way in which they don't operate independently. Again, time will tell which of these viewpoints I side with more.
Class Size
The average class size that I've seen this week has been less than 20, making me feel as if I've lost a large number of pupils, setting off a mild panic. This I can only see as a positive, as immediately I felt like I had a better handle on the kids even as a substitute (18 names are easier to remember than 30, especially with gems like Talon, Kennis and Tallis...) and I could give more individual attention over the course of a lesson. The smaller class size will hopefully have a knock on effect on my workload, though talking to other teachers this week makes me think that there are other pressures on their times if their stories are to be believed. In any case, the smaller class sizes will make a positive difference to my teaching and I'm looking forward to this closer approach.
Day Timings
Not all schools run to the same timings, but there is a definite preference for an early start and early finish. In both schools I've been in this week, pupils start arriving around 8/8.15, but due to the staggered nature of the school bus routine, there is an awful lot of time wasted (or what feels like wasted time) waiting for everyone to come in, given that the end of the school day is 2.30/2.45. You also end up with ridiculous things like the first graders eating lunch at 11am (though this may explain Kelsey's preference for early meal times) and no morning recess across school. Again, I will adapt to these things, and I've thoroughly enjoyed being home before 3.15 (though this will change when I'm teaching full time), but the pace of the day seems intense for such young children.
Technology
Even what I was assured was a not well off elementary school this week, there was a fully functioning computer suite of new iMacs, a set of iPads and Chromebooks shared across the school and a few netbooks in each class. In one school that I'm interviewing in, their computing budget is $100,000, well over the total learning resource budget for all subjects from my previous school. There is a big push in all schools to incorporate technology, to the point where all pupils have Google logins, and Google Drive and Classroom is being used to share work. I'm keen for to be part of this and to see how my knowledge and expertise can be used to push things even further.
Behaviour Systems
Finally, whilst the general standard of behaviour has been good (polite manners, kids responding to adult instructions, helping each other), there seems to be a massive slackness on allowing kids to talk at any time, and not pay attention. I've had to bite my tongue when shadowing on numerous occasions on things that I wouldn't accept in my class, and when I was in charge, I laid my rules out quickly and clearly at the start of each lesson. I'm not sure if it's across all schools, or just in the classes that I've seen, but it's more commonplace than I would have imagined, or maybe I'm just going to be that strict teacher from England. I think in part it's due to the fact that I've not seen a discernible reward system in place in any school (I'm thinking Class Dojo or house points for example) to give quick boosts in class and focus positive attention on the kids doing the right thing. On the flip side, there seems to be no formal visible system of consequences either, so it may be that schools don't feel they're necessary. However, with the amount of low level disruption that I saw and clamped down on, I may have to dig further as to why I've not seen these things in place.
A "week off" next week in which we'll step up the job hunt for my wife and start talking serious day care, then on with the interviews and further substitute work towards the end of the school year.
Sunday 17 April 2016
My first week in numbers
We've been here a little over a week now, which seems crazy given how long the lead in to the move seemed to last for. It's flown by in a flurry of new experiences and setting up of our new lives, so rather than try and write it all down for a mammoth post, I want to give a flavour of what we've been up to in numbers:
Days of substitute organised: 2 (got these on Monday after talking to the principal of the local elementary school)
Number of interviews attended: 1 (I submitted it on Tuesday night and got the phone call on Wednesday morning. Had the interview on Friday, waiting to hear back whether they want to see me teach! Watch this space...)
Sunny days: 7 (out of 9. Additional stat: I last saw a cloud 5 days ago. It makes a massive difference to how we play with the kids, and it's lovely being able to spill outside armed with towels, toys and suncream with no intention of coming back inside because it's too cold or cloudy)
Tractor rides by Jake: 7 (this includes both tractors. We arrived 11pm last Friday, and by 6.05 the next morning, he was up and asking about a tractor ride)
Times I've opened the passenger side door to get in to drive: 14 (I still can't make it look deliberate. Additional stat: Number of weird looks I've got for doing this: 3)
Times I've cracked my left hand on the door trying to shift gear: 8 (My brain is slowly adjusting to the fact that everything is in the same order (pedals and gears mainly) but just on on the other side of the car)
Cost to fill up the car (a Honda Fit over here, Jazz in the UK): $18 (I couldn't believe this when it happened, given that the tank was pretty much empty. Makes the idea of a long commute a bit more palatable)
Number of favourite foods/restaurants eaten from: 2 (Dos Amigos burritos and Calef's sandwiches. It's a nice change of pace not to have to rush round everywhere because we're on a time limit. We've also had Chinese and pizza, both of which I prefer over here. Slimming World diet starts next week!
Points scored by me in Ultimate Frisbee: 2 (additional stat: Number of times I felt like throwing up during the game: 12. I forgot how fit you need to be to play and how much sprinting was involved! It will act as a good motivation to get fit, as well as a way to make friends).
Uncomfortable yoga positions attempted: 4 (across 2 sessions. My wife's parents bought me an extra long mat that feels like I'm practicing on thick carpet, so I'm hoping to offset the pain of Frisbee (and rowing) with some relaxing yoga too. Not the same without my regular yoga buddy Matt, as there'll be no-one to stop me from falling asleep at the end!)
Hours spend playing outside on the dirt pile with Jake (and Sophie on a towel): 15 (and counting. Jake is loving the ability to be outside all day, and we spend all morning this morning playing on the massive mound of soil that's sitting waiting for gardening season. He's turned it into a regular construction site, complete with toy vehicles and access paths. I don't want to be the one who starts to use it for it's intended purpose.)
Number of virtual babysitters: 2 ( Moving across the world in 2016 is made much easier by being able to reach out to anyone with an internet connection (and in these days of cheap data, that's nearly everyone) with a decent quality video call. I've been on Skype with my parents twice now where I've needed to go do something, and the quality of the video and the fact that Jake and Sophie understand video calls means that I've left them alone with my parents. This has led to some very cute moments, and Jake insists most days on calling Granny and Grandpa to show them his latest block creations.)
It's been another busy week, but much less stressful than our last in the UK and much more enjoyable (perhaps because we got out to a movie on Tuesday, perhaps due to the sunshine, perhaps because the job situation is moving quicker than we thought!). More to come this week as I venture into the world of American education...
Days of substitute organised: 2 (got these on Monday after talking to the principal of the local elementary school)
Number of interviews attended: 1 (I submitted it on Tuesday night and got the phone call on Wednesday morning. Had the interview on Friday, waiting to hear back whether they want to see me teach! Watch this space...)
Sunny days: 7 (out of 9. Additional stat: I last saw a cloud 5 days ago. It makes a massive difference to how we play with the kids, and it's lovely being able to spill outside armed with towels, toys and suncream with no intention of coming back inside because it's too cold or cloudy)
Tractor rides by Jake: 7 (this includes both tractors. We arrived 11pm last Friday, and by 6.05 the next morning, he was up and asking about a tractor ride)
Times I've opened the passenger side door to get in to drive: 14 (I still can't make it look deliberate. Additional stat: Number of weird looks I've got for doing this: 3)
Times I've cracked my left hand on the door trying to shift gear: 8 (My brain is slowly adjusting to the fact that everything is in the same order (pedals and gears mainly) but just on on the other side of the car)
Cost to fill up the car (a Honda Fit over here, Jazz in the UK): $18 (I couldn't believe this when it happened, given that the tank was pretty much empty. Makes the idea of a long commute a bit more palatable)
Number of favourite foods/restaurants eaten from: 2 (Dos Amigos burritos and Calef's sandwiches. It's a nice change of pace not to have to rush round everywhere because we're on a time limit. We've also had Chinese and pizza, both of which I prefer over here. Slimming World diet starts next week!
Points scored by me in Ultimate Frisbee: 2 (additional stat: Number of times I felt like throwing up during the game: 12. I forgot how fit you need to be to play and how much sprinting was involved! It will act as a good motivation to get fit, as well as a way to make friends).
Uncomfortable yoga positions attempted: 4 (across 2 sessions. My wife's parents bought me an extra long mat that feels like I'm practicing on thick carpet, so I'm hoping to offset the pain of Frisbee (and rowing) with some relaxing yoga too. Not the same without my regular yoga buddy Matt, as there'll be no-one to stop me from falling asleep at the end!)
Hours spend playing outside on the dirt pile with Jake (and Sophie on a towel): 15 (and counting. Jake is loving the ability to be outside all day, and we spend all morning this morning playing on the massive mound of soil that's sitting waiting for gardening season. He's turned it into a regular construction site, complete with toy vehicles and access paths. I don't want to be the one who starts to use it for it's intended purpose.)
Number of virtual babysitters: 2 ( Moving across the world in 2016 is made much easier by being able to reach out to anyone with an internet connection (and in these days of cheap data, that's nearly everyone) with a decent quality video call. I've been on Skype with my parents twice now where I've needed to go do something, and the quality of the video and the fact that Jake and Sophie understand video calls means that I've left them alone with my parents. This has led to some very cute moments, and Jake insists most days on calling Granny and Grandpa to show them his latest block creations.)
It's been another busy week, but much less stressful than our last in the UK and much more enjoyable (perhaps because we got out to a movie on Tuesday, perhaps due to the sunshine, perhaps because the job situation is moving quicker than we thought!). More to come this week as I venture into the world of American education...
Wednesday 23 March 2016
Realisations and Predictions
With a little over two weeks to go, the whole move still seems surreal. However, some things are making it feel more like it's actually going to happen, like saying goodbye to close friends or finally getting my qualification and job hunting. People keep asking me what I think about the move, and frankly, I can't wait to go. Work has quickly become a chore, which is hard as a teacher as you can't have an off day and you get in trouble if you don't get the kids to do marking-worth work every now and again. I was talking with my friend Matt last night about some of the issues that I think I'll face, and thought more about this when I got home, so I wanted to make some predictions about what I think I'll find especially different/weird about being in the US:
1. Vocabulary
This will range from the silly (period and fanny will be words that I will be expected to use on a semi-regular basis) to the frustrating (math for maths, gas for petrol, cell for mobile), but I think it will be those times when I'm not paying attention and slip up that will be the worst. There are a bunch of words that I know I need to change when talking to Americans so I'm understood, but there will also be a whole bunch more that I don't know that are particular to the UK. Maybe I'll start a list to help me remember!
2. Measurements
On one of my recent teaching tests, I was asked to estimate the volume of a wheelbarrow. Fair enough says I, multiple choice question, let's have a look at the possible answers. When I saw the measurements of gallons, quarts, cups or pints, I panicked, as I know that the ones I recognise (will need more z's soon!) (will need to remember to say zee not zed!) aren't the same in both countries. I then realised that I will be teaching in feet and inches, pounds and ounces in school. Whilst (while) I know what they are and how to use them, I find the whole system cumbersome. Maybe I'll lead the metric revolution!
3. Football kick off times
As noted before, being a teacher tends to generate a lot of written work that needs to be marked and assessed to improve the kids learning. I'm ok with this, but when you end up with 30 books each taking 5 minutes to go through, it's a big time ask and one that doesn't fit into the whole teaching day. Inevitably some of them come home, and it's my treat to work in the kitchen with the football on the radio (thank god for the 7 day football calendar!). I realised to my horror that in the US, the evening games will be over by the time I get home from work. This does mean that I can probably listen to them at the end of the work day (thank god for 2.45pm finishes in the US!) but I'll need to find another source of marking accompaniment. Maybe I'll try baseball?
4. Radio habits
As a follow up to the previous point, I'm also a creature of habit with my radio listening. I hate adverts, so spend all of my time listening to the BBC in various guises throughout the day. This is all well and good until the time difference kicks in. No longer will I have PM on the way home (with the occasional radio 1 thrown in if the news is boring) or Danny Baker on Saturday mornings during the food shopping. I think there may be services which will stream the BBC to America, but unless I can get it on time delay, I may be forced to find new American favourites (favorites will always look wrong!) or maybe even podcasts.
5. Sounding different
I've been going to yoga for the last few months as a way of dealing with the stress of the move as well as a good opportunity to hang out with my friend Matt. Last night, our regular teacher was away and we had a lady with a proper broad Yorkshire accent teaching us. It wasn't until about halfway through that my brain twigged this, and even then it sounds completely normal to me. I then started paying attention to the accents at school and everyone sounds like me (just a little less plummy and a little less deep-voiced). I think it will be strange to have my accent mark me out as different, and I hope it's the conversation starter that it often is for my wife over here, rather than the opportunity for tribalism as it has sometimes been. And who knows, maybe I'll develop a decent American accent after all?
That's my thoughts so far. I may add to them in the next few weeks, but I definitely plan to review them when I'm out there. 16 days and counting!
1. Vocabulary
This will range from the silly (period and fanny will be words that I will be expected to use on a semi-regular basis) to the frustrating (math for maths, gas for petrol, cell for mobile), but I think it will be those times when I'm not paying attention and slip up that will be the worst. There are a bunch of words that I know I need to change when talking to Americans so I'm understood, but there will also be a whole bunch more that I don't know that are particular to the UK. Maybe I'll start a list to help me remember!
2. Measurements
On one of my recent teaching tests, I was asked to estimate the volume of a wheelbarrow. Fair enough says I, multiple choice question, let's have a look at the possible answers. When I saw the measurements of gallons, quarts, cups or pints, I panicked, as I know that the ones I recognise (will need more z's soon!) (will need to remember to say zee not zed!) aren't the same in both countries. I then realised that I will be teaching in feet and inches, pounds and ounces in school. Whilst (while) I know what they are and how to use them, I find the whole system cumbersome. Maybe I'll lead the metric revolution!
3. Football kick off times
As noted before, being a teacher tends to generate a lot of written work that needs to be marked and assessed to improve the kids learning. I'm ok with this, but when you end up with 30 books each taking 5 minutes to go through, it's a big time ask and one that doesn't fit into the whole teaching day. Inevitably some of them come home, and it's my treat to work in the kitchen with the football on the radio (thank god for the 7 day football calendar!). I realised to my horror that in the US, the evening games will be over by the time I get home from work. This does mean that I can probably listen to them at the end of the work day (thank god for 2.45pm finishes in the US!) but I'll need to find another source of marking accompaniment. Maybe I'll try baseball?
4. Radio habits
As a follow up to the previous point, I'm also a creature of habit with my radio listening. I hate adverts, so spend all of my time listening to the BBC in various guises throughout the day. This is all well and good until the time difference kicks in. No longer will I have PM on the way home (with the occasional radio 1 thrown in if the news is boring) or Danny Baker on Saturday mornings during the food shopping. I think there may be services which will stream the BBC to America, but unless I can get it on time delay, I may be forced to find new American favourites (favorites will always look wrong!) or maybe even podcasts.
5. Sounding different
I've been going to yoga for the last few months as a way of dealing with the stress of the move as well as a good opportunity to hang out with my friend Matt. Last night, our regular teacher was away and we had a lady with a proper broad Yorkshire accent teaching us. It wasn't until about halfway through that my brain twigged this, and even then it sounds completely normal to me. I then started paying attention to the accents at school and everyone sounds like me (just a little less plummy and a little less deep-voiced). I think it will be strange to have my accent mark me out as different, and I hope it's the conversation starter that it often is for my wife over here, rather than the opportunity for tribalism as it has sometimes been. And who knows, maybe I'll develop a decent American accent after all?
That's my thoughts so far. I may add to them in the next few weeks, but I definitely plan to review them when I'm out there. 16 days and counting!
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