God Bless the USA

That's our tag line these days. As we are finding out, it's the small things that we are so thankful for now that we have moved back to the US. Friendly people in stores (even the worst service experience here in the US beats the best one in the UK), roads that are spacious, predictability (this is good for my husband, me I prefer change I think), prices that are reasonable (yes, prices have gone up in the US but we still don't have to pay $8 for a gallon of gas here!)...I could go on....

But the funny thing is that I am finding that I am getting caught following UK cultural norms as opposed to US norms -- and it's taking by surprise, just how much I had adjusted to life in the UK. A few times now I have had to go apologize to people for doing what they view as strange things---and I wasn't even aware of it. But that's all part of the process I suppose.

Anyway, that's life in the US for you!

Indiana Again

We have realized that we are in Indiana (or maybe I should just say America) again since a) everyone drives around in BIG trucks (yes, lot's of Cummins engines here), b) there are lots of country folks around us, c) people are friendly even when they are not happy with you and d) all vegetables and fruit are really fresh and tasty (we have realized just how unfresh grapes are in the UK after moving back here).

More observations to come...

It's all new again

After being away for 2 years, making the adjustment to residing in the US again is going to create a new challenge for me. It seems that it should be very easy and simple to just go back to how things were before---but it's much more complicated than that. Even though many things look the same, they are actually different. Not to mention that after living abroad I now have a new perspective on things in the US--some better, some worse. I expect that once I start my new job this will get even tougher. So now I'm in prep mode, trying to get myself in the right frame of mind to adjust in the best way possible. Anyway, it will be interesting to say the least.

On another note, there's a big professional fishing tournament going on here at the lake. Lots of fancy, painted up boats everywhere. I have never seen a fishing tournament before it's kind of interesting. Today's the last day and I guess that sometime in May they will show the tournament on TV.

Stateside Once Again

We are all now officially stateside! I have joined the boys in Alabama as of this morning and now have about a week left for some R&R before starting at my new job. Although the weather could be better, it's great to be back home. The lake house looks great--have been doing lots of work on it for the last 4 months with the help of various people while we were away and it's been worth it.

My trip to Barcelona was great. The weather was fantastic and food was great. It was a nice transition from UK to US. In the span of 2 days I did tons of sightseeing, lots of walking, and drank plenty of nice Spanish red wine to keep me going ;) I will be posting pics to Flickr shortly so anyone with access will be able to check them out there (if you don't have access and want it, drop me an email and I will get you added in).

It's nice to be home again.