I miss Japan. No matter how much I am used to England now, I still miss Japan. It doesn’t make me sad all the time, but it does make me feel nostalgic when I read or hear news about Japan or about my friends that we had in Japan. Today at the base gym, the AFN (American Forces Network) was showing a report about our Cummings Elementary School, the school that the kids went to in Misawa. I stood there in front of the TV, looking for familiar faces, and thinking back to our three wonderful years there…
My life here is busy. I make it that way myself though, so I am not complaining. I just need to embrace the fact that is not a simple kind of life like it used to be three years ago and continue to enjoy the journey. I think, one of the big differences in my day is the fact that Katya and Alex don’t come back from school till after 3:30 pm. That leaves me with only a couple of hours either do swimming/piano or whatever and have dinner. It’s light outside till sooooo late now that it makes it harder for me to send the kids to bed, even I feel like they should still be outside playing.
Ha! Outside! Right…the weather is so changeable here, it’s unbelievable. The weird part is although it’s almost the end of May, we still have to use heat at night. We felt hot on one day this month—May 6th! The reason why I remember the day is because that was the morning I hosed the kids down outside in their pajamas as it was Wet Monday (Monday after Easter in Ukraine). That was also the day we went to Stilton, to the famous Cheese Rolling festival. I pictured this big roll of cheese rolling down the hill and people chasing it or something. No…instead it was a few different groups of four-five people compete who can roll sausage-looking pieces of cheese down the road the fastest. It was so hot (because we were not used to any sort of heat any more!) and we had to wait for forever for the competition to start… Anyway, no more Stilton Cheese Festival for us.
I cannot believe that it’s almost summer. We have so many plans for this summer, that I know it’s going to go very-very fast. I am hoping to enjoy the warmth, if any comes here ever, as long as it lasts. Kids don’t finish school till July 23rd! They do have a break for six weeks till September 4th. That’s when the whole country of the UK is going on holidays and prices skyrocket! I have heard it’s congested everywhere and people flock to the Southern part of England to enjoy the beach.
We have three big trips and one short trip planned for this summer. Belgium in June, Sardinia (off the coast of Italy) in July, Scotland in August and a four day weekend for Robert’s birthday in Devon, Southern area of England. And on top of that, my mom and my sister are coming to visit us for ten days in July. Alex and Katya are celebrating their birthdays in July and Alex is getting baptized on July 28th. VERY BUSY SUMMER.
So, we thought, that maybe it’s not exciting enough and started thinking of moving on top of that all. Basically, the situation is that because Robert is something called “Major Select”, so he is not a major yet, but he knows when he will become one (next May!). He was able to move to a different waiting list for military housing, which is not on base territory, but in a village of Brampton, 10 minutes away from base. Anyway, we are hoping we’ll be offered a house there at the end of June, which means that we might have to move within thirty days from when we say “yes” to the house...unless we convince them to let us do it right after our Scotland trip after the first week of August.
We have a lot to think about, and many may wonder why in the world we’d add another move to our already nomadic lifestyle. It’s not a very simple decision to make because there are so many variables to consider.
Our house in Brampton would be smaller than the one we have, our yard would definitely be smaller, the school would not be five minutes away on foot, and we would not be living in the countryside, sort of.
At the same time, the house in Brampton is much closer to the base (10 minutes vs. 20 minutes), it is closer to the base school, closer to pretty much everywhere we go, as it is very near the main road that takes us to train stations, London, or Cambridge.
Major selling point is the neighborhood. It is so silly to think that this matters to me and I feel almost guilty thinking that it’s a big deal….but we would be on the street with ten other American families, in a quiet cul-de-sac where kids can bike and play outside with other children! I miss that! My kids need that! What good does my big yard do if the kids don’t spend much time playing out there and they cannot even bike on our street? We have 90% retired couples on our current street, something that I did not think would matter so much, but it does.
I would also miss the quality of our British Bury school, especially with Mark starting Reception (full-time school) in the fall. But it’s pretty much decided that Katya will start going to the base school next school year, so she will be in fifth grade. It’s not decided for sure with Alex because I don’t know if Brampton village school would have a spot for him. So we’ll see.
Finally, it would be wonderful to have all my American appliances back—big washer, dryer, fridge, I can use my US kitchen appliances without a converter, and I will have a garbage disposal. Oh, and nice toilets and bathroom sinks…
I am talking like we are already moving, but we are not. It’s just a possibility. With the all the trees green and beautiful flowers blooming it is hard for me to think that I would trade my wonderful backyard/field for anything else. I do love it…very much. But it’s not just about the garden…
We’ll keep you updated.
Sorry for such a wordy post, we’ve got lots on our mind.
Tomorrow, my mom is coming to visit us for one day! She is on her way to the US to get a stamp in her passport that she can be a permanent resident in the US. I hope everything goes well with her at the customs and she gets her temporary Green Card. Yay!
Lyana.
My life here is busy. I make it that way myself though, so I am not complaining. I just need to embrace the fact that is not a simple kind of life like it used to be three years ago and continue to enjoy the journey. I think, one of the big differences in my day is the fact that Katya and Alex don’t come back from school till after 3:30 pm. That leaves me with only a couple of hours either do swimming/piano or whatever and have dinner. It’s light outside till sooooo late now that it makes it harder for me to send the kids to bed, even I feel like they should still be outside playing.
Ha! Outside! Right…the weather is so changeable here, it’s unbelievable. The weird part is although it’s almost the end of May, we still have to use heat at night. We felt hot on one day this month—May 6th! The reason why I remember the day is because that was the morning I hosed the kids down outside in their pajamas as it was Wet Monday (Monday after Easter in Ukraine). That was also the day we went to Stilton, to the famous Cheese Rolling festival. I pictured this big roll of cheese rolling down the hill and people chasing it or something. No…instead it was a few different groups of four-five people compete who can roll sausage-looking pieces of cheese down the road the fastest. It was so hot (because we were not used to any sort of heat any more!) and we had to wait for forever for the competition to start… Anyway, no more Stilton Cheese Festival for us.
I cannot believe that it’s almost summer. We have so many plans for this summer, that I know it’s going to go very-very fast. I am hoping to enjoy the warmth, if any comes here ever, as long as it lasts. Kids don’t finish school till July 23rd! They do have a break for six weeks till September 4th. That’s when the whole country of the UK is going on holidays and prices skyrocket! I have heard it’s congested everywhere and people flock to the Southern part of England to enjoy the beach.
We have three big trips and one short trip planned for this summer. Belgium in June, Sardinia (off the coast of Italy) in July, Scotland in August and a four day weekend for Robert’s birthday in Devon, Southern area of England. And on top of that, my mom and my sister are coming to visit us for ten days in July. Alex and Katya are celebrating their birthdays in July and Alex is getting baptized on July 28th. VERY BUSY SUMMER.
So, we thought, that maybe it’s not exciting enough and started thinking of moving on top of that all. Basically, the situation is that because Robert is something called “Major Select”, so he is not a major yet, but he knows when he will become one (next May!). He was able to move to a different waiting list for military housing, which is not on base territory, but in a village of Brampton, 10 minutes away from base. Anyway, we are hoping we’ll be offered a house there at the end of June, which means that we might have to move within thirty days from when we say “yes” to the house...unless we convince them to let us do it right after our Scotland trip after the first week of August.
We have a lot to think about, and many may wonder why in the world we’d add another move to our already nomadic lifestyle. It’s not a very simple decision to make because there are so many variables to consider.
Our house in Brampton would be smaller than the one we have, our yard would definitely be smaller, the school would not be five minutes away on foot, and we would not be living in the countryside, sort of.
At the same time, the house in Brampton is much closer to the base (10 minutes vs. 20 minutes), it is closer to the base school, closer to pretty much everywhere we go, as it is very near the main road that takes us to train stations, London, or Cambridge.
Major selling point is the neighborhood. It is so silly to think that this matters to me and I feel almost guilty thinking that it’s a big deal….but we would be on the street with ten other American families, in a quiet cul-de-sac where kids can bike and play outside with other children! I miss that! My kids need that! What good does my big yard do if the kids don’t spend much time playing out there and they cannot even bike on our street? We have 90% retired couples on our current street, something that I did not think would matter so much, but it does.
I would also miss the quality of our British Bury school, especially with Mark starting Reception (full-time school) in the fall. But it’s pretty much decided that Katya will start going to the base school next school year, so she will be in fifth grade. It’s not decided for sure with Alex because I don’t know if Brampton village school would have a spot for him. So we’ll see.
Finally, it would be wonderful to have all my American appliances back—big washer, dryer, fridge, I can use my US kitchen appliances without a converter, and I will have a garbage disposal. Oh, and nice toilets and bathroom sinks…
I am talking like we are already moving, but we are not. It’s just a possibility. With the all the trees green and beautiful flowers blooming it is hard for me to think that I would trade my wonderful backyard/field for anything else. I do love it…very much. But it’s not just about the garden…
We’ll keep you updated.
Sorry for such a wordy post, we’ve got lots on our mind.
Tomorrow, my mom is coming to visit us for one day! She is on her way to the US to get a stamp in her passport that she can be a permanent resident in the US. I hope everything goes well with her at the customs and she gets her temporary Green Card. Yay!
Lyana.
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