Thoughts for September (from Newsletter)

As promised, I will be sending out monthly newsletters to keep everyone informed of what my life is like across the pond. I’m hoping that these newsletters will give you a good idea of what I’m doing, what I’m learning, people I’m meeting, and what God is doing in my life and the lives of those around me.
I’m hoping that’ll I have these done around the 15th of each month and obviously I’ve missed my first deadline.
I’m still adjusting to a new lifestyle. Everyone person that I live with and work with are absolutely wonderful ensuring that I’ve settled in okay and adjusting to life in small-town-England. And I have settled in much better than I had even expected. I know that the novelty and excitement of everything will eventually wear off, but I’m surrounded by wonderful people, which is very comforting.
I’m looking forward to the year to come, the new adventures I’ll have, the people I’ll make, the things I’ll learn and the relationships I’ll build.
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The end of August and September has been a time adjustment. It’s an ongoing process.
I’ve had to adjust to the weather. On average the temperature is about 30 degrees colder than current temperatures in Las Cruces. Sweaters and sweatshirts have been my daily attire occasionally adding my new pink rain jacket and polka-dotted umbrella to the ensemble.
Then there is the complication of the English driving on the wrong side of the road. It throws me off every single time. In Manchester they painted “look left” at the crosswalks. I wish these reminders were all over! I end up looking lift, right, left, right, left, right and left once more as I’m crossing.
Another major adjustment has been the language. I quickly discovered that British English might as well be a different language from American English. If I’m in a position where I can add lip-reading to listening I usually have no problems, but phone conversations are difficult. I ask the person to repeat things—a lot! I’m also getting vocabulary lessons quite often. I get teased about not speaking very good English.
Aside from the major differences, there have been the minor ones as well. It seems that everything is different from the envelopes to vacuums to using money. It’s a very humbling experience asking for help for simple things.