Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Part 1 of What it is like to return after living abroad

In this post....life post-assignment

all your stuff...all wrapped up

we will all be quite happy when this big ole container arrives at our house stateside!


There has been a lag in posts because life becomes messy during a move.
Whether you are moving from one house to another within the same city, or moving across the world, moving is just messy and complicated.
It's much more than changing your address.  It's changing routines, changing surroundings, changing neighbors, utilities, activities....
When you move from one country to another, you also change cultures.  For us, coming from an international and mostly American area in London, the culture shock has not been overbearing.  However, the lifestyle shock certainly is.  As in, you mean I have to get in my car in order to do anything?  Even grab a cup of coffee, or pick up milk?  Yes, that is the kind of neighborhood we live in.  Sure, we could consider moving more urban.  In London, we didn't ever own a car.  We lived in central London, and having a car is a real pain.  You can walk everywhere, take the transport, or hire a car.  Not so here in the Minneapolis area!  We have returned to the home we left three and a half years ago.  We love this house (although it is quite tired and needs a lot of work, which is a different blog entry), love our neighbors, love our location.  So, it really makes sense for us to be here.
We moved out of London on June 20th.  Our children left with my parents, who had come to help us out in the past couple weeks, a few days earlier, on June 16th.  We were able to get back into the house on June 23rd.
So, here we are.
Back home.
We've got some temporary furnishings, and our items from storage.
Our sea shipment has passed through customs and is waiting in line for transport across the US to our home.
The kids are getting involved in some activities, and I am learning to spend lots of time in my car.
All is well.
We certainly are not settled, but each day is progress, and we're getting there.  Patience, patience!!



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