Reflecting on Life Abroad

The movers are here now packing up our life here in London. It's a bit surreal that our nearly 2 years here is already up. After 6 months of living here in London, I blogged about the highs and lows of the experience so far. I wanted to update and close out that list as we prepare to depart. We are so excited to come home but there are some real things that I'm also going to miss about living here and will try to take back home with me.  If you talk to JJ he will tell you that he will miss nothing about this place but maybe my musings will make him a bit more nostalgic someday!

Things I Love:

I love living in a global, cosmopolitan city. I love that I have three types of currency in my wallet at any given moment. I love that we can take the train to Paris in 2 hours or get on a flight to take us to a completely new cultural destination.  I love that while swinging Tyler at the playground I hear other parents speaking to their children in Italian, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin - you name it!

I love that I can get fresh organic fruits and veggies dropped at my door every Wednesday from Abel & Cole.  I love that Ocado brings the rest of the groceries we need to our doorstep as well.  I love walking to the farmers market at parliament hill on Saturdays or catching it at Belsize park on Wednesdays. I love going to the local French bread store for fresh bread for French toast or whatever else we want. I love that I learned how to cook using real ingredients and that my cooking knowledge and recipe collection has improved by a thousand times since moving here. 

I love our tourist mentality. Although it is exhausting at times, we have really tried to soak up every opportunity to live this time to the fullest and go out and see everything we can.  I love that Tyler is starting to pick up the travel books that we bought during our travels and we can talk to him about all the cool places that he's been.  I hope to take some of that get up and go spirit back to Chicago. 

I love blogging. It has been so fun for me to document our time here and keep our friends and family updated. I'm blown away and touched by how many people are actually reading it. Even through we will not be abroad anymore, I think I'm still going to write in it periodically as an online journal of our family's activities. Feel free to unsubscribe to the emails or RSS feed at any time :)

I love the extra family time this experience has given us.  Although it was a huge transition for me to stay at home instead of work full time, it has given me so much precious time with Tyler.  Even though he's a daddy's boy, we still have a lot of fun together and I feel like he's my trusty sidekick.  And now that he's talking, the kid cracks me up daily. Now we try to have dinners as a family when JJ's work schedule allows and we have been going to JJ's work for lunch every couple weeks.  Those things may not be as possible when I am back to work again.

I love our neighborhood.  Hampstead is one of the cutest villages on earth in my opinion.  We are walking distance to the Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill, and Regents Park - all beautiful, expansive parks.  It has been here that Tyler has developed a love for nature, finding a good stick, throwing pebbles and climbing trees.  We have over 10-15 playgrounds within walking distance too and 2 zoos.  Also in Hampstead are lovely shops, restaurants, and a million activities for a mom to do with her baby/toddler.  I know that Chicago has a lot to offer too, but Hampstead has set the bar pretty high for a great neighborhood.

Things I Won't Miss
I will be so happy to return to a place where....
.... pants are not trousers
.... a bathing suit is not a swimming costume
.... a stroller is not a buggy, pram, or pushchair
.... a diaper is not a nappy
.... chips are not crisps
.... fries are not chips
.... a cookie is not a biscuit
.... an elevator is not a lift
.... a ladybug is not a ladybird (thank goodness Tyler has not picked up on this one)
.... sneakers are not trainers
.... a bathroom is not just "toilet"
.... the trunk of your car isn't your boot
.... a big truck isn't a lorry
.... I get weighed in pounds and not kg or stones
.... football is not soccer
.... football is not "American" football
.... lemonade is not sprite
.... gas is not petrol
.... "take out" food isn't for "take away"
.... a Band Aid is not a plaster
.... we wait in line and not the queue
.... a torch is something on fire and not a flashlight
.... I am greeted with "How are you?" not "Are you alright?" which immediately makes me think that I look like I am feeling bad about something
.... Tyler is my son's name and not Taylor or Tyla (the people here seriously can't figure out this American name)

The English compactness of everything.  I can't wait to have a kitchen you can fit more than 1.5 people in, I can't wait to be able to wash a casserole dish in a normal sized sink so I don't spill water everywhere, I can't wait to have a normal sized refrigerator and oven, and I can't wait to be able to buy a normal sized portion of crackers/chips and not a miniature one.   And I absolutely cannot wait to get a normal washer and dryer - I am so tired of hanging things on the line and doing 4-5 loads a week.  I know this smallness is driving JJ crazy and we will both be glad to get back to the big things that we know and love :)

I am excited to be able to drive again.  The tube is great and has been a lifesaver for me, who will not ever drive here.  But still it will be nice to run a quick errand with a car instead of making it our morning activity journey on the tube.

I am excited to get back to American TV.  We don't watch a lot of TV as it is, but it will be nice to have the option :)

I am also excited to get back to Target.  There isn't a good multi-purpose shop here.  Maybe if we were here longer I'd find the best places to get things, but there isn't a one-stop shop like Target.

Finally and most important, I won't miss the ocean separating us from close friends and family.  The time here has flown by but we are really excited to be closer to the ones we love again.