I will have been here for five years in mid-October, but even now there are rare moments when it still feels like I am just 'on holiday abroad'!!
Take the other night. There I was wandering around the house getting ready for bed, when the noise of the locusts in the trees just really struck me suddenly, even though I hear them nightly. I thought to myself - it's like when I've been on holiday somewhere hot and you hear this exotic sound. As a Brit, it's just a sound you associate with tropical holidays abroad, not where you live.
It just made me smile to myself. I might be one of the most happily adjusted expats I know, but even I have my moments and when I still find it wierd that I live here!
12 comments:
I've been here two years and I haven't adjusted yet. I'm hoping that by the time I reach 5 years like you, i'll have stopped longing for 'home'.....
I have been in the states since 1992 and it still feels strange to me to live in the desert. I went home to Canada the great lakes area this summer and I still feels like I never left. It feels even more weird when you go back to the country you were born and you take out your passport and it says American. You become a foreignor, politics that you grew up with become more foreign, your friends and family stay the same and it brings me comfort. Have a great night <3 Did that even make sense? :D
We're glad you're here for more than a holiday.
Saffy - to be honest I have never been homesick I just slotted straight in and was very lucky. This feels like home, but just occasionally a moment like this will catch me unawares! I hope you will have settled better in another 3 years too.
Anna - yes you made perfect sense. My first trip 'home' will be this Christmas and it will be interesting to see how I feel when I get there. I am so happy here and it's so utterly different (quieter), I honestly think I maybe a little freaked out and miss here badly! We'll see....
George - thanks for your sweet comment!
I'm a year almost in and spent the entire time with a stomach ulcer and gastritis, whilst living with my inlaws until I get a job. I don't even feel like I've had a chance to really enjoy and experience America for myself if you get what I mean? I wonder when I'll stop referring to my Dad's house, Jersey, and the UK as 'home' whenever I refer to stuff back home...
Christmas abroad will be your holiday. You are Home!
Congrats Brit Gal / Okie in the making --
I've seen your info. from Gigi's Hawaiian blog, and this DrumMajor grew up in OKC.
Congrats on your US citizenship! Surely there's a British club of folks in OKC. There are lots of Irish folks in Kansas City.
Just wanted to let you know, which Hubster may not have told you -- there IS a separate citizenship procedure to be an official Okie!
1)You have to get your socks permanently pink from walking in the red dirt,
2)attend a Native American pow wow to pay respects to the reason the dirt is red. (Do you know why yet?)
3)Realize that it's not summer yet until you hear the cicadas.
4) Hold a harmless June bug in your hand, and pick an empty June bug shell off a tree. (My mother made necklaces from empty June bug shells in the '30s)
5) Go outside FIRST to see if there's really a tornado, THEN get into the basement or center are of your house.
Have a wonderful US citizenship day! You'll do just dandy and have a hoot. DrumMajor
Its nice to think of the past at times, memories are a nice reminder.
Sarah, I'm so glad you are so well adjusted to living here! I really enjoy your outlook on life and I admire you for what you have accomplished!
I miss the locusts at night. I loved that about Kansas nights...and Korean nights. Used to make some people nuts, but I've always loved the sound.
We get the wee-oooo sound from time to time here in Colorado, but not often enough.
I still feel like I'm torn in two after living in Illinois for 35 years and moving to Hawaii two years ago. I keep forgetting what season it is.
Oklahoma and London are so very different. You have adjusted remarkably well. It must be love.
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