Dear Family and Friends,

After my brief bombardment of all of you with lengthy messages, I now
seem to have taken such a long hiatus that some of you are wondering
whether you've been dropped from the list.  Even John has begun to write
more than I.  I hope, at least, that my silence has made you hungry for
news, since I certainly have a lot.

A string of visitors, a spate of illnesses, and a bit of travel have all
kept me from writing any installments lately.  The visitors have warmed
us up as tour guides, the illnesses have familiarized us with
nationalized health care, and the travel has offered me the opportunity
to create a photo album to prove I actually lived here.  Our UK
experience is definitely as expats and not a total immersion, so keep in
mind that any of my observations are truly as an outside observer.  Lord
Stanley and Lady So-and-So have yet to invite me into their home to make
amends over the sidewalk chalk complaint!  My encounters with the
English have been on a superficial level, and we continue to socialize
with Americans only (not necessarily by choice, but out of
convenience).  Although the British do not celebrate Halloween, our very
American neighborhood was over-run with trick-or-treaters and we even
had a wonderful Halloween party in the chapel/gym.  Soccer/football
season is over, and next the kids will have a baseball clinic then
basketball season.  And of course we'll have a long weekend over
Thanksgiving.  In many ways it's hard to believe we are in another
country.

We have been here four months now, and my views of my host and home
countries continue to evolve.  I liken living here to driving my Mini: 
all the charm and inconvenience of a bygone era.  Even though my car is
a new model, it has none of the modern conveniences that we take for
granted in our cars at home.  Power steering, power windows, power
brakes, power locks, keyless remotes, and temperature controlled heating
have not yet made their way into the Mini's production system.  When my
passenger mirror (at least I have one) gets out of whack, I have to lean
across the car, crank down the window, and blindly adjust the mirror. 
If it's raining its even more fun.  But being lifted off my seat when I
go over bumps (that "old-fashioned" suspension) and being flashed by
other Mini drivers make up for it all.

Living here offers its own set of inconveniences.  The narrow, winding
roads though pretty are dangerous, especially given how frequently
oncoming drivers use your lane to pass.  Nor are they pedestrian or
bicyclist friendly.  There appears to be enough land to widen them and
enough cars to justify it, but from what I've seen, the British spend
more time arrogantly defending their way as the best rather than
objectively considering the alternatives.  One London columnist
glorified the twisting roads by saying they indicated the British
respect for private property in contrast to the straight lines of the
"despotic or heavily governed European countries."  He goes on, "No one,
no governement, can be allowed to take away our hard-fought-for
liberties, and thus our curves, without a fight."  Pulease!  Don't get
me wrong, it's not that I want the world to look like the US with its
super highways everywhere, but isn't there some safer middle ground?

Likewise, the shopping here offers charm and frustration.  Remember my
account of walking to the village for our daily necessities and how
refreshing it was?  Well, four months later, . . . Trying to find
supplies for the kids' birthday parties I truly longed for a Target or a
K-Mart or any store open past 6 pm.  I frequently find myself visiting a
number of stores, none of them conveniently located, hoping to find a
particular item which may or may not be available in this country.  Each
store I visit requires me to "pay and display" for my parking and thus
my shopping, the antithesis of our American consumer society.  Yes, I
used to prefer small boutiques to department stores, and yes, I used to
bemoan our crass materialism, but I now have to admit I miss them. 
Well, I at least I am gaining a new perspective on my American life,
which was part of what I'd hoped to accomplish in coming here.

And while I'm listing my complaints, just let me tell you a bit about
British service:  it is lacking.  Workers here seem to think customers
should not be interfering with their day.  I've mentioned before about
bagging your own groceries, and I hate to sound like a spoiled American,
but it amazes me that the checkers sit placidly watching you unload and
bag your groceries without offering any assistance whatsoever.  When I
called the train information line to find out about discount fares, the
woman on the other end said with finality that she didn't know the
restrictions on the fare and made absolutely no move to offer to find
out the answer.  I didn't expect her to know the answer off the top of
her head, but as this was the information line, I asked ever so politely
if she could possibly look it up for me.  (In England you must do
everything ever so politely or you are definitely an obnoxious
American.)  When I went to purchase a piece of furniture, the store
clerk had me call the manufacturer to have my question answered rather
than finding out for me.  Is our country's "service with a smile" policy
admired here?  Of course not.  One columnist derided "the assiduousness
and stringency of a fascistic service culture" (okay, so they use bigger
words than we do), and another scorned our "enforced jollity" (better
than natural dourness, if you ask me).  Maybe the issue has little to do
with service and more to do with a reserved nature.  Certainly when I am
in a public place such as on a train, I am constantly aware of the
British image of me as a loud, silly American.  And I am.

You might gather from my references to newspaper columnists that I at
least am reading the British papers.  In fact, it is their prejudiced
ethnocentricity that allows me to have no qualms about criticizing their
society.  I am thoroughly enjoying learning their perspective on our
culture, and they are surprisingly forthright compared to American
newspapers.  The acronym "P.C." has definitely not made its way here. 

I seem to have spent all my time complaining to you about the English,
which is not what I meant to do at all.  We are actually really enjoying
our time here, and I promise to write about more of the positives soon.
I just wanted you to have my honest assessment of life across the
Atlantic.  If you check the web site, you will see that John has added
some new photos in which we are all smiling:

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~thebards/family.htm

Thanks for all your emails.  I will respond individually soon.

Love, 

Maureen