What I know for sure since living in England

• -1 degree (which it is outside as I sit typing) is very very very very very cold
• 20 degrees (which is what my central heating is set at) feels like a balmy South African spring day and is really warm in comparison to outside
• You can't defrost your car with water too far before you plan to leave as it will be frozen over again in 10 minutes
• you really can slip and slide on frozen puddles
• I LOVE the cold - bizaar that, as I also LOVE the heat, but we are apparently having one of the coldest winters experienced in the last 10 years here and we are doing well
• The English NEVER stop talking about the weather
• You have to LOVE the country you are living in to survive, so find the positives and focus your energy on them
• You can LOVE two countries at the same time and feel equally passionate about them both....before this move I always used to say (and Linnie you will remember this conversation) if you are going - go - renounce your citizenship and get it over with.....well I am not too proud to say I eat my words, the fact that I love England doesn't make me love South Africa any less and I am a very passionate ambassador for our country (the one of our birth that is).
• There are problems EVERYWHERE you just have to choose the ones you can live with
• Being away from family is very very very hard, but you can survive it
• The English rugby team is rubbish - go Boks!!!!!!
• Strangers really are just friends you haven't made yet, I have met the most awesome people since I have been here and am starting to make some real friendships, it is a slow but rewarding process
• I am a very STRONG woman, now some of my dear friends are always telling me this, but it is only through this move that I have realised it....well strong, or stupid.....I mean I made it, I move countries at 6 months pregnant, had a preterm baby and survived WITHOUT postnatal depression.....viva la mind over matter!
• Never underestimate a child's ability to adapt to a situation, and LEARN from them, I am even starting to look at situations and think "how would Megan or Phillip react to this" and let me tell you it makes life much easier if you can adopt their willingness and ability to just go with the flow
• I have an incredible husband....he supports me in everything and really does complete me
• Something as trivial as the weather doesn't have to determine whether or not you are happy
• I have INCREDIBLE friends, they are some of the wisest, strongest and funniest women on the planet
• Immigration is a very different experience for everyone, and NO two are the same
• Life is what you make it, you can dwell and be miserable or you can find that happy moment and I think for me, someone who has spent time down there in the black hole for depression, both here and in South Africa, that that is the most important lesson I have learned, and it has CHANGED my life
• Your parents are with you every minute of every day no matter how far apart you are...the umbilical cord just stretches

Wow, I could just go on and on and on.....I have learned so much through this journey and I said to Si the other day, even if we fail and find England is not ultimately the place for us, nobody can take away from us what we have learned and experienced and I can honestly say that without this major move from our comfort zone and everything we know and love we would have missed out on a very special part of our lives.