Monday 25th May 2009

A year.....365 days since we set foot on English soil for the first time and it has literally flown by or has it....in some respects it feels like just yesterday we arrived and I can still remember our last days in South Africa as if they were last week and yet in other respects I feel like I have been here FOREVER and everything is so familiar and like home....a strange feeling to say the least.

So in honour of my first anniversary in England here are......

5 things I love about England

• The history
• The beautiful country side
• London
• Village life
• Walking

5 things I have missed about South Africa

• My friends and family
• The sea
• The weather
• The Beat
• Steak

5 things I have learned about myself

• I have more coping skills then I thought
• I am able to do housework - even if I HATE it
• I enjoy new challenges rather then feel scared of them
• I don't mind change
• I can get on with most people

5 things I have learned about my family

• My parents love us enough to let us go
• Children are incredibly resilient
• Adversity can bring you together as much as it can tear you apart you just have to choose it
• My children are well mannered, stable, well balance wonderful people
• My husband also feels scared and down at times and he NEEDS me as much as I need him.

Some of you who have been reading for a long time will remember a questionnaire I put to my children 1 months after we had been here, well I decided to put it to them again. Megan's answers are first with the original answer in brackets below and then Phill's answers underneath those.

How long have we been living in Lindfield?
Do I have to give exact answer...thinking....about 1 year and 1 week and 4 days
(Ummm, well, I say about 2 weeks on Saturday)

I dunno
(3 weeks)

Do you like it here?
Yes I definitely do, it is the greatest place on earth
(Yes I do, I enjoy walking to the park)

Yes, no real reason just do
(Ummm, Yes)

What are your favourite things about England?
Being able to walk all by myself to the shop
(Well my favourite things are....legoland and lemurland)

Walking
(All my new friends)

What are the worst things about England?
The pebbly beaches and the cold
(Shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Um, the children swear
(Shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!)

What are you missing most about South Africa?
All the people I know and like
(My friends, my granny and pappa and my school, um and.....and Megan Houghton)

Dominic (somethings never change)
(Dominic)

Do you like your new school?
Yes I do it is very nice and I have made lots of new friends
(Yes, I do, it is lots of fun because I get to dance every Tuesday and we are doing a play in 3 weeks time and it is lots of fun because we are working on Queen Elizabeth)

Yes, it is a big school with lots of nice playtime equipment
(Yes I do)

Do you like your new house?
Yes not as big as our old one but it is a lot more cozy
(Yes I do, specially coz now I have my room all to myself)

Yes
(Yes I do)

Are you happy to be living in England?
Yes, it does have up and down sides but I do like it here
(Well, yes, but I do miss a lot of people, and sometimes I wish we could go back)

Yes because I can walk around and be safe on the street
(Yes I am)