My husband is a pretty straightforward guy. He gets up before the birds start singing, he is on time for everything and, if you ask him a question, he’ll answer you honestly. And, as such, he has a habit of telling the truth when people ask how he likes living in the US. Every time, [...]
Archive for the ‘It happens to an Expat’ Category
Uncomfortable Truths
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, My mother, Observations of Life, Repatting, Who am I?, tagged Children, dad, Family, father, fatherhood, kids, Life, mom, mother, mothering, mum, Parenting, Personal, relatinships on October 6, 2009 | 5 Comments »
American by Accident, In Love without Intention
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of America, Observations of Life, Repatting, Who am I?, tagged America, Britain, England, Family, husband, Life, Moving, Personal, relationships, UK, US, USA on September 24, 2009 | 7 Comments »
That I am an American has never been in question. I need only open my mouth and — if you are a Brit — you will recognise the fact immediately. If you are an American… well, twenty years ago you would have known right away — these days, you might be a wee bit confused. [...]
Under Cover of Dark, the Depths Revealed
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of Life, Repatting, tagged Children, dad, Family, father, fatherhood, kids, Life, Moving, parenthood, Personal, sad on September 9, 2009 | 4 Comments »
What I didn’t tell you, in that last post, was that, as M was looking up at the ceiling and crying in the dark after leaving his kids again, he suddenly muttered, “Oh, this is ridiculous!”
I was careful. “What… err… what is ridiculous?”
“I tear up every day. Like this. Every day.”
I paused, calculating what he [...]
Quiet, and Bloodstained Still
Posted in Failure, It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of Life, Repatting, tagged Children, dad, Family, father, fatherhood, finances, kids, Life, Moving, parenthood, Parenting, relationships on September 2, 2009 | 10 Comments »
We had both known this trip would be difficult. We knew it the whole time, and we thought we’d prepared for it. But, really, there is no preparation — like so many things in life, there is only the getting through it. And now that he is home, we are going through it.
The night before [...]
Few, True, and Real
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of Life, Repatting, Who am I?, tagged Family, Life, Personal, relationships, travel on August 30, 2009 | 4 Comments »
My husband does not often give me compliments — it’s not his way. I can make a huge effort to get all dolled up for a night on the tiles and come downstairs looking better than he’s seen me in years, and he won’t say a word (…until I clear my throat). I have to [...]
I am Boring
Posted in Failure, It happens to an Expat, Living with Allergies, Observations of America, Observations of Britain, Observations of Life, Repatting, Who am I?, tagged conversation, Friends, Life, Moving, Personal on July 9, 2009 | 13 Comments »
I’ve come to an uncomfortable conclusion. It turns out that… well… I’m quite boring. I always had some suspicions of this but I’d had enough social success to be able to brush those concerns under a convenient nearby carpet. But just lately, that’s not worked and I’ve got to admit what I’m quickly realising to [...]
Here, Too, I Belong
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of America, Observations of Britain, Observations of Life, Repatting, Who am I? on June 29, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I love bluegrass. And of course I can listen to bluegrass anywhere but it only feels right when I listen to it here, here in its home territory. Bluegrass needs to set against the backwoods of America in order to really blossom into what it’s fully meant to be. I’ve listened to bluegrass many times [...]
Golden, As I Remember
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of America, Observations of Britain, Observations of Life, tagged America, Britain, Life, memories, Moving, Personal, summer, UK, US, weather on June 10, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I walked out onto the front porch tonight, just for a moment, as the sun was setting. It had been a hot and sweaty day, with the kind of direct bright sunshine that I’ve never liked, but the evening had begun to mellow all that. And though it had threatened rain all day, it never [...]
Not As I Say… Not at All as I Say
Posted in It happens to an Expat, Making our move, Observations of America, Observations of Britain, Observations of Life, Repatting, tagged accent, Britain, England, English, Immigrant, Immigration, Life, Moving, Personal, UK, US on June 6, 2009 | 6 Comments »
I hit a real milestone in our repatting adventure the other day, one I wasn’t expecting at all. Indeed, I hadn’t even given it a thought before.
Growing up in the US with an English mother, I was used to way people treated her because of her accent. In shops, salespeople would sometimes just follow her [...]


