How Costco Can Cure Homesickness...

We have now just celebrated our three month anniversary of living in the UK.  We are more settled into daily life.  The novelty of everyday in England has worn off a bit.  During our relocation process, our cultural trainer that advised us that about three to six months into an assignment, we would start to experience homesickness.  It has been amazing how accurate he was about when homesickness would start to hit.  We obviously miss our family, friends, and coworkers, but there is another aspect of homesickness that I had never experienced until living overseas.  It is a homesickness for the familiar comforts that define home.  The environment, the food, the routines, and the sights that signal to you that you are home...that is what I am starting to miss.

This past weekend, we became members of Costco UK!  I had never been to a Costco in the states, because I did not feel like AJ and I needed giant-sized packages of anything.  We definitely still do not need giant-sized anything and do not have the space for it, but we had heard that the UK Costco carries some items that are not sold in the regular grocery stores.  Off we went with hopes and dreams of finding the items we wished for from the states! 

When we pulled into the Costco parking lot, it immediately felt a bit like home.  The parking spots were huge!  AJ easily pulled the car in without any worry of getting too close on either side!  I opened my door the entire way and just got out!  While this sounds a bit silly, the reality of UK parking spots is that they are tiny.  You never can open your door the entire way.  There is often a short discussion determining if there is enough room on each side for each person to get out of the car!

After joining Costco, I went to get a trolley (cart) and instantly felt at home!  The Costco trolley only had two swivel wheels versus the four swivel wheels on all other UK trolleys.  More swivel wheels on a trolley is definitely not better!  For the past three months, I have fought with trolleys in the UK.  All four wheels swivel on all their trolleys, thus making them impossible to steer without constantly balancing the weight of the groceries in the basket.

As we explored the aisles, the anticipation of finding something, really anything, from the states was heightening!  I think I literally ran down the aisle when I saw a box of Ghiradelli brownie mix.  I can get brownie mix at a store in our town, but the texture is just a bit different, and they are much more expensive!

I then found a mammoth-size bag of chocolate chips.  Two things excited me about this find.  The first was the price per ounce was incredibly cheap...just like in the states.  The chocolate chunks, which are sold at my local grocery store, are fairly expensive.  The second was that the chips are shaped like American chocolate chips, and I love that!

We continued to hunt for American items we were missing! Krusteaz pancake mix was our next find.  Our grocery store only sells crepe mix that makes four crepes...which do not satisfy the pancake craving!  We bought the oversized bag of pancake mix, which will probably last our entire time in the UK.  We also found maple syrup to go along with our pancakes!  Golden syrup is the common topping for pancakes here.  Frankly, pancakes and waffles are not the same with golden syrup!

With each item that we added to our cart, a bit of homesickness drifted away!  As we were checking our, I glanced over to the magazine rank.  In the states, I love to browse the magazine rank while waiting in line.  I usually avoid the magazine rank in the UK, because it makes me feel like outsider.  I still do not recognize any of the celebrities or gossip on the magazine covers.  While gossip magazines are not high caliber reading, the celebrities and their stories in the states provide a sense of familiarity and comfort.  The Costco UK magazine rank was filled with US magazines!  I quickly grabbed a US Weekly with Joan Rivers on the cover. 

Our trip to Costco was successful and cured my homesickness for a bit.  As I curl up with my US Weekly and a brownie, remember the lights are always on!

~W

See It: Warkworth Castle

We continue to take advantage of our Saturdays to explore all that the UK has to offer.  We took one Saturday to explore Warkworth Castle in the small village of Warkworth along the northeast coast of England.  It was about an hour drive north through the countryside.

As we drove through the countryside, we were surrounded by fields and then suddenly, the ruins of Warkworth Castle appeared.  It was kind of like a "Field of Dreams" moment without the corn and baseball field, but with grass and a castle!  There was one small tourist sign pointing the way.  

Warkworth Fortress Ruins

This castle is one of the most impressive fortresses in the northern portion of England.  The most notable occupants of the castle were the Percy family.  The lion badge, which was important to the Percy family, can be seen throughout the castle and grounds.

Warkworth Castle drawbridge

We entered the ruins and grounds by crossing the drawbridge.  As we walked across the drawbridge, it was not hard to imagine knights on horseback approaching the fortress from the vast fields in front of the walls.

 There were a few towers within the walls of the fortress that the guards used to lookout for intruders from the countryside.

The Warkworth Castle residence

The Warkworth Castle residence is still standing.  As part of the tour you can walk through the various rooms.  The mere size of the residence was daunting when you think about people carrying each and every stone used to build the structure.

You can see the unpredictable British weather in the background of the photo above.  The sky was blue and sunny when we left our house and arrived at the castle.  We could slowly see the dark clouds roll in.  Just as we finished our tour, those dark clouds opened up, and it downpoured for about an hour! 

AJ listening the audio guide while standing in one of the ovens of the castle's kitchen.

There were at least two kitchens in the Warkworth Castle.  Each kitchen had two ovens that were used to prepare the food for the residents and visitors of the castle.  Great feasts with other nobility were often held in the Great Hall of the castle.  The cooks of the Warkworth castle had to have strong backs to carry all the meat and produce, not to mention the wood to fuel the fire, up an uneven flight of stairs. 

The views from the castle windows were incredible even given the temperamental English weather!  To the left of the castle were rolling hills that vaguely reminded me of the Midwest.  A river out to the North Sea could be seen over the fortress walls to the right of the castle. 

Warkworth Village

We had planned to walk into the village of Warkworth for lunch, but changed our plans due to the downpour.  We were not adequately prepared for the rain as a true Brit would have been!  As true Americans, we hopped in our car and drove into town.  It has a quaint High Street full of unique shops. We ate a delicious lunch at the Caboose Chocolatier.  Caboose's claim to fame is that Prince Charles recently visited the restaurant! 

We had a lovely Saturday in Warkworth.  Now that we are home, remember the lights are always on!

~W

Now I Can...August 2014 Edition

Well...another month has passed.  We have now lived in the UK for over two months.  Life has become much more routine and familiar in some aspects that it is hard to believe we have only been here for two and half months.  Just as I get comfortable and feel like I have UK life under control, I encounter something that quickly reminds me that I have just arrived!

In  August, I conquered one major fear of life in the UK as well as just learned more about UK life.

Just as a review...at the beginning of the month, I hoped to be able to do the following by the end of the month:

1.  Drive around our local area with some level of confidence, not too much anxiety, and without hitting the curbs!

2.  Join a local gym.

3.  Learn what all the road and highway signs mean.

4.  Pay our bills using the pay point system.
5.  Obtain a library card.

Well, I accomplished 4 out of the 5 goals!  Here is a recap! 

1. Driving:  This has been a major fear of mine for a multitude of reasons, such as driving in a new place and negotiating roundabouts at every junction.  Let's also not forget the main source of anxiety...driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road.   I can happily report that I am driving comfortably in the UK.  I have taken four hours worth of formal lessons as well as passed a company driving assessment.  While I have come close to nicking the curb, I have only actually hit it one time.  I am still most comfortable driving with AJ in the car, but I have ventured out to the grocery store by myself.  I still need to practice the driving maneuvers, parallel parking and reversing into a parking spot, for the UK driving test.  In all fairness, I avoided doing those maneuvers in the states!

2.  Leisure Centre/Gym:   I have joined a gym, or leisure centre as they are called in the UK.  It is about a quarter mile from our house, which is convenient!  It is fairly similar to gyms in the states, but smaller.  The hours of operation are different from the states, which has been an adjustment.

3.  Highway signs:  I know what the majority of the road signs mean.  The UK has a lot of signs that do not depict their meaning obviously to a foreigner.  In addition to learning the road signs, I have been studying for my UK driving theory test.  I have not yet scheduled the test.  Just the thought of the three tests for my UK driver's license makes my stomach turn a bit!

4.  Pay Point:  In the UK, there is a pay point system that can be used to pay certain bills.  Various locations, such as grocery stores, are designated pay points.  It is really convenient for me to walk in with my bill and cash.  I just pay the cashier, and it is done.  We only really used this method while we were waiting for our bank account to be set-up. 

5.  Library card:  I did not accomplish this...I tried multiple times!  There is a library run by the council in the neighboring village, which is within walking distance.  This library is only open three days a week due to budget cuts by the council.  It seemed like every time I could go to the library, it was closed!  Hopefully, I will get there this month!

By the end of September, I hope to
1.  Conquer the driving maneuvers required for the driving test
2.  Plan our first official holiday
3.  Inquire about volunteering in our area
4.  Host our first dinner party

As I continue to conquer life in the UK, remember the lights are always on!

~W