First Email from England

Part of the first email sent after arriving in England:

Hey there, my fabulous family! Just saying that brings tears to my eyes. I seriously have such an amazing family and I already miss you all.

Spitting rain when I arrived - chilly but not horribly so. Just feels like an autumn day back home. Still hard to believe I'm on the other side of the world... love not having a crazy language barrier. I saw a sign to a castle on the drive from the airport to Hook... Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!

Ann and Jon are really friendly - Ann gave me a big hug at the airport and we've had fun chatting away. I think I'll get along with them fine, but Ann is honest about the fact that they're not used to having anyone else in the house so it may be tough on them. She has told neighbours and friends about me coming and she said everyone told her she was brave. :-) Said I could eat with them if I'm around at mealtimes, otherwise they'll leave it with me to prepare my meals. She told me Jon doesn't talk much but we had a great chat about music (he loves jazz and blues, plays guitar, sax and harmonica). It's kind of funny because he keeps making puns that don't make sense to me because I don't understand British slang terms so I just give him a blank look and ask if that was a joke. He shakes his head and laughs at me like I'm crazy and then give an explanation. They've invited me to go to the pub with them on a Sunday evening sometime as they like to go and listen to the jazz band in a nearby town. Ann said she'll take me to the bank to work on setting up an account so she can verify that I live with them and have a proper address... hopefully I'll be able to bypass some of the steps... or at least find loopholes or something so it doesn't take the two months I've heard it usually takes.

Ann took me through Hook on the way home - did a bit of a detour so I could see the layout. It's so adorable! Your classic English village with rows of little shops, all the building being brick. One of those villages with one butcher, one bookie (she said I should NEVER go in there - not sketchy looking, but not a place I should go, apparently!), one hair dresser, one dry cleaner, etc., all within about 3 blocks of each other and extending out from a central round-about.

I have a beautiful little room upstairs and I share a bathroom with Jon and Ann. The heat in their house isn't working so they've called for maintenance - I've been freezing since I got here... probably doesn't help with being tired from the time change. Not sure yet if the No Jet Lag pills worked... I'll keep you posted. I have a hot water bottle to sleep with, courtesy of Ann, but I've gone through my clothes and realized I didn't bring any long-sleeved shirts to sleep in (t.shirts were good enough at home) so I'll need to go shopping soon! I may end up in my sleeping bag tonight. Oh - Dad, just want to let you know that the sleeping bag is unstuffed and fluffed up in the big, red bag. :-)

Good night, my beloved family. Get Skype hooked up and we'll book a time!
Amanda