I first lived in California as an ex-pat in my early twenties back in the 1990s. When I moved over here, I thought of it more as a short-term thing, an adventure. I didn’t have many belongings, most of my things fit in a suitcase and anything else I left at my parents’ house. Consequently, I never settled. I always knew I could move back and that set the tone for my time in California. We didn’t have very much money, so didn’t make any of those large furniture purchases, our cars were cheap runarounds, we rented our apartment. Everything felt disposable. So when I felt the need to start settling down, I really wanted to make those roots in the UK and didn’t feel I was leaving too much behind by leaving California.
This time when we moved, I knew I had to do things differently. I needed to embrace my life over here to make it work. I couldn’t constantly pine for life in the UK, or British food and culture.
The most important thing is to make sure that it feels like home here. Our belongings have been shipped and paintings hung. The boys have made friends and play dates are arranged. We enjoy finding items that we love in the supermarket that we could never buy at home and embracing the cultural differences.
That said, I still like to watch British programmes on BBC America (although it’s a huge disappointment, more on that in another post). I treat myself to the odd British magazine from Borders (and pay far too much for it.) The newspapers are fantastic, because I can read The Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian every morning online. I even catch up on the red tops now and then if I want follow some tacky celebrity gossip.
Sometimes I take a look at what’s on BBCi Player. This is frustrating because we have to use a proxy server to access it, which doesn’t always work. The truly annoying thing is that in another couple of years, you know the BBC will open it up and anyone from outside the UK will be able to access the site and watch programmes. So why not do it now? You won’t stop the people who really want to get into the site, so please, just let us watch from abroad.
We very sadly wandered around a British food shop the other day and got far too excited over Heinz Tomato Soup and Jammie Dodgers. And spent too much money on them, but that was just because it was there. We don’t make special trips to buy British food. There are plenty of wonderful things to eat and enjoy here without needing to look for British items.
This is home, we’re settled. We’re not thinking about moving back and thinking of this as a temporary move. If you’re thinking of making an international move, commit to it totally. Enjoy the differences, learn about the community and the culture. We’re embracing our life here and know this will be our home for many years to come.
{ 5 comments }
I hear you! It’s the tomato soup or lack there of , that I have never got used to. Anyone who comes to stay knows to bring as much heinz tomato soup as possible! ( twiglets too).
I was the same, actually I spent years here thinking it was temporary, I don’t know really when I crossed the line and realised I was probably a ‘lifer’.
I’ve been in CA for nearly seven years, and also spent my teens in the US on the other coast and although I feel almost (almost) as if I am a dual national, there are some things about England and British culture that can never be replaced living abroad. I think that these often sneak up on you after a period of time, though – I didn’t feel it acutely until some years after we moved here. However this does NOT make me want to move back to the UK, necessarily, it just makes me aware that, as with so many things in life, one has to strike some kind of balance and find a way to keep a sense of one’s cultural identity and self while embracing a new one.
Very interested in the proxy server. I am constantly frustrated by the BBC iPlayer. How do you do it?!
Hoping over from British Mummy Bloggers, I’ve enjoyed reading this post. I still live in UK and always wanted to move to the US. I look forward to reading some more about life as an expat.
I really like it when you write about adjusting to life here. Some of the things I never think about, but I would miss all the little things about home if I lived somewhere else.
@mothership
We use a service called FoxyProxy to access the BBC iPlayer but it’s not the greatest and goes in and out. You can go to their site foxyproxy.com for details.
Comments on this entry are closed.