Happy Wednesday, friends! Thank you so much for all the kind and reassuring comments in my last post. I really appreciate that you are here whether I post every day or only once a week. Thanks for sticking around for my sporadic posts!
I'm answering the Hodgepodge questions for today's post. How does Joyce continue to come up with so many thought-provoking topics?! Keep up the good work!
1. How do you feel about the transition from lazy summer days to a busier fall routine?
In the past, I loved the hustle and bustle of the new school year. By August, everyone seemed ready for the routine to return.
This is the first year ever that I haven't been on the school calendar! No one is going back to school. On the plus side, no more tuition payments!
This summer felt a little busier with the graduation and also losing Albie. We didn't go to the pool very much, and summer didn't feel very summer-y to me. I'm looking forward to fall, with some cooler temperatures and some travel too. I always look forward to my fall Bible studies starting back up too.
3. What's something you've learned from a culture different than your own?
Here is Texas, we believe that bigger is better, and we pride ourselves on being friendly. Usually, that friendliness comes across as a big smile with a "Hey y'all!" and an instant conversation.
When I lived in England for 3 years, I learned that friendliness isn't always "in your face." A quiet reserve with a nod took some getting used to, but I learned to appreciate the different ways of showing respect and courtesy.
Since I was used to American mega-stores, I initially scoffed at the smaller stores in the UK. How can this grocery store that is the size of a Walgreens drug store have everything I need? How will this tiny library/drug store/church/doctor office/barber shop/etc serve our needs? But soon I realized that the neighborhood Waitrose really did have everything I was looking for, and sweet memories were made at all the tiny spots that we discovered.
You can read about my first impressions, what I'm missing and what I'm loving in the UK here. It's hard to believe this was 15 years ago!
4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic...which hat would you most like to wear? Tell us why.
Well, a food critic would certainly be nice because I'm sure it would come with free meals and delicious food!
But I will say book critic, since I am thoroughly enjoying my time in the bookstagram community as The Bookish Texan!
5. What's a small, random thing from your childhood that you still remember clearly?
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Linking to the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond
That was a perfect answer about childhood! I forgot to write about my memories of Friday nights watching the "Donny & Marie" show and sleeping in my sleeping bag in front of the tv!
ReplyDeleteNo more tuition payments, YAH! It must be bittersweet. I think that's how I'll feel anyway. The quiet reserve of the English sounds almost precisely what I'd imagine. How cool that you experienced it and respected it as part of the culture there. So many good memories of childhood growing up in the 70's and 80's. You nailed it!!
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