Today's Lesson...Things You Never Knew You Never Knew

Hi, all!

After a confusing conversation with a lady at church about buying girl's clothing (with both of us using the same words but with completely different meanings), I found out that I don't know the "English" words for the clothes my daughters wear, just the "American English" ones. SO, just so that you don't make the same mistake, if you're coming to England you need to know the following:

1) in the queen's English what we call a sweater is a "jumper,"
2) what we call a jumper is a "tunic," and
3) what we call a tunic is simply a "long top."

If you add this to the previously mentioned lesson about our pants being called "trousers" here and our underwear actually being called "pants" because underwear is "knickers," you are now thoroughly confused but well prepared for your first shopping venture in the United Kingdom.

Oh, yes, and remember to add two sizes to your American size if you'd like any of it to fit (because I really want to feel bigger when I go shopping)!

Cheers, mate!

Now THAT was Interesting...

After packing last week for our trip to Prague, the kids came to me and wanted to know what Prague is. Apparently Jess was the designated spokesperson: “Um, Mom, we don’t know anything about this "Prague" place—where exactly are we going and what are we going to be doing?” When I explained to them where we were going and how cool it was going to be, they all looked vaguely more excited. Again being the spokesperson, Jess then said, “Ok, well if you’re excited, then we’re excited.” I wonder what went on in the sibling meeting they all had before coming and talking to me--you go ask her, no you go ask her... How funny!

The first thing we learned on this trip is that flying with five children out of an airport that is more than an hour's drive from your house for an international trip at just past 6:00 in the morning is NOT an optimal situation.

The next thing we learned is that Prague is amazing. Up until 1989 it was a communist country, and they put all of that government money into one heck of an intriguing city. They call it the "City of 100 Spires," and it lives up to its name, with middle-eastern style spires dotting the skyline and something unique to see around every corner.

While we were there, we stayed in a palatial hotel right next to the castle and walked, trammed, and tubed all over the city. We visited Charles Bridge (climbing one of the towers to see Prague from above), the castle complex (complete with an underwhelming palace and beautiful cathedral), the Jewish Quarter (the only one in Europe to have survived WWII), the Old Town Square and Astronomic Clock (complete with mechanical Christ and the twelve apostles parading by every hour), Krizik's Fountain (where we saw a Bellagio-Hotel-style "performance" set to classical music), and Petrin Hill (with its mirror maze and smaller version of the Eiffel Tower).

We learned that having the funicular closed for servicing makes for a LONG walk to the top of Petrin Hill and that the mirror maze isn't worth the entrance fee, that children enjoy tromping through the woods more than touristy attractions like the mirror maze, that it is very hard to think in Czech crowns (32 crowns is around one British pound or two American dollars), and that we truly enjoy spending time together as a family. After visiting too many of them, we also learned that souvenir shops are best to be avoided. In addition, we learned to be VERY careful when choosing a place to eat and make sure that you know everything you're going to be charged for up front; Prague has restaurants galore with varied food prices and quality (though we very much enjoyed the food for the most part), but you're likely to end up with hefty mystery charges for things you had no clue were going to cost extra (like the bread they bring you in a nice little basket when you sit down). We also learned, again, that talking to the locals is one of the best parts of any trip, very much enjoying our colorful cab driver whose grandfather was killed at Auschwitz.

My favorite part of the trip, though, was going to church on Sunday. When we got there, we found that they were watching a rebroadcast of general conference. Our options were English, Czech, and Russian. The children found the message on the board in the “English” room particularly amusing: “If you can read this, you’re in the right place.” (I’m sure there’s a very good sacrament meeting talk in that somewhere.) Having just watched all of conference last week, however, and being disappointed that we weren’t going to get to experience "real" church in Czech, we decided to sit in the Czech broadcast room. It was an interesting experience, and we learned more very important things: 1) Czech is not at all like English, 2) even when you know what they’re talking about you still don’t understand any of what is going on, 3) children who do not understand what is going on don’t stay interested very long, and 4) having five children fall asleep within the first ten minutes is a really good indication that that particular cultural experience is over. We all enjoyed talking to the people in the ward and looking at church materials in another language (hymns, magazine, Books of Mormon, etc,). Did you know that there are only 2000 Latter-Day Saints in the Czech Republic? What a cool experience!

So, on the coolometer, this trip gets a solid 10. Except for maybe Norway, Prague is my favorite place we've been so far. It was so beautiful that I could have spent the four days just wandering around and looking at the architecture and would have been completely content. All I can say is COOL! Let's go again...

That Was A Great Game...

Well, nothing is as constant as change...

We knew our time in Oz wouldn't last forever, so we weren't too surprised Tuesday afternoon when we were informed that our sparkly shoes are taking us home in a few weeks. I can't believe we've been here almost a year! Kyle goes back November 20th, and the kids and I go back December 20th (so that they can stay in school until Christmas break). It's strange/exciting/scary thinking about going home and all of the things that come with it--buying a new home, buying a new vehicle, getting the kids into school... I can't say I'm particularly excited about leaving, mostly because the kids love their school so much and don't want to go, but there will be good things about it, too.

So, I'm putting on my Polyanna hat and looking for the positives. Not being so "in between things" will be nice. Having a full-sized washer and dryer will be more nice. And being able to actually call people and talk without having to sell a child will be even nicer than that! AND, actually seeing family and friends again will be nicest of all. I've missed you guys.

BUT, since I'm simply not done sightseeing, we're going on two more trips before we hop back over the big pond. The kids have an extended weekend, and in a few hours we're going to Prague. Then at the end of the month they have "half term break," and we're going to Scotland and Ireland. I suppose it will be alright to leave then...

Seriously, though, I'm grateful and humbled to have had this experience. I hope we did whatever it was God sent us here to do. We sure have had some incredible experiences, and I hope we're better people for it.

Days like this are what I'm going to miss most:

Use It Or Lose It...

I've always found the fact that the Brits drop the letter "h" at the beginning of words very interesting, but today I found out that some of them may not know that the letter should even be there. How do I know, you ask? Well, this is the graffiti I saw this morning...

(wait for it...)

(wait for it...)

(wait for it...)

Jo was ere!

(Just for the record, Diane was ere, too.)

Tee hee!!!

Still Not in Kansas...

I looked outside this morning and realized two things: 1) the sun was shining, and 2) the back yard had somehow become a jungle--too many days of wet, unmowable grass. So even though Derik almost always mows, it looked like it was going to rain and make it unmowable AGAIN so I decided to do it myself while it was still relatively dry. During the experience, I had one of those "wait a minute, this craziness has become almost common place" moments. It went like this...

...During a rare spot of sunshine and whilst munching a savory biscuit (saltine), I realized that the rear garden (back lawn) looked a bit dodgy (in this case, overgrown). So I headed out the patio (into the back yard) to the garden shed (garden shed, big grin) to get the push mower (lawn mower) and rotary extension lead (extension cord on a reel)...

That was the point at which my mind screamed "hey, you're not British, and that toy lawn mower you just got out of the shed will never cut this grass--just go back inside, put in a load of laundry, and let Derik do it when he gets home from school!"

Just kidding! The moment did cause me to stop and reflect on how strange and wonderful it still is to be here, though, toy mower and all. I'm extremely grateful, and I hope we get to stay a bit longer than a year; it would be nice for the kids to complete this entire school year before we yank them back across the big pond.

So just to share my British moment with you, here is a picture of our PLASTIC mower (yes, plastic, and it's not even stiff plastic--it even bends when you're pushing it through the grass). The pad next to it is just for size reference; it's one of those 1" thick kneeling pads for pulling weeds, and it's about 4" by 15", fitting just under your knees with not much to spare. I would have used my shoe, but it was on my foot and covered with wet grass. (The main part of the mower is one shoe and 3/4 long, by the way.)


Tee Hee...

I also learned that while cobble stone is beautiful to look at, it is NOT beautiful to pull weeds from...

And, oh yes, after an extremely soggy outdoor training session for the upcoming high school outdoor activity (during which my feet got soaked and I slipped in the mud about a hundred times), I finally broke down and ordered some wellies. Some things you just can't avoid, and I was pleased to be able to find them in a non-obnoxious color. Maybe I can wear them next time I garden!