Chilly Times

It's freezing cold here. We have had to dig out our old scarfs, hats and gloves. We even have black ice warnings. We are going to bed with hot water bottles and daring each other to be the one to run downstairs to turn the heating up. This is meant to be California but it's more like the UK!  It's a nice reminder of home.

It's not the only reminder.We have Skyped several friends recently and heard about new jobs, new babies and new adventures. Christmas cards arrive and make us smile. Our next planned visit to the UK will be eighteen months since we last left. It makes me ache to plug into a bit of familiarity, just for a short while at least.

I blame that John Lewis Christmas advert. It's the downside of accessing British TV from a distance. I can taste home from our sofa!

A lovely reminder of home came last month in the form of our mate Jamie 'Larchie' Joint. Instead of ringing the doorbell he roared his car engine and grinned at us. Typical Larch. It was AMAZING to see him.

Jamie agreed to 'mule' us over the obligatory salad cream and some well packed Christmas gifts from Dans' Mum. Jamie was honest and informed the security officer at Heathrow that no, he hadn't actually packed everything in his case himself.  After being thoroughly searched, it's fair to say he won't mule again.

With many people getting together with family for Thanksgiving, we decided to fill our house with Brits and Booze. Always a winner. We hosted a pot luck lunch for about 20 people which was noisy, messy and fun! It ended with Darren Martin and I sharing our rendition of the 1990 football song 'World in Motion' with our friends, who didn't appear to be as thankful for the 'entertainment' as they were for the hot meal.

The children satisfying their hunger

The grown ups quenching their thirst

The Leftovers

Life has a more locally concentrated feel now that Annie has started school.

A year behind other 5 year olds in the UK, her first school term is almost at an end. Out of the 23 children in her class there are 15 different nationalities. Annie is learning about cultures and communities from all around the world, not from her teacher, but from her peers. 

We are advised that her home reading program needs to consist of 50% factual based reading, including newspapers and magazines. She is being taught how to debate and how to present in public. Each child has an iPad in the classroom. Annie finishes school at 12.30pm each day, and she is given additional work to do at home in the afternoons. Like many non working parents, I volunteer in the classroom one morning a week. I enjoy being able to work closely on Annie's education - it's a privilege to watch her learning in the classroom and be a part of the team teaching her.  

And she clearly knows her stuff. Last week Annie's class started a project on the human body. In response to the question 'why is our skin so important?' Annie replied 'Because it holds all our things in.'

Soup lunch prepared by the class children based on the 'Stone Soup' story

Annie's class waiting for their Thanksgiving 'Stone Soup' lunch in the playground

With school state funding in California at an all time low, each family is expected to contribute $1500 a year towards school income and the parents buy all classroom materials between them (I was disappointed to be too far from home to sign up to supply the toliet rolls c/o Dad).

There is a big focus on fundraising for mandatory items, like staff costs, art and music classes. We recently paid $40 for a ticket for Annie to attend a PTA organized pizza and movie party. Dan is expecting grated truffle on the pizza for that price!

This past week we learned about Nelson Mandela. Annie asked me why she has never met anybody with different coloured skin. 15 nationalities in her class and she doesn't see skin color! Now that is why Nelson Mandela sacrificed 27 years in prison!

 

In an effort to stave off extra turkey weight I have started running. I managed 15 miles in one week which was quite an achievement for me. I am planning on running a 15k in January through the Golden Gate Park. I also did my trail run with Cat and Gladys in Huddart Park - a spectacular 900 acre site in the redwood trees near Woodside. Thinking that I might be able to get away with walking briskly when tired my strategy was to stay at the back. That was until Cat warned me of a recent Mountain Lion sighting in the area. With visions of being dragged off by a beast into wilderness unnoticed by my fellow runners, I sprinted ahead and didn't look back!

On another note:

Last night some friends and I went to see a professional production of Little Women in Palo Alto.
Expecting a rather serious interpretation of the novel, we were a little taken aback when the cast started singing and dancing. Right then, it must be a musical!

A pampering day out which ended with a curry in a quiet restaurant. It didn't stay quiet when we were joined by 100+ family members celebrating a 1st birthday party. As the only uninvited guests we felt obliged to join in to stand and welcome the birthday boy into the restaurant in his remote controlled car, and naturally gathered around to sing Happy Birthday with the family. Totally bizarre.

Pumpkin Purchasing in Half Moon Bay

Annie enjoying dinner with us so we could congratulate her on her school report. Cheesecake anyone?

Making mince pies

And just when I thought nothing else could give me that 'home' feeling, I watch a documentary on Jonathon Davies' rugby career than opens a huge window into a past life. It's so lovely to hear the Welsh accent, and see familiar faces, and hear reminders about the uselessness of the WRU..... I can just envisage being back at the Brewery Field on a cold Saturday afternoon, a bit of banter with people in the bar afterwards and then heading to my parents house for a cup of tea in their kitchen. 

Seriously, tea? At my parents house on a Saturday night? Who am I trying to kid?