Anyone who has lived in Knysna (or anywhere along the SA coastline) is familiar with strange weather patterns. And Austin is no different. It can be cold (freezing!) one day and then sunshine and mid 20's the next day. We have been blessed with a couple days of glorious spring weather (although they say the cold is coming again before spring is well and truly sprung.)
So those in Knysna are familiar with the sunny day phenomenon. And what does Knysna do? Takes to the great outdoors. They flock to the beaches, hit the forest on their mountain bikes, hit the road in their running shorts. George Rex is an obstacle course with all this great outdoor activity. It is a sight to behold. The lagoon looks like it has been attacked by locusts.
And what do they do here....take their cars to the car wash. It is truly a phenomenon to behold. After days of being stuck indoors - is it really top priority to spend the sunshine soaping down your ridiculously large people carrier? I see them lining up in rows at the car wash - sun blazing down and wonder if their can't be a better way to spend your time. Those of you who have that strange love for motor vehicles - may understand the dedication a little more than me...and I might get it too if I thought it was out of respect for the machine. But these sparkly clean cars get driven home and left out in the driveway for the rest of the day - because (and this is observation number 2) American garages are not used for housing cars!
I am not sure what they are used for - I have made some interesting observations to date, some seem to house a large number of tools, sports equipment, boxes (I have no idea what is in these boxes)....but all this does help me understand the concept of a garage sale! I have seen some housing big screen televisions, sofa's and beer fridges - I guess so the whole neighbourhood can share the joy of seeing you watch you favourite show with the garage door open...this festivity often spews out into the street...but that is another post.... (Texas Football....what is this strange orange phenomenon!)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Re-thinking this blog thing...
Okay - so this blogging thing gets harder - not easier. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat down to start a new post - and just been overwhelmed with where to start. I finally realise that it is impossible to give an honest summary of this time in our lives - our attitude seems to change from day to day - and there seems to be so little real news to report that the whole concept of an update seems ridiculous. So I am going to attempt a new strategy......and will update you on our observations of life in the USA ...and more specifically life in Texas - because it is so drastically different to life in Knysna. I find myself constantly pondering on how we so-called 'civilised' people can have so many different ways of going about normal life. Plus we figure it is mostly South African's (and Zimbabweans) reading this blog - so you might enjoy the observations.
But before I get that going - I think you all deserve a brief status report on the Crow family.
1. We are living in Kyle, Texas (just South of Austin - the Capital - and a really cool city!)
2. We are living in our own place, a 2 bedroom apartment with borrowed furniture and no TV (not a big deal to us but seems to be a big deal to most people we meet - so thought it might be important enough to include)
3. We have a new car - a second hand Honda Accord that is great - but the logistics have been a nightmare....more in another post.
4. Quincy has a part time job at a large retail home improvement store - not the dream job we moved across the globe for...but we still trusting that will come. For now we have an income - and Quincy is learning some great skills.
5. Ezra is great. He is getting so big - walking, discovering, saying a few words, signing tons (worth the effort new Moms and Mom's to be!) We have joined a great Moms Group that meet up for play dates and fun field trips.
6. We have had some great times connecting with Quincy's old friends (they're not old...not any older than us...just friends from BW...before Wendy)
7. The economic crisis is way worse than we thought - and Americans are way more negative than we anticipated.
8. Obama is not nearly as popular here as he is there
9. I am already going off track
10. To summarise...we making progress, getting settled, but this is so much harder than we thought it would be - there are days when we ready to give up, days when we try hard to remember what we came here for, and days when we don't even know how to verbally express what we feeling. But we're learning lessons, we're learning the meaning of family and learning to find out how the three of us can stand together on our own. We are team Crow - and we are strong!
Love you all...look out for our take on life in Texas
Wendy and the boys
PS.
11. We miss home a lot!!!!
But before I get that going - I think you all deserve a brief status report on the Crow family.
1. We are living in Kyle, Texas (just South of Austin - the Capital - and a really cool city!)
2. We are living in our own place, a 2 bedroom apartment with borrowed furniture and no TV (not a big deal to us but seems to be a big deal to most people we meet - so thought it might be important enough to include)
3. We have a new car - a second hand Honda Accord that is great - but the logistics have been a nightmare....more in another post.
4. Quincy has a part time job at a large retail home improvement store - not the dream job we moved across the globe for...but we still trusting that will come. For now we have an income - and Quincy is learning some great skills.
5. Ezra is great. He is getting so big - walking, discovering, saying a few words, signing tons (worth the effort new Moms and Mom's to be!) We have joined a great Moms Group that meet up for play dates and fun field trips.
6. We have had some great times connecting with Quincy's old friends (they're not old...not any older than us...just friends from BW...before Wendy)
7. The economic crisis is way worse than we thought - and Americans are way more negative than we anticipated.
8. Obama is not nearly as popular here as he is there
9. I am already going off track
10. To summarise...we making progress, getting settled, but this is so much harder than we thought it would be - there are days when we ready to give up, days when we try hard to remember what we came here for, and days when we don't even know how to verbally express what we feeling. But we're learning lessons, we're learning the meaning of family and learning to find out how the three of us can stand together on our own. We are team Crow - and we are strong!
Love you all...look out for our take on life in Texas
Wendy and the boys
PS.
11. We miss home a lot!!!!
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