And I Thought I Knew English . . .

We returned to Florida this week, but we still have a few more things to share.  Here we have some interesting observations sarah collected throughout a trip.

By Sarah Crane
For sixteen years I have been taught English. So coming to England ought to be a cinch because I already know the language, right? Wrong. Turns out that in some ways English in England is VERY different from English in America. Throughout the past 4+ months we have picked up on some of the different terminology and phrases. I have to admit though, that the first few weeks here there were countless times when I honestly had no idea what someone was saying to me, so I just smiled, laughed, and then nodded for good measure. But now I think I’ve got the just of it, so here it is:

Mobile= cell phone
Boot= trunk of car
Bonnet= hood of car
SatNav= GPS
Garage = garage (OK so it is spelled the same, but it is pronounced totally differently)
Estate= neighborhood
Pavement= sidewalk
To “lay in” means to “sleep in”
Lorries= semi-trucks
A “one off thing” means a “one time thing”
Queue= line
Trolley= shopping cart
Tills= cash register
Hair bobbles= hair tie/ponytail holder
Jacket potato= baked potato
Chips= French fries
Gammon= ham
Gherkin= pickle
Jumper= sweater
“Give way” means to yield
Posh= fancy
“To hoover” means to vacuum
“To let” means “to rent”
Diary= calendar/planner
Toilet/Loo= restroom/bathroom
Sledge= a snow sled
Football=soccer (obviously)
Garden= yard
The game “tig”= the game “tag”
Rubbish bin= trash can
“Spitting” (referring to rain) means it’s sprinkling
“Chucking it down” (again referring to rain) means it’s pouring
Cheeky= sassy
Biscuits= cookies

Sheffield Wednesday ... Thursday... Friday . . .

We created a running list of places we've visited and things we have seen over the course of these 5 months. We even have a big map of England with those places circled in red sharpie.  We have enjoyed seeing that list expand and getting  that sharpie out each time we return home to Sheffield. Each place now has a special place in our hearts together with inside jokes about the mishaps along the way.

Red circles highlight places we have visited in England.

This past week we returned from a fabulous trip to Paris and Rome with a train ride in between.  So we are ending with a big adventure, three frantic days of packing up our lives and then we are back in Tampa.

But what were we up to between all those travels? What were we doing when we were not visiting places and taking pictures? Well that is the subject of this post.

We have being living life. Much of the normal things we do in Florida (or anywhere else), we, of course, do here. I'll elaborate. Those things include the children's schooling, laundry, grocery shopping, attending church and fulfilling callings in our Sheffield 2nd ward, going to the temple, singing in choirs, driving children to dances and church activities, visiting our favorite ice cream place, cleaning the house, cooking dinner, getting up for seminary, decorating for Christmas, getting our car checked out at the shop, home teaching, practicing musical instruments, etc. etc. And don't forget to take the rubbish to the curb on the right day.  Also filling out job charts, working out squabbles among the children, scripture study, family home evening, cleaning the church on our rotation, going to the park, and walking the neighborhood.

As I list the normal things of life that tend to follow us where ever we go, I notice that nearly all of them have a local twist that has caught our attention.

My older kids say that this is what people really want to know about anyway. The regular stuff. But isn't that boring? Maybe, but the twists can be interesting.

So now we can say our blog was not just impressions from our travels but also a recounting of the ways regular life was different.

So, shall we revisit some of that list?

The children's schooling.
In Tampa they all went to public school, but here the oldest four have taken all their classes through Florida Virtual School. FLVS is an online public school. We had to buy a laptop for each of them and a Magic Jack in the wall so they could call their teachers for monthly calls and discussion based assessments without enormous international calling rates. Each teacher required them to submit three or more assignments each week.  Through FLVS, they worked on classes such as Spanish, Pre-Calculus, World History, US History, Language Arts, Geometry, Physics, 6th grade Science, AP Language Arts, and more.  On the weeks where we traveled, they had to work longer beforehand to get all their assignments in and keep their teachers happy.  I also found a financial literacy course online which I taught them and insisted they learn to type properly. They also were required to practice their instruments (at least once I could track them down--more on that later).

Now Brad's schooling was different. He had me as his teacher. I got my degree in Political Science not Elementary Education, so that was the first challenge. He is a concientious boy, but not too thrilled with being the lone boy in the class. He is very social and preferred submitting Financial Literacy assignments over the ones he was supposed to because "everyone else was doing it." I taught him language arts, general 2nd grade math, and geometry out of Silvan workbooks. My best accomplishment with him was that he improved his reading level and improved his letter formation. I think he will be more in his element when he gets to be in a 2nd grade class with other kids his age.

Laundry.  
We have a small combo washer/dryer which sounds convenient but isn't really. We found that the clothes shrank and seemed to be more boiled than dried at the end of the cycle. I realize user error may be involved, but I eventually found it to be easier to skip the dry cycle and instead hang them to dry on drying racks that were here in the house already.

Grocery shopping,
We have to go to the store more often than at home because our fridge is just a little larger than the ones you find in an average hotel room--and I'm not talking about the ones at Residence Inn.  I mean the little ones. One thing that made it work out is that all the packages are smaller.  Paper towels, bags of flour, milk, salad dressing, bags of apples, and so on.  The other thing that helps is the cool weather.  The house has a conservatory (an unheated room "sun room") that has become our walk-in refrigerator during the last month or two.

During the last month I finally tried ordering my groceries online and paying just 3 pounds for home delivery. What was I thinking going to the store all those other times?  But I did make a mistake online which I would not have made at the store--I had 12 packages of meatballs delivered instead of the two I thought I had clicked. But I checked online, and yes, I did order twelve.  So now I will give some away before we leave.

Attending church.
Our church building is one block away down the hill.  We have never lived this close to our church.

Nathan and I traded being Bishop and Relief Society teacher, respectively, in Carrollwood Ward in Tampa for youth Sunday School teacher and Faith in God leader, respectively, in our Sheffield 2nd ward. My job as Faith in God leader, together with my assistant Vickie, was to plan and carry out two Tuesday evening activities per month for the 8-11 year old boys and girls.  I liked that my Janean was in it. In the US, boys that age do Cub Scouting while the girls program goes by the name Activity Girls; but here the Scouts aren't part of the church program so the girls and boys are together. I did include a scouting-type activity in the mix where we taught the children to build a fire and cook over it. We also did some baking and nutrition activities, service, and sporting activities where learning good sportsmanship was the point. The English here in South Yorkshire are a competitive lot--children and parents.

The children had a good time.  We had two boys and five girls. I was touched when one of the girls told me she did not want me to leave. Nathan also was effective in teaching 12-14 year old youth (including Allison and Jeremy).

Sarah, Allison, and Jeremy attend Tuesday night youth activities.  Sarah and Allison have been walking down the hill each weekday morning to attend 6:30AM seminary where they studied church history and the Doctrine and Covenants.  I'm so glad Nathan has walked with them most mornings. What a blessing to be so close to the church. When we get back to Tampa it will be a 20 minute drive.

Participation in music activities.
The Sheffield 2nd Ward has a great musical tradition and we were fortunate to participate.  We sang in the ward Christmas choir--all but Brad.  But even he sang a duet as Joseph in the Primary nativity program.  Janean narrated the nativity.  She also sang a solo in the Primary Program in the fall.  Brad also gave a talk in that Primary Program. With 15-20 children, everyone gets a chance to do something.

At Christmas Jeremy played violin in a string quartet while Allison played trombone in a duet with a trumpet.  We had a tough time renting (hiring, as they say here) those instruments.  Finally I gave my sob story to the Sheffield City Council so I could rent instruments without being a music teacher or a school music program director.  I would have brought their instruments from home if I had known music stores do not rent instruments to parents, but it worked out in the end.

There are many little adventures involved in relocating to a different location from finding molasses (treacle) and shortening (no one knows what it is) to decorating for Christmas with borrowed decorations and the stockings we brought from home.  We can't mention them all, but with all the puzzles, surprises, and adventures, we have been grateful for the chance.

Its time to hop back across the pond to Florida!

Portobello Road

While we were in London a few weeks ago, we took The Tube to Portobello Road. Portobello Road is an outside market that focuses on diverse types of antiques-from jewelry to navigation devices, old sports equipment to silver. At the start of the road, it did not seem like very much--with only a couple shops, market stalls, and houses. As we continued down the road, though, it became very lively. There were hundreds and hundreds of stalls selling anything and everything a chap can unload (#BedknobsandBroomsticks). There were stalls selling pastries, purses, rings, old books, produce, scarves, dresses, china, paintings, soup, sculptures, souvenirs, and more. Whatever was being sold was crammed onto tables or hanging from pegs, crowding every available space. All of the stalls were rather small, (about 8 feet long and five feet deep or smaller), but they each sold enough merchandise to fill a full-blown store! Now does that give you an idea of how crowded everything was? What was even more amazing was that the people running the stalls seemed to have all of the prices of everything memorized. You would ask the price of something--because very few things were labeled--and they would tell you it was this or that amount of pounds without even looking at anything or hesitating. It was sooo cool! 

Posing for a quick picture in between some stalls

The part that I liked most about Portobello Road, though, was definitely the atmosphere of it all. The people everywhere were walking along, not rushed, but not slowly. Barely anyone seemed to be in a huge rush to get their shopping done ASAP, which was a nice change. This allowed us to better enjoy everything we saw, versus buying something we need and then leaving immediately. Everyone admired or at least glanced at whatever was being sold at nearby stalls; depending on their interest levels of the merchandise. It reminded me a bit of window shopping, except better both because you are looking at everything in the store as you walk by and there are no windows. You could not only look at everything, but you could touch the merchandise and smell the amazing food as you walked by. People were calling out their prices and sales to the crowd of passersby, trying to attract customers. We actually found a great deal this way, when a pastry-selling stall started calling out a discount of "All pastries now a pound each!" So, we bought seven of them--plus one the lady added on for free--and enjoyed them as we continued on our way. They were delicious! We also bought a couple gifts, some cherry tomatoes, and a wallet for Mom.

A view of the crowds and some merchandise on display in the stalls.

The road wasn't large, but it was very very long. We hadn't reached the end of it before it had gotten dark. However, the market did not quiet down at all when it started getting dark. Christmas lights overhead came on, the market stalls kept on running, and the crowd kept on coming! It wasn't until much later that we decided to start looking for a London Underground Station to start our journey back. But, even by then, we had still not reached the end of the lively market. The atmosphere was so fascinating, and it gave me a better feel for the culture here in Europe. It makes me wish that I had a market like Portobello Road nearby to do all of my shopping! After all, they sold pretty much everything I could ever need or want, plus all the stuff that I just want to admire (and not actually spend my money on).

A White (Day After) Christmas

Yesterday evening it snowed here in England! This was one of our family's hopes when we came here, because we never get any in Florida. When we found out that it would probably snow, we waited outside for the first flakes to begin to fall, and were glad that it continued to snow until there was a good four inches of snow on the ground.  

The snowscape outside our window.

We immediately began to play in the snow. We soon realized that cotton gloves and socks were not ideal for snowball fights, building snowmen, or even just walking through the snow. Our fingers and toes would freeze within the first sixty seconds. Fortunately, Mom and Dad had brought extra socks and gloves more suitable for the weather, and so we mostly just borrowed theirs and went outside again.     
We also learned the reason for snow pants, rather than just wearing jeans in the snow. If your jeans just as much as touch the snow, your jeans will become soaked, and your legs cold. Unfortunately we had brought no replacement for those, so we just had to bear it.  

Appreciating the first flakes of snow (mixed with rain droplets--no wonder the kids were wet and cold!)

Today, we went to the park to go sledding. We had no sleds, but we decided a few cookie sheets would do, right? Wrong! We tried to slide down the hill, but no matter what we tried we would just sink into the snow. Not even Brad could go anywhere, even when distributing his weight upon two of them. I guess we will have to find a better replacement so we can sled another time. 

Allison riding a cookie sheet down the driveway.

When it came to shoveling away the snow, we realized that we had nothing to do it with as well. Or did we? It turns out, even though cookie sheets do not make the best sleds, they make decent snow-shovels. In no time, we were shoveling away our driveway with them, so that if we wanted to, we could go somewhere. 

Shoveling the walk with a cookie sheet.

I used two think that snow would be so fun that I could never get tired of it, but even after the first day, I saw the nuisance it could cause. It made it harder to go places, we had to shovel it away, and hardest of all, we had to keep it outside. It definitely gives me a greater appreciation for the all-year warmth in Florida.  

An English Christmas

Christmas dinner with everyone's Christmas cracker surprises (crowns, whistles, and jokes).

We have loved our Christmas in England from musical concerts, carol services, and Christmas jumpers (sweaters) to the Queen's speech, Christmas dinner, Christmas flu, and Christmas crackers.  OK, so we weren't quite so pleased about the Christmas flu, but that isn't exactly an English novelty anyway.

We (especially Rachel) have been thrilled by the many musical events at the Christmas season.  There are many community musical performances for the season.  We enjoyed hearing St. Martin's in the Fields rehearse for the Bach Oratorio and attending a brass/choir concert at the Sheffield cathedral.  We also had the chance to participate in the church Carol service on Sunday night.  In fact, six of the Cranes were in the choir while Jeremy also performed in the string quartet and Allison did a trombone/trumpet duet.  Brad did a fabulous job as 'Joseph' in the nativity  including a duet with Mary.  

Here's the cast from the Church nativity pageant.  Brad is the second from the right on the first row.  Janean is the smiling brunette on the back row.

Some of the other local traditions are more fun than heavenly. For example, everyone seems to have their special "Christmas Jumper" the English term for a sweater.  And these sweaters are not just for hiding presents under in the back of the closet.  They wear them to the store, to work, and to the cinema (theater).  There is nothing subtle about most of the sweaters (see picture below.)

Real life example of a Christmas Jumper.

Christmas day has its own special English traditions.  At 3 PM on Christmas day, the Queen gives a speech that everyone listens to.  The speech is positive and perfect length for Brad's attention span.   In a remarkable evidence of English self-control, one family we know waits to open their presents until after the speech.  A highlight for many families is the Christmas dinner--usually a turkey with the trimmings.  Mince pies are traditional dessert along with Christmas pudding--an English cousin to the fruitcake.  Before all these tasty goodies can be consumed, everyone opens their Christmas crackers which pop open to reveal Christmas surprises. 

Watching the Queen's speech on Christmas afternoon.

The Christmas cultural exchange went two directions as we also shared the Crane gingerbread house tradition with some of our dear friends here.  Along the way, we learned that there is a big difference between light and dark molasses (called treacle here).  The only thing that could improve our Christmas experience would be to transport more of our family and friends here with us (and maybe a pass on that Christmas flu).

Decorating gingerbread houses with the Swift family.

London through the eyes of a 7 year old

By Brad Crane age 7                                                                                                    

London is a good place because it is filled with all its beauty.  One of my favorite places is the London Eye. It was on a lake. (Actually on the Thames River, Mommy adds.) It is really tall.  I also saw Big Ben. Big Ben is a clock.  We went on a tour bus. The bus is really long. I love the tour bus. There was head phones. The headphones are too big. So I just looked out the window. I liked the window. But there was no window because I was on a double-decker bus and I was on top. I was cold! I liked it. I recommend London to you. Those of you that are reading this I would like to say I miss you. I hope you will enjoy the rest of the blog….

One of my only wishes is that you could come to England with me. London is one of my favorite places I’ve gone while I was here. We went across the really cool Tower Bridge. The London Bridge is boring!

Across the Thames from Parliament.

Here we are enjoying the warmth.

All smiles as we give our feet a rest to ride an open-top doublee decker bus around London.

As a lover of amusement parks and rides, this was Brad's favorite attraction.

Note from the editor:

Yes, it has been a while since we have updated our blog and this is actually almost two months old.  I guess life responsibilities caught up with us even across the pond.  Our wonderful time here is rapidly coming to an end.  It is hard to believe that 4+ months have passed so quickly.

Mountain Train and Other Adventures in Wales

By Brad Crane (age 7)

The post author riding the train to the top of Mount Snowdon in North Wales.

I went on a mountain train up to the top of Mount Snowdon. The mountain train was very slow but quite fun. There were really pretty views and the track was very windy. The train went up forwards and down backwards. It wasn’t that steep at all. The row In front of you has to put their feet by you because they would slip off their seat. We saw two waterfalls—big waterfalls. There was a hiking path right next to the rail. We saw a lot of people on that trail. Then there was a stream in between the mountains. 

Mountain Views on the train to the peak of Mount Snowdon. All this variety and beauty and no geologist handy to tell us all about it.  Where is a geologist when you need one?

After time to time we have to stop at a passpoint so the other train can go by. There was a big cliff on one side and another cliff on the other side at the start. When we were about to get to the top of the mountain, I was cold because the windows were open. It was a beautiful journey too. When we were pulling into the station, and getting out, it was a little cold, so I decided to put on my parka.

When I got to the top there was a spiral staircase and I was up there in the sky.  And there I was on top of the world. Then I went down into a crater thing. It was steep. I had to climb down it. We had Welsh cakes—that’s what they were called. It was really rocky up there. We took a couple pictures up there. It looked like the hikers thought it was a big accomplishment. I myself would think that Mount Everest was a big accomplishment.

Brad and Jeremy on top of the World (or at least Wales)!

The view from the top of Mount Snowdon

 It was really high and I was warm because I had my parka on now. It was time to get back on the train and start going backwards. I got into the train and started waiting for a few seconds before it started. They didn’t check tickets on the way down so the hikers could just get in if they were too tired. On the way down, I felt like I was falling backward. There was a guy next to us who wasn’t Welsh who we talked to. By the way, we’re in Wales right now. On our way down, me and Jeremy were arguing about sitting next to each other so I just sat on the other side of the bench .We enjoyed going down because we had the windows closed, finally .While we were going down, we saw the two waterfalls again. Then we just pulled into the station. Then we started to walk to the car. It was a really short walk. Then we got in the car and started driving to the Irish Sea. 

At the Irish Sea, we found lots of pretty rocks and I made a big block of sand. We picked up little rocks and threw them at the big field of rocks to see how much they bounced. It was really cool. Then we decided to hike up a big hill. At the top we could see Ireland. Me and Jeremy went to tell Sarah that we could see it, but we both slipped because it was steep and very wet. And then Dad decided for us to take the main trail. It was fun going down because we had a race. We had to dodge all the people who were hiking up too. 

The sky, earth, and sea meet on the Welsh shore.

Walking on water (almost) on the edge of the Irish Sea.  I think that something about the scarves on the beach suggests we aren't in Florida.

Exploring the rocks along the beach.

After the Irish Sea, we went to the longest town name in the world. It was called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogogoch. (My Dad helped me write the name.)  It has a very silly name. But it makes sense in Welsh language.  (Dad:  It means "The Church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near the Fierce Whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave.") Then we went to dinner. I had nuggets and ketchup and fries and peas. Then we drove home.  It was a very tiring day. Daddy and Jeremy were playing a game with the temperature. Daddy won because the temperature kept getting colder and Daddy was voting for cold. It got to be 42 degrees. While we were going home, the moon got very very bright. When we got home, everybody was supposed to carry everything in from the car but they didn’t--not quite everything. And then, Dad was trying to get everyone in bed. We all went to bed. It was a very great day.

Here is an old railway station in Llanfairpwllgw.....See below for a closeup of the full name.

Here is a closeup of the full name of the town.  Imagine that spelling test . . .

 Everybody was really tired and definitely not ready for Sunday. I was especially very late for Sunday. I wanted to sleep in and eat breakfast. I refused to take a shower I just really wanted to take a bath. At church me and Elliott played. It was very fun, except for going home because the moon isn't that cool. I like this day because it was very fun and great.