Hi, I’m Sarah. A Brit—a proud Londoner to be exact. I have been living in Houston for three years with my husband and two children. We are first time expats and moving countries was a huge step for our family—we were creatures of habit; the kind of family that like to revisit a holiday destination (11 years in a row) and live in the same house for over 10 years! Friends and family thought we were joking when we told them about ‘the big move’ and I didn’t quite believe it myself – not even when the packers arrived. It wasn’t until I boarded that one-way, long-haul flight with my then 6 and 17 year old (the husband had gone on ahead a few months before) that it started to feel real.
Everyone told me we would need a year to settle in. I admit to thinking that sounded way too long to adjust, especially given we were moving to the US—I mean there’s no language barrier (yeah, right) and I’d worked for an American organisation—how hard could it be? Hmmmm, let’s just say I was a little optimistic, or is it naive?
I’m happy to say that I do feel settled here (most days) and I have made somegreat friends. My son, especially, loves his life here and we have all really taken to baseball, so much so I was Little League Team Mom (see what I did there?) last season! Baseball has given me exposure to local (non-expat) families and this is a huge plus for me. I love my expat network but sometimes it’s easy to forget we are the anomaly. My biggest challenge is being apart from our daughter who is now back in the UK at university, and aside from the obvious things such as family and friends, I really miss being able to walk to grab a pint of milk (or glass of wine) and yearn for my old job.
I was keen to try this experiment—to embrace something different and to challenge myself. I was an avid tweeter until a few months back. I needed an excuse to get back to into it.