Culture Shock
We're moving...
We love Arlington. One time when my daughter was about 1 and a half (she was born here) I took her down to the children's book store, and I knew every customer who walked in; not that there were that many mid morning on a week day but still! Oh except one woman with a daughter about my little girl's age... I didn't know her. Yet. By the time we left though, our daughters had played, found out each other's names; even that the other little girl was five days older; she had actually been born on my daughter's due date. Yeah, A. was five days late but that's another ripple!
Then a few months later, Dad and the kids were rollerblading around the neighborhood, and they came back with tales of the adventures they'd had and the new friends they'd met, one of whom was a little girl five days older than A. You guessed it! Same friend from the bookstore, living about 37 rollerblade strides up the street and around the corner from us!
When we have snowstorms, we all walk down to the village of Westover where there is everything we need... grocery, post office, hardware store, library, drug store, coffee shops... did I mention hardware store? I mean Ayers has EVERYTHING! Once, not long ago I tried to get everything I needed from one place, since we are trying to avoid buying more things to have to pack, so naturally I chose Ayers. I was surprised to find they didn't seem to have toilet paper and I thought, Huh! I'll have to go to Rite Aid. I had arugula plants, sandpaper, envelopes, packing tape... so I asked the cashier on the way out, and of course they had toilet paper! Since they have everything else in the world, they only had room for a couple of choices, but... success! Everything I needed in one place! (OK, I didn't really need arugula plants...)
Anyway, that's Arlington. So, why are we moving??!! Oh yeah, the new house is on a lake. But it is in Fairfax County! You might think people who have lived all over the world including Africa, and Papua New Guinea, would not find that such a huge hurdle. No, of course it is not, even though it almost seems like another country... will keep you posted...
We love Arlington. One time when my daughter was about 1 and a half (she was born here) I took her down to the children's book store, and I knew every customer who walked in; not that there were that many mid morning on a week day but still! Oh except one woman with a daughter about my little girl's age... I didn't know her. Yet. By the time we left though, our daughters had played, found out each other's names; even that the other little girl was five days older; she had actually been born on my daughter's due date. Yeah, A. was five days late but that's another ripple!
Then a few months later, Dad and the kids were rollerblading around the neighborhood, and they came back with tales of the adventures they'd had and the new friends they'd met, one of whom was a little girl five days older than A. You guessed it! Same friend from the bookstore, living about 37 rollerblade strides up the street and around the corner from us!
When we have snowstorms, we all walk down to the village of Westover where there is everything we need... grocery, post office, hardware store, library, drug store, coffee shops... did I mention hardware store? I mean Ayers has EVERYTHING! Once, not long ago I tried to get everything I needed from one place, since we are trying to avoid buying more things to have to pack, so naturally I chose Ayers. I was surprised to find they didn't seem to have toilet paper and I thought, Huh! I'll have to go to Rite Aid. I had arugula plants, sandpaper, envelopes, packing tape... so I asked the cashier on the way out, and of course they had toilet paper! Since they have everything else in the world, they only had room for a couple of choices, but... success! Everything I needed in one place! (OK, I didn't really need arugula plants...)
Anyway, that's Arlington. So, why are we moving??!! Oh yeah, the new house is on a lake. But it is in Fairfax County! You might think people who have lived all over the world including Africa, and Papua New Guinea, would not find that such a huge hurdle. No, of course it is not, even though it almost seems like another country... will keep you posted...
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