Bring on the wall!

Marc asked me to write the next blog entry but it has taken me over 2 weeks to get around to writing it. It’s not that I’ve been lazy and been sitting around doing nothing, it’s just been a crazily busy few weeks with work and what not. I’ve also been pondering over what to write about. Previously all my entries have been recounting some visit, trip or tale but this time I thought I should perhaps veer away from storytelling and just write about what I’m currently thinking about.

We’re starting to get things organized for our move back home and although I’m really excited about coming home, it’s also got me thinking about what I’ll miss over here. Obviously all the lovely friends we have made goes without saying, but it’s lots of other little things I’ll miss too.

I’ll miss the politeness of people here. I’ve grown to like someone wishing me a great day, and sometimes I even think that the shop assistants actually mean it. People are very courteous and chivalrous in the workplace here. For example, a man would never step into a lift before a woman. Never! Even complete strangers. And they will always let the ladies exit a room first and hold a door open for you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for women’s equality and all that malarkey but there is something just very gentile, and I guess respectful, to these small gestures.

I like greeting the old man who likes to sit on the wall outside our house, chatting with his friends of a morning. He will always move his truck to make it easier for me if he sees me struggling with a difficult bit of parallel parking. That’s kindness for you.

I know it’s a very English thing to mention, but I will of course miss the weather too. Waking up to beautiful blue skies the majority of the time is amazing and something we’ve definitely not taken for granted. I’ll miss riding my bike down to the beach, and cycling along the little bike path all the way up to Malibu. I’ll even miss getting cross with the people who walk on the bikes only path and have the cheek to get mad at us cyclists – erm you can walk on the sand you fools. Honestly.

I’ll really miss our little local diner. It’s a proper American diner, and they do the most delicious malts and cupcakes. Its open 22 hours a day, and it is always busy, no matter when you turn up. They have a great jukebox, the décor is brill, the food is fantastic and the staff are all really friendly. There is just nowhere else quite like it.

Obviously there are things that I won’t miss and things I’ll be happy to leave behind but you shouldn’t focus on the negative things, and so I’m not going to discuss these. Well ok, perhaps just one. But this is a strange thing to dislike. I have a very weird obsession with parking. I always worry about where I’ll be able to park whenever we go anywhere. This is especially weird as in LA everyone drives everywhere so compared to somewhere like London, parking is in abundance. So why do I worry about it all the time? It’s not that I can’t park (aside from a tricky parallel parking as mentioned above I’m not bad at parking), so I really can’t explain what it is that I worry about, but I just do. I feel sorry for Marc who has to constantly reassure me that we’ve parked correctly and we won’t be towed, and I don’t need to check on the car every 20 minutes.

In fact I’ve noticed that even though I’ve always been a worrier, this year I’ve taken my worrying to a whole new level. I’m hoping though that perhaps moving home will mean I will stop worrying quite so much. I worry that I’ll do something wrong and they’ll throw me out of the country. I’ve no idea what I could do that would result in this but it worries me all the same. Perhaps I think if I park in the wrong place they’ll extradite me? See I told you it was completely ridiculous.

But I really can’t wait to get back to all our family and friends though, and to our little flat. I can’t wait to read the Sunday papers, to have a drink at our lovely local, to eat Heinz baked beans on toast and have a drink of apple and blackcurrant squash. Mmm, delicious. I know many people wouldn’t necessary class the above as the best of British, but each to their own I say.

And on that note I’ll say ta ta for now and leave Marc to write the next blog this week all about his panel debut at the Doctor Who convention. I know, try not to get too excited about it.

Happy Pancake Day.
Em x