Mini sizes

Everything here is mini-sized. The fridge is no bigger than my old college fridge, the freezer is even smaller than that. So all the food bottles and packages are tiny, to fit into the tiny fridges. The washer and dryer are so small --I can fit three big towels in it and that is a super size load. It took us all day yesterday to do laundry that would have taken me two hours back home. They also don't use a lot of preservatives or processed foods, which also means more frequent shopping at the grocery store. So today, we had to make another stop at Tesco --and I drove on the Motorway. I was nervous, but I did it - I am getting the hang of this driving thing. Bring on the roundabouts! They use roundabouts on their motorways instead of entrance and exit ramps. But I am still not used to seeing eggs sitting at room temperature in the middle of a grocery aisle. They don't refrigerate them. I also am not used to opening the container of eggs and finding chicken poop and feathers on the eggs. (seriously!) I guess they are fresh though! The bathtub is so small I barely fit into it. Everything is just small. And a general update -we have had a lot going on the last few days. Bean has really gotten into a groove at her school, today was her third day and the kids have been so friendly and helpful to her. This morning she had three friends trying to help her into the school and hang up her coat. She is also picking up the language and the accent --surprising after only three days. I thought it would take longer for that to happen. She does not even realize it, and I have not pointed it out to her, I don't want to make her self conscious. Last night we were sitting at the table eating and she was trying to get my attention and in a perfect British accent was calling me - mummy. My mom and I just looked at each other in surprise. And she was calling the bathroom "the toilets", which is what they call them here. I have also had so much help...there are three amazing new friends, expats themselves, that have been great. Taking me driving, shopping and today to an expat society lunch where I met several others. The English mums have also been very welcoming. We have invitations to play dates, mummy and and me music classes and today I was invited to coffee on Friday after drop off. This is a great town --and people are so friendly. Today after the expat lunch we walked around the town (a neighboring village from where we live) and did some window shopping. Bean has an Easter egg coloring contest and has to take an egg to school on Friday, so we are boiling eggs right now to get ready for that. They are on spring break after Friday for the next two weeks!! I did find an au pair for Gerbie -she starts next Wed and will work part time and have both girls until Bean goes back to school and then just Gerbie. She works as an au pair for another family and once the kids are in school, she doesn't have anything to do during the day. She lives right down the street, so it is perfect. She will be with us during the day. She is from Sweden and has the full Swedish accent, so my kids should have a good blended accent after spending time with her. And we found a preschool for Gerbie, that she will start in July...they start preschool at age 2 1/2 in England, probably because they start Reception (Kindergarten) at age 4. Tomorrow we are taking the train into Manchester. I can't wait to look around and see what is there --it is supposed to be just a 10 minute train ride from our town to get to the city center of Manchester. First train ride for Gerbie - hope it goes ok! I will post some pictures after our trip.