3 Years

It’s almost hard to believe that Ian and I have lived in Scotland for 3 years. On the one hand, it feels like it has been forever; yet on the other hand, it feels like we have just gotten settled.

From what I hear, we are starting to talk different. I personally blame it on Aberdeen. It has only been in the past couple months that we have been accused of this, so Aberdeen is definitely to blame. Now, don’t get me wrong, we definitely are not sporting Scottish accents…I think our American accents (well, west coast accents) are too ingrained in us for that. But apparently, it has something to do with our voice inferences when we talk. I was accused by someone (you know who you are) of ending my sentences weird. And people we meet over here keep thinking we are from Canada. Apparently you mix American and Scottish together and get Canadian! I’m sure Canadians would appreciate me saying that! Now, voice inferences aside, I do find myself using words from over here more and more. Sometimes when I say some things, I just want to kick myself. For instance, the other day, I referred to dinnertime as teatime. I can’t even believe I said that. Oh well, I guess after 3 years a little bit of Scotland was bound to rub off on me.

Last year, Ian and I made the decision to move to Aberdeen rather than coming back to California. Our time in Edinburgh was done and those were our choices. I think it is safe for me to say that we made the right decision by moving to Aberdeen. Even though Edinburgh is far superior to Aberdeen, Aberdeen really has felt like home more than Edinburgh ever did. We got involved in a church like we never have before and we have made a good group of friends. Sure, they aren’t great friends yet, but I realize that takes time. Also, because of us staying Ian and Connor have had the privilege of becoming dual citizens…a privilege I find rather cool and like to refer to as our back up plan. Hey, you never know what the future holds! And with those passports, you can live anywhere in Europe without a visa!

One of the stipulations of us staying was to get some more traveling in…we definitely have done that! In the past year, we have seen more of Scotland than we saw in the previous 2 years combined...it probably helps that we now have a car. There is just so much to see in this country. Sometimes I feel like we haven’t even seen anything yet! Also, we took a road trip thru the UK, France and part of Italy. I really feel that was a once in a lifetime trip. We got to see so much we wouldn’t have seen if we weren’t driving and got to experience a lot of amazing stuff (yummy Italian pastries come to mind).

I remember when we were talking about coming over to Scotland. Originally it was going to be for a year, then we found out the commitment was for 2 years, but still we decided that was fine. At the end of 2 years, we really wanted to stay one more year…largely so Connor could be born here (I mean honestly, how cool is it to say you were born in another country?!?). And, at the end of year 3, we were definitely coming home. Look where that got us…trying to stay longer! Now I say with certainty, we are only planning on staying 1 more year…but really, how do I know what the future holds?!?