More Adjusting

So Maddie and I arrive in London for our re-lo trip and I am so relieved to be back in an English speaking country. By the time we make it to our hotel, we are both starving and there is a KFC right across the street from our hotel. Glad not to have to think through my order in my head, I walk through the door and person who greets me is--I'm guessing--Pakistani, and I have no idea what he says to me. So much for ease of communication in London!

Then we come back to the hotel. It's cold and pouring rain and Maddie has already complained of a sore throat, so I decide not to drag her around exploring. I find some odd children's show on television and tell Maddie I'm going to take a shower. I get undressed and get in the shower. First, I almost scald myself and then the water comes out so cold that I let loose a string of words that I really hope Maddie didn't hear. I give up on the shower, get out with half and head of wet hair and can't get the water to turn off. I can switch it from shower to bath, but I can't get the water to quit running. I'm thinking, "Great! I just spent two years feeling like a idiot in Germany and now, apparently, I'm going to be just as dense in this country as well." I have to get dressed and call the front desk and tell them I can't turn off the shower. The manager shows up all apologetic because there is actually something WRONG with the shower and the front desk should have let me know when we checked in. It's supposed to be fixed today ((Thursday). I was so relieved that the problem wasn't me, that I couldn't even be mad about that fact that we'd rented a room with a faulty shower.

But the best was when Maddie and I went out to dinner at her favorite London eatery, Giraffe. She needed to go the bathroom. The restaurant is small and she knew where it was, so I sent her on. Only to have her return immediately. "Mom," she says. "I forget. Do we go in the F or the M?" Yes, my child is so used to seeing a "D" for Damen and an "H" for Herren, that she didn't know about the ENGLISH male and female designations.

I am off to look at 11 or 12 houses today with a relo agent. My job is to pick the top three and all of us will check those out tomorrow. If Maddie perks up, she and Skip are going to hit one of the many free museums here in London.