A Distant Memory

Three months (!) have passed since we left Oxford and time to reminisce about our stay there.  On the whole it was a fantastic experience. Leaving behind day-to-day life and work (literally for me!) was relaxing and refreshing. But our three-month sabbatical wasn’t all the easy holiday life one imagines!

Andy found his workdays quiet and more productive which was reflected in his empty email box at the end of each day. He kept in contact with his students with an early morning video call once a week. The opportunity to network meant visiting other universities, which often involved a long day negotiating the trains.

Both girls seemed to enjoy attending Cuttleslowe Primary School. Ella’s inclusion into a Yr1/2 class resulted in an improvement in her reading and a platform into writing. Also, in the absence of playground climbing equipment, Ella was introduced to skipping and hand clapping games. In retrospect we think Ella struggled socially. Although she never complained or refused to go to school, we suspect from some of her ‘new’ behaviours, that she was having trouble with playground politics and the rougher behaviours of many of her classmates.

Katy embraced the opportunity to grow up and attend the same school as her big sister! The daily three-hour nursery sessions were a lovely introduction for Katy into school life. She formed strong friendships with two girls – Rebecca and Freya. At one point towards the end of the trip when we were talking about returning to life in Canberra, Katy exclaimed, “Oh Kanookas is so boring!”

We spent most weekends away being tourists, orienteering or catching up with old friends. Thus we became expert packers and the girls even better travellers. We played numerous games of I spy, car cricket and even tried the alphabet game. The girls entertained themselves with colouring and drawing and when bored of that Ella would read to Katy before resorting to ipad time!

In our travels, we tended to eat out more, exposing the girls to a variety of restaurants which inevitably for them would involved ordering pasta and cheese, spaghetti bolognese, pizza, sushi or chicken nuggets followed by ice cream! With many of the B & B’s a full english breakfast was included. Despite this menu, Katy requested porridge while Ella switched between fried and scrambled eggs but added baked beans to her order.

We will treasure the memories of our weekends away. Remembering our time here previously, and the ease of travelling, reminded us how so much has changed in 10 years! Travelling with children is much more demanding! At times we packed too many activities into our schedule, with some interesting behaviours exhibited by the girls putting our parenting skills to the test.

The weekdays were our recovery time. Quite easy to do as we didn’t do any organised activities, our social network was very limited, there were few outdoor play areas (plus the weather was miserable for most of the part). All this meant that we spent many afternoons playing Uno, Hello Kitty memory, Lego, reading books, drawing, baking (very limited) or watching tv with the girls in their pj’s!

The apartment met our needs – but reinforced that we love our own house. Apartment living is very different. It was impossible for the girls to duck outside to play as this involved 2 locked doors and several flights of stairs plus they were then out of sight. Katy did improve her stair ascending/descending ability as a result of repeated practice especially when the elevator broke down for over two weeks. It wasn’t fun lugging up shopping or luggage up the 6 flights of stairs during this time.

There was no adjustment needed for the cleaning lady, who was included in the rental agreement. Elvira turned up most weeks to clean and refresh the linen which was just heaven! We longed for a decent shower with consistent hot water with some pressure. UK shower mixers (a shower head connected to the bath taps) are just awful. The combined washer/dryer in the kitchen was heavily utilised especially the dryer. The kitchen was never going to be as good as home though. The setup reflects the type of clientele who rent such apartments – probably mostly short term. On reflection, three months is a difficult length of time – too long for a holiday but not long enough to be settled.

Shopping was always an interesting experience. There were several local supermarkets on the high street at Summertown where we could buy most things. Our main shopping was done at one of the superstores, located on the outskirts of town. With each visit to the superstore, I’d become more familiar with the layout and brands. It was interesting to see several isles of ‘ready made meals’. Obviously Brits are either not keen on cooking or more likely don’t have the time as they spend most of that commuting.

Also I’d say 95% of fresh fruit and vegetables come pre packaged so there was no choosing the good or ripe stuff. All the packaged food had used by dates, which I found a little strange until I had a few carrots that actually went off after a week! It was nice to have the summer fruits come into season while we were there. We feasted on the raspberries, peaches, apricots and nectarines.

There were no signs of rice crackers, fruit bars or blackcurrant tea and unfortunately the green pesto (according to the girls) didn’t taste the same so that was off the menu too. Pain au chocolat became a big hit as did smoked salmon and for me quinoa!

A highlight of shopping was receiving your brand match voucher at the checkout. It’s a voucher that is calculated on your purchases and the savings you would have made if you’d gone to the opposition! This amount ranged from £10 to 50p and would be taken off your next shopping bill. Meanwhile the highlight for Katy was the café afterwards where we’d share a muffin, play on the ipad (Katy) and enjoy a mocha (me).

Now we are back in Canberra, I love the space we have - from our house to the garden, to riding bikes on the street, to being able to park at the local shop and to the amounts of green space. Sometimes it takes a trip away to better appreciate your life at home. The UK is so congested on so many levels – from hour long traffic jams to negotiating the footpaths. Quiet suburban streets double as carparks; so when driving along one has to negotiate parked cars (on both sides of the street) as well as oncoming traffic!

I do miss the sightseeing (along with the planning involved), Indian takeaway and also the time we spent doing things together as a family. The girls grew up immensely in our time away, and it was great to see them taking an interest in museums, history and other environments. We’ve now slotted back into our old life – loving spending time with family and friends; but trying to negotiate everyone’s work/school/childcare schedules is already getting a little tiresome. Which all makes me wonder where and when our next sabbatical will be!!