Sunny Day, October 7th

I read somewhere that the reason that the English talk about the weather so much is because it is so changeable. Well, we're learning this first hand. We've mostly had very good weather up until now, but since saturday, the weather seems to change every time you look out the window - really. From sunshine to heavy downpour to mist and then partly cloudy and then gray etc, etc. We're learning the best way to handle this is simply take your rain gear and go out anyway! For today, though, we have a lovely sunny day. Steve is at the uni working and Sophia and I went to the market for today's supplies and then did some exploring. We found a great park and she played and had a blast.
Steve's mom and dad, Ken & Louise Scalet, arrived this weekend to spend October here. Sophia is elated to have her "mam-mam" and "pa-pa" here and we've all had a nice time so far. We've mostly done more exploring of Norwich. There is really so much to see and do here. We all very much enjoy a good "ramble" where you take a long walk leading nowhere special and eventually end up back home for a nice cup of tea. The streets are full of sights and buildings that amaze you to see them not only still standing, but in live-in condition.
I am learning English day-to-day skills. Mostly the difference that I have found is that everything is smaller. Portions in restaurants are smaller, packages in the grocery store contain smaller amounts. I roasted a chicken for dinner last night and it was quite an adventure! Not only did I have to reach back to 3rd grade where I learned the metric system (the chicken weighed 2 kg), the 'cooker' is much smaller than an average u.s. stove and the oven is really tiny. Thank goodness for the internet in converting celsius to fahrenheit so I could figure out how long it needed to cook. I was able to squeeze the chicken in, but I burned my thumb and then my finger because it was such a tight space. Came out delicious, but I'll plan more strategically next time.
Steve took the 7 Binghamton exchange students to London over the weekend. They had a fabulous trip, seeing Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, the British Museum, Big Ben and the London Bridge, a play at Shakespear's (reconstructed) Globe theatre, a boat ride on the Thames, and their 1st experience staying in a youth hostel (communal kitchen, doing their own dishes). It all went great and I am looking forward to when next I see the students to hear their thoughts.
Miss everyone!