Friday, May 2, 2008

First Post: Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog: A View from England

My name is Maureen. I'm an American expatriate (from Minnesota) living in a small town near London, England. I'm married to an Englishman and we have two sons. I enjoy reading, writing, gardening, birding, knitting, TV, movies and going to the theatre.


I've been residing in the UK for a long time so England is definitely my home now although sometimes I don't know where my "home" is exactly. I love England and it is my home but I also love the USA, and think of Minnesota as "home". This is the paradox of life as an expat - the feeling that home is both "here" and "there". It's difficult to explain but I'm sure all expats have this feeling. I get moments of terrible homesickness but when I go "home" to visit family in Minnesota, I miss England.


My mother is English so I grew up listening to her English accent and I was always very aware that I'm English as well as American. Indeed, I'm proud to be both!


I will write about the joys of living in England but I will also rant about the way things are done here. And I will write with pride about the USA but sometimes I will rant about things there. I'm still a proud American though!


My blog therefore consists of a hodgepodge about various topics that interest me as well as musings about life in England and the USA.


I'm particularly interested in discussions about politics, parenting, education, health, science, nature and the environment. I'm also very concerned about civil liberties.

I moderate all comments on my blog. I do this to control spam. I never delete a comment just because someone disagrees with me. I will however delete any comments containing abusive language. I welcome debate...as long as you are polite!
 
Email: expatwriter@gmail.com

4 comments:

  1. Hi Maureen, just found your blog! I'm an expat too, been here on and off for 18 years, so we have lots in common...

    I'm going to put you on the Best of the British Mummy Blogger list over at my site...

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  2. Hello - I'm pleased you found my blog! I just discovered your blog recently too, and I added you to my blogroll.

    Thanks for adding me to your list. I appreciate it.

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  3. Hi Maureen,

    You visited my blog recently so I found yours and I'm glad I did. I have a seventeen year old as well so we have some things in common. We are making plans for him now to move to Scotland to live with his father (my ex) and attend University. I'm pleased as punch for him and thrilled because it gives me lots of excuses for making Britain my second home, but I shall miss him greatly!

    It turns out I used to live near where you are now. My husband at the time was stationed at RAF Henlow, so I used to spend Saturdays on Hitchen's high street. We had a flat in Shefford, which is in Befordshire and I was at RAF Chicksands, which has switched over to the MOD now.

    Would love to stay in touch if you could use another American penpal. I'll add your blog to my following list.

    Cheers!

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  4. Hi Melissa, I'm so pleased I found your blog and that you found my blog. It does indeed sound like we have a lot in common! Please do stay in touch and thanks for adding my blog to your follow list. I've added your blog to my blogroll and follow list too.

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