The joys of being a legal alien

I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of New Years Eve celebrations - not just because as a parent staying up past midnight has serious sleep deprivation issues by the 7am wake-up call. There is so much hype and then a huge fall when everyone realises that it really is just another day and that another year has gone by without much really changing. This year it was odd to be behind the UK - the only other time I've been overseas for the New Year was in Australia and so at least then we got to be ahead!! We attended via Skype several celebrations at home at the far more reasonable time of 6pm and then we were in bed by 11!! We watched the spectacular fireworks over the London Eye which a friend had uploaded for us and it was then that it really hit me that we will be away from friends and family (bar visits) for the whole of 2009 and probably the whole of 2010 too... so I have to confess that I did start the new year on a bit of a downer!

It doesn't help that we are gearing up to start school on Monday and I am struggling to work out all the practicalities as the subtle differences are mounting up. One of the frustrations is the complicated drop-off system that operates around the school. You can drop your children off on foot but it seems no one does and you still have to negotiate your way past all the queuing cars and then pay large parking fees in the adjacent multi-story. I am hoping that, at least in spring and autumn (when it's neither too hot, nor too cold) we can walk from home, however that is less than straightforward due to the way the blocks in-between are laid out, gated communities barring the way, etc, etc.

Another problem is that the PE uniforms haven't turned up yet so I may have to find some creative alternative for the first week. And did I mention that Is says her new uniform is "the most uncomfortable ever"?!!!! Grrrr

So, this week I am mostly missing the school playground, M&S (for easy uniform) or Woolworths for that matter - and in that I'm not alone - and also the NHS. I have actually always been a huge fan of the NHS despite it's evident weaknesses. It's easy to knock, but where else in the world do we have free access to medical care? Though we have been eligible for D's work healthcare plan since yesterday, we are so far not covered as we can't work out which option to sign up for. We've both read the details carefully but they make almost no sense at all. And then there will be dental and vision plans too.

Actually, there's probably more than a year's worth of admin there to be tackled, so maybe I'll catch up with you sometime next year.......!