Summer BBQs

I had a fun-filled weekend of BBQs.

Saturday, I attended my co-worker, Saffron's, BBQ with her boyfriend's family. They are such a sweet family and they invite me frequently to BBQs. They had a 4th of July BBQ last year and I was the token American. This weekend they had a Swiss themed BBQ because they have Swiss family members that were in town.

The best part of the BBQ was the bouncey castle as they call them here. Takes you back to childhood parties!

Sunday I attended another BBQ with my home group lunch. There was a great mix of people and a group of American students that are on a mission trip. (I've been hosting two of the students this past week). We had a great time with good food and fun people. There was water fighting, ball games, hand games, and cute children.

I took four really cute pictures ... but for some reason my phone did not save them :( sad day.

I'm loving the BBQ season!!!

Cambridge

Today for work, I visited Cambridge for the first time.

First, I have to say, I LOVE being on trains in England. I always feel like I'm going somewhere exciting and new. So to have an Americano in one hand and a train ticket in the other, I'm a super happy girl.

I took the train from Canterbury to London and then walked 5 minutes between two train stations: St Pancras and Kings Cross for those of you that know London transportation. Then, I went from London to Cambridge. I made it just in time to catch the "express train" which was like 45 minutes straight - no stops - between London and Cambridge = BRILLIANT!!! I arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected.

I decided when I was in London for like 20 minutes total today, that I am starting to understand why the Lord does not have me living in London. I think if I lived in London, I would never leave England. I LOVE London. I love the atmosphere. I love the hustle and bustle. I love the underground. I love the diversity. I love the travelers. I love the sky line. I would even say I like picking the black boogers out of my nose due to all the smog - but that may be taking it a little too far. Typically, I love most things London! I even had a quick chat with a backpacker from California in the bathroom - love that!!!

So, again, my insight today was that I don't live in London, because I would never want to leave and I know the Lord has different places planned for me in the future.

SO....moving onto Cambridge.

My taxi drivers today were fantastic and hilarious!

I picked up my first driver at the train station. He told me he was born and raised in Cambridge. He had no clue where I needed to go though with the address I gave him, so he pulled out the map. When he located the place, he asked me why I wanted to go there. For confidentiality reasons, I dodged the question. We talked a little about where I was from and he found out that I had never been to Cambridge before. He asked me if I was sure I wanted to go the address and suggested that I should visit the town centre, Cambridge colleges, and go punting instead. He even decided to take a different route so he could show me some of the sites. He then asked me where I from again and after I said Texas for the second time and he started singing the Dallas theme song! HILARIOUS!!!! He talked to me all about JR, Sue Ellen and the gang. All I could really contribute to the conversation was that I hear they are making a new series - he was excited about that though. Before he dropped me off, he suggested again that I have 'my friend' take me punting on the river before I go home. What a cool guy.

On the way back to the train station, I had a Turkish taxi driver. He, too, was interested in where I was from. After I told him Texas, he reminded me that George Bush is from Texas. I agreed. He said he met a lot of tourist and he says that sometimes the tourist from Texas tell him that George Bush is from Massachusetts?!?! Then he asked me if there were any wise people in Texas? "excuse me, I don't understand the question?" He said that he wondered if there were any wise people in Texas because they voted Bush for governor and president. I laughed, told him that many people from other states voted him president two times in order to dodge the question. He was pretty funny. I was thankful to him because I booked my taxi to the train station, but I told him I was super hungry and asked if he had any recommendation near the train station. He told me about a Subway -- so I said YES PLEASE!!!

The Subway worker from Pakistan thought I was Canadian ... not sure why ... but he did!

Today was a good day! I wish I could get out of Kent more for my job! :) I recently tried to convince my District Manager she should send me to New Zealand for an assessment ... but she told me it would not be cost effective and instead suggested I write a letter. I jokingly questioned her commitment to safeguard children ... HA!!!! Hopefully, I get to go somewhere else exciting in the future!

Tonight I have hitchhikers sleeping in my backyard.

When my housemate, Karen, got home at about 9:30 pm tonight, she walked in with a big smile on her face.

--"HANNAH, I picked up two Czech Republic hitchhikers tonight at the petrol station. They are really nice girls. Would you mind if they stay in our open bedroom tonight?"

I guess she could tell by my wide-eyed glare that I was not feeling too keen about this request.

--"They could stay in the back garden if you prefer? Or they can go up the hill to the field to sleep. I haven't told them I'm asking you if they could stay here."

After I asked her if she realized how crazy she sounded, I told her I wouldn't mind if they stayed in the backyard.

She told me not to worry, one of the them is a Christian. HA!

We let Anna and Petra inside to use the bathroom and brush their teeth. I got the opportunity to say hello to both normal looking girls.

Now, they are sleeping in my backyard. Karen said they have a tent, but when I looked outside, they are in their sleeping bags on the grass ... hmmm.....

I feel really guilty about not letting them stay inside the house. I mean, we currently have three open beds. But, there is just something a little scary about letting "hitchhikers" stay inside.

Later, Karen gave me a little more details. She said she saw them getting out of a lorry when she was at the gas station about an hour away from the house. She waved them over and asked where they were going. They said Dover and she said she was going to Canterbury. They got in! Apparently, they are two university students that are doing a bit of traveling for the next few weeks. ---- There is something a little creepy about hitchhiking rides in lorries if you ask me. Karen said they are going to try to hitchhike another lorry ride across the English Channel on a ferry. I guess you can't just walk on the ferry???

Tonight, my mom would be proud of my choices .... but, again, I feel a little bad.

On the bright side, there is a music festival, Lounge on the Farm, that is happening in Canterbury this weekend. I can hear it outside my window ... so at least they have some tunes to put them to sleep!

Goodnight, Anna and Petra - I hope you enjoy our grass ... :/

Adoption

Today I had a discussion with a coworker about adoption. It ended with me again feeling frustrated about the adoption culture in this country. It seems that adoption is basically an after thought - if it is a thought at all.

Some questions I'm pondering from our conversation ...

Why do people here only consider adoption after they tried ages to have a baby naturally or through IVF?

Why would it be better for a dually heritage child to be placed with a couple with one person who is dual heritage (even if they are not of the same heritage as he child and potentially different sides of the world) rather than a white couple?

Why is it looked down upon to have a child that it not the same color as you?

Why do people think you are strange or a "better person" if you would consider adopting as a first choice rather than a last resort?

Why would you put a Christian couple at the bottom of the stack because of your own bad experience with religion?


I am passionate about adoption. The adoption culture here is unexplainable and I struggle to articulate my thoughts about it clearly.

Rightfully so, there is a big push on matching a child's identity as closely as possible. But at the end of the day, the child is being given a new identity with new parents because there was something about their biological parent's identity that was not meeting the child's need (in the cases I deal with at least). Shouldn't we trust the new parents to shape the child's identity and provide them an understanding of their birth identity - even if the couple does not reflect that identity ....


This new guy was sent to sort out the adoption crisis in England.


Here is a link about the changing law for mixed race adoption that I found.

I do hope and pray there is change in the adoption mindset the future...

Organization

I would like to think of myself as a sensibly, organized individual. I like the fact that things have places and I like for the things to be in their designated places. I am one of those weird people that color codes my closet in length order (or wardrobe in England) and I even line things (like books, boxes, bottles) in height order.. I'm not too OCD about these desires, because on occasion, my life does look like it has been hit by a tornado and everything thrown everywhere. But on most days, I like things orderly.

Organization seems less than possible in my current job. I feel like at times I can't keep my head on straight. I am the Queen of To Do lists, but nothing ever seems to get marked off nor does the list ever seem to shorten.

I have over 1000 emails in my work inbox 60 of which haven't been read. I have many hand written notes that need to be typed and thoughts in my brain that need to go down on paper.

I have GREAT ideas about how to bring organization into my work life, but I lack time to implement this structure and feel like I would NEVER get caught up to make it work well. OH MAN....

Sadly, this does roll over into my personal life as well. I want to scream when I think about looking at my home email account. I have many emails that need responding, but well....I "just can't be bothered" (a frequently used English saying" to type anything else or think in general at the end of a long working day.

So, I apologize if you are awaiting an email response from me. I hope to one day respond to you, but please know that I have read your sweet message and am very thankful you have sent it! :)

I think I need a personal assistant. Any takers? Anyone want to move to England to help me stay organized!

"Good morning this is Hannah. Hi this is Hannah. How can I help you, this is Hannah."

Today was a duty day. :(

AYI YAI YIAYI was I busy.

I spent the entire day taking and making phone calls. I didn't even leave the office. How many calls did I take/make today?

FORTY ONE! That is 4 - 1 !!!! Holy Moly!

When I realized it was going to be one of "those days," I quickly opened a word document, put on my head piece, and gave my fingers a little stretch. Ready.... set..... go!

Call after call .....I listened, typed, responded, typed, made quick bandaid decisions typed and moved on to the next issue.

....after call after call after call all the way to 41. I actually think it may be over 41 calls, but at the end of the day I counted my word document and only had written down 41.

I spent the final hour and 45 minutes copying and pasting all of the call notes on our computer system and processing and planning problems.

WOWZERS I'm glad I'm not on duty everyday.

Recipes!

Hi Friends/family!

I am on a cooking kick where I am really enjoying cooking dinner these days. It is also an attempt to domesticate myself for the future! The only problem is, I don't know what to make besides the few recipes I have up my sleeves.

I would be super grateful for YOU to email me (h.r.daugherty@gmail.com) your favorite dinner time meal recipes.

YUM!

Sweet Southern Sounds

A few weeks ago, my coworker Hannah turned to me when I finished a phone call and said, "You're starting to sound more like us!" --"us" being the English.

"EEWWW," I thought. The novelty and the attractiveness of the English accent has gone right out the window for me. In my job, I don't hear the properest of accents, nor do they sound really pretty down here in Kent. They say and pronounce a lot of things that drive me a little bonkers. For instance, they don't pronounce their Ts or Hs in many words. And, they say "me" instead of "my". example - Where are "me" keys.

Don't get me wrong, I would like to improve my English accent during my time here, but I WOULD not like to lose my slightly Southern sound.

The redeeming factor of this story is that I got a facebook note today from roommate, Sarah from Boston, who is currently in Boston. She says her friends are making fun of her because instead of going to England and coming back with an English accent, she has come home with a Southern one!!!! Sweet North Eastern Sarah has started saying y'all like a born and breed Southerner!

That's right! At least I influence someone around these parts! :)

Espana!

As I tend to be a sporadic, slow blogger (as evident by no blog postings during the month of August), I thought I would leave y'all the link to three blog postings that Jen has already written about our Spain trip so you get a little perspective of our adventures while you await my postings! :)


Valencia


Barcelona


Madrid

To my faithful followers....

I am still here!

I'm just a busy little bee .... running around like a chicken with its head cut off at work.

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of my job, I have been introduced into a new area of work : COURT WORK.


YIKES.....here goes nothing!!!!

In other news, I have some friend YAAAAY!!!! (it's about time!)

And, I'm going to Spain in August!!!

Life is good!

Minivan Mama Han!

I felt like a mother today.

I picked up a sweet, adorable little girl from primary school today and took her to a family member's home about an hour away. What a sweetheart!

The more I work with children, the more I realize that all they want, expect, and deserve from their mummy's and daddy's is love.

They don't understands the tough things that are going on in mummy's and daddy's life. They don't care about finances, drugs and alcohol, relationship problems, or sexuality; but they do understand LOVE. Sadly, love isn't enough to adequately raise a chid ... there are other expectation of food, shelter, school, clothing, baths...etc. But showing children that they are loved is a big first step.

They want hugs, affirmation, and sweet smiles so they know they are doing a good job and are cared about.

When I met the sweet little sister, she attached her self my leg and hugged me for a long time. She just wanted love. The love that children don't receive from mummy and daddy they try to get from other people. I'm happy to give cuddles to little kids. I wish they would get them from their parents instead, but I will happily step in when needed.

I'm happy to get to transport this sweet little one again next week.

Yesu!

Tonight I experienced an American accented, German girl that grew up in Japan and learned English from an American school, explain the gospel in Japanese to a Japanese boy that is studying at a Uni in Canterbury.

It was interestingly beautiful!!!!

Nour means light

When I checked out at Asda today, I went through Nour's line. I like going through Nour's line. She intrigues me. She is a Muslim girl, which is evident by her hijab. But, she is also white---my guess is British. White Muslims are so interesting to me.

I typically don't talk to Nour too much when I am in her line because, well....people don't talk here.

However, today I asked if she pronounced her name Noor. She said yes, I said, "oh that means "light" in Arabic right?" YEP!

Then she told me that Nour was her second name and her other name is Vicky.

"Oh really?"

She said when she converted her religions, she was given the name Nour.

This was so interesting to me. I wonder if it is common to be given a new name if you convert to Islam?

I plan to talk to Nour more .... she IS at Asda every week I am!

Two thumbs up for you!!!

I love it, when I am driving and am able to let someone out in front of me.

They give me the thumbs up!!! .... rather than a wave.

Recently, I let a few young boys cross the road in front of me.

One of these little guys gave me TWO THUMBS UP!!!!

Made my day.

OH the motherland....

Just some funny English - isms I've been thinking about sharing with y'all.

THE WORDS: For some reason the English pronounce 3 MAJOR athletic company names super strange.

1. Nike (said in British English like Mike)
2. Puma (said in British English like pewma)
3. Adidas (said in British English like addy-das)



THE PEOPLE: Not to over stereotype the English or anything, but they don't talk to you and they don't look at you. It is kinda miserable. Walking through the grocery store, everyone looks at the ground and if you just happen to make eye contact with someone, they look away very quickly. booo....



THE WIND: It causes everyday to be back funny hair day for me. Most of the time it all gets blown straight up and swirls around all over the place. The wind is so rough that every time I drive down the motorway, I think my car is going to blow into the car next to me.


THE SHEEP: I do believe that every sheep in the country had a hair cut this past weekend. They don't look like cuddly cotton balls anymore.....more like sad goats.


THE POLICE: They stand on the side of the road and videotape you speeding by them and then send you a ticket in the mail. This adds to my theory that the British don't like confrontation.


Okay...that's all on the inside scoop for today! :)

Have I told you yet about my new case?

.....young person who has been trafficked into the country.

The details are sad and obviously I can't share them on a public blog (DUH!), but I am so grateful to work this case. And, I totally see the Lord's sovereignty in the assignment of this case.

I meet my new client tomorrow and I get to speak using an interpreter! :)

That's whats up! :)

coffee shop Sunday

I am currently sitting a coffee shop in Canterbury catching up on blogs and listening to music that stirs my soul.

I thought I heard an American accent, so I just took off my headphones. Yep an American!

This American girl (probably my age) is chatting about the gospel with her male, English friend that just described himself as an atheist. The best part is that she is being SO HONEST and talking about all the "Christian" stuff she doesn't really understand or know if she agrees with. It is cool to hear how interested he is and how honest and confused she is.

I wonder if they think I am ease dropping.... :/

I may go talk to them soon. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I waited until the guy went downstairs to get more coffee, then asked the girl about her accent! :)

Sadly my ears deceived me....she is NOT American. She is Swedish, BUT has a fabulous American accent. She went to an American school growing up and her British father lived in the states for awhile and returned speaking American English. I was so intrigued at how American she sounded...accent, words she used, slang, etc. She said that most people think she is American. But, she's not. So weird to me. I know two Swedish guys that live here, but neither of them sound American. And, she said that there weren't many Americans in her American school. hmmm....

I spent about an hour talking to the girl and guy. It was so NICE to talk to people!!! They did comment on how American I was to walk up to a stranger in a coffee shop and start talking. The guy said the British definitely don't do that because then people think you want something from them. All I want is to talk to people DANG IT! Okay...and maybe I want some friends too. :)

The girl and I exchanged contact information upon my initiation, so I will give it a few days and then email her. I would hate to overwhelm her with my American forwardness too soon....HAHA!

what a blessing

By now, I may have mentioned the ridiculousness of our "car park" situation at work. We have like 50 permit spaces for a building of about 200 employees. Just like desks, parking spots are a hot commodity around these parts. Its typical to A: see someone racing through the car park to beat another car to the spot or B: employees waiting around stalking workers as they come out of the building to pounce on their spot. (I reminds me of both TCU and UT parking at times.)

The sad part is there are hundreds of spots in the lot that surrounds our building, but only 50 are for permit holders and the rest are metered spots. So, a few days a week, I find myself scrummaging for 50 now 60 p to put in the silly meter to park in the close lot for 2 hours. A few times, I have had to borrow change from a coworker or write an IOU to the office fund since I rarely carry cash.

Anyways, this morning I parked in the pay lot, but forgot to move my car at 10:45 when my two hours were up. Sadly, there are two meter patrols that swarm our car parks writing tickets to anyone that have over stayed what they paid for.

Some how, at 11:15 my heart went into panic mode when I realized I was 45 minutes late to move my car. I jumped up from my desk, yelled DANG IT, grabbed my keys, and ran down stairs.

To my glorious surprise, there was NOT a ticket on my car! PTL!!!!!

This was such a blessing to my day. The meter patrols are always walking up and down the lot, but by the grace of God, my expired parking ticket was not caught! :)

duty SUCKS!!!

Today, was my very first day as the "duty social worker." Put simply, it means that I don't work on any of my own cases that I am super behind on, but instead, complete tasks regarding the unallocated cases and cases of coworkers on vacation or out of the office. CRAP!

To start out the day, I had the privilege of CHAIRING a meeting. Personally, I have only attended two other meetings like this one, and I have NOT chaired any yet. SO, I spent about two hours stumbling through the meeting with a major problem being mom's moving to America and lucky them, America (that's me!) came to help fix their problem! I thought that part was pretty funny!

Upon returning to the office, I received two duty phone calls with yelling/extremely irritated people on the other line. One a parent and one a professional. Sadly, many people forget their manners when they call our office.

Next, I met a lad in reception, who wanted me to find him a new Bed and Breakfast, because he was receiving threats at his current B&B. I spent the next three hours calling 20 B&B in one town, 5 in another, and 4 in another all to tell me A: they do not accept young people on benefits or B: they do accept young people on benefits, but they are full because this is a bank holiday weekend. I called two other social services offices, and three other professionals offices as well to help me assist this kid. By the time I had to leave for my next assignment, I called the kid back to tell him I had no luck and tomorrow's duty social worker would try again.

During my final assignment of the day, I met two ADORABLE little girls and a less than polite parent. We talked in circles for about an hour, and at one point he told me to leave, but then asked me to stay, and then showed me his baseball bat he would use a protection if ever need be (not threatening me or anything).

On my 30 minute journey back to the office, I again wondered why I am doing this ridiculous job.

When I returned at 5:30, I called one of my morning yellers to tell him I had not accomplished his request, but his social worker would be in tomorrow. Surprisingly, he said okay and was really kind to me! :)

I then spent the next hour clearing the mound of files off my desk and documenting all the exciting events of the day. I was officially the last person to leave my office and parking lot at 7 pm. I even met the lovely cleaning lady way on my way through to the kitchen to grab my lunch that I did not have time to eat.

What a freaking RIDICULOUS day!

I have decided that "duty" work is ineffective and way less than best practice. We just bandaid big issues and wait for the next problem to flair up to add another bandaid. But, what else do you do if you have more cases than social workers?

However, just for once in the next year and a half I am here, I would like for ONE parent, young person, or professional I work with to take responsibility for ONE issue they are experiencing and STOP blaming social services. Because, dear families, if we are involved with you, it must mean you are doing at least one thing wrong! I promise we don't come out and visit for fun!

Okay...that's the end of my soap box!

Thanks for reading! :)

Happy Graduation sweet friends!

Today, is graduation day for my two sweet friends, Rachael and Abby. They both will graduation with their Masters in Social Work from the University of Texas.

These two girls were so influential during my time in Austin. At points, I lived with both of them, and was able to share life with them on a daily basis. I was able to see the passion they had and what brought joy to their hearts.

Both are about to embark on two year commitments using their social work degree and their love of Jesus to impact the world around them.

Abby will shortly begin working for Child Protection Services in Williamson County Texas, where she will work to safeguard children and families. Even though she may not be sooo excited about her upcoming job, she is grateful for the benefits she received during grad school and the opportunity to use her degree for good. I pray she remains confident in God's purpose for her few years in CPS and leans into Christ when the going gets tough. LOVE YOU AB!

Rachael will be moving to Ethiopia in July to work for two years as the volunteer coordinator for a non-profit house that she volunteered through for two summers in the past. Rachael has such a big heart for Ethiopia and I am excited that she is walking in this calling and leaving certain hopes and dreams in the Lord's hand and timing. She is so excited for this journey. I pray that she develops a strong community in Ethiopia and feels love and connectedness with her friends and family at home and her new community in Ethiopia. I LOVE YOU SWEET RACHAEL!

The Lord has blessed me with such great friends to walk alongside with. I am grateful these girls are choosing to follow Christ in His plans for their lives. I so hope to be in a similar location as them again at some point in the future, but I know that we will remain connected no matter how distant we are.

CONGRATULATIONS Rachael and Abby! Enjoy your day of celebration! I am celebrating with you from England! :)