Anna-Liisa’s story

I’ve lived in England for nearly 3 years now. I am originally from Salt Lake City, Utah and my husband is from the Bromley area of South East London. I randomly met my husband in an internet chat room 10 years ago. Neither one of us was looking for a relationship, but our friendship grew over emails and letters.

In 2005 he flew out to Utah to come meet me in person. Seeing each other for the first time felt like we were old friends who just hadn’t seen each other in a long time. We did a bit of flying back and forth. Mostly him coming to see me.  After a lot of contemplating on my part and a lot of waiting on Alex’s (my husband) we got married in 2009. It was a big decision for me knowing that I could end up staying in England forever. Alex is open to living in the US, but it depends on the opportunities that arise. Not that I’m set on going back. It’s just good to know that we’re both open to the options out there.

Most of my time here has been spent in Devon, but we’ve just recently moved to West Sussex. I’m excited to be a little bit closer to Gatwick, Heathrow and London and all it has to offer. The South West is lovely and a very beautiful part of the country, but it is a long way from just about everything. Or at least that’s how it seemed. I recently bought Bringing Up Brits and look forward to reading it. Thus far I’ve only had time for about one chapter. My daughter is 11 months old, so still fairly young, but I do want her to be familiar with her American heritage. I’m interested to see how others have adjusted and adapted to bringing up their children in a country/culture different to what they were raised in.
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