11 Years In The US Today!

Today, 11 years ago, on Sep 5, 1996, we arrived in the US from South Africa! Eleven years! I can hardly believe it!

We left South Africa on Sep 2 and spent 2 days with a friend in London before continuing to San Francisco. Our now-13-yr-old son, Johnny, was a 2-yr-old toddler back then. Today he has a girlfriend and is in his final year of Middle School! How time flies!

Are we happy in the US? Yes, we are! I would love it if South Africa was only a 4-hour flight away to allow for easier flights and more regular visits with family. That remains my only issue with living in the US - we don't see our family regularly enough. The only upside of that is that we can stay out of family squabbles. When we see them, we have a good time. Only good memories!

We've been back (to South Africa) three times. The first was in June 1999, i.e. after almost 3 years. Then again for Christmas 2000. After that, there was a 5-yr drought before finally visiting in July 2006. We'll be visiting there again this coming Christmas. It's always fun to visit the family in South Africa, but I'm always nervous about the crime too. :-(

This has been a long journey with a few bumps in the road, but I think it has nevertheless been a good one for us. We've had some wonderful experiences along the way.

The journey continues...