Museum

Bonnie's mum and I went to do a bit of shopping and then to the airport to pick up Bonnie's friend Sarah. Sarah came to visit Bonnie in the Philippines so it was good to pick up again with her.

Martha graciously took us to the Henry Ford museum for lunch and a walk around.
It was a cool place.  We saw the limousine that JFK was shot in and a cool house in the round amongst other things.

Sarah and I also made up all the truffle boxes for the wedding favours.  That was rather more eventful than it should have been, but it gave us a good laugh.

Sunday

We went to Bonnie's church this morning.  It is their mission conference.  It was cool to see a family from Faith Academy - the French's - banner on the wall. 

We then visited the French bakery for some amazing cakes and ate them in the dry fountain in the park.
Then we met Bonnie's cousin and went to lunch.  Despite watching both Bonnie and Kirstin get water from the fizzy drinks dispenser I still missed the key button and ended up with lemonade instead.  I apologised to the cashier and paid for my lemonade.  He thanked me for my honesty and gave me a bigger cup.  I also was obviously not watching when people added ice to their cup as it kept coming and I realised it was only stopped when I pulled my cup away.  I ended up with a lot of ice!
After lunch we went to the first of two book sales.  This is where the library sells off old stock for cheap prices.  A kind of heaven.

Out for lunch

As Detroit is so close to the border with Canada we went south and crossed into Windsor.  We went to Canada via a tunnel and back to the U.S. via the bridge.  

Looking to Detroit from Canada

After lunch Bonnie and I went shopping. It was fun to go round the supermarket.  I think anyone going back to the U.S from abroad must have greater reverse culture shock than we do.  There is so much more food than we have.  And there are different foods too.  I knew we get a lot of American brands in the Philippines but there were some I still hadn’t realised were American till we were walking round.

This ice-cream cracked me up, though.  This probably reinforces the stereotype of the American that we British hold.

It’s interesting for me to see things that friends at Faith Academy have talked about and it’s really good to see where Bonnie is from.  I will be able to picture her there now.

Fly, baby, fly

I had a couple of interesting cultural experiences on my flight. 

One thing to note: do not travel in boots.  Only those people wearing boots were asked to take them off.  And, of course, all jackets had to be removed.

On the way to Amsterdam I was supposed to have a window seat but a couple were already sat in the row and they had left the aisle seat free.  I weighed up whether I was bothered or not about sitting by the window and, considering the time the flight was (55 mins) and that I could stretch out in the aisle seat I accepted the free seat.

Amsterdam felt chaotic.  My flight to Detroit was already boarding so I headed straight there.

I had bought a lucozade and pack of crisps at Birmingham airport to keep for my long flight - not realising that I would have to go through security again at Amsterdam.  So the guy wanted to confiscate my bottle so I opened it and practically drank the whole thing as quickly as possible with him hassling me to hand it over.  Then I went through the body scan and was told to come back as I had put my laptop in my case and it needed to come out.  (There was no sign saying so anywhere, I guess everyone else wears theirs). After that I had to wait to get on the 'plane and a nice American couple began chatting to me after looking at the book I was reading.  I don't think that would have ever happened if they were British!

Once on the 'plane a man was sat in my seat and when I finally tracked down the flight attendant the guy didn't speak any English so a nonsensical conversation went on as he insisted he was in the right seat and the attendant insisted he was not.  I said I could sit in his seat instead but the attendant said, "You will sit there".  I think she thought it was a better seat and she was not going to let him dictate to her.

When the meal was brought around the attendant said, "beverage?" I asked for a cup of tea.  She looked at me like I had 6 heads!  "Hot drinks are later," she said.  I have never travelled on an aeroplane before where hot drinks do not come with the meal - and I have travelled a lot!  Anyway, only coffee appeared later so I settled for that.  Actually, tea usually tastes yuck on a 'plane anyway.  Cold and weak.

I got out of immigration before Bonnie and her parents arrived but I was thrilled when Bonnie greeted me with a flask of hot, good tea.

The simple pleasures of life.

Animal marriage

On the way to school this morning, Joshua posed a classic question: "Do animals get married and, if they do, how do they know?"  Don't you love how big questions get asked when you have little time?!  In the end, I said that animals didn't have emotions like humans and so they didn't marry but some animals have one partner for life and others don't.  Whew!

Bonfire Night

The kids were so excited to celebrate bonfire night and it was very cool to experience a cultural event together.  I had forgotten how much of a community thing this is. 
It was cold - I had tried to warn the girls to bring warm clothes (we had gone to visit Granny T) because we would be stood watching fireworks and it would feel cold.  They didn't really get it - at times like this I realise they have no prior experience or memory to hang comments like these on. 
We went to a smallish affair but the fireworks were great and we got a spot next to the fence.  Rose and I had an ongoing discussion about whether it was better than Manila.  Yes, in that we were close up and enjoyed it. No, in that 15 minutes does not compare to over half an hour and a much wider spread of fireworks.  And it was definitely colder than Manila.  We had our traditional bonfire night clothing of hats, scarves and gloves.  Josh got very cold and asked if we could leave and Naomi wanted to go halfway through too, although I think she was tired as much as anything.  Before going she had said to me, "I might fall asleep like I did at the monster trucks".  But the kids finally understand what cold means!

biking

I bought a bike yesterday and picked it up last night.  I took it for its first spin today (while Steve jogged) along the long route in the forest.  We are so privileged to live so close to the forest.  In our housegroup we have begun going through Romans and I was meditating on the beauty of God's creation and understanding the truth that we see God in what He has made.  I also realise how much we do miss this time of year in the Philippines when the leaves turn and the air is cool but the sky so bright.  Of course, by the end of the bike ride the only thing I was meditating on was how to not scare the walkers with my laboured breathing!
The first thing I need to do is buy a comfy saddle though as it felt like I was sat on a slab of concrete!