The Year Of Living Dangerously

March 27th marks the first year of our moving to Naperville. In many ways it feels like yesterday. Fortunately writing a blog means I don't have to recap everything we've accomplished. It's all there in print for anyone who has a spare 12 hours or so to read it. I like to make people laugh when they read the blog, but today I'm in a reflective mood.
The decision to come and live here was both the easiest and most difficult thing Ross and I have ever had to do. I always knew we were meant to be here, so there was no real decision to be made. But it was obviously hard leaving all our family and friends and get rid of our large well worn family home, pets and most of our belongings.
Moving here was a huge risk, because we financed it ourselves. We sold up in England, and brought anything we had left with us. Although the exchange rate was useful when we arrived here with British pounds, if we ever had to return to London with US dollars, we would be lucky to afford the rent on a one bedroomed flat!
But all the time I had this undying belief that we were meant to be here. Deep down I knew everything would work out well for us, but I'm still delighted to be proved right. We broke a few English hearts when we came to live here. In order to not to drown in a sea of guilt, I have done my best to make a difference here. Naperville is hardly home to the underprivileged, but everything I have achieved has been to brighten people's days in some way. It makes me feel far less selfish if I think the locals want us to be here as much as we do.
I don't think we've been lucky. Quite honestly, I don't believe in luck. Everything we've done, or at least I've done, has been calculated. I've opened my home to strangers, reached out through volunteering and my columns, and done as much as I can to assimilate as fast as possible. In a town of high achievers, you may not be able to beat them at their own game, but you certainly have to join them.
I really feel part of Naperville, which I truly love. Many of our close friends and family have visited us this year, which is wonderful. Not only because we want to see them, of course, but because it means I can show off our lovely new hometown. We haven't been back to England yet, but will be returning for a short visit in April. I look forward to that with some trepidation, but it will make for some interesting blog entries so I'll make sure I take my laptop with me.
The strength of any place is its people. As picturesque as much of Naperville is, it's its people who have impressed us most. I may have eaten a large slice of confidence cake somewhere over the Atlantic to become more outgoing, but that would have still got me nowhere if not for the large number of people who took us into our hearts this past year.
Career wise, things are going very well for Ross, and I'm delighted to say CA have now begun the green card process on our behalf. When we get that, it will mean we can stay forever, which has always been our intention.
As for me, I've been able to get back to my original career of journalism, always my first love. I am building on the freelance career I launched in June. I'm soon going to start running a course of children's scriptwriting classes, and will probably end up writing, directing and arguing about the next CBS Purim Spiel. I also have another little project which will be the craziest thing I have ever done, if, sorry when, I get that off the ground.
As another famous American immigrant once said: "You ain't seen nothin' yet...."