Nana still says she cannot remember being so cold in her life; although I had warned her, she was totally unprepared for the extreme windy chill of the Midwest. They had left bright sunny South Africa in the middle of a beautiful warm summer and, what is more, even the winters we were used to were mild and only required that one put on a jersey or a light overcoat. Also, they were exhausted from the long trip; it had been hard and exhausting for Nana, travelling as she did, with two children. That had kept her so busy she even missed the thrill of flying for the first time.

The drive from the airport to Muncie was a big disappointment for Nana because all she could see were unending cornfields. That was definitely not the America of her grand expectations; there were no blinking colourful neon lights.

We reached home. Finally, I would hear the verdict. To my utter delight, Nana was hugely pleased with her new home. So were the children although, I suspect, if we lived in a cave the TV would have more than made up for that – as far as my children were concerned. Remember now, this was their very first contact or experience with television.

I was glad they liked the apartment. They all clapped and squealed and the children ran up the stairs of the duplex to see the two bedrooms upstairs.

The fridge was full of food, Nana noted; and my kids had never seen television before in their lives. The first thing they did was to sit in front of that television, and that would be their life for the next six and half years in America. I didn't have classes for a while, so we spent some quality time together.

With no more cares about a far-away family, Indiana suddenly became a bright, thoroughly enjoyable place from that point on.

We spent Christmas with the Dixons, who had cooked a bountiful Christmas dinner for us. Nana had her own experience of the Dixons as I had deliberately not said anything to her about them except that they were my host parents.