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Swapping Homes

Our “” this month concentrates on the Keane family from England, and the Millers from South Carolina. As usual, our families had a two-week holiday in each other’s houses, and we interviewed them after their stay.

The Millers

George and Sandy Miller and their children, Helen (17) and Daniel (8) had
a shock when they first saw the Keanes’ three-bedroom terraced house
in Gloucester. “Everything is so small” said Sandy. “Where are we going
to sleep?”

But , the house was more welcoming. “It’s bigger than it looks from
the , and we were pleased to find that there were three
bedrooms”, said George. But the kids were not . “Mum and
Dad’s room was OK, but our bedrooms were really small” complained
Daniel. The Millers found it to live in a house with only one bathroom.
At home they have two bathrooms and three toilets! “And we have a study,
where we keep the computer, and a playroom in the basement,” said Helen. “ In
Gloucester we had to all in the living room together or go to our bedrooms.”
So was there anything positive about the experience ? “The house was
beautifully ”, said Sandy, “ and it was very cosy. It was April when
we stayed in the house, but the weather was . We were very grateful
for the carpets, the central heating and a real in the living room.” Another
good point for George was the garden. “We were very by the large,
long garden at the back of the house. We couldn't really enjoy it because of
the weather, but it was obvious that the Keanes had put a lot of work into it.
It was well and full of beautiful plants and flowers. Actually, I think
British people have a bit of an obsession with houses and gardens - there
are so many TV shows about them !”

The Keanes

Tim and Katy Keane and their children Bethany (8), Charles (9) and Joe (16),
couldn’t believe their when they arrived at Washington Drive, Greenville.
“The houses were all enormous,” said Tim. “I expected to see film stars coming
out of them!”

The Miller’s house has five bedrooms and an extra downstairs toilet. “ Our
bedroom was and it was lovely having our own bathroom , said Katy.“
It was like staying in a hotel! We didn’t see much of the children for two weeks!”
says Tim. “They were in the computer room, in the basement or outdoors.”
The weather was fine for the Keanes’ visit to South Carolina, so they made good
use of the Millers’ yard. The MIllers had sports equipment and a permanent
in their yard”, said Joe. “And their neighbours had a swimming pool, which
we used once. It was great !” “The children really enjoyed the yard”, said Katy,
“but I found it a bit . I like nice English gardens with lots of flowers. All the
Millers had were a few trees.” And Katy didn’t think much of the decor either.
“It was very smart and clean, but it wasn’t very colourful”, she said. “It’s
that Americans spend more time outdoors than the British! We had good weather,
but luckily we didn’t need to use the air-conditioning system. The Millers had lots of
security systems and that we had to check on every night and morning -
that was complicated enough.