Junior Shannon Root has lived in four different countries and moved five different times in her life. Though it may seem like a burden, having to pack up and move to an entirely different place so many times, Root has embraced each move. She tells lhsimage.com about her time in London, after spending five years overseas in Great Britain.

Q: Why did you move to England?
A: “We moved to England because of my dad’s job,” Root said.

Q: What other places have you lived besides Missouri and England?
A: “I was born in lower Alabama. When I was three, we moved to Korea because my mom was in the army. After moving back to Alabama after a year overseas, we stayed until I was 8 and then moved to Toronto, Canada for my dad’s job again, and 15 months later we were asked to look for houses in London,” Root said.

Q: How did the culture differ in England compared to the US?
A: “When we got through the airport, my dad met us with a guy, our ‘driver’ since both my parents were too scared to pull off the whole lefty road thing. I remember asking Muhammed, the driver, on the way home if people play soccer in England. He laughed and said ‘yes of course’ in his proper London accent. ‘But we don’t call it soccer, that’s only for the American hooligans, not the English ones. We say football.’ So naturally I wondered, ‘then what do you call American football?’ He replied, ‘Just that, American football.’ It seemed so weird to put an adjective in front of that word, but that’s truly how they refer to it,” Root said.

Q: What was your reaction when you found out you were moving to England?
A: “I was thrilled as ever, even though in the 3rd grade I probably had no clue what London Bridge is besides a nursery rhyme,” Root said.

Q: Which country would you prefer to live in?
A: “After having spent five years in one of the most richly historic nations in the world, it was hard to move back to a country so young and all about the here-and-now like America. The biggest grievance about leaving Great Britain to me was abandoning the European continent and the accessibility one experienced while living two hours by train and chunnel from Paris or Stockholm or a few more to Italy, Spain or Greece,” Root said.

She added, “Completely honest though, I would probably have to choose the US to live if I never could move again. Europe is a wonderful place to travel to, and it makes it both easier and cheaper if you’re already on the continent, but the people, the culture, the economy and the spirit are all so much more alive in America. In that way, England could never compete, not for me, not forever, though it is unmistakably breathtaking while you’re there.”