I'm going back to England on Sunday, and am feeling rather in turmoil about the whole affair. On the one hand, I'm uber-excited about seeing friends and family, whom I miss; on the other, I almost feel as if I am already suffering from London-homesickness in anticipation of leaving. I always did tend to see the negative side of things...
I'm also anxious about going back to the place where, before I left, I lived and worked hard - compared to now, where life is really rather easy and relaxed. Will it make me mourn my old life even more? Who knows. In the meantime, I'm sending emails, arranging coffee meetings and focusing on the getting excited part!
Thursday 29 July 2010
Thursday 22 July 2010
Furore?
No comments yet on yesterday's post detailing the conversation between myself and a KC store owner who thought Australia was in the UK. However, I also posted it on Facebook and it seems to have caused something of a storm - whether one in a teacup I have yet to see.
I did wonder, when I posted it, if I would begin to offend my American FB friends (I posted another comment a few weeks ago, describing a group of Americans who said to a Kiwi friend who also moved here in December 'you know, your English has really improved since you moved here'). And sure enough one, my dear friend Olga (who is highly intelligent by the way) has retaliated. Herewith I reproduce the debate/various comments (excluding names, for privacy)...
That is amazing.
I too have occassionally been assumed an Aussie, but thankfully canadians are a bit more geographically blessed!
Genius. Your response?
Classic!
wow
My sister once got her haircut in an american salon, and her conversation went as follows:
Hairdresser: So you speak, like, really good English, where are you from?
Sister: England
Hairdresser: Oh, so do they, like, speak English there?
Sister: No, a variant of Russian.
My Grandmother lived Stateside for a while. After having her hair done one week she said to her Hairdresser that she would see him in a Fortnight. Hairdresser: Whats a fortnight? Grandmother: 2 weeks. Hairdresser: Cool! see you in a couple of forts!
aaaaa ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!! keep em coming!
I've got a good one. When I told a girl in America I was from England, confused, she asked, 'how come you speak such good English?'.
You asked for cutlery yet? Good luck with that one.... when we were last visiting Chicago a year ago, I accidently got out a £20 note to pay for some fudge, then realised I had made a mistake - the guy was genuienly perplexed that in other countries they use different money!
Hey! I'm offended, we're not ALL morons! I can see you're getting annoyed Luce with the area, Kansas is Kansas.
Please don't be offended Olga, It's a very bad British trait but we tend to mock every nation so pelase don't take it personally!
ha i was wondering when the americans would begin to fight back. I do think 'Fall' is a lovely name for Autumn - sort of basic but beautiful. That's it though. Oh and popsicle is good too. The rest is utter slaughter of our lovely tongue.
Haha, no I'm not truly offended, being facetious does not translate well on FB but thank you for the polite apology. That's why I love you Brits.
From me: Ok, so I was wondering at what point my transcriptions would start to appear rude... in the spirit of fairness, I think all Brits should equally post comments of anything thick fellow Brits have said!
I'll see if Private Eye's Dumb Britain is online as well... it's astounding the level of stupidity they unearth... mainly from the weakest link
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A TEN-YEAR-OLD?, SKY ONE
Dick or Dom: What is the suffix in this sentence? "Milhouse was hopeful that he would get top marks in his exam."
Contestant: I’m not exactly sure what a suffix is. This is embarrassing. I work for a national newspaper.
Dom or Dick: Which one?
Contestant: The Guardian. I think it’s “exam”.
Quote myself when reading a list of speakers attending a conference. "Wow, Panel (pronounced 'Pan-elle') must be a really famous speaker, they're know by just one name. I wonder who it is" (I then googled who 'Panel' was). I love America and love Americans so much. I think they are gorgeous people. I also am regularly outsmarted and educated by the ones I know.
Olga So glad you are not really offended, should have read your facetiousness in the inflection of the ALL. By the way I am not actually even British. I Zimbabwean .....cue the American question. How come you're white? And Do you have lion's in your back garden?
So... you can see that the Brits are now trying to make up for it - glad to have provided such entertainment!
I did wonder, when I posted it, if I would begin to offend my American FB friends (I posted another comment a few weeks ago, describing a group of Americans who said to a Kiwi friend who also moved here in December 'you know, your English has really improved since you moved here'). And sure enough one, my dear friend Olga (who is highly intelligent by the way) has retaliated. Herewith I reproduce the debate/various comments (excluding names, for privacy)...
That is amazing.
I too have occassionally been assumed an Aussie, but thankfully canadians are a bit more geographically blessed!
Genius. Your response?
Classic!
wow
My sister once got her haircut in an american salon, and her conversation went as follows:
Hairdresser: So you speak, like, really good English, where are you from?
Sister: England
Hairdresser: Oh, so do they, like, speak English there?
Sister: No, a variant of Russian.
My Grandmother lived Stateside for a while. After having her hair done one week she said to her Hairdresser that she would see him in a Fortnight. Hairdresser: Whats a fortnight? Grandmother: 2 weeks. Hairdresser: Cool! see you in a couple of forts!
aaaaa ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!! keep em coming!
I've got a good one. When I told a girl in America I was from England, confused, she asked, 'how come you speak such good English?'.
You asked for cutlery yet? Good luck with that one.... when we were last visiting Chicago a year ago, I accidently got out a £20 note to pay for some fudge, then realised I had made a mistake - the guy was genuienly perplexed that in other countries they use different money!
Hey! I'm offended, we're not ALL morons! I can see you're getting annoyed Luce with the area, Kansas is Kansas.
Please don't be offended Olga, It's a very bad British trait but we tend to mock every nation so pelase don't take it personally!
ha i was wondering when the americans would begin to fight back. I do think 'Fall' is a lovely name for Autumn - sort of basic but beautiful. That's it though. Oh and popsicle is good too. The rest is utter slaughter of our lovely tongue.
Haha, no I'm not truly offended, being facetious does not translate well on FB but thank you for the polite apology. That's why I love you Brits.
From me: Ok, so I was wondering at what point my transcriptions would start to appear rude... in the spirit of fairness, I think all Brits should equally post comments of anything thick fellow Brits have said!
I'll see if Private Eye's Dumb Britain is online as well... it's astounding the level of stupidity they unearth... mainly from the weakest link
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A TEN-YEAR-OLD?, SKY ONE
Dick or Dom: What is the suffix in this sentence? "Milhouse was hopeful that he would get top marks in his exam."
Contestant: I’m not exactly sure what a suffix is. This is embarrassing. I work for a national newspaper.
Dom or Dick: Which one?
Contestant: The Guardian. I think it’s “exam”.
Quote myself when reading a list of speakers attending a conference. "Wow, Panel (pronounced 'Pan-elle') must be a really famous speaker, they're know by just one name. I wonder who it is" (I then googled who 'Panel' was). I love America and love Americans so much. I think they are gorgeous people. I also am regularly outsmarted and educated by the ones I know.
Olga So glad you are not really offended, should have read your facetiousness in the inflection of the ALL. By the way I am not actually even British. I Zimbabwean .....cue the American question. How come you're white? And Do you have lion's in your back garden?
So... you can see that the Brits are now trying to make up for it - glad to have provided such entertainment!
Correction
Just had a call from the Major's father. Apparently his father (the Major's grandfather) wasn't sent out to Fairmont during the war, but just after it. Apologies. At least someone reads my blog....
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Conversation with man in a shop today
Man in shop: So where are you from?
Me: the UK
Man: So when you say UK, where do you mean exactly?
Me: London
Man: No, I mean the UK - does that include Australia?
Me: the UK
Man: So when you say UK, where do you mean exactly?
Me: London
Man: No, I mean the UK - does that include Australia?
Monday 19 July 2010
A weekend in Minnesota and the search for Amalgam
Bill Bryson, in his book The Lost Continent (it's brilliant, and very insightful - I recommend it) talks about his search, on his travels through America, for the town Amalgam - not a real named place, but some small town which is the perfect little small town of his past. He comes to realise that it doesn't exist, but he picks a piece of this town and something from somewhere else to try and create it.
Well, I think I might have found a contender for Amalgam. The Major and I spent this last weekend in Fairmont, Minnesota. The Major's grandfather, who was sent there during the war, is now buried there, and we were having a sort of family reunion around his newly planted gravestone. In the meantime, we got to explore the place, and very nice it was too.
Fairmont is centered around five lakes, which make a pleasant sort of hub for the town, the main part of which is pretty compact, if you discount the ugly sprawl that has started to leach from the edges in the form of Pizza Huts and Travelodges. There's an old-school high street, a fine county courthouse, complete with cupola'd roof, and streets full of pretty houses, many of which face onto one of the lakes. We spent Saturday lazing by the water, baking ourselves then jumping in to cool off. In the late afternoon, we moseyed to the Channel Inn, a modest sort of place on the water's edge, where we saw a bridal party straight from the wedding. The bride, still in her white dress, had donned cowboy boots and was knocking back a beer on the jetty. It was that sort of place. We stayed for dinner, and had burgers and fries and set the world to rights.
I'm aware I probably sound as if I'm drifting off into some kind of idyllic daydream where I'm imagining relocating to Fairmont and sitting on my back porch watching the sun go down. But back to reality: as one distant relation put it, Fairmont is a three-day town. It's fun for the first 48 hours; after 72, you're pretty much ready to get out of there. Because once you've sunbathed, swam, possibly had a boat trip and eaten at the Channel Inn a couple of towns, you're pretty much done. The nearest big city, Minneapolis, is a two and a half hour drive away, and the only big stores are a strikingly ugly JC Penney and a Wal Mart. We all wondered where everybody worked: the answer is that the majority of the population are retired. Most of them are Iowa farmers.
So... not the Amalgam for me. Perhaps I'll start searching for my own. I think my criteria are a bit different from Bill's though. For a start, my Amalgam, at this stage, is probably a city rather than a town. It needs to be walkable (and have residents who walk), have nice architecture and a sense of history. Good restaurants - they don't have to be fancy, but just with decent food - a smattering of independent boutiques as well as the high street stores (I need Gap), a few coffee shops, hosts a decent farmer's market. On water would be nice, and a university or some other intellectual centre is a plus. Culture - an art gallery, theatre, cinema. As I'm writing this, I'm picturing Seattle (still my favourite American city), although admittedly Seattle is rather cold. I'm not averse to rain - I consider it rather good for the soul, in fact, but I'd like it to warm up in the summer if possible. Accessible without being super-expensive. Not too hectic - but not too laid back either. The people need to be nice - without simultaneously being simple. I'd rather not be asked whether I'm from Australia every other day (happens more than you might think), so a sprinkling of cosmopolitanism is a definite bonus.
I'm going back to the UK in two weeks and know I'm not going to be able to check out any potential Amalgams before then - unless you count Toronto, where my plane goes via, which you can't as it's in Canada. Anyone with any suggestions, please make a comment. I'll keep you posted...
Well, I think I might have found a contender for Amalgam. The Major and I spent this last weekend in Fairmont, Minnesota. The Major's grandfather, who was sent there during the war, is now buried there, and we were having a sort of family reunion around his newly planted gravestone. In the meantime, we got to explore the place, and very nice it was too.
Fairmont is centered around five lakes, which make a pleasant sort of hub for the town, the main part of which is pretty compact, if you discount the ugly sprawl that has started to leach from the edges in the form of Pizza Huts and Travelodges. There's an old-school high street, a fine county courthouse, complete with cupola'd roof, and streets full of pretty houses, many of which face onto one of the lakes. We spent Saturday lazing by the water, baking ourselves then jumping in to cool off. In the late afternoon, we moseyed to the Channel Inn, a modest sort of place on the water's edge, where we saw a bridal party straight from the wedding. The bride, still in her white dress, had donned cowboy boots and was knocking back a beer on the jetty. It was that sort of place. We stayed for dinner, and had burgers and fries and set the world to rights.
I'm aware I probably sound as if I'm drifting off into some kind of idyllic daydream where I'm imagining relocating to Fairmont and sitting on my back porch watching the sun go down. But back to reality: as one distant relation put it, Fairmont is a three-day town. It's fun for the first 48 hours; after 72, you're pretty much ready to get out of there. Because once you've sunbathed, swam, possibly had a boat trip and eaten at the Channel Inn a couple of towns, you're pretty much done. The nearest big city, Minneapolis, is a two and a half hour drive away, and the only big stores are a strikingly ugly JC Penney and a Wal Mart. We all wondered where everybody worked: the answer is that the majority of the population are retired. Most of them are Iowa farmers.
So... not the Amalgam for me. Perhaps I'll start searching for my own. I think my criteria are a bit different from Bill's though. For a start, my Amalgam, at this stage, is probably a city rather than a town. It needs to be walkable (and have residents who walk), have nice architecture and a sense of history. Good restaurants - they don't have to be fancy, but just with decent food - a smattering of independent boutiques as well as the high street stores (I need Gap), a few coffee shops, hosts a decent farmer's market. On water would be nice, and a university or some other intellectual centre is a plus. Culture - an art gallery, theatre, cinema. As I'm writing this, I'm picturing Seattle (still my favourite American city), although admittedly Seattle is rather cold. I'm not averse to rain - I consider it rather good for the soul, in fact, but I'd like it to warm up in the summer if possible. Accessible without being super-expensive. Not too hectic - but not too laid back either. The people need to be nice - without simultaneously being simple. I'd rather not be asked whether I'm from Australia every other day (happens more than you might think), so a sprinkling of cosmopolitanism is a definite bonus.
I'm going back to the UK in two weeks and know I'm not going to be able to check out any potential Amalgams before then - unless you count Toronto, where my plane goes via, which you can't as it's in Canada. Anyone with any suggestions, please make a comment. I'll keep you posted...
Tuesday 13 July 2010
The complications of living abroad
I'm in the middle of a phone call to my father about our flat in London. He's rung off to find a bit of paper and I thought that in the meantime I'd update my blog.
Just occasionally, running what is still basically a British life from the other side of the world gets a bit complicated. There are the postal addresses to be changed, the British credit card bill still to be paid - and, like today, the flat to be dealt with.
We rented out our London flat for the two years we are over here, to a very nice couple of about our age who seem to be happy living there. We've got a nice handyman on speed dial who has a set of keys and comes round to fix things when they need fixing, and on the whole it all works well.
Except for today, when it transpires that my father has received (and paid) a bill for something that I know nothing about. He is the on the ground manager of these affairs, you see, and the bills get sent to him and he keeps me posted. So at the moment, he's trying to find whatever it is he's paid, and I'm gearing myself for a long and complicated telephone battle, to be conducted by Skype over the next few days with whoever it is who is mucking us around.
Of course, it might be a perfectly legit bill that needed to be paid and is all fine. But I have a feeling it's not going to be. Sigh. Whoever said living abroad would be easy?
Monday 12 July 2010
Mosquito bites and fun blogs
Spent most of today generally doing nothing very much/drinking tea and browsing the internet, not even reading anything in depth but jumping from one web page to the next. I'm distracted by the insane number of mosquito bites on my legs and feet, deposited there on Saturday night, which was mostly spent at various friends' houses drinking wine outside, far too near rivers, from whence the mosquito came. The Major took pity on me this afternoon and conveyed me to CVS, where I piced up hydrocortisone cream and antihistimane, which the pharmacy lady said would help. Time will tell. Even she was impressed by my lumpy legs. They are truly gross.
Anyway, I came across some fun sites when I was browsing, which made me determined to make this blog better and more linkable etc etc. So that is my new mission. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, I was enjoying reading the shoe ramblings of an old acquaintance I studied with at Cardiff University's postgraduate journalism school - Tiffany Wright blogs about wearing a different pair of shoes every day. Quite fun. Then I found this site, which I am going to join and hopefully it will provide inspiration. Then I chanced upon this one, which is lots of fun and I am going to send them a recipe for courgette cake, which is the latest recipe in my attempts to use up the enormous number of courgettes that my vegetable patch has produced. For more on this, click here to read my Lady blog on the subject!
Anyway, I came across some fun sites when I was browsing, which made me determined to make this blog better and more linkable etc etc. So that is my new mission. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, I was enjoying reading the shoe ramblings of an old acquaintance I studied with at Cardiff University's postgraduate journalism school - Tiffany Wright blogs about wearing a different pair of shoes every day. Quite fun. Then I found this site, which I am going to join and hopefully it will provide inspiration. Then I chanced upon this one, which is lots of fun and I am going to send them a recipe for courgette cake, which is the latest recipe in my attempts to use up the enormous number of courgettes that my vegetable patch has produced. For more on this, click here to read my Lady blog on the subject!
Wednesday 7 July 2010
Forced to make a firm phone call to the British Embassy in Washington this morning. I have a subscription to the Spectator, you see, which gets sent out, via our BFPO account, to Washington. They do postings twice a week, so in theory, I should receive my mag weekly - albeit perhaps a week out of date. But no, this morning a package arrived containing not one but two Spectators, dated the 19th and 26th June. It is now July 7th. I accept that, if I am too cheap to pay the inflated overseas subscription fee, I can expect to receive my reading matter a little tardily. But for the Embassy to simply save up my post and send it off in one go slightly defeats the point of reading a news magazine. Any suggestions?
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