June 2009
42 posts
'Home' is a kind of fuzzy idea in my head these...
It’s been about six months since I officially moved to the UK, and now that I’m visiting my family for the first time since then, I keep getting asked what it’s like to be home.
I guess the thing is that it doesn’t really feel like home anymore. Six months isn’t such a long time, but I spent a lot of time over in the UK before I decided to move there forever....
Burn, baby, burn.
It’s hotter than hot in Chicago, today, with the thermometer reading out at exactly 100 degrees still at almost 6pm. (That’s almost a hefty 38, if you live in celsius-land.)
We shopped for eight solid hours today, again. Shopping: America’s pastime. Still, there is a lot to be said for walking into a store and finding more than three choices for everything. It’s not...
I’m pretty sure that by the time I get back to England, I will have had my fill of hot weather and will happily return to the days of needing a jacket to go out at night. It’s super sunny and hot in Chicago this week, and humid enough that my mom actually turned on the sacred air conditioner, lest nobody be able to sleep otherwise.
We spent the morning at the mecca of American...
It's the longest day of the year today.
Mr. Tea is fun to observe in the states. It’s great for me to see someone ELSE in this family be the confused foreigner for a change. I offered to let him guest blog whenever we’re in the states, just for a laugh, and he politely refused.
He really likes looking at ordinary things here, like light switches, electrical outlets and road signs. It’s fun to ponder how we started...
We’re having fun in the states so far. We are actually supposed to be at an insane birthday party for six children and all of their school friends right now, but Mr. Tea spilled Mountain Dew in his hair and is rinsing it again. (Don’t ask; I have no idea how these things happen.)
Oddly, being here hasn’t made me as homesick as I had expected. The flight was great. It was...
WatchWe are having fun in Chicago.
After spilling a container of cream in the fridge today, all I can say is, “England, you really need to look into resealable lids for things like cream and yogurt. Real ones, not those flimsy little McDonald’s cup top things that pop off if you squeeze too hard.”
Onwards, Upwards
Oh but hey, nothing really matters right now to me because in less than 48 hours I’m schlepping my butt to the Manchester airport, on my way to Chicago to visit my family for the first time since I moved at Christmas.
And my dog! YAY! It’s so hard to not be able to explain to your animals that you will be back for them, for sure.
And my friends, which is always nice, but...
oh but
I should clarify - my last post wasn’t directed towards anyone specifically. It’s more a general frustration after having that same conversation with almost every american friend I have at least once.
Hahaha - that works, too.
I was sitting here working and thinking about this Spanish saying:
“Take what you want,” said God. ”Take what you want, but pay for it.”
and then on radio comes the Pussycat Dolls, singing:
“Be careful what you wish for, ‘cos you just might get it.”
I guess that about sums it up.
There is no such thing as an ordinary human being.
I know people are usually just making polite conversation, but I sure get bored with hearing about how glamorous my life must be because I moved overseas. Please remember that for everything I’ve gained culturally or in scenery, I’ve paid for dearly in terms of social life, career and finances.
Look, I say this with the utmost humility: My life is no more or less glamorous than...
At 4:50am, I might add.
tonight’s edition of ‘overheard on the sidewalk by my front door’:
crying girl saying something about how someone is bleeding all over and she doesn’t know what she’s doing; male companion seemingly trying to calm her down as she runs away. Both gone by the time I opened the door to make sure things were ok.
last time, it was some guy calling his girlfriend a...
“Pretty is as pretty does.”
Two things
Two things which have kind of surprised me about living in another country:
How Many Immigrants There Are
I swear, the minute I mention I’m not from around here, I hear about 20 friends of friends who are also not from around here. There are so many more of us than I ever realized, and it’s part of the reason I go on so often about why people need to speak up for immigrant rights....
http://andys.org.uk/media/peter_davies_toby_foster_... →
Peter Davies of the English Democrats, the newly elected mayor of Doncaster , is not likely to forget this interview with Toby Foster , who hosts the breakfast show on BBC Radio Sheffield. This will leave you wondering which one is the politician and which is the comedian. Radio gold.
Wow, what a knob, seriously.
There is, as far as I can tell, one distinct advantage to being a multi-national couple:
When you travel through immigration, you both always get to go together through the short line (the local line for local people), even though one of you is foreign.
Dear England,
I love you for breaking me of my ultra-american high-fructose-corn-syrup processed-food habits.
Also, for making it possible to live carless even when I don’t live in an urban area.
And for being light out past 10pm all summer long.
“The great Buddhist master Gampopa said that if you want to be happy you need to...”
– 5 Things That Are Holding You Back in Life | The Daily Mind - Making the Daily Grind Meaningful
reality check
Coming here, I’ve always known there would be a time and place when someone I knew from back home would get very sick, or hurt themselves or worse, and I’d have to deal with it from very far away. I was warned to consider this pretty seriously by other expats, and did, and decided to just handle it when it needed to be handled.
Living in another country is very much a little mermaid...
On Advertising
britishisms:
I came to a conclusion this week: the US and the UK — my experiences of each, at least — really aren’t all that different. Obviously, there are some major differences that are hard to ignore — different currency, driving on the wrong side of the road, and so on — but if you take a step back and take a very general view of the two places, there are far more similarities than...
“If we didn’t realise it when they picked up seats in the local elections,...”
– Living with rats: Living with a cancer
Lots of news about the BNP today, and some calls to write letters of protest to the authorities and the like. I’m in an odd position in these things, since I live here but technically have no say politically.
You see, even though I’m here legally and paying taxes on any income I earn, I am not allowed to vote. In about 18 months when I get my greencard, that situation will not...
I am always really amused by the things my european friends enjoy while in the states. A friend of mine from Germany is passing through Michigan at the moment and was thrilled with his first drive-in movie. He seems shocked, too, that Michigan is actually pretty. A lot of the US is actually very pretty!
One of my friends from Spain was amazed by “bread in a can.” You know, those...
“Britain is, by definition and design, many cultures in one country. Say no to...”
– Warren Ellis (via electronicalrattlebag)
So true! I’m not allowed to vote here for at least four or five more years (or never, if I get a greencard but never get naturalized) so I sure hope you’re all out there taking advantage of your right to do so today.
It's the thought that counts.
It’s too late for me and my brain to write coherently right now, but tonight, I am thinking about how gifting in the UK is almost as perplexing to me as tipping in the UK.
I never know what’s appropriate for things like birthdays, new babies, housewarmings, etc. I suspect that a gift that would be considered barely acceptable in the states is almost embarrassingly too much here,...
Lorraine’s makeover on the apprentice totally trumps anything Susan Boyle got press about.
“In the next three weeks, I have plans to be in Lancaster, Manchester, Leeds,...”
