When Cultures Collide

Our friends from Scotland came to visit. Even though they live in Scotland, they are actually from Brazil. They were really good friends of ours when we were living in Aberdeen and we have boys close in age, so it was great to see them and catch up.

Having them here really allowed me to see everyday things around me through someone else's eyes. And I must say, it was interesting and entertaining at times. For instance:

* Food, food, food. So many differences involve food. Just something simple like corn on the cob. They said it tasted much different than Brazil. We also introduced them to tri-tip and In-n-Out.

* I now realize how we take advantage of walking into a fast food restaurant and knowing everything on the menu. I don't even eat fast food all that much, but at many places I know exactly what I want. With someone who doesn't know, there is a lot of explaining involved. 

* I forgot about how America has better customer service than most places. Our friends kept saying how everywhere we went, everyone was so friendly. They said the people made them feel special. Sadly, I don't even notice this most the time. Made me stop and think I should be happy for the good customer service I take advantage of on a daily basis. 

* While here, our friend mentioned a couple times that he didn't see many Americans around. You see, he thinks of Americans as white people. We explained to him that is not the case and the people he sees are in fact Americans. 

* Different stores are cool. Shopping in another country is always cooler than shopping at home.  Even a boring basic store like Babiesrus was cool to them...though we tried to convince them this wasn't true.

Here are some pictures from our adventures around California. We were horrible about taking pictures together and really only took pictures of our own families. Oops. 

Griffith Park Observatory & Golden Gate Bridge

 

Farmyard Fun

San Francisco - Cable Car

Saying Goodbye

Comparisons

Before you tell me, I know...

the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Now that we have that out of the way, let us proceed.

After going through a rocky path in life lately, I found myself complaining to a friend the other day. I ended my rant with:

I never should have left Scotland. 

I'll be honest, life back stateside probably isn't the bliss I thought it would be. When sitting in Scotland thinking about moving home when I didn't fully want to, I tried thinking of every positive thought out there I could. Really, I built up "moving home" in my head. But the reality is, how often is life always bliss? Every single day just pure bliss? Its not. That is just impossible.

The thing is though, when you (really, me) have something to compare your life to (say living in a totally different place) there are times the grass really does seem greener on the other side. And that other side, well it consumes your mind.  Anyway, after my friend talked some much needed sense into me, I remembered life really isn't that bad in California.

Today I was doing laundry. When standing in front of the washer starting my 4th load a huge smile erupted on my face. There is no freaking way I could have washed, dried and put away 4 loads of laundry in one day in Scotland. I used to dream of this day. And it made me happy.

So I guess, sometimes the grass you stand on really is greener.

The Shower Situation

Over here, shower curtains don't really exist. They put up these three foot pieces of glass in the shower and expect you to not destroy the bathroom while showering. I really don't get it. At our old place in Edinburgh, we just put up a shower curtain and rod brought with us from the states...I was smart enough to pack one in my things! (no joke) Now that we have moved, our bath/shower is much longer and the shower curtain rod doesn't work. This leaves us trying to figure out how to shower without destroying our bathroom. Ian is a little better at it than me. If I am not paying attention, I end up spraying water all over the bathroom. It can be quite the mess! But, both of us seem to get the ledge of the bath totally wet, which in turn drains all over the floor and the rug we have right there, creating quite the mess. If we put the rug on the radiator, it dries, but who really wants to do that every single stinking day?!? I think I need to be trained to take more mellow showers!


On a good note, the bathroom of our new place is about three times the size of our old bathroom! And, it has a heated towel rack attached to the wall! Though I never seem to take showers at the right time to use a heated towel, it does mean I get to use a dry towel and that is something I can get on board with!

Cultural Differences

It never ceases to amaze me, some of the cultural differences between the UK and the US. One weird one is the almost acceptance of pornography over here. Magazines aren't hidden, blacked out or in a bag on the newsstand. Many times, they are front and center. And, to top it off, there are actually newspapers with pornography in them! I think this is quite degrading to women.

Needless to say, pornography does turn up at Starbucks once in a while. We have a basket where people can toss their old newspapers and magazines for others to enjoy and both pornographic newspapers and magazines have turned up in there. I personally find this completely unacceptable. I even find it unacceptable for people to look at that kind of garbage at a place like Starbucks. But, I guess that is just my opinion.

There is a guy who frequents my store every day. And every day he has one of his special newspapers with him. He is kind of dirty looking, in his 30s. Ian thinks there is something wrong with him, but that isn't the point. He has been caught by various workers with his hand down his pants...no joke! So recently, he came up to the counter, ordered a drink and when he went to pay, there was a pubic hair included in the money he handed the girl at the register! And, I kid you not, this is true. Now none of us want to take money directly from him. We try to get him to put it on the counter first. It is just totally gross. We work at a coffee shop for Pete's sake! We shouldn't have to deal with things like this!

I think I can say this with confidence...

Only in the UK!

Pickles

I bought this bottle of pickles (or cucumber spears, as the bottle was labeled) last week and rather quickly devoured it. As I was drinking the juice from the bottle today (I know, so gross, yet SO GOOD) I noticed an interesting "warning" on the bottle:

Once removed, do not return cucumbers back into the jar.

Why? That doesn't even make sense. Is it due to cross contamination? If so, if I'm the only person eating from the jar, what does it matter? I need to know people! I need to know!

Oh, and pickles aren't called pickles over on this side of the pond...they are gherkins.

Happy Easter!

For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:17

It is interesting spending holidays in another country and learning how they celebrate. First, as Ian noted, Easter is kind of like Scotland's Thanksgiving. It is the busiest travel weekend of the year, and the Friday before happens to be the busiest shopping day of the year. Odd! Also, it seems that whether Christian or not, you "celebrate" the holiday somehow. In talking with people at my work, I discovered there were many a "punishments" that went on in their houses on Good Friday. Things like no TV, no playing with friends, making wreaths to lay at Jesus' cross and more...and all this happened in homes where they weren't raised going to church!?! Then there is the egg rolling tradition. Decorate hard boiled eggs (sounds familiar!) then have contests rolling them down hills (and mountains in some cases!). In talking to some friends today, we discovered this tradition came about as the rolling egg symboling the rock from the tomb being rolled away...and this is taught to the kids in school!!! Also, there is Easter Monday here, which I don't get at all. It really seems just like an excuse to get an extra day off work. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the most interesting part of all...pretty much every professional business around gets a four day weekend to celebrate the holiday. This DEFINITELY doesn't happen in America! Then there are the hot cross buns that only make an appearance for Easter. They are basically sweetened rolls with a marzipan "x" (or cross) on them. Interesting...this really is the only response I can come up with!

One thing that resonates in my mind through all this is America practices less religion than other countries. I don't mean we percentage wise have less believers in Jesus or anything like that, but we tend to shy away from old school religious practices. Why is this? (And I definitely don't consider it a bad thing when I ask this question.) Is it because we are a country founded on religious freedom? After all, the colonists were trying to flee from the people I am talking about above! Or is it because of Christianity not being allowed to be taught in schools? I just find it very interesting how much unchurched, un"religious" people know over here about the most important holiday for Christ followers. I mean come on, easter egg hunts have only made their way over here in the past few years!

But to end all this madness, I would like to say Happy Easter! No matter how you or I celebrate Easter, the bottom line is I am certainly glad God sent His only son to die for me! It is an act I will never forget.

We're American...Of Course We Celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

When I switched my calendar to March, I immediately noticed St. Patrick's Day on there and got excited. Then, I was intrigued, as it said it was only a holiday in the Republic of Ireland and the USA. Why not Britain? I asked an Irish friend what she was doing for St. Patrick's Day and was horrified by her response. She told me nothing and that it was just a normal day. WHAT?!? In America, St. Patrick's Day is definitely NOT a normal day. There is the whole wearing green thing, the green beer, the parties and the corned beef and cabbage. Well, it turns out that we may be the only country in the world that properly celebrates St. Patrick's Day. I decided yesterday that I wanted to go out for a proper St. Patrick's Day celebration, only to find one option close to my house...and they weren't even serving corned beef and cabbage! Instead Ian and I split a steak & Guinness pie and Irish stew. It was good, just not what I am used to for St. Patrick's Day. This got me thinking...

As American's, we tend to celebrate any and every holiday, as long as it seems fun. Once upon a time, we were seen as a melting pot and I think because of that, we picked up any and every holiday along the way. There are also about a million US only holidays as well. Maybe America is a country that just likes to celebrate!

What I Learned in Aberdeen

Ian is working up in Aberdeen this week and I decided to take the train up to visit him. The following are some of this things I have learned while up here:

1. Aberdeen is definitely NOT a tourist attraction. Sure, its the third largest city in Scotland, but that is about where the interesting stuff ends. Trust me, I tried to find something to catch my attention!
2. Hotels have "ironing rooms". Ian thought it was something for the housekeeping, but we soon discovered that it is actually where you are supposed to iron your clothes. And for having its own room, you would think they could at least have sprung for a full sized ironing board! Oh, and steam irons aren't allowed. Supposedly they set off the fire alarm...I don't believe that.

3. "Normal" showers do exist in the UK! Everywhere I have been, including my own house, has pump showers that you have to turn on and off. And these showers don't have great water pressure. When I got in the shower at the hotel today, I got into a normal shower with great water pressure. I am jealous!
4. I think I have discovered why the Scottish loathe basketball so much. It is possibly because they are trying to play it on grass!

5. KFC, which is all the rage over here, charges for ketchup. 10p a pack. What's up with that?!?

Banking in Britain

I got a rebate check in the mail from Canon (not that you need to know this, but it was for my fabulous new camera!) and needed to put it in my account. For some strange reason, you can't deposit anything into ATMs here...maybe that's why they call them "cash machines"?!? So, Ian and I stopped by the bank today. I was just going to cash the check, but apparently it could only be deposited, as it was that "kind of check". What kind of check can only be deposited and not cashed?!? Anyway, we also did not bring a deposit slip with us, which is a big no-no. The lady finally got enough info from us, left her little desk, went behind a locked door for a few minutes before deciding that is was in fact okay for her to deposit the check. Seriously, all this trouble for a check?!? Good thing checks aren't used very often here!

Sick Days

From time to time, I run into cultural differences that I just can't seem to grasp. One is the acceptance of calling in sick to work for almost anything. People had told me how you can go to the doctor and get a sick note for anything. They will even lie for you. Doctors don't really seem to care. Well, after 14 months of never once calling into work sick (yet showing up numerous times and spreading my sickness to everyone I work with!), I finally had to do it. Two weeks ago, I woke up so sick and couldn't keep my head out of the toilet. At first, I was hoping to pull it together to get to work, but after realizing I couldn't even stand up, I resigned to the fact that I couldn't work and called in sick. Over here in Scotland, there is a law that you have to be symptom free for 48 hours before you head back to work, so that meant I had to miss the next two days of work as well. On the second day, I went to the doctor. Though I was no longer "with symptom", I was still not eating or feeling well. The doctor did some testing and told me I should take a few more days off work. A few more days?!? What am I supposed to do around the house for a few more days? Needless to say, I told a little lie to my manager (saying I was fine) and was back at work the next day.

Now fast forward two weeks. All week my ear has been bothering me. Ear infections are a common thing for me, but I can usually ride them out without a visit to the doctor (I really do seem to have an aversion to doctors). But, on Wednesday night, the pain was unbearable and kept me up most of the night. Finally, I crawled out of bed at 4:15am to go to work...not feeling my best. On the way out the door, I woke Ian up and asked him to make a doctor's appointment for me for that afternoon after I got off work. When I went to the doctor, she confirmed what I suspected, I had a bad ear infection. After writing me a prescription, she told me I should probably take the next few days off work to recover. A few days off work?!? It's an ear infection! You have got to be kidding me. Needless to say, despite the doctor's orders, I am still going to work, ear infection and all.

When you are from a country that prides itself on work ethic, that provides its employees with 2 weeks vacation a year, and a sick week, it is a hard transition to move to a country that requires employers to give at least 5 weeks vacation a year, plus 2 weeks sick time (at my work, you get an additional week for every year you work, maxing out at 6 weeks sick time). People call in sick to work all the time and don't really care. If we ask for a sick note, they are easily attainable. It is obvious that there are flaws in both ways of thinking (too much work, and then not really caring), but there has to be a middle ground somewhere. Now, it is just finding that middle ground!

American Pancakes

Did you know there was such a thing as "American Pancakes"? Me either! One day, Ian and I were feeling in the mood for pancakes. So, we headed over to our local grocery store to pick up some Bisquick (the lazy person's way of making pancakes from scratch). The store didn't have Bisquick, but we bought what we thought was the equivalent. It definitely was not! The pancakes turned out flat and tasted kind of funny. Fast forward a couple weeks...Ian and I are out to dinner with some friends the other night (that's right, I said FRIENDS!), and American breakfast comes up. They start talking about the amazing breakfasts they had in New York City and come to find out, pancakes aren't something that is found over here. I know, who would have thought?!? Had I known this originally, I may have never moved over here! Now, fast forward another day, Ian and I decide to head over to a "huge" grocery store (though still smaller than the ones in the states). While wondering the isles, I came across American Pancakes! And, pre-made at that! I just had to purchase them. I did. And, I ate them. They were good...though not as good as homemade Bisquick pancakes or as good as Griddle Cafe pancakes.


I say all of this to let you know, the next time you are considering moving to another country, consider "do they have American style pancakes there?!?" If not, is that really a place you want to live? AND, on a side note, don't you love the self portrait with the pancakes?