british english vs. american english

this entry can and will be constantly added to as there are so many differences in the way we pronounce and spell our words. and so many sayings that we don't use. if these ever get to medical please excuse me. i do have a MPH and work at the NHS.

sound it out:
british:

cleek=clique
cervical= serv-eye-cle (note they still say cervix, disregard the lack of continuity)
privacy=prive (as in live)-i-sea (note that they say private like we do, disregard the lack of continuity)
aluminum=al-you-min-ee-um (note the british actually spell it different, with the extra i=aluminium)
garage=gair-ige







British words, American translations
tarmack-black top, asphalt
pavement-sidewalk
strap line-tagline
queu-line
bin-garbage, trash can
rubbish-garbage
chief bridesmaid-maid of honor
plaster-band-aid
rubber-eraser
'looking swish'-looking hot/good
'looking smart'-not actually look intelligent, but looking well dressed
fit-fit
well fit-hot, as in 'she's well fit' (she's hot), important to note voice
indicator-blinker
a haunt-a local place to hang out or to meet
har-fog rolling in off of the sea, when cool air meets warm air
close-as in, 'it feels close today', translation 'it's humid'

sayings
'bob's your uncle'-easy as that
'Pants'-somewhere between saying nuts and shit when somethings gone wrong
'Ta'-thank you

take care when crossing

the other day, well about a month ago probably now, matt and i were walking on george st (a very posh shopping st in edi)...to convey this story appropriately let me set the scene. it is one of the only streets in edi in which pedestrians have the right of way. they have distinct cross walks or as they call them here zebra stripes and these yellow flashing lights that let cars know we rule, we being the walker of course. so on nearly all intersections but one, these exist. and as we're walking across this one with a mob of people, we view something stunning. mob crosses to middle, where there is always a safe haven for walkers, otherwise pedestrians in britain would never have a chance to ever cross the road. me, matt, and 3 other people are on this little island. one person is in a wheel chair. moving from the island feels fairly safe and we all must be thinking if you dont act now we'll be standing here for awhile. so the guy in the wheel chair creeps out. and yes, the cars just continue to speed by him. he is in a wheel chair, did i mention that? not even a man in a wheelchair gets enough courtesy to slow down or halt from a british driver. and yes, this could be one instance of one brit ruining my perception for all brits in cars, but no it's not. i could tell you countless stories....like when matt and i were on this little side st in bruntsfield near our flat, we walked out into the wee crossing (of course it wasn't marked so perhaps we were in the wrong), then this guy decided to turn. he seriously almost hit us. and it was only to make a point. matt and i both stopped. the guy said something that only an asshole where cars reign would say. i actually was worried matt would get in a fight. bc matt and i, if i can speak for him, are really adamant about pedestrian right of way here, bc there are so few opportunities, but we were definitely there before he was.

is there an upside? well, let me tell you that you don't feel any safer on your bike...

but when there is an act of kindness, that is when someone 'gives way', you really notice it. and it seems like a noble deed. ridiculous isn't it? i am not asking for total reign of the road ways, just a little caution and respect when it comes to me crossing the road.

whenever i can actually make a car stop, say by pushing a pedestrian walk button or something, i do. for one second i feel a bit of power again.

what season is this 2007-part 2

i heard this morning on my clock radio alarm that this is the wettest summer in history for england and wales. interesting they didn't mention scotland...it makes me think either scotland is always this wet, or that scotland gets left out as england and wales are typically lumped together. the records date back to 1776. i know thats also our year of independence, may be that had something to do with them taking records...hehe. unlikely.

the rain woke me up this morning as it usually does. having skylights can be a bit unfortunate in that way. i feel like we're at war when the rain pounds down. it takes me a second to get out of my dreams and realise what that sound is.

the little things

I just got really excited to go home. I mean moving back home. If anyone was actually reading this and knew me, they’d say that was no surprise. But alas, I have new…uh, additional reasoning. I am sitting once again at work (yes a lot of these are written at work, but I am writing this report and need a break from it now and then), I hear my colleague on her mobile in the hall. And what is the distinct Scottish way to end the conversation? To raise your voice at the end and have increased intonation. I first noticed this in my Glaswegian friend, a man in his early 30s who despite this, raises his voice to a very high pitch at the end of every call. Matt and I always laugh and joke about it. It’s actually kind of endearing. And when I think of the loads of phone conversations I’ve heard while working in British offices (or perhaps it’s just Scottish?) it makes me smile. Just heard my English boss do it, it’s not just Scottish.

So why does this lead me to being excited to go home? Well, no one here, or I shall say it is unlikely that anyone British would be able to pick that small thing up about their culture. That’s what makes it so interesting for me. And likewise, at home, it’s hard to pick up things there too. Americans living in America, why look for the nuances? I guess one could argue that typical American things like this are hard to come by. It’s so big that these little things are likely regional or they are hard to notice because there are so many different kinds of people. But I am excited to go home and be a ‘foreigner’ in my own land. I hope it’s not too foreign to the point where I can’t handle, but I just want to notice the little, sweet things to do that are otherwise taken for granted. And with that, whenever it is that Matt and I make it back, I hope to continue with my impressions blog. Not of Britian or the wide world, but of America.

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colleagues

lunch with colleagues, 9 july 2007.

what is it that makes it so akward? well first, lunch with colleagues can be just awkward. even at the sierra club when i lunched with sweet american souls all near my age and we'd extend our half hour to an hour and sit in the sun, it could still be awkward.

but here, it takes on a whole new level. first, the break down of my office. excluding admin, i work with 3 englishwomen, about 11 scottish men and women, 1 irish woman and one northern irish. and me, the american. while i can almost always understand what is being said, with the exception of some colloquialisms needing to be defined, my one colleagues sometimes remains to be understood. it's just when she gets going. her parents are from the west, and the further west you go in scotland, the thicker the accent. usually i just let it pass me and smile and pretend i understand but then it's always enjoyable when i find someone else doesn't know the term used or cannot understand the accent, then i don't feel as foreign.

but when you're making 'small talk' it's so different. and i nearly always do the ultimate 'no no' of putting the culture down or pointing out some flaw. if that's any lesson i walk away with, it should be when i meet someone from abroad back home to allow them to have their say about the US. i find it terrible and take it personally when someone in my office (typically one person who throws out US stats like they are going out of style) says something negative. i react very emotionally and stand up for my country. sometimes i agree, but i still feel the need to bring them down and remind them that they don't know all the intricate workings of the US, and that damn, it's a big country and things happen differently all over it.

for instance, today i talked about sausages for some reason. it just came up. i was even sitting with 2 vegetarians and it came up. but i couldn't help but say, 'even for a british sausage these were great. no offense but i dont like them here'

they looked at me with no great reaction, although there's always distractions. but i feel sometimes they secretly talk about how strange i am or something.

and even when we go out, all the girls, i can feel so comfortable and akward all at once. i know it's part of being in my mid-twenties and i think i am finding myself more and more, (particularly putting myself in these situations) but no matter sometimes there are akward moments. these girls are lovely and i appreciate them as co-workers and friends, but still, i feel the odd one out.

and another point i just thought of. i think often they think i am lame since matt and i don't party all the time or go galavanting too far across the UK (although we hope to remedy that with ££ soon...??). but then i need to remind myself, hey, these chicks grew up here, they've had almost 30 years to build a base of friends. they have their family. they have their home towns near by. of course they are doing stuff. but i wonder if they think about that from my angle. like 'it must be weird for mariah to not have family here.' or 'she's only been here for 2 years.' but then i feel like i am able to teach them a little lesson. when my colleague complained about having to go for dinner with her dad and her husband's dad for father's day, i said 'at least you have the chance to do that'. not referrring to the fact that i don't have a dad, i don't think many know that, but to the fact that our 'dads' are so far away and should be appreciated.

i think the real lesson isn't to elimate akwardness and oddity. it's to embrace it. relish in silence. wonder why it exists. perhaps locate why and change it. as long as no one feels weird by your presence or lack there of, no harm done. it's a way of life. and it certainly makes you grow. so just in that, this job, just the part where i interact with scottishmen or just brits, makes me grow, learn, expand, challenges me. i hope at the end i deal with it in stride bc sometimes it hits me like a tidal wave. i strive to be calm and make people at ease.

what season is this 2007

"In two days, all you smokers will be cast out into the nightmare of wind and rain that passes for British summer. What will you do then? Take our advice and quit now."

This was the headline on June 29^th, two days before England implemented its smoking ban, on the BBC website. I am sitting in my office looking straight at Edinburgh castle. I have to say this could be one of the best views in the city. However, it has been a grey, stark view for many weeks now. Well today is particularly grey which has lead me to write this, my first blog. Can you write a whole blog entry about weather? You can when you live in the U.K. Last year, when Matt and I were home in Seattle, it was one of the nicest summers Scotland had seen in a long time. This year April was glorious and May and June have been wet and grey. The summer sun sets in Scotland at 22:30 leaving it quite light past 23:00. And then he wakes again at 4:30. But with the grey, heavy days we haven’t quite been able to enjoy this. I will say it has been warmer, so at least biking into work is fairly enjoyable. But I feel as heavy as the clouds today.

But the weirdest part about experiencing a summer like this for me is that it’s a complete time warp. It was the 4^th of July a few days ago and although we enjoyed milkshakes outside on the royal mile, there was nothing that made it feel like July. We prayed for the looming grey cloud to hold off its spittle. There has not really been a season to break time up. I cannot believe that I will be celebrating a birthday at the end of the month, since I am true summer baby and my birthday has always consisted of summer things such as ice cream, swimming, sun, or strawberry shortcake. With any luck, and perhaps my birthday wish, is just to have it be dry.

Sadly, it takes away from enjoying my time here in Scotland. I felt myself, no, I allowed myself to get into a groove here. I am nearly starting to forget American things, small things but nonetheless. Even my colleagues who have lived here all their lives are complaining about the lack of sunshine. My colleague Luisa just said ‘Will someone please tell me when this weather is going to change?’

Before I thought of my time left in Edinburgh as a series of holidays and visits. Bristol, Manchester, Spain, Seattle, Matt’s parents to visit, Christmas travels, my Mum visiting and then poof, we’d leave. Now more than ever, I simply need to extend my mind to these oases in order to handle the constant winter weather. And that makes me sad. I have always had a tendency to live for the next cycle of my life. When I was in Madison I’d plan to live in Oregon, Seattle or Prague. When I was in Seattle, I’d plan to move to Scotland. I would like to be in the now. I am too much of a weather person and if I don’t meditate on the future, hoping that includes sun, I don’t know how I’d survive. Strange huh?

ready, steady, go

I’ve never really understood blogging. Unless you’re blog has a theme or you’re writing about a specific topic like politics, otherwise, to me, bloggers just like to hear themselves think. However, saying that, two of my friends write blogs and I very much enjoy reading them, but I never do keep up with their entries. So why would someone who feels like a blog is a look at your personal diary be writing a blog? Because I live abroad. My blog will be about my impressions of the UK, and where ever else I may go. I want to emphasis impressions. Even though I’ve lived here for over two years I still notice things, I still question things, I admire things, I hate things and yet I am not sure if or how long it takes someone to truly know a culture. So this blog is for me. May be someday I’ll pass it on, but for now it’s just to record some observations and impressions of life in Edinburgh, in Scotland, in the U.K., abroad.