Today, I was talking to a friend and told her I would "have a think" about something...
3 years ago, I would never have used that phrase..."have a think"... I would "think about it".
Other phrases I have not only learned but adopted against my will, but I think they're super cute are:
"You gave me a fright!"
"Have a go"
"Giving me row"
"Taking the piss"
"Hitdabaw"
"Doing my head in"
"Chock a Block"
Ten points if you can translate all of these!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Kebabs
America has lots of awesome food in giant portion sizes. You couldn't ask for more than that, except kebabs.
It was the first meal I ordered here in Scotland. I looked over the menu of fish and chips and burgers and kebabs and thought... a kebab sounds the healthiest, so a kebab I ordered, and when it came out... it looked like this:
Definately not what I was expecting... which was some meat and veggies slices on a stick... This is a Doner kebab, not a shish kebab... a big difference! Needless to say, I wasn't impressed that first time... but later, I learned how to eat one of these... see I took a fork, and ate the meat one slice at a time....and found it...tasty but...lacking something... because it was! This is supposed to be drizzled with chili sauce and topped with a dollup of peppered mayo, and then you roll up the pita underneath and turn it into something resembling a taco, or pita pocket, or gyro... and it is deilicous! Man oh man, could I go for one right now. This has turned into one of my favorite meals here, and I usually get one when Paul goes away on a three day tour to treat myself. Not sure what the calorie count on one of these babies is, and I'm not even sure it's real meat, but however many thousands of calories I'm eating of horse meat, it's worth it!
It was the first meal I ordered here in Scotland. I looked over the menu of fish and chips and burgers and kebabs and thought... a kebab sounds the healthiest, so a kebab I ordered, and when it came out... it looked like this:
Definately not what I was expecting... which was some meat and veggies slices on a stick... This is a Doner kebab, not a shish kebab... a big difference! Needless to say, I wasn't impressed that first time... but later, I learned how to eat one of these... see I took a fork, and ate the meat one slice at a time....and found it...tasty but...lacking something... because it was! This is supposed to be drizzled with chili sauce and topped with a dollup of peppered mayo, and then you roll up the pita underneath and turn it into something resembling a taco, or pita pocket, or gyro... and it is deilicous! Man oh man, could I go for one right now. This has turned into one of my favorite meals here, and I usually get one when Paul goes away on a three day tour to treat myself. Not sure what the calorie count on one of these babies is, and I'm not even sure it's real meat, but however many thousands of calories I'm eating of horse meat, it's worth it!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
European Toilets
This is not a post of the faint hearted, so if that is you, I suggest you read no further.
Here is the thing... I have always hated the toilets, not just in Scotland, but in Europe in general, and here is why.
The flush buttons confused me for years, and there is not enough water in the toilet bowl.
I'm all for being green, but not when it makes my toilet brown.
The water in the toilet bowl in America, is quite high up in the bowl. If you do a number two, it floats around in the water, then you flush, and occasionally it leaves a streak, but a second flush will take care of that, and you rarely have any sign that a number two just took place.
Here, you have a tiny bit of water that just covers the small opening in the toilet. This makes it so that your BM hits the back of the toilet bowl and slides down into the water leaving something resembling a cow patty on the back of your toilet, forcing you to give the toilet a good scrub with a toilet brush every time you drop a deuce, and keeping you in fear of having a number two if you visit a friend who doesn't keep a toilet bowl brush in their guest bathroom.
The amount of water in the bowl is supposed to keep you from wasting too much water, but when I have to flush the toilet three times before I even get the brush out, I feel like this doesn't actually save much on water.
Now for the flush buttons. In germany, we had a big button you pushed on the wall, here you have two bottons either on the wall or the top of the toilet tank. I have never been able to tell the difference between the flush of one button to the other, so for a few years, I just pushed both buttons at the same time. As it turns out, one button is for flushing pee, and the other is for flushing poo. One has a slightly bigger flush, and if you push both together, it does the bigger number two flush. This is to conserve water when you flush the toilet.
Now I have hated the toilets here for years, but figured I wasn't going to be gross enough to say anything to ANYONE until my step daughter, Amy, came to America with us last summer for a family gathering.
We just arrived at the hotel when she announced she didn't like the toilets in America, because it was disgusting to see your poo floating around in the bowl.
Then Paul, my dear husband whom I love but have nothing in common with, agreed with her, and I had to admit that I missed that part of the bathroom experience...
That said, I would much rather have these toilets than the one I had in Ethiopia... a big hole dug in the ground.
Here is the thing... I have always hated the toilets, not just in Scotland, but in Europe in general, and here is why.
The flush buttons confused me for years, and there is not enough water in the toilet bowl.
I'm all for being green, but not when it makes my toilet brown.
The water in the toilet bowl in America, is quite high up in the bowl. If you do a number two, it floats around in the water, then you flush, and occasionally it leaves a streak, but a second flush will take care of that, and you rarely have any sign that a number two just took place.
Here, you have a tiny bit of water that just covers the small opening in the toilet. This makes it so that your BM hits the back of the toilet bowl and slides down into the water leaving something resembling a cow patty on the back of your toilet, forcing you to give the toilet a good scrub with a toilet brush every time you drop a deuce, and keeping you in fear of having a number two if you visit a friend who doesn't keep a toilet bowl brush in their guest bathroom.
The amount of water in the bowl is supposed to keep you from wasting too much water, but when I have to flush the toilet three times before I even get the brush out, I feel like this doesn't actually save much on water.
Now for the flush buttons. In germany, we had a big button you pushed on the wall, here you have two bottons either on the wall or the top of the toilet tank. I have never been able to tell the difference between the flush of one button to the other, so for a few years, I just pushed both buttons at the same time. As it turns out, one button is for flushing pee, and the other is for flushing poo. One has a slightly bigger flush, and if you push both together, it does the bigger number two flush. This is to conserve water when you flush the toilet.
Now I have hated the toilets here for years, but figured I wasn't going to be gross enough to say anything to ANYONE until my step daughter, Amy, came to America with us last summer for a family gathering.
We just arrived at the hotel when she announced she didn't like the toilets in America, because it was disgusting to see your poo floating around in the bowl.
Then Paul, my dear husband whom I love but have nothing in common with, agreed with her, and I had to admit that I missed that part of the bathroom experience...
That said, I would much rather have these toilets than the one I had in Ethiopia... a big hole dug in the ground.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Other Americans in Scotland
I like to call them "The friends I haven't met yet."
Before I go on, I just want to say that I have incredible friends here. After having Isaac, I spent the summer here before returning to the states to go to school. My friends through me a surprise going away party.
After I had Aria, they brought me meals for two weeks. They don't begrudge giving me rides to things if they can, and in general are all the kinds of friends I know my mom would approve of. Godly women, who know how to laugh, have a good time, give good advice. They're really great, but American's living in Scotland are kindred spirits. See...Every American living in Scotland has one thing in common. We are all Americans LIVING in Scotland. We feel out of place in Scotland longing for the things we miss in America, but we no longer fit in in America because we LOVE Scotland, and when we're in the states, we don't feel home either, so we get together in the place we love and talk about all the things we love about America, and because the list is endless, we always have something to talk about.
Saturday I helped a friend out by taking her friend from America into Edinburgh and showing her the sites, and we had a brilliant time. I've never had more fun with a total stranger. We climbed all 287 steps to the top of the Walter Scott Monument, took a ghost tour of the vaults, saw Mary Kings close, had lunch at Gordons, saw the Castle, and St Giles Cathedral, and it was a brilliant day. I love that living here has given me the opportunity to belong 100% in the "American's Living in Scotland" Group.
Before I go on, I just want to say that I have incredible friends here. After having Isaac, I spent the summer here before returning to the states to go to school. My friends through me a surprise going away party.
After I had Aria, they brought me meals for two weeks. They don't begrudge giving me rides to things if they can, and in general are all the kinds of friends I know my mom would approve of. Godly women, who know how to laugh, have a good time, give good advice. They're really great, but American's living in Scotland are kindred spirits. See...Every American living in Scotland has one thing in common. We are all Americans LIVING in Scotland. We feel out of place in Scotland longing for the things we miss in America, but we no longer fit in in America because we LOVE Scotland, and when we're in the states, we don't feel home either, so we get together in the place we love and talk about all the things we love about America, and because the list is endless, we always have something to talk about.
Saturday I helped a friend out by taking her friend from America into Edinburgh and showing her the sites, and we had a brilliant time. I've never had more fun with a total stranger. We climbed all 287 steps to the top of the Walter Scott Monument, took a ghost tour of the vaults, saw Mary Kings close, had lunch at Gordons, saw the Castle, and St Giles Cathedral, and it was a brilliant day. I love that living here has given me the opportunity to belong 100% in the "American's Living in Scotland" Group.
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