Here I am, blogging on a train between Edinburgh and London, how very European of me! So far, our trip has been a great time. We started out in merry ole’ England, specifically London, and tried to see everything that city had to offer. But, then we fled the G20 summit and its protesters to Scotland for a heapin’ helping of haggis, haze, and hospitality. If anything, my trip has taught me that there are still quite a few cultural differences between us Yanks and our cousins across the pond. To illustrate, here are a few examples:
1) In England, a pound is a unit of money and a stone is a unit of weight. Why is this important? Well, let me give you two instances. First, if you are in a store and you order a half-pound burger, you are liable to be very disappointed with the size of your entrée, as you will only get what $ 0.75 will buy, which ain’t much. Another time this matters is if you are talking about people around you. For instance, if you are speculating as to the weight of the oddly anorexic lady standing in front of you in line and estimate that she’s about “60 pounds” she may be easily offended at your low estimate of her value on the open market. Not that this happened to me, twice, or anything.
2) Everything sounds cooler with an English accent. So there we were, sitting on the train waiting to depart from a stop along the route. The three-year-old in front of us suddenly pops off, “What in the bloody hell is going on ‘ere?” Normally, that would be an irritating outburst. With a British accent, however, it was a charming little slice of UK life.
3) Everything sounds even cooler with a Scottish accent. Throughout our time in Edinburgh (and on a day tour through the Highlands) we were exposed to all kinds of Scots. And the one thing that they all had in common was a great accent. Whether it was our tour guide railing against the English in his thick Scottish brogue, or the lady in the shop calling everything “wee,” a Scottish accent just gets the point across with just a little bit more umph. Luckily, the term “wee” is more one of affection than of size. This revelation came as quite a relief after I was directed to the “wee gents” room in more than one pub.
We’ve still got a couple of days left on our UK adventure, and I’m determined to do some more comparative cultural exploring before I head back to the States. But for now, I’ve got to hit the loo before I head up to the pub car for a pint and maybe a couple of quid worth of take away. Cheers!
