Actually, some of the things you have said sound like things we say about the UK! Remember, the US is a big country and you may have different experiences in other areas, but I'm glad you are having a positive experience. It was fun see it through your eyes.
I love reading this. I'm from Massachusetts - bluer than blue.
My comment is in response to your noticing the American flag on trucks, etc. Where I come from, the display of the flag signals a right-wing pro-Trump stance - we liberals flinch. This is a sad development for those of us who feel differently.
Please keep writing. We need to see ourselves through new eyes.
And many of us romanticize about living outside the US right now.
Wishing you an absolutely wonderful American stay.
Our book groups have been reading Henry James and Edith Wharton - for stories of Americans crashing into European culture.
I take your point about kindness and manners; it may be that you’re as perfectly British as people say, but that you’re encountering in the US a repository of British ways of being. The book to read is David Fischer Hacket, _Albion’s Seed_.
Cat get overweight from eating grains—not part of their natural diet. If you feed a cat canned cat food only you can generally prevent this and not have to worry about it getting enough water. They evolved to eat small animals and get most of their water from meat and blood, and the house cat is not significantly different from the wild varieties. Nevertheless, cats are famously fond of corn (maize) in all its forms and if they get used to eating dry kibble, they often rebel if you try to switch them to a healthier diet.
Perhaps you could go on the north side of the Potomac and take a look at the uniformed people wearing masks. That might add to the richness of your observations.
"I am told that Murder, She Wrote was not filmed in Maine, but in northern California." This becomes obvious once you visit either Maine or Northern California. If you haven't already, I recommend both.
As far as I know, porridge and oatmeal are basically the same thing in British English, but perhaps there are porridges made without oats or with ingredients in addition to oats? FYI, steel-cut oats make by far the heartiest and tastiest (hot) oatmeal. (I believe that a product sold as 'Scottish-cut oats' is akin to steel-cut oats.)
Steel-cut oats (US), also called pinhead oats, coarse oatmeal (UK), or Irish oatmeal, are groats (the inner kernel with the inedible hull removed) of whole oats which have been chopped into two or three pinhead-sized pieces (hence the names; "steel-cut" comes from the steel blades). The pieces can then be sold, or processed further to make rolled oat flakes, of smaller size than flakes of whole groats. Steel-cutting produces oatmeal with a chewier and coarser texture than other processes.
I’m an American mom who was raised in Buckinghamshire, trained as a GP in NC and VA, married to a quintessential Englishman and raising our boys in SW London. We lived in Arlington as newlyweds (2007-2010) and I worked at Fairfax and Fair Oaks hospitals. Your reporting on life in VA is a delight! What a perfect place for homeschooling, too.
After experiencing porridge on visits to the UK and being disappointed in American oatmeal thereafter, I was delighted to recently find “Scottish cut oats” which, as far as I can tell, produces the right porridgey consistency.
(1) "Is that what Laura and Mary would have eaten" made me LOL in a room all by myself.
(2) Realized I don't know what porridge is (guess I could look it up). I've lived in Chicago and Seattle and have southern family, and have never heard the word porridge used. Oatmeal, I think, just has processed oats in water maybe with milk and sugar.
(3) Do you really have monarch butterflies in England? I had no idea!
In re your comment about Murder She Wrote being filmed in northern California: Stand by Me, the story by Steven King, was set in his native Maine. The film was set in Oregon (wrong Portland) but, weirdly, all the other place references were to Maine! E.g., the Togus veterans home.
As for American politeness, I find it to vary by region. I find people here in the right Portland to be much politer to bicyclists and pedestrians than they were in my previous home in St. Louis, Missouri.
For the record, you would find housing in NYC much more analogous to London, with regard to size / quantity of rooms and closets, and lack of dishwashers and laundry facilities— but New York City is an anomaly in the U.S. in these ways haha. Enjoy the amenities in Virginia!
When I was ten in the 80s my parents moved from Mogadishu to WestChester, NY. We felt like you do - we could not belieeeeeeve supermarkets. Low cholesterol eggs. Enormous paving stones and light switches.
And found that everything food wise was enriched - we put on so much weight! The positive energy of Americans was contagious. And that was even before we moved into manhattan a bit later
Actually, some of the things you have said sound like things we say about the UK! Remember, the US is a big country and you may have different experiences in other areas, but I'm glad you are having a positive experience. It was fun see it through your eyes.
Sure I’m only writing about one corner
I love reading this. I'm from Massachusetts - bluer than blue.
My comment is in response to your noticing the American flag on trucks, etc. Where I come from, the display of the flag signals a right-wing pro-Trump stance - we liberals flinch. This is a sad development for those of us who feel differently.
Please keep writing. We need to see ourselves through new eyes.
And many of us romanticize about living outside the US right now.
Wishing you an absolutely wonderful American stay.
Our book groups have been reading Henry James and Edith Wharton - for stories of Americans crashing into European culture.
Keep your flags!!
I take your point about kindness and manners; it may be that you’re as perfectly British as people say, but that you’re encountering in the US a repository of British ways of being. The book to read is David Fischer Hacket, _Albion’s Seed_.
Yeah that’s on my list as soon as I get to a library
This was so enjoyable to read. I hope Virginia continues to treat you well.
As a former Arlington resident, I think of it as like a Disneyland version of America. It’s such a uniquely nice place to live.
Yes it’s a real enclave :)
Cat get overweight from eating grains—not part of their natural diet. If you feed a cat canned cat food only you can generally prevent this and not have to worry about it getting enough water. They evolved to eat small animals and get most of their water from meat and blood, and the house cat is not significantly different from the wild varieties. Nevertheless, cats are famously fond of corn (maize) in all its forms and if they get used to eating dry kibble, they often rebel if you try to switch them to a healthier diet.
Interesting thanks
As you say, Stacy, and it can cause kidney failure ultimately. Tinned food is much less harmful.
Perhaps you could go on the north side of the Potomac and take a look at the uniformed people wearing masks. That might add to the richness of your observations.
What sort of blog do you think this is?
"I am told that Murder, She Wrote was not filmed in Maine, but in northern California." This becomes obvious once you visit either Maine or Northern California. If you haven't already, I recommend both.
Defo want to do both!
As far as I know, porridge and oatmeal are basically the same thing in British English, but perhaps there are porridges made without oats or with ingredients in addition to oats? FYI, steel-cut oats make by far the heartiest and tastiest (hot) oatmeal. (I believe that a product sold as 'Scottish-cut oats' is akin to steel-cut oats.)
There’s definitely a difference it’s pinhead oatmeal that I want I think
Steel-cut oats (US), also called pinhead oats, coarse oatmeal (UK), or Irish oatmeal, are groats (the inner kernel with the inedible hull removed) of whole oats which have been chopped into two or three pinhead-sized pieces (hence the names; "steel-cut" comes from the steel blades). The pieces can then be sold, or processed further to make rolled oat flakes, of smaller size than flakes of whole groats. Steel-cutting produces oatmeal with a chewier and coarser texture than other processes.
I have learned today about oats!
Pinhead oatmeal?? That's another new one on me!
It’s what they eat in Hellraiser!
I’m an American mom who was raised in Buckinghamshire, trained as a GP in NC and VA, married to a quintessential Englishman and raising our boys in SW London. We lived in Arlington as newlyweds (2007-2010) and I worked at Fairfax and Fair Oaks hospitals. Your reporting on life in VA is a delight! What a perfect place for homeschooling, too.
After experiencing porridge on visits to the UK and being disappointed in American oatmeal thereafter, I was delighted to recently find “Scottish cut oats” which, as far as I can tell, produces the right porridgey consistency.
I want oatmeal. Will have to search it out
Bob’s Red Mill is the brand I buy. You might be able to find it at Whole Foods.
My husband loves Bob's Red Mill steel-cut. (We find it at the "normal" supermarket too.)
I enjoy your observations of America and Americans. It’s good to see us through fresh eyes.
Thanks!
(1) "Is that what Laura and Mary would have eaten" made me LOL in a room all by myself.
(2) Realized I don't know what porridge is (guess I could look it up). I've lived in Chicago and Seattle and have southern family, and have never heard the word porridge used. Oatmeal, I think, just has processed oats in water maybe with milk and sugar.
(3) Do you really have monarch butterflies in England? I had no idea!
haha pleased to hear it
porridge is when the oats are rolled first, I believe
yes we do! not many I think, but I have never seen a butterfly as big as the one I saw yesterday!
In re your comment about Murder She Wrote being filmed in northern California: Stand by Me, the story by Steven King, was set in his native Maine. The film was set in Oregon (wrong Portland) but, weirdly, all the other place references were to Maine! E.g., the Togus veterans home.
As for American politeness, I find it to vary by region. I find people here in the right Portland to be much politer to bicyclists and pedestrians than they were in my previous home in St. Louis, Missouri.
For the record, you would find housing in NYC much more analogous to London, with regard to size / quantity of rooms and closets, and lack of dishwashers and laundry facilities— but New York City is an anomaly in the U.S. in these ways haha. Enjoy the amenities in Virginia!
My experience of Airbnb in NYC was very like that yeah
This had me laughing over my breakfast. Great way to start the day!
Ah I’m glad
When I was ten in the 80s my parents moved from Mogadishu to WestChester, NY. We felt like you do - we could not belieeeeeeve supermarkets. Low cholesterol eggs. Enormous paving stones and light switches.
And found that everything food wise was enriched - we put on so much weight! The positive energy of Americans was contagious. And that was even before we moved into manhattan a bit later
So enriched!