a brief foray to the U.S. of A.

During my week in Florida with my family for Christmas, my mom told me a story she read in some famous person's speech for a graduation ceremony. It goes something like this, with apologies to whoever it was whose speech it came from:

Two young fish are swimming along and swim past an old fish. The old fish says, "Hello, how's the water?" The young fish say, "Fine, thanks," and swim by. Then one young fish says to the other, "What's water?"

How do we learn about our "water", our context, the way we live? It's so ingrained and unconscious that we have no idea what it is. My week in Florida reminded me of a few things I had forgotten about America. Funny what you aren't aware of until all of a sudden it's different...

Things I Miss about the US
-people with tattoos
-people being out of shape so I can walk faster than them and beat them to get in line at Passport Control, the grocery store, etc. (Those skinny, fast-walking Europeans ALWAYS beat me and I end up last in line.)
-cheap cell phone minutes

Things I Don't Miss
-not having tax included in prices
-coins that are basically worth nothing (Pounds come in 1 pound and 2 pound coins, which are worth $3/4ish dollars! A pocketful of change can buy a pint, no problem, but what can a pocketful of quarters buy you, besides maybe a laundry cycle?)
-having no international stories on the news
-having to drive everywhere
-toilets that use gallons of water to flush. British toilets are empty until you flush, which I imagine saves a LOT of water. It means your pee looks a lot more yellow than it does in the U.S. though (since it's not diluted with toilet water), which can be a little shocking.

Things I Thought I Would Miss and Don't
-Cars driving on the right side. I'm so used to British driving on the left that now I'm just confused and have to look both ways TWICE to make sure.
-American food. Ick. (I do miss Mexican food though, which really doesn't exist in Europe.)
-having so much SPACE everywhere, from in cars to bedroom size to wide staircases. Britain is a little island with a big population so space is limited and everything is cramped, and I love it. I felt a little lonely in giant American rooms.

Things That Are The Same
-bad traffic
-Obama's face being everywhere (awesome!)
-cell phones/"mobiles" that do everything (though American ones are oh so much cheaper to talk on). In my extended family of 7 there are 6 phones that check email and go online, 5 of which also take pictures and play music. (Guess who's the 7th person with the lame make-and-receive-calls cell phone? Whatever, my TWO (crappy) cell phones mean I can make calls all over the U.S. and Europe- beat that, iPhone users! :) )


I'll write about our fantástico trip to Spain soon, with input from my travel buddy and coauthor, Deena. I hope you all had a great holiday season and are pumped up for a fantastic 2009!