And now it’s time for another episode of Separated By A Common Language, with our favorite Fifer, D’s coworker, Drew…
Drew helpfully supplied the two of us with a surprise this last week – Halloween “Lucky” Bags we could take with us to sing carols. Since we didn’t go, we didn’t frighten the good people of Glasgow with orange jack-o-lantern pops between our teeth whilst we hummed God Rest Ye, Merry, but we are nonetheless amused and touched that Drew’s trying to get us in the mood for the, er, season. Such as it is. As goes with any packaged food we eat, there’s a lot of squinting at the ingredients for animal bits, things T’s allergic to, and for general information, as in, “What the heck is this?”
Drew’s been delightfully helpful in this respect. When we noted that sherbet was listed on the items in the grab bag, we gave each other a puzzled glance, and poked through the hyper-colored lot. We didn’t see sherbet.
“So, what’s the stuff in the skull?” D. asked. “Well, that’s the sherbet, right there!”
“Not where I’m from,” D. explained. “Sherbet’s a frozen dessert, served in a cone or a bowl. You know, like a fruity ice cream.”
“Naw, that’s sorbet (and hear the pronunciation — SOR-bay). This here’s sherbet. You can snort it, you know.”
*crickets*
“Whoo, though — stings a fair bit, it does.”
o_0
Well, that explains a lot about our Drew.
(Okay, kidding. He’s actually a lovely person – and a big kid, but single, girls, single!)
(Sadly, we are not kidding about that exchange. We’re hopeful he has put sherbet snorting in his past. His distant past…)
So, now we all know! The equivalent of Pixie Stix – in whatever container – is known as sherbet here. And, T. would like to remind those who wish to snort this substance that there are leagues of white-coated professionals who can help with that sort of thing. (Actually, T’s students used to snort Pixie Stix and powdered Kool-Aid, too. And she took it from them, and gave them Holy Heck about it in rather pithy sentences. Sugar and food coloring, directly to the brain? This is a good idea, how???)
Speaking of frozen desserts, we live in a neighborhood with so many weans that the ice cream van comes around regularly – twice a week like clockwork. Unlike when we lived in Glasgow, we believe that there’s actual ice cream involved – and possibly frozen meat! Yes, there are mobile butchers who drive around in vans with music, too, apparently. This leads us to wonder whether this is what was being sold in Maryhill, when our friend Jess’s housemate went running out for an ice cream and the driver told her he didn’t have any. Bovril and a side of beef, please, thanks…
As always, the topic of “where are we going next?” is on our minds. We love it here, and have enjoyed our time, but it’s a bit ridiculous if just the idea of winter makes one need a long vacation! Meanwhile, the visa extension applications are almost away — this is indeed our very last winter here — huzzah. If anyone would like to provides us with the perfect job on a beach in San Diego, we’d be good with that…
In answering the question for ourselves what we’ve loved most about living abroad, we’ve discovered that for both of us, it has been the pace of life. We might complain (mightily) about how long it takes for things to get done (Yes, internet providers, we’re talking about YOU), but even with D’s school deadlines, and T’s constant workload, we’ve appreciated the lack of frantic days. People work their allotted 7.5 hours, and go home. Things close at 5 — because everyone has the right to go home and cuddle with their families or their stool in the pub (!). With no access to a personal vehicle, the number of spur-of-the-moment trips drops to virtually nil, and things are planned out in advance — not that this doesn’t leave room for impulse, but it’s of a different sort now. There are certainly inconveniences in a slower pace of living, but there are ways around them in case of absolute necessity. We’ve just enjoyed living without that necessity.
The question is whether or not we can find that pace elsewhere, in the U.S. or Canada,… or is the pace merely an artifact of how we our personalities have shifted while here? We’re trying to find out…
The wheel continues to turn – last week another of T’s girlfriends buried a spouse (it’s painful and strange to have friends in our age group with that loss), while another became engaged. Just yesterday, one of T’s classmates from grade school wrote to exclaim over the expectation of an additional – surprise! – family member in May. Life goes on, and Autumn draws on as well. No sign of a frost yet – thank God – but the days flow between the low forties and the mid fifties, and it’s consistently breezy – we’ve got scarves out, and gloves for walking in the nippy evenings. The sun rises sluggishly, and light is slow to find us. 0730 is beginning to look like 0DarkEarly, but we’re hanging in so far. And we truly hope that you are as well.
Yep, we did redo the blog. We’re still fiddling with it, so this might not be its last incarnation. Pardon our dust.
I like the new look, it is rather clean.
Anyway, if you have to be back stateside again, I have found the American south to be very laid back. I’ve only lived here 5 years but had to learn patience pretty quickly!
Jennybakes, T knows a LOT about the American south as her mother as well as her father originated there. Knowing my sister as I do …and to sum it up for her, she may not have THAT much patience.