Random Thoughts about here and home

BA Word of the Day: wash (noun). We call it laundry in the US. Yea, not that exciting. Just one of those little differences.

Hey! Happy Valentine's Day! And guess what! I have a Valentine! All the way in the US! And he sent me flowers! My point:  If your boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever didn't get you something for Valentine's Day, show them this post ;)

Yea... I'm spoiled PS they are red tulips

So today, since I'm feeling kind of lazy and kind of random, I've decided to post a few snippets of thoughts that I've had since I got here. It's funny. When you get to somewhere, you are too busy taking in all the new to remember the little things that you miss about home. Then that one thing happens, the ultimate of the unfamiliar, and you suddenly miss home. For me, it was the 3rd scalding hot shower. I was standing there having to turn the shower on and off as I needed water, balling like a little baby wishing I was home. After you get over that bit of sudden home-longing, you start getting used to the way things are. And then sometimes you remember one of those comforts of home and wish you had that here. So the following is my list.

Things that I miss about the US:

Reliable utilities

Having more than two outlets built into my room

Clean dishes (or dirty dishes that are my own fault, not someone else’s)

Familiarity in general (ex. I’m finally getting semi-used to grocery shopping over here)

Our weird little system of measurement (unmetric methods)

George Washington’s lovely face on one dollar bills (these one pound and two pound coins get heavy)

Familiar accents

Fahrenheit temperatures

Barq’s root beer

Family and friends close by

People that dress worse than me (here I look like a slob sometimes)

Having my own mailbox

Things that I don’t miss about the US:

Pumping gas

Driving in general

Lack of diversity (at least in my little corner of the US)

Cold weather (it’s not quite as cold here)

Well, crazy weather in general (good ole Indiana for ya!)

Classes more frequent than once a week

Lucky Charms ;) (yea, they don’t get those here)

Weird Seymour people

Those people from high school that you don’t want to run into

Things that I love about the UK:

Unfamiliar accents

The metric system (seriously, it makes way more sense than whatever the heck we have)

My internship

My accommodation

New friends

The people in general (even the ones that get into fist fights on the bus… makes for good entertainment)

Different sized notes (makes counting money and keeping track of it so much easier)

Things that I can’t wait to say to my kids some day:

“Kids, when I was in uni (British speak for college), I once carried my weight in groceries 2 miles uphill in the cold London evening just so I could make myself a decent meal. The least you can do is carry a couple of groceries from the car to the house.”

“Kids, when I was in uni, I had to wake up three hours before going into my internship to get ready, make myself a proper breakfast, and ride a double decker bus for almost an hour to get there. The least you can do is wake up in time to catch the school bus that takes you to school without you having to know which number school bus to get on.”

“Kids, when I was in uni, I lived in a building that ran out of toilet paper on the weekend and had to go buy my own. The least you can do is replace the roll when it’s run out and be thankful that you have a mom that makes sure there is plenty of toilet paper in the house.”

“Kids, when I was in uni, I have to carry my laundry up and down four flights of stairs to a laundry room with only one washing machine that worked and had to be shared by over 50 people. The least you can do is fold a few shirts and place them neatly in your dresser.”

I’m sure I’ll have plenty more before my little trip to London is up ;) Until next time, Cheers!