Midsummer and Solstice

Summer Solstice, Alaska 2007

When I was in Kindergarten, Mrs. Barnhill read us a book about the seasons. She informed us that regardless of the weather, spring began on March 21st, summer on June 21st, autumn on September 21st, and Winter on December 21st. I was terribly put out. I was a winter baby regardless of what Mrs. Barnhill's calendar book said.

In Alaska, regardless of religion, the solstices are days of celebration. In winter, it is an acknowledgement that there is hope and days will not be getting any shorter, that we are not spiraling into an eternal night. In summer, it is a celebration of that hope in that fruition.

Here in parts of England, the solstice is part of Midsummers' celebrations. For some, it is a religious celebration. But like most of  America, many will not even note its passing.

And now I live in England where the summer solstice speaks to midsummer's day, a time of growth before the harvest,

Untranslatable: Ants and Pants

Part of being an immigrant to this lovely green land is learning to live in a new idiom. That is to say that you must learn to live in a new figurative language. Should you manage an invite to a barbeque, I cannot recommend highly enough asking a wiggly English child if they have ants in their pants. You will become ever popular with the under-10 set, and the adults will be forced to engage you in conversation.

For those of you who are English and would like to play the game, ants in one's pants refers to a general state of wiggling or impatience for a desired event. If you want to share your own antsyness, you'll want to announce, "I have ants in my pants, and now I've got to do a boogey dance." A boogey is, of course a bogey.

Thanks to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks for the shout out in the alumni news feed.

Things I miss from Home: The Comics Pages

When I last lived in the States, I passed my days teaching Academic Writing and Developmental English. Developmental English used to be called remedial English. I struggled with reading as a child, and I still struggle to proofread my own writing. I still look up new words. I still find new words in the comics pages.

Often my students told me that they did not see any point in reading. This often meant that they were poor readers or they didn't read material that I might consider important. It usually meant that they'd been told reading the comics pages wasn't real reading. I would tell my students the same thing that I'd once overheard a sage faculty member say to another student. "Read anything and everything that you enjoy. Most importantly, read the comics."

The comics were, ultimately, how I learned to love language and literature. Week days, in much of the US, they cover one side of a newspaper page. On Sundays, they come in color. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea that it would ever be a good idea to tell a faltering reader that this kind of reading has little value.

Things I Miss From Home: What They Have Done

I know that I've promised you a giant BUT for two weeks now. I'm working on it. Really, it may be the longest blog post ever by the time I finish it. In the mean time, I've been thinking about how much the US has changed since my last visit. My last visit was, admittedly, well before the economy took a tumble. It was before the last presidential election cycle was in full swing. In fact, it was before my two youngest nephews were born. It was also before the wide availability of this:

 It's important to note here that the term 'organic' carries different, less stringent, standards in the US than it does in the UK. Nonetheless, I wasn't sure if I should cheer or cry. Nostalgia can be a bitter pill.


There's a new Facebook like button at the top of the page. This is because I have to imitate all of the other bloggers in England; moreover, my friend Jon insists that he's the only one who reads the blog. Would you please help this woman out and click on the like button, or the follow button, or leave me a note to learn what an rss feed is and how to use one? I'm back to writing the BUT post. See you soon.

Things I miss from Home: Oatmeal? Pies

I didn't have any desire to consume these while in the States. I had completely forgotten they existed. Add them to the list of thins I used to miss from home.

My Bologna Has A First Name: It's T-U-R-K-E-Y

Early last week, Mrs. AmericanEnglandStyle sent me a text saying that she'd discovered bologna in the aisles of her local grocery store. I didn't believe her. Mrs. AmericanEnglandStyle has been in the country for almost a decade. I've got five years behind me, and between my American-expat friends, we've probably spent a century at our local grocer's. Collectively, we've spent many hours sampling food we've never heard of and buying new-to-us foods. I simply did not believe Mrs. AmericanEnglandStyle. I thought perhaps that she'd forgotten exactly what bologna tastes like.

So when I went to visit Mrs. AmericanEnglandStyle she produced the above packet. Remind me to never ever again doubt her word. I have never liked bologna (although my sisters maybe inclined toward correcting that statement). As it turns out, I still don't like bologna. And Turkey Ham is, let me assure you,tastes like bologna. And it has the texture of wafer sliced, well, bologna. Suffice it to say, I may sing the Oscar Mayer Bologna song, but I wont be eating it any time soon.

I will however be eating many yummy things when I'm at home. Take note my sisters, I need some food.

1. Mexican Food (Colorado version)
2. Tostitos, Fritos, and corn nuts, Doritos--You can get Doritos here. They're good, but not the same.
3. jalapenos--the fresh variety.
4. Life Cereal
5. Clam Chowder
6.bbq beef
7. A steak that is actually rare.
8. Corn bread.
9. Wintergreen lifesavers.
10. Root beer
11. Bratwurst (by which I mean the American version)
12. Grilled corn on the cob
13. Corn on the cob.
14. Watermelon (you can get it here, but yuck)
15. Meatloaf.
16. Pancakes, maple syrup, bacon and american breakfast sausage.
17. EasyCheese. (I suspect I will think this is gross after one squeeze, but yum)
18. French Toast (I can get and make this here. I just don't want to call it eggy-bread).
19.Lox and Bagels.
20. A reuben sandwhich.
21. BlueCheese dressing.
24. An American Style salad.
25. Something deep fried with Ranch dressing.
26. Fried Chicken.
27. Sloppy Joes
28. Grilled Cheese (Yes it is different than cheese on toast.
29. A BLT wish crispy bacon. (I know I say streaky bacon is the same, but it isn't).
30. Waffle for breakfast.
31. A sausage and green olive pizza.
32. Sopaipillas



I'll think of more before I get there, I'm sure.

Fabulous Things About England #28: Bus Stops

I used to drive. During my last winter in Alaska, I taught at a high school, the university, and the community college arm of the university. My close friends lived ten to twenty miles in the other direction. It was the rare day that I put less than sixty miles on my car, and the rarer day that I did not drive at all. I was last in the States four years ago; I haven't driven a mile since. Now when friends text and ask where I am, the answer is almost invariably on the bus, waiting for a bus, or wondering where the bus is. I do not miss the driving. It would take me much more time to travel from home to town if I took a car, but there are days when I tot up the hours spent queuing at the big blue and white signs.

Bath Abbey, February 2011

I stand nowhere more frequently than in front of a bank, looking out at Bath Abbey. I must have hundreds of photographs of those same flying buttresses. Very little changes. The same buses drive by me. The tourists ask for the same directions, and the clock turns or does not turn the time. It's easy to forget the happy luck that brought me here to look not on strip malls but on architecture greater than any I had seen before. It is as easy here as it was in Alaska to forget to see what I'm looking at, to forget to appreciate this city for what it is. I'm trying to remember to note that the abbey, aided by the light and sky, has moods of it's own.

I've lived here for five years now, and it has only recently occurred to me to photograph the back of the Abbey, to take the time to stand back and take in the whole of the building, to wonder what it looked like before the taxi rank twirled around it. What, I wonder, did those hundreds of years of tired people think when contemplating their place below its towers.

Things I Miss From Home--Tootsie Rolls

After five years in England, it is reasonably rare that I crave anything that I can't get my hands on here. The problem did present itself more frequently in 2010 than it did in 2009. Since I can now speak to my family via video conference, I can also see things I had completely forgotten. Still, I can usually find or make the things that I see. Sun tea in my sister's glass--check. Cornbread--almost check. Jalapenos--close to check. Half-and-half--check.

I did spend most of last year looking at a giant box of Tootsie Rolls on the shelves behind my father's head. Each week, he'd offer to send me some. Each week, I told him not to bother. Sweets (candy) are heavy and therefore expensive to send. Besides, in between phone calls, I would completely forget about them. This Christmas, Dad and his wife sent me a whole box. There are only a few left. I'm pretty sure I have to share them.

The Price of Milk

I am inclined to tell you that I wish I had done better research into the cost of living here before leaving Alaska. I looked at all the obvious indicators before I agreed to pursue the remainder of my education here. A flat would cost me quite a lot more, but said flat would have running water and a nearby bus stop. So if I subtracted the cost of petrol (car gas), insurance, and wear and tear on the Mitsubishi, the cost seemed to even out. The cost of heating would go down, but the cost of water would go up. Even with the two-to-one exchange rate in 2005, it looked to me like my life was about to become significantly cheaper.

I had not counted on the cost of food. Nor had I counted on finding that I could no longer subsist on the cheap canned food that had gotten me through my first year in Alaska. The exchange rate is now 1.6 to 1. The cost of a milk in England is also much easier to come by.

Type in 'milk' into any of these sites to see what the major grocery stores are charging. There are 3.7 liters in an US gallon or 6.6 pints in an US gallon.

Waitrose--www.waitrose.com
Sainsbury's--www.sainsburys.com
Asda (Walmart)--www.asda.com
Tesco--www.tesco.com

If you want to see what your average weekly shop might be in your city you can use the tools at www.mysupermarket.co.uk

Today the average price of milk seems to be about 84 pence per litre, 3 pound a gallon, 5 dollars a gallon.

I'm glad I hadn't been able to do the maths (math) when I began my journey to England. I think I would have been to terrified to come here.

Things I Miss from Home

I love making cornbread from scratch, but cornmeal is hard to come by here. I've not managed to make polenta do the same thing, so a friend's husband very kindly brought me some mix from the States. I am ever so grateful for such good friends.

Now I just have to manage not to eat them before the BBQ tomorrow.