SKANK
(adj) trashy, low class, football hooligan. In America, we say white trash.
Usage:
Friendly Brit: “No matter what, don’t travel to Brownsover. They’re all a bunch of Skanks."
Me: “A bunch of what?"
Brit: “Skanks. You know…how do you say it in America? Oh. White trash. Football hooligans, the whole lot of them."
Me: “Ah yes of course, silly me."
Glenn: “Brownsover? Isn’t that where you took us yesterday? We ate in the park."
Me: “Oops."
Word of the Day:
Faggot (I kid you not)
(n) a British meatball made from pig’s heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs. The mixture is shaped in the hand into balls, wrapped round with caul fat (the membrane from the pig’s abdomen), and baked.
Yum Yum.
Fancy a cup of tea with your faggot?
Here’s a funny excerpt from an email that Glenn set me the other day. It’s always funny to see the perceptions that people have of Americans. Some of them are true, of course, but they always seem to think that the stereotype will apply to all Americans, and not just some. I think the next time someone asks me why I’m not fat I’ll ask them why they don’t have bad teeth and a crooked nose. Give ‘em something to think about.
Email from G:
I was on my way back upstairs one minute ago, with my lunch salad in hand, and an orange, and I was met by a grinning Brit. Hey said, “You eat healthy for an American. You’re a quite slim American. That must be hard to do in the States. All American are so fat."
He proceeded to explain how, when he was in Alabama (blast that Alabama!), they served sandwiches for lunch, and they were enormous. That, and wherever they went for food, their portions were enormous. He continued, in a few different ways, to explain how remarkable it is to remain slim, and American.
THAT’s a funny stereotype. Granted, Alabama is no role model for American health. If that’s all Brits see of the states, it’s understandable. Regarding portions though, I can’t say the portions we’ve received here are much smaller.
So, there you go. In America’s defense, not all Brits are “slim". They aren’t obese, but there are plenty of beer bellies and very few muscles. Let’s just say you’d be hard pressed to find a gym around here.
After a month and a half of rushing to be prepared to leave the States we have finally made it! We are, for now, living in Rugby, a town in the center of England. It is very close to Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace) and Nottingham (where a certain man named Robin enjoyed terrorizing the local sheriff). The town itself is pretty nice, there are a lot of fun restaurants and pubs everywhere. The city center is exactly what you imagine European towns to look like- cobblestones, Victorian buildings squished into each other, old churches, and, of course, the clock tower (is it mandatory for every European town have one?).
Our hotel is simple but nice. The bed is a bit small, Glenn’s feet hang off the end, but they give us free tea, coffee, and “biscuits” every day so I won’t complain. Add a little chocolate and I might consider putting off apartment hunting!
We have several major tasks to complete in order to really get settled. First, find an apartment. We will either live here in Rugby or in Leamington, another local town. Second and third are getting a UK credit card and then a cell phone (American style credit cards are apparently outdated). Finally, we have to buy an umbrella. Considering the weather forecast I might want to move that to priority #1.
The crazy thing about being new to a country is that you literally know nothing about what is going on around you. Don’t let the familiar language fool you- England is a foreign country. They drive on the other side of the road, have funny tasting eggs, believe that “swipe” credit cards are from ancient times, and, by in large, are a little suspicious about these two Yanks. We are learning what road signs mean, new slang terms (apparently “cheers" is a universal term. It means hello, goodbye, thanks, your shoelace is untied…pretty much whatever you’d like it to), and what the names of various shops are. I wonder how long it will take before everything starts feeling normal. I’ve been trying to explore as much as possible while Glenn is working. It’s been a lot of fun discovering what this town is all about.
All in all, we’ve had a great first couple of days. This weekend we plan on traveling- we have so many places we want to see, the hardest part is deciding what to do first! Let us know if you have any suggestions!
Here’s a shot of our hotel.
The clock tower in town
