Skip to main content

US Plus and Minus


Counters
So, hopefully... if all flights have gone according to plan and my family have not killed me because of the fact that I turn into a horrible monster through my travel schedule induced anxiety... I am back in NI after 7 weeks in MI.

So what will I miss about the US... Apart from the wonderful people we met that is (although if all of them take us up on our offer to visit 9 Rosepark will be very full! But don't let that stop anyone...)?

Well, first let me say a few things I will not miss... In no particular order...
  • US DSL internet... It is dreadful... So slow.
  • US cars... Big, bulky, all noise and no poke, with steering so vague as to be notional
  • MI roads... People say it is down to the weather... freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer... but putting some tax dollars into maintaining infrastructure might be a good idea (even if it won't get you re-elected)
  • US TV. We already get the best of American programmes in the UK, and after 7 weeks of American TV I will never complain about the adverts on our commercial channels again.
  • The sugar in most foods here... even baked beans would put you into a diabetic coma.
  • The humidity...
  • The bugs... The mosquitoes and the "no-see-ums" that devour you at dawn and dusk.

But these things are more than made up for by:

  • The quality of service in restaurants (and Canada take note... you are rubbish in comparison with the US)
  • The buying power of the Pound (but now the British economy is tanking so that no longer counts)
  • The sugar free ice-cream available here...
  • The warmth...
and finally
  • The showers... Why is it that even the worst hovel I have ever stayed in over here always has a great shower... Such a great way to start the day...
So, keep your cars and your bugs but please send us your plumbers!

And thanks to everyone who made the last 7 weeks such a fabulous experience for me and all my family...
Labels:

Comments

Pat Sutherland said…
.....and we will miss you and your family.It was a wonderful experience for all of us!

an "abnormal" member of Faith UMC
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 1:11:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known." I am a woman of no distinction of little importance. I am a women of no reputation save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, Though you don’t really take the time to look at me, Or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, And to be loved is to be known. Otherwise what’s the point in doing either one of them in the first place? I WANT TO BE KNOWN. I want someone to look at my face And not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears; But to see all that I am, and could be all my hopes, loves and fears. But that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for So I don’t, not anymore. Now I keep to myself And by that
2 comments
Read more

Psalm for Harvest Sunday

A short responsive psalm for us as a call to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, and given that it was pouring with rain as I headed into church this morning the first line is an important remembrance that the rain we moan about is an important component of the fruitfulness of the land we live in: You tend the land and water it And the earth produces its abundance. You crown each year with your bounty, and our storehouses overflow with your goodness. The mountain meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are filled with corn; Your people celebrate your boundless grace They shout for joy and sing. from Psalm 65
3 comments
Read more

Living under the Empire... (2) Where is Babylon?

We were driving back from school last week, talking about books that we had been reading and my younger son, Ciaran, asked me "Where is Babylon?" I have to confess that my history is better than my geography, and I said that it no longer exists as an inhabited city, but its ruins were to the north west of the current capital of Iraq, Baghdad. When I checked however, I discovered that it is actually about 50 miles south of Baghdad and the modern town is the administrative centre of the province of Babil... But just as the modern city is but a shadow of the historic capital of 2 ancient empires, first under Hammurabi in the 18th century BCE and then the "Neo-Babylonian" empire (under Nebuchadnezzar etc) in the 6th century BCE, so the earthly Babylonian empire/s was/were fleeting in comparison to the enduring metaphorical idea of Babylon. The original Empire under Hammurabi was probably the ultimate origin of some of the early Biblical stories, including the &quo
Post a Comment
Read more