Monday, September 24, 2012

I'm International, Who knew?

To anyone who has ever said that humor doesn't translate - you are simply not funny. It's true! Today I was sitting at a table enjoying a lunch that was provided for international students and I had a whole table cracking up because my last name is McDonald. Generally I just introduce myself as Macy, but one of the students from Germany asked if that was my whole name and I (reluctantly) said "No, actually my name is Macy McDonald." At this table there were students from Germany, Austria, France, Spain, the U.S. and the U.K. and without exception they all laughed.
And that's when it hit me, I am an international student! I've become one of those people that I used to glance at from across the room and wonder, what are they laughing at? What kind of humor appeals to everyone from all over and how come they are all friends? Well now I know. The major brands are fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you feel about big business) universal. And international students (like me!) are all friends because even though we are from all different places, we are all in the same boat. We are all far away from home and in a place we don't really quite "get". Everything is just a little bit different, even for me and the native tongue is my first language. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for the students who don't understand everything that is being said.
Although to be honest, I don't understand everything that is being said either. I mean most Americans know that here chips are fries and lifts are elevators, but did you know that American style bacon is called "rashers"? If you just order "bacon" you end up with some weird really thick slice of ham. Also "fanny" is a word that you must avoid... It refers to a very different part of a woman's anatomy.
On top of that some of the accents are a little difficult to grasp, especially Scottish. Welsh is also much thicker than English and the older the person is, the more difficult it is to understand them. I've had more that one non-native English speaker come up to me and ask what somebody just said because, according to them, the American accent is easier to understand.
Obviously the American accent is easier for me as well, but I'm not sure why it is easier for them. I think maybe it has something to do with pop culture. Americans may not realize it, but our culture is everywhere; our music, movies, and products (like the afore mentioned McDonald's) infiltrates more than just our own country. It's worldwide. I have to say that I'm a little embarrased, a couple of people have asked me if American life is really like American Pie. I was mortified. I also set them straight very quickly, but politely. No wonder so many people want to move to the U.S. I mean if they think life is the way it is in the films, not just American Pie specifically. Although most of my favorite films are British and I came here so maybe I'm not in a position to mock their logic...

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

As of yesterday I have been here for a whole week and I thought it might be good to think about what I have learned thus far. I don't know about any of you, but the easiest way for me to do basically anything is through comparing and contrasting, like the adorable Gilmore Girls, I'm a big fan of pro/con lists. So after absolutely no consideration what so ever, here is a random list of pro's and con's between here and home.

Pro's

  • The dorm rooms here have an actual maid service! No lie, they cleaned my room and made my bed (with fresh sheets) today.
  • I'm of legal drinking age here (enough said)
  • The people are extremely aware of what is going on in the U.S. right now (they know more about our politics than I do) and they love any opportunity to hear what I think about it.
  • As an American I'm kind of exotic, and therefore instantly more interesting than I am at home.
  • They recycle everything! The whole island is so eco-friendly.
  • I am a 5 minute stroll from the ocean, which means....
  • SUPER FRESH SEAFOOD!!!
  • Also they have Indian restaurants everywhere and they pretty much rock.

Con's

  • Breakfast...
    • The eggs are poached
    • They serve beans and tomatoes for who knows what reason
    • They think a biscuit is a cookie and they don't have anything to replace it with
    • Even though gravy makes it's way into all of the other meals (they even put it on top of fries, or "chips") it hasn't found it's way to the 1st one yet
    • The hash browns are just indescribably worse
    • Scones are obviously served with tea because without it you need someone to administer the Heimlich maneuver
    •  Bacon (God's real gift to women) is really just thinly sliced, overcooked, chewy ham.
  • The classroom structure is extremely rigid and sometimes I have to literally cover my mouth with my hand to keep myself from speaking.
And last, but never least,
  • I miss my family.
And on a super irrelevant and slightly ridiculous note, they don't have any Taco Bell's here. I know that sounds silly, but it's so addictive and I'm having major withdraws! I would kill for a cheesy potato stuffed burrito right now. They don't really have much Mexican food here at all which is sad when you come from the happy land of over sized Tex Mex.

Friday, September 7, 2012

I arrived in London on the 5th so I have officially neglected my poor little blog for 3 whole days and I have so much stored up to report on! Here are the highlights:

  • 8 hour plane rides suck, even people who have never flown probably know that.
  • The weather has been perfect! Not a rain drop or a cloud in sight the whole time I have been here!
  • London is a very awesome city with a horribly confusing mass transit system, I didn't get lost or anything, but I was afraid I might.
  • Gower Peninsula is the most naturally beatiful place I have ever been to ( when I'm not exhausted from three straight crazy days of travel, I will post some pictures of it).
  • People from Wisconsin really do have an amusing accent (one of the other students is from Green  Bay)
  • Welsh people are extraordinarily friendly! They put everyone else to shame when it comes to just being amazingly helpful and cheerful about it.
  • British food is just enough like American food that you think you are knowing what you are getting when you order it, but just different enough that in the back of your mind you wonder if you were given someone elses food.
So far I am having an amazing time, but it still feels like I'm on vacation at this point and I'm just not sure how well I'm going to handle it when I realize that I am not going to see my family (or my dog) until 102 days from today. I already miss them even though I am using skype and facebook to try and keep up with them as much as possible, at the end of the day I still feel like I didn't get to say all of the things that I wanted to say. Hopefully having this additional form of communication will help me deal with the comm overload.