Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

When I go back and visit the States, as I recover from the reverse culture shock that ensues upon seeing scads of superstores and restaurants lining the sides of every major road, I am always struck by how friendly the complete strangers in these places are. I never really appreciated it when I lived in North Carolina, but the place is chock full of outgoing, friendly folks. Back in Hick'rey, you'd think nothing of asking a stranger in the grocery store if they'd tried the new Sara Lee frozen Key Lime pie on aisle 7. You'd absolutely expect the guy with "Ricky" stitched on the front of his shirt to hold the door for you as you exited the store with a load of shopping bags. (He might even help you to your car, especially if you were pregnant or had children, and then he'd say, "Have a nice day, ma'am," and he would actually mean it .) You would totally strike up a conversation with that lady in the waiting room at the dentist office when you ...

I was talking to a friend in the States several weeks ago, and when she asked how it was going, I surprised myself a little when I responded, "I think I finally 'get it' here." Thanks to my LitePod, I have not suffered from a depression this winter, but it's not just that. Britain has grown on me and with me. I still love the good ole USA and look forward to returning there someday (probably at the end of next school year), but I've been here for more than three years now, and it has become my home. When we return to the States to visit, I already feel a bit of reverse culture shock. Even when we're in a recession, the USA seems grand and decadent to me after getting used to life here. Since I regularly communicate with people on both sides of the pond, I realize/ realise how much my language (and spelling) has changed. Shortly after arriving in the UK, we picked up on a few word subsitutions that needed to be made: "diapers" became "nappi...