The Smallest Cultural Differences

Right now, my laundry that I did yesterday morning, is hanging outside getting more wet in the rain. Because it's so cold, and there's little sun, it wasn't dry when I went to bed last night. And today it's raining. The next dry day is supposed to be Thursday, so it'll be then when I can bring it in.

I know this sounds crazy to a lot of my friends. Why am I not using a dryer, you might ask? Well, they just don't. I don't know if it's a Scottish thing, or a Stirling thing, but when I asked my landlady how to use the dryer, she looked at me like I was crazy. Almost everyone here line dries their clothes. I have a little thing that I can unfold to dry the clothes in the house, but it's not big enough and now the clothes would be dripping wet all over the wood floors if I brought them in now. I'm not sure if the dryer part of our washer/dryer even works (it's the same machine), so I get to wait for my clothes. It's definitely different. I think I've gotten too used to the instant gratification of the States.

This even applies to food. Take away is pretty common here. There are plenty of shops where you can get fantastic cheap food (usually an array of chips, fish and other fried meats, kabobs, etc.) but there isn't a place to sit. It's a real take-away. I've seen plenty of people stand out on the sidewalk with friends to eat when it's nice out, but a lot are like me and they live close to the shop and walk home to eat. But there are very, very few drive thrus. I was discussing this with a car full of people on the way home from church the other day. I made the remark that you have to get out of your car to get your food, and I'm not used to that. I kind of miss my drive thru (not to mention Wendy's and Taco Bell, neither of which are over here).

Americans are lazy and impatient. We are so used to getting what we want when we want. I knew when I came here that there would be differences to get used to, but I have to say, I wasn't thinking about how I did my laundry. I did know about the food, though. I'm going to miss chip shops when I'm state-side again. Now if we could just get drive-thru chip shops in the States! Haha.

Ugh, sick

I swear I've been sick for two weeks out of the five I've been here. I had a cold flying in (provided by my loving mother - great parting gift, huh?) and now I've caught another nasty one. Granted, I'm fairly susceptible to respiratory infections because I'm asthmatic and I'm in a completely new area, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I mean, I get to enjoy headaches and a possible fever along with the other perks of a cold.

I've also learned I can't let the dogs sit even close to my knee anymore. I'm hoping the pain will abate once I change some habits though. It's been a year since my surgery, and it really feels like that's been forever, but I know I could have done a lot more to take care of myself. For one, I was supposed to (well, recommended to) build up my thigh muscles so that the knee itself would have more support. For another, I really should be more careful on how much I bend and sit on my leg awkwardly. On an episode of "House" the other night, he cured this guy's 36 year-long pain by using a mirror box. But the guy was an amputee. Too bad it's not that easy for me since I still actually have my leg and all. haha

So you don't just end up reading the ramblings of a sick, annoyed person, I'll lighten the mood a little.

I'm thinking about doing my Master's dissertation on Scottish crime fiction. I knew it was a pretty popular thing over here, but I don't think I knew how much. For one, the small Waterstone's in Stirling has a wall dedicated to crime fiction. The wall's almost the same amount of space that they give to general fiction, with Ian Rankin taking a huge chunk of it. Another interesting thing is the obsession with the same type of programs. I could turn the TV on almost any time of day and find a murder mystery. And I only have 5 channels, since I'm not hooked up to the cable. There's a whole cable channel called Alibi, dedicated solely to crime shows, and a new local STV show that'll show real murder investigations going through the process. I think I'll be watching at least some of that one.

The interesting thing about these shows is they're mostly procedurals. By that I mean cops and lawyers, sort of like Law and Order or CSI. There aren't as many "amateur sleuth" shows like we have in the States. In fact, of the ones I've watched over the last month, I can't think of one I've seen. No "Psych" or "Burn Notice," though they do broadcast reruns of "Murder She Wrote," "Monk," and "Diagnosis Murder." Kind of strange choices to take from the American selection I thought. Well, except "Monk" because it is pretty much the most awesome sleuth show. Though he did used to be a cop, so I guess he doesn't really count as an amateur sleuth. Please feel free to debate that grouping in the comments. I would be interested to know your thoughts.

And you can probably tell I have a sinus headache. I guess it's off to bed for me. With one quick shout out to my brother and sister-in-law: You have yet to post pictures from October. And Aunt Marisa would like a video of Owen just like Grandma got. That's just unfair. I'm farther away. :P