Little Known Fact

John and I went to see Quantum of Solace in the city today and also get an iphone for me. The movie was fun and it was good to get out and do something together besides walk around and shop.

After the movie I was standing outside the men's room waiting for John when I overheard this conversation.

Child: What was the bad guy trying to do?
Mother: He was trying to control foreign governments. Just like France controls our government.

Does anyone else in England (or France, for that matter) know about this? And, how did James Bond let it happen?

Name That Accent

Earlier this week John and I ate lunch at the Subway in town. John ordered first, but when I started talking the young man making my sub said, "Hey that's a cool accent. Where are you from?" At first I thought it was strange that he commented on my accent and not John's. But then I realized that I had asked for the "Italian herb and cheddar" bread. The British pronounce the "h" in "herb" and Americans do not and I suppose leaving out a letter entirely gets you noticed.

Today, a man from the UK Green Party came by our flat. He was going door to door. I let him talk for a minute or two because he didn't really seem to want anything and I didn't think it would take long. At some point John came downstairs to see who was at the door. Then the gentleman asked about how we like the new wheelie bins, so we told him that it's hard to keep track of which to put out when, but we're glad they recycle plastic now. After hearing us talk he asked, "Are you UK citizens?"
"No."
"Are you Canadian?" Again, I think he was specifically asking me, and not John.
"American."
"Oh, you don't have a strong accent."

I know I don't sound British, so I think what he meant was that he couldn't place my accent. And truthfully, I'd be hard pressed to place it myself. I learned how to talk from New Yorkers but lived most of my life in the South, so it's a little of both and neither. Let's say it's American, and leave it at that.

Cold Water, Warm Hearts

Happy Thanksgiving from the land the Pilgrims left behind.

John arranged a Thanksgiving potluck for the American Law students at school. We spent several hours yesterday cooking three large turkey breasts and making gravy. Once we arrived, John choreographed the setting up of tables and chairs for dining and tables for holding the feast. There were some traditional Thanksgiving foods like mashed potatoes, and some that were new like an Indian fried onion thing I can't pronounce the name of. There was even real pumpkin pie, like not from a can.

One of the undergraduates asked Ashby to tell them the Thanksgiving story. He talked about how the first Thanksgiving was between the Pilgrims and Native Americans and was a celebration of the harvest. He also said that even though he missed spending Thanksgiving with his family, he thought our celebration was very much in the spirit of the original Thanksgiving because we were different people coming together for a meal.

I like that. I think we were all thankful that we got to spend Thanksgiving together.

I am also thankful that after today there should be hot water flowing through the pipes again. And that although not having hot water for the past couple of days has not been ideal, the radiators still work, and the instant heating shower in the extra bathroom still works. So it could be worse. (The boiler is heating water, but the valve that diverts hot water into the pipes is broken so hot water is only going to the radiators.)

Today will be a day of catching up on chores and eating leftover turkey.

Teen Book Discussion Group

Yesterday Tessa and I headed into the city for lunch and some light shopping before I hiked over to County Hall to catch another ride to a book discussion group.

This time, the group was attended by librarians who work in the high schools. They read a list of teen books and also collected reviews from students who read the books. One of them was Just Henry (which I read and reviewed) and another was Kiki Strike (which I am currently reading and will review when I finish).

The dubious scheme for teaching children to read came up in this group also. This time I grabbed my pen: the Ruth Miskin Literacy Programme. Since these librarians only work with high schoolers, any students they encounter who aren't strong readers need serious help. But again, there was some doubt as to whether Ruth Miskin could help them. They seem to especially dislike the fact that her program is exclusive. The child is not suposed to read anything else while on it. And schools have to purchase the program as a complete package, they can not just take the pieces of it that they like.

I learned that school librarians here are hesitant to allow a student to check out a book the librarian believes to be on too high a maturity level. They fear backlash from parents and sometimes ask for a note before allowing a book to go home with a student. They did ask me how librarians handle this in the U.S. and I explained that if the book is in the library, the student is allowed to check it out. If a parent doesn't want their child to read a certain book it is their responsibility to prevent their child from checking it out.

When I returned home John, Tessa, and I took a fun trip to Asda and then ate sushi! Tessa left early this morning, but we will definatly have to visit her and the Cornwallian again before we move back to the States.

Cornwall

John and I got up early to catch a train on Saturday morning and it was snowing in Norwich!




















We rode a train from Norwich to Cambridge, from Cambridge to London King's Cross, the tube from King's Cross to Paddington, and a last train from Paddington to Exeter, St. David. In Exeter, the Cornwallian picked us up and drove is to the home he and Tessa have in Cornwall. We stopped to have a Cornish pasty on the way.

When Tessa got home from work we went shopping for our Thanksgiving feast. Chicken, bread, a butternut squash, and a swede. I cooked the chicken and it was very burned. Tessa made the swede and it was delicious!

On Sunday, John and I explored Cornwall while Tessa and her hubby were at work.















































Tessa drove us back to Norwich and she is visiting us for a couple days! I lured her here with promises of a tapas restaurant that serves jalapeno poppers. Here is a picture of me and Tessa and her two dogs Pegasus and Toucan. (Toucan is the one that almost isn't in the picture.)





















Today I had a quick health check so that I can use John's health center. The nurse (who was new) thought I had claimed to be 11 stone when I had actually written down that I weighed 115 lbs. She was shocked that I had so grossly overestimated my weight when I had actually just done another dumb American thing and used the wrong units.

But then Tessa and I went into the city and had the promised jalapeno poppers. Hooray!

Radio Silence

John and I are going to Cornwall this weekend to have an early Thanksgiving celebration with Tessa and "the Cornwallian." I am not bringing my laptop, so I will be incommunicado. But I should have plenty of pictures and stories once we get back!

I'll be Home for Christmas

John and I are flying home on the 16th of December and then coming back to England on the 30th. Start booking your time with us now before it's all gone!

I met with Libby today to talk more about doing school visits. I showed her the PowerPoint I've been working on (the one I had to redo thanks to another computer hiccup - and by hiccup I mean my hard drive died) and the paper airplanes I made (which were thankfully analog and so immune to my computer's problems).

She really liked them. She is going to see about scheduling some school visits beginning in January and I'll probably be doing programs in the library as well.

I'm looking forward to spending the holidays with my family and then being really busy when I return to Norwich.