It's the little things

Most things here in Scotland are not much different than home in the US. People speak english, the cuisine is not wildly exotic, and going to school here is the same as going to school at home. But there in lies the problem. If things were extremely different, I could use the, "What do I know? I'm just an ignorant foreigner," excuse, but because things are just slightly different, I get really really anxious when I'm out and about.

For example, the monetary system here is exactly the same as in the US: there are 100 pence in 1 pound, similar to 100 cents in 1 dollar. But here there are 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, and £2 coins and there are three major banks, each having their own designs for the various notes (£5, £10, £20, etc.). The £5 notes from one bank are worth the same as from the other two, but they just have a different design on them. Then, throw into the mix the fact that England produces their own notes - which are still the same value as the Scottish banks' notes. When I'm at a store or quick restaurant, it seems like everyone else just whips out exactly what they owe, but needless to say, it takes me a little bit longer to make sure that I'm paying the amount I should be. And that makes me a little anxious.

Even walking around is just different enough that I really have to pay attention to what's going on! In the US the traffic at a stoplight usually allows one direction of traffic (let's say east) to move at the same time as the oncoming traffic (west). And, simultaneously, pedestrians walking parallel to the traffic motion can cross the street. This continues until the moving traffic gets a red light and then the stopped traffic can start moving in the north and south directions. Here in Scotland, traffic moves in one direction at a time. For example, first all the northbound traffic gets the green light, then the eastbound traffic gets their turn, then the southbound, and westbound traffic. Only after all cars have their turn at the green light do pedestrians get to cross the street. But since all directions of traffic are stopped when pedestrians cross, you are allowed to walk diagonally across the intersection. Of course, this isn't the case at all intersections, so I need to watch out for that. Add into all of this the fact that traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road so sometimes I'm not entirely sure which way to look before crossing a street! I grew up always looking left before crossing a street first and then right because the immediate traffic comes from the left when you drive on the right-hand side of the road. So it's amazing how unnatural it feels having to make that conscious effort to look to my right first if I don't want to get hit by bus driving by!

And then there are gelatinous foods. Yes, while most of the food is similar to what is in the States, things here are just called something different, but I remember getting confused looks when once I mentioned peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You see, jelly in the US is not jelly here. When I say jelly, the Scots picture jell-o. So our jell-o is their jelly; our jelly is their jam; our jam is their jam-with-bits. And even when I get things right and say peanut butter and jam, they still think I'm kind of crazy! But they love ice cream and jelly (the jell-o/jelly), which I think is intriguing and will have to try. I've mentioned that I like my jelly (the jell-o/jelly) with bits of fruit in it or marshmallows and they like the idea of bits of fruit, but don't quite understand the marshmallow piece of it. I also mentioned that Jell-O and Bill Cosby are frequently associated with one another, but apparently he was not a spokesperson for jelly over here, so that association is met with blank stares. What we call pudding in the US is also definitely not a common snack over here; yet, they eat pudding all the time. It's just that the word "pudding" is used to classify any type of dessert food. Thus, restaurants will have a pudding menu but there will be no pudding (US-kind) on it!

So what all this boils down to, really, is that I'm getting along fine with the big changes of moving far away from anything immediately familiar and into a big city where you kind of have to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior while walking down the street. The little things, however, slow me down just enough for me to notice and feel like I'm inconveniencing the native Glaswegians. So if I do, well...just give me some time and I'll come around!