A Fine Rain

Look it's an American with her wee doggie bag.

Today we walked into Wishaw with a fine rain coming down on us during part of the walk around town.  We had lunch in a coffee shop where the password to the wifi was pleaseleaveatip.  Patches of blue sky poked through here and there.  We laughed at the solar panels on the houses along our walk back in this dreary cloudy country.

Suddenly there was a beep that almost knocked us off the sidewalk.  We jumped around to the sound of a car pulling up and the driver inside saying, "Hey you guys!" in his best American accent.  My mother's cousin was headed to another paint and carpentry job.  He chatted and offered us a ride home but we wanted to stay out in the fresh air and walk.

The humor here can be either dark or daft - or both.  I noticed in the TV Listings that there's a quiz show called "1000 heartbeats" where they take your pulse and you have to get through all seven rounds before you hit 1000 beats.  We ordered curry from The Pink Turban the other night. When driving, a frown face lights up until the driver reduces their speed to evoke a happy face.  All around Glasgow there are pink signs up that read, "People Make Glasgow".

My mom asked me if I'm aware of my American accent here.  I could hear it coming out in the voices of the singers at the open mic where a man sang a Johnny Cash song and a woman sang Alisha Keys.  My cousin could imitate it as well, along with others.  I find my own intonation tends to go up and down "wee" valleys of sound waves in the air here.  I use their words and make fun of our words - while trying to find some good beer.

That'd be awesome.

I never feel more American than when I'm outside the States.  It's always given me perspective on how my flat nasal voice sounds to the rest of the world.  I can't fully see my culture until I leave it.

And I think that's pretty cool.

Dive in

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Ocean Art

Shark on board!

Clean up the sea!

Home of the Deep Fried Mars Bar

Hey guys!