the rare weekend where I actually *did* something more than sit around noodling on the computer. my work friend had her 30th birthday party on saturday – drinks and a big dinner at a nice pub in greenwich. but it was also one of the rare occasions where i was completely surrounded by brits i didn’t know. i was a bit nervous, since it was quite a large group, and the only person I knew was alison – but i’d completely forgotten that the novelty of being an american in an unknown group is a bit like being a walking conversation piece. it’s been so long since i was in an social situation where i was the foreigner, since most of my friends here are expats, that i’ve forgotten just how the topic of discussion always seems to revolve around the interrogation of the american: “how long have you been here? why’d you come over? where in the states are you from? what do you think of london?”

and the people i met were all perfectly lovely (and suprisingly pro-american) but it was a bit of a shock to the system. it made me realise how i’ve inadvertently insulated myself in a non-british bubble of my own making. not through lack of trying, since god knows, I really have put myself out there to try to meet new people. i took all sorts of classes, went out by myself, and generally tried to make friends any way i could. but somehow it’s never really borne any fruit. the brits, while very nice, seem to be somewhat wary of the newcomer.

whereas all my expat friends and i automatically have a commonality. we can talk easily about what we find love/hate about living here without worrying about accidentally insulting someone’s country or culture. more often than not, we all use the same lingo, and have similar experiences. conversation isn’t stilted because you have to interrupt a story to explain the background (such as people felt the need to do last night about the school system, television programmes, etc.) it’s just *easier*.

and it makes me feel a little sad – i know i’m not getting the most from this experience because i don’t know what it’s really like to live amongst brits. outside of work, i live amongst south-africans and other americans. not by choice, but by default. it’s easy to see now, why immigrants from other countries form little communities, cultural pockets. when you’re never fully accepted as just one of the group, no matter how long you’ve been here, it’s almost instinctive that you would gravitate towards others who immediately recognise you as one of their kind.

i don’t want to feel “cut-off” from the people around me. i like britain and brits in general, and have tried hard to make myself open to learning about them and accepting their culture. now if only they would do the same.

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