it’s funny that even after all this time, i can still be surprised by the little things that make the u.k. different.

for example the other day i used the phrase “it’s like comparing apples and oranges”… only to be told that the customary phrase here is “apples and pears”. how did i not know that? how did people not tell me? i must’ve said it a million times before, and nobody thought to mention.

yesterday, someone described themself as a “data entry clerk”… only they pronounced it “clark”. how could i have gone all this time without having heard that word spoken? yet i’ve known for a long time that they pronounce the word “derby” as “darby”, so it shouldn’t have been such a shock. but what i was astounded by most was the fact that such a common word had somehow escaped my notice for so long.

like some sort of alien, or person living in a bubble, these things are as new to me as if i’d just got off the plane.

and the not-infrequent usage of racial terminology that is (generously) considered archaic and (less charitably) ignorant or insensitive still blows me away. my hyperawareness of all things race-related – a truly american trait if there ever was one – has not yet dulled, though by now i should be used to some of this stuff. just today, in fact, in an official training for my new job, the trainer used the common-but-grating term “chinese whispers”; this is what americans would call the game “telephone” or “gobbledygook” to describe when people miscommunicate, but the phrase “chinese whispers” really pretty insulting if you stop to think about it. i’ve heard it lots, and it still never fails to make me wince.

but you could have knocked me over with a feather when he later said, “of Negro descent” to describe black people. i mean, i was truly *agog*.

and for the record, there were no black or chinese participants in that particular workshop session.

(i did make a point of writing on my course evaluation form that the instructor should probably refrain from using such terminology in the future, and that while i’m sure he didn’t intend to cause offense, he should be aware that some might find it inappropriate. as a representative of the local authority, he should be more careful about such things.)

sometimes i really do feel like i’m from another planet. after more than five years, that i’m still so surprised, is in-and-of itself… well, surprising. i get the feeling that if i were to be here for another 20, i’d still be discovering new things and remarking on oddities. because i will still be the new one, the odd one. it interjects a startling moment into what would be an otherwise routine day – i don’t think i’ll ever get used to that.

this expat life is sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, always weird.

dr. dog – ain’t it strange

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