...and beyond!

Ready for something pretty profound? Here goes it: It's funny how no matter where I am, I am the same person. (wow.)

I'm in Scotland where people speak in different accents and eat sheep's stomach, but I still have a messy room. And I still like to lay on the couch with my friends and watch a movie instead of going to the pub. And I still spend hours on my computer instead of doing my homework. Hi, my name is Jackie and I'm pretty consistent.

In other news, I tried sheep's stomach. It's called haggis, it's a Scottish DELICACY. For reals. It was pretty decent, tasted like meat... They also eat sheep's blood--called black pudding. I haven't tried that yet, don't know if I will.

We really like to find differences in our pronunciations, vocabulary, and foods here in Darroch 3/3. Earlier this week, Fatti and I had our flatmates try a variety of peanut butter inspired combinations.

1. Peanut Butter and Jelly (or, Jam, as they call it)
2. Peanut Butter and Apples
3. Peanut Butter and Bananas
4. Cream Cheese (or, just "Philadelphia") and Jelly

Jill is the best at these games because as much as she loves America (my lovely Scottish flatmate is more in touch with US pop culture than I ever have been and can often be found singing the theme song for "the OC"), she is very stubborn in her ways. The idea of peanut butter with jam could not make less sense. And a bagel with anything other than butter or jam? Why would you do that? Crazy Americans...

Some of my favorite pronunciations include:

- con-trahhhh-vuh-see (controversy)
- oregon(like the state)-o (oregano)
- bahhh-sil (basil)
- gahr-idge (garage)
- gray-im (graham)

Some vocabulary of amusement:
BRITISH / AMERICAN
jelly / jell-o
jam / jelly
pudding / dessert
(i have tried numerous times, in vain, to attempt to explain what american pudding is)
tea time / dinner time
(jill calls it "t time")
to hoover / to vacuum
queue / line
(one can "Q-jump")
kirby clips / bobby pins
trainers / sneakers
physio / trainer
course / major
(ie, what's your course? = what's your major?)
till / cash register

A cupboard is a closet in the hallway or just a cupboard, a wardrobe is a closet for clothes, a corridor is a hallway. A car-park is a parking lot, a tack-board is a bulletin board, and a jumper is a sweater. But only a specific kind of sweater...I still don't quite understand the differentiation. We'd rather be anything than a Chav or NED--which are some what socially acceptable terms for "white trash." The word "piss" or "pissed" can be used in more ways than one could possibly imagine.

They also eat pancakes for dessert. We made an American breakfast on Thursday consisting of eggs, pancakes, and french toast. It was delightful.

Okay, now I am going to go work on a handwriting recognition program for my AI class. Ack...