They're Selling Soda Pop, Aren't They?

I don't know if this link to the recent Orangina ad will be viewable in the U.S. but give it a try. It is totally bizarre. The French creators are pretty proud of it.

The Post

In the United States, for the majority of home dwellers, the delivery of mail happens far from their actual dwelling. How many times have you experienced the fruitless effort of walking to the mailbox only to find that the mail had not yet arrived? Well here, we have a mail slot in the front door, so on Saturday mornings, when I am quietly enjoying my first cup of coffee of the day, mail comes flying in as the slot snaps shut. It is very jarring and I jump unexpectedly every time. I was telling my co-workers this and they had a good laugh. The other really weird thing that I learned this week is the mail only gets delivered to one’s home here. There is no pick up service. You have to go to a community mailbox to send your mail. So the Royal Mail delivers it, but to send it you have to go to a place called the Post Office if it can’t fit in the community mailbox for pickup. We have been receiving mail for the owner of the house that we are renting and have been given a forwarding address. I put a stack of it on the porch thinking the mailman would take it with him and it was still sitting there the next day. Again, my co-workers thought this was funny. I told them that the postman must think the folks at number 63 are nuts, since there is mail sitting on porch. One of them added, “Especially since they hear screams on Saturday morning when they stick the mail through the slot”. Oh, the silly American amuses them once again.

More Gun Talk

I was recently asked by someone here if I carried a gun when I lived in the U.S. which made me laugh out loud.

New School, New Rules

H has been spending his time taking back the uniforms that we had bought for the school we thought A would be attending, and buying the new uniforms. In some ways, this school is less strict on the uniform, by not dictating the color of the shoes, coats, and bags. However, this school states that hair must not be colored and must be worn neat, preferably pulled back in a black or navy blue ponytail holder. When H read this aloud to her, there was a huge sigh as A stomped out the room exclaiming that they were trying to take the fun out of everything! We laughed of course. I have to remind her that I used to have to wear a brown plaid pleated skirt and a blouse the color of nicotine stained teeth as a uniform, and then she has no comeback.

Since she had to have the light ends of her hair cut off, she decided to get a lot cut off to make the “neat” part easier.

American Politics

When American politics is taking an interesting turn, it is a bit hard being out of the country. On one of the morning shows here, an American journalist who is based in London said a recent poll revealed that Brits would vote for Obama 5 to 1. His life experience makes him more of an international figure which makes the world a lot more excited about watching this race.

I was asked by a friend here who caught some of the Democratic National Convention, particularly Michelle Obama’s speech, what I thought of her giving a speech. This person thought that the Brits who are a lot more cynical than we are would think that was all just a big show and it would really annoy them. I told them that first of all it’s part of the game. Every politician in the U.S. must do these things, including trying to paint the picture of a perfect first family. I also said that Americans also are cynical about that, especially when you look at the recent John Edwards situation. But I do think that most Americans (like me) like to have a cheerleader in front of them every once in awhile. Part of our culture, whether some would argue it is a myth, is the idea of the American Dream. We like to feel like anything is possible. After discussing this with my friend, I didn’t realize how unique that perspective is. In our heart of hearts, we know one man can't fix it all, but also in our heart of hearts, we don't want to give up that glimmer of hope that he might.

Olympic Controversy

This was water cooler talk after the Olympics.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4603690.ece

A. Turns 13

We are now officially parents of a teenager. Yikes! We plan to spend the evening watching episodes of the new season of Project Runway, our favorite show that is NOT broadcast in the UK. Our buddy M sent several episodes last week and we thought we would save it for a special occasion.

Thanks so much M! We couldn’t live without our Project Runway!