A Little Bit English

I've been just itching to get back to the Library to post again. The children ran over to my friend, Kim's, house on Saturday evening to see if Lucy could go to church with us on Sunday. They told Kim we were staying another two weeks and she got so excited, she came over to visit. She and her husband, Kevin, were going out for the evening, so she came over all dressed up while Kevin got ready. We had a cup of tea standing in the kitchen and she began telling me how excited she was that we were staying.

"I know you're probably not happy, but the children and I are thrilled," she said. Then she began telling me about the impact we've had on her.

"Sam (her 4-yr. old who plays with Daelyn) asked me the other day what gas was," she told us. "I said it was when you have a tummy ache."

" 'No!' Sam said. 'Not that kind of gas. The kind you put in a car.'

Kim: "That's Petrol, baby, not gas."

Sam: "It is SO gas. Daelyn told me."

Kim: "That's the American word, Sam. The Americans call it gas. We call it petrol."

Sam: "It's GAS, Mama. That's what Daelyn says. You put GAS in your car."

She went on to explain that her daughter, Lucy, no longer calls her "Mum", as she has since she began talking. She's now "Mama" with a distinctive southern drawl. And, unlike everyone else in the U.K., who call our country "America", Lucy now calls it the U.S., again, with a southern drawl.

Kim had me in tears I laughed so hard listening to her imitation of her children imitating us. Then I explained that we're dealing with the same issue on our end.

Sunday morning after church, while waiting in the coffee line for my tea and biscuit in the family room, Daelyn ran up to me.

"Mum," he said, "where's the bin (English for garbage can)?

"Why do you need a bin, son?" I asked.

"For my biscuit (cookie). I don't like it and need to throw it in the bin."

Boots are now Wellies (short for Wellingtons, English rubber boots) and the kids request tea to drink when we go out. Deanna uses the word "mind" for "pay attention to" as in "Mind the gap", which you hear incessantly in the London tube stations, encouraging you to watch the gap between the platform and the train upon entering and exiting. We're not even quite sure how deeply we have been influenced by these English.

Anyway, Kim and Kevin are making plans to visit us for 5 days next March. Kim has a brother in Baltimore and they plan on flying into Atlanta, renting a car and driving to Augusta, then heading through Virginia to her brother's for a week or so. I'm in the process of encouraging my friend, Ann, to consider the same.

Don's home right now. He hopped on a plane Sunday morning, arrived home Sunday night, and gets back on a plane Tuesday afternoon for Manchester. He had to restart the clock at work on his away time, or he'd lose his security clearance.

I'm dying to tell you about our week with the rental car, but the library closes for lunch in 15 minutes and I've just gotten a 3-min. warning, so it'll have to wait until next time.

For the Shrewsbury's - Mark and Rose, we tried our darnedest to get to Shrewsbury in Wales on Thursday. I'm told it's a lovely town and I wanted to visit your namesake, but I was just too tired to spend 4 more hours driving. Perhaps we'll have another chance. In any case, I've been thinking of you and love you both. By the way, they pronounce it Shrowsbury. Can't wait to get home and talk with you about it.

Love to all. Hope to write again soon.