Despite Eva Cassidy singing about 'Autumn
Leaves', it is most definitely 'Fall' in New England; we were marvelling today
at how we probably have all the same foliage in Europe but somehow it just
looks so much more beautiful here… perhaps the lack of rain?!
Anyway, the culture shock (and I mean that
in a positive way!) continues as I adapt my British/German ways to my new
American environment. This week's
highlights:
- I started playing in an orchestra this
week. Easy, I thought - the
international language of music. WRONG. I grew up with bars, crochets, quavers,
semi-quavers. Here they have measures,
full beats, half beats, quarter beats.
My desk partner probably thought I was heading for the exit when I had
no idea what was going on at the start of the rehearsal and initially didn't
play a note. Two and half hours of sight
reading later, I hope I managed to redeem myself.
- Milk.
Again, a surprise complication. In the UK we have full fat, semi-skimmed
(green top, for some reason the one most people drink) and skimmed (white
water). Here, there is whole milk, half and half, skimmed, 4%, 2%....
Confused.com. And yes, it does matter
which one goes in your tea.
- The pancakes are indeed as big as your
face, but damn, they are good in the USA.
Don't get me wrong, I love a crepe, but how do they get buttermilk
pancakes so fluffy?! This weekend I managed a double dose; I fear this may
become a regular habit.
- Fall foliage really is amazing. Here are a few snaps from East Rock running,
and West Rock walking this weekend. This
meant we also braved the bus, which in a land with very subtle bus stop signs
felt like something of an achievement.
It was so good to get some fresh air, and we were blessed with some
glorious New England sunshine as you can see.
Although if post-grad medical exams are to be believed, I will be
catching Lyme Disease at any moment. I’ll
keep you posted.
I am excited to have a VERY important
visitor (my bestie!) this week. I have
done some baking specially (although this was also a mixed success – again there
are certain ingredients e.g. flour I wrongly assumed would be the same! But hey,
the first round still tasted good and simply means I will have to make more)
and have cooked a batch of butternut squash soup. And I will be hopefully make
some lab progress. CRISPs(R), anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment