Carols for Carol

[miladycarol]

Today was extremely warm. I’m not even sure of the temperature but it felt like it was in the upper 30’s C. In the afternoon we had a short thunder storm and some much needed rain. It cooled everything off nicely. This evening, The Family took us to a Carol’s by Candlelight celebration at this castle-like place. People on a stage played and sang carols and entertained the audience. We, the audience, purchased little white candles, lit them, and sat on the lawn and participated. This seems to be a tradition… a very well organized tradition judging by some of the folk surrounding us with lawn chairs, coolers, champagne, dips, chips, etc. We brought unwrapped gifts for children and the proceeds went to the Salvation Army of Australia.

As we walked to the car, it started raining again and is raining as I type. It will be so lovely falling to sleep to the sound of rain. I really miss my grey, rainy Eugene days.

Here begins some interesting observations on this very European holiday as experienced in a sub-tropical zone.

It’s so odd seeing Christmas décor juxtaposed with summer wear and flowering gardens. Santa seems a bit overdressed in his fur-lined flannel while the tots on his lap are wearing thin cotton sundresses. It’s a bit like visiting a parallel universe where everything seems similar, yet there is a consistent undercurrent of difference. It’s subtle, yet blatant.

Some of my vocabulary no longer applies here. Other words have changed meaning completely. For example, I can’t go to the market and ask for a quarter pound of cheese sliced thinly. They tend to look blankly at you. Here, there is no such thing as multi-grain bread. The closest I’ve found is Country Grain which has a couple of grains, but not the six or seven I’m used to.

Oh, and I drove a car for the first time here last Saturday. It was, um, different, being on the left side of the road driving from the right side of the car. I didn’t really have any problems driving but I did have a number of issues with the turn signals. I kept hitting the windshield wipers to indicate. Repeatedly. *sigh* Sometimes, I think I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Comments

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

Neil Gaiman writes of a similar nervousness driving in America. Culture Shock is completely normal even moving from one English speaking area to another. You should experience a period of initial adustment and then a period of even deeper strangeness, before really feeling at home. (Can you tell I studied culture shock in school this summer?)

I really miss you you know.

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[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Oh, you have no idea how I miss you, Skyemage and every other friendly face I know and love. It's so difficult being so alone. It's like George and I against the world. I need hugs. *opens arms widely to encompass both her distant friends in a big bear hug*

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

Hugs and hugs of course. If I didn't miss you, I wound't dream about travelling around the world in a yrain with you. In the tea shop of my mind we are sipping tea and nibling scones....

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[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Ah, in the tea shop in my mind, I'm home again with you sipping thee and nibbling toes... *lascivious grin*

Re:

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

I'm going to take you words, wrap them in tissue paper and keep them safely in my pocket so I can take them out and re-read them often. They will help keep me grounded and show me promise that it will get better. I've been anything but grounded here. I've been taking long walks alone at night thinking, talking to the universe, hugging native trees... and I still don't feel like myself. I'm so impatient for security and independence. I know, more of life's lessons. Nirvana better be really good! *grin*

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

In my opinion the only way to make friends with a new place is make friends with it's parts. Make bits of it familiar and use them as a starting place. You're okay. You're normal. It can take a lot of time. At least you're not trying to learn a new language at survival level at the same time.

I meet so many recent immagrants from places like the Ukraine and Chechnya. They are trying to get over trauma such as war, invasion, and religious persecution while adjusting to a fundamentally different language and culture. They are polite, but so many of them are angry. They are angry that they had to flee home. They are angry about being here and being forced to assimilate in a society with deeply xenophobic Americans. People yell at them: "Why don't you go home!" "Learn English, huh?" They face predudice and strange social conventions. I used to think our mistreatment of immigrants was about race until the mix shifted from mostly Mexican to 1/2 former soviet around here.

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[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Very true. I remember a time long ago in RI (a big port city and full of immigrants from varied countries for even more varied reasons) standing in line in a coffee shop with a woman in front of me trying to order coffee, not knowing the language well and taking a long time to explain what she wanted. The people behind were grumbling about being late and a barrage of other sly remarks. I don't think she got the right type of coffee in the end because when I had my coffee, I went to sit down and she was muttering to the cup and pushing it away. I approached and, using mostly gestures, indicated that she should look around and find the coffee she wanted on someone elses table and I'd try to help her order the correct one. We eventually got her the right kind and she seemed much happier. All it takes is a few moments. It's a shame we are always in such a rush.