tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43980840698066846442024-03-19T05:24:42.249-07:00a year in wordsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-5241220557581589972011-08-22T10:14:00.000-07:002011-08-22T12:09:23.259-07:00Last Word: HomeInterestingly, the place where I usually get my etymologies only offers this sense of home: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">O.E.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">ham</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"dwelling, house, estate, village." </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In that sense, anywhere I have a roof over my head is home. The OED (the word-lover's bible) captures exactly the sense I was looking for: </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"The place of one's dwelling or nurturing, with the conditions, circumstances, and feelings which naturally and properly attach to it, and are associated with it."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<div>The part I like is "feelings which naturally and properly attach to it." You don't force your feelings on a place and you can't create feelings about somewhere. They naturally form, and it's only after you've been somewhere a while or when can pull yourself outside of your surroundings that you realize certain feelings have formed. It's strange that the writer of the definition would include the word "proper." They felt it important to emphasize that no matter what the feelings are, they are not wrong. They are right and proper feelings.<br />
<br />
Getting attached to Edinburgh and Scotland does have a lot to do with the city-scape and countryside and looking out my window at castle everyday. But, really, I didn't realize how much home was attached to the people I've gotten to know until two of my best friends moved 2 1/2 hours up north. It really signified the beginning of the end. Sharing experiences is part of what makes a life. I've been so fortunate to have friends and family visit so at least when Alex and I reminisce, some of them will know what we are talking about.<br />
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<div>It's really strange assessing the length of a year at this point (*starts singing "525,600 minutes....."* not really though). I remember when we had such an ordeal getting our internet and banking set up last September. We didn't even have a phone yet. Oddly, those things do make you feel like you belong once you have them. It's weird to think there was a point when we didn't have them. Things have also changed around town. Scaffolding goes up. Scaffolding comes down. Buildings get finished. Mosque Kitchen is now a legitimate restaurant protected from the elements!<br />
<br />
But there's so much we've missed in GR too: a new nephew, Sarah and Mike's and Dylan and Hannah's engagements, many weddings, friends moving away... When I talk about GR and when I talk about Edinburgh, I refer to both of them as "home." And they are both home in the OED's sense of the word too. Unless you've lived in another place, you don't understand how two places can be home. It's especially strange here because it's even two different cultures. I like it though. I like having home here and home back in GR.<br />
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It's easy to think this is the end, but things have a way of coming back to you. In 2008 when I visited Edinburgh, I loved this city and always wanted to come back. Three years later and here we are. Ben and Rachel left three weeks ago and we didn't think we'd see them for a few years, but we had the chance to visit them spontaneously this weekend. You never know if it's the end or not. That's really encouraging.<br />
<br />
I really didn't know what this blog post was going to be when I started but I'd like to share with you some of the lists I've compiled of the new things we've experienced or gotten into since we've been here. They can't really capture our time here but they have added to my life and I am taking these experiences with me. I'm sure the lists are not entirely comprehensive as I've only thought to write them in the past month or so...<br />
<br />
New games we've learned:<br />
Up and Down<br />
Risk<br />
Carcassonne<br />
Mapominoes<br />
Pass the Pigs<br />
Angry Birds<br />
and a card game with a bad name that Rachel taught us that's really fun :)<br />
<br />
New foods we tried:<br />
Venison (I'd never had it but Al had)<br />
Haggis<br />
Mutton<br />
Ostrich<br />
Mackerel<br />
Gooseberries<br />
and several delicious cheeses from the cheesemonger<br />
<br />
Some fun events we've taken part in:<br />
Christmas at the Forsyths'<br />
Scottish Beer Festival<br />
Fire Festival on Calton Hill<br />
Hogmanay-New Year's torch walk<br />
Being Mary and Joseph in the Christmas pageant at church<br />
urban foraging at Greyfriar's Kirkyard<br />
Farmer's market on Saturday mornings<br />
Christmas Market<br />
I guess there's quite a lot to list!</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
Places we've been while here:<br />
Stirling, Fort William, Dunfermline, Linlithgow, Glasgow, Isle of Skye, North Berwick, Inverness, Melrose, Cramond Island, London, Bamburgh (England), York, Bruges (Belgium), Brussels, Tallinn (Estonia)<br />
<br />
I want to thank you readers for encouraging and supporting Alex and I while we've been here. Thank you for being interested in us and what we are doing. We appreciate it so much.<br />
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Well, I've got to finish cleaning and packing before we sit down to our last mutton meal. It's strange to be leaving home and yet going home too. I know though, a new home will be somewhere around the corner again and I can't wait for it.<br />
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</div><div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-78168679259000259622011-07-30T13:56:00.000-07:002011-07-30T13:58:23.805-07:00Twenty-Second Word: Excursion<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>excursion</i>- from Latin, noun of action from pp. stem of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">excurrere</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"run out, run forth, hasten," from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">ex-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"out" (see</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="crossreference" href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ex-" style="color: #800020; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">ex-</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">) +</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">currere</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to run"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">. Sense of "journey" recorded in English by 1660s.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This week Jordan, Alex and I took a "last hurrah" trip to Estonia's capital, Tallinn. After working long and hard to get 13,000 words on my dissertation before our travels, I almost felt as if this excursion was my act of "running out" of Edinburgh to get as far away from my laptop as possible. While we were planning this trip, friends and family kept asking, "Why Tallinn?". Here's why:</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I forgot what it was like to be hot. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">When you are used to 50-60F weather ALL. YEAR. ROUND. in Edinburgh, 80F and humid is pretty shocking. In Michigan, you build up a desire for heat and humidity during the long, cold winter months. I secretly enjoyed sweating for once and I already miss my shorts and flip-flops now that we're home.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div>Anyway, here's a brief synopsis of our three days in Estonia:<br />
<br />
The night we arrived:<br />
-we ate dinner at an underground German pub/restaurant, more of an experience than we thought. It was completely empty except for us. We had great and inexpensive food. The appetizer we ordered was brought to us without the accompanying small plates so we opened our napkins and ate off of those. Some translator for the menu decided that "Additives" would be the heading for the list of side dishes. And instead of playing typical pub music what was playing? yes, it was polka. oddly, this was not our only encounter with polka on this trip...<br />
-we meandered through Old Town after dinner and found a pub called Hell Hunt ("affectionate wolf" or basically "good doggie"). This became our staple pub while we were in Tallinn.<br />
<br />
Day 1<br />
-Food is always a cultural experience wherever you go. The night before we bought decent looking cereal and some milk for the next morning. Well, we bought tasteless Cardboard Crunchies or something because it was terrible. And the milk actually had yogurt cultures in it so it was soured and thick. eeewww<br />
-We headed up Toompea Hill where the Russian orthodox cathedral and the parliament buildings are located. It was full of tourists but sickeningly cute. Great views out over the city.<br />
-On our way to lunch in a neighborhood of Tallinn we walked through Balti Jaar market, which was a cultural experience to say the least. This open-air market was selling anything from bras to russian baked goods and rotting produce.<br />
-The 3.50 Euro lunch we had was fabulous though. That translates to about $5 (drinks included) so we wound up paying about 12 euro for the three of us.<br />
-We walked through a shady area (which means awesome pictures of rust and erosion) on our way to a former Soviet prison on the coast. We walked along the Baltic Sea a bit until we got to a behemoth concert hall/part-time Soviet fortress that we wandered around.<br />
-We had amazing crepes at Kompressor restaurant and then went to Krug Inn for beer. Krug Inn is a medieval pub selling "Worthy elk soup full of taste" and 6 kinds of pies, all for 1 euro each. "Every drink calls for 2 euro money" so it was really cheap! You could also "catch your own pickles" out of a barrel :) Awesome, we stopped by every day for a pie, they were so good!<br />
<br />
Day 2<br />
-Being so hot and so near water we had to head to the beach. We, of course, got off at the wrong bus stop but got to walk down a woodland trail to find our way back. The boys swam and I sun-bathed. The water was a bit too cold for my taste. There were jellyfish everywhere! I love the ocean :)<br />
-After a hot afternoon we went back for showers and went to dinner at yet another underground pub and guess what they were playing? polka! Halfway through our meals, what should come on the radio but, oh my gosh, Old MacDonald Had a Farm. yes, in German. All I understood was the E-I-E-I-O. I don't know which was worse though, that that song was playing in a pub or that neither Jordan nor Alex could remember how the song goes in English!<br />
-We walked around parts of Old Town we hadn't been to after dinner and got some drinks to bring up to the hill in Vabaduse (Freedom) Square where we wound up most evenings for sunset.<br />
<br />
Day 3<br />
-We took a tram to Kadriorg Gardens where the Kadriorg Palace and the President's Palace are. We saw both. At the President's Palace we got to see the changing of the guard. It's weird how we could just walk down the driveway and stand in front of the Palace (house) because you certainly can't in Washington, DC or even here in Edinburgh.<br />
-We thrift-shopped our way back into Old Town and headed to a neighborhood south of where we were staying to get lunch at a cool cafe. The area of town we were in left something to be desired though so after about an hour of meandering we made it back to Hell Hunt for final beers. We went to a really fancy dinner of duck, rabbit, and mutton only to top it off with (of course) soup and pies from Krug Inn :)<br />
<br />
Tallinn is a must for anyone travelling to eastern Europe. It was as charming, if not more so, than Bruges, and bigger. It was cleaner and more "western" than Budapest, but it was quite touristy in Old Town. Also, for being on the Euro it was really inexpensive! I wouldn't recommend Estonia for their beer culture (or lack there of) though.There are quick hops to Helsinki and Stockholm by ferry. We had such a good time and it was great going with one of our best friends, Jordan. If this is the last excursion we take before we come home in less than a month then it was a really great one.<br />
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Say What?<br />
As three linguists, we really enjoyed trying to figure out Estonian as best we could with what little we knew ahead of time. You can figure out a surprising amount if you try. Like <i>laim</i> is...lime. Easy, right?<i> </i>Ok, now you <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>apelsini </i>is....orange.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><i>õnu </i>is...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">apple. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;">yea, ok.</span><br />
<i></i><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-50546774668455080362011-07-17T11:51:00.000-07:002011-07-17T11:51:25.299-07:00Twenty-First Word: Appetite<dt class="highlight" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">appetite: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">c.1300, "craving for food," from Anglo-Fr. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">appetit</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, O.Fr. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">apetit</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> (13c.) "appetite, desire, eagerness," from L. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">appetitus</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> "appetite," lit. "desire toward," from </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">appetitus</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, pp. of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">appetere</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to long for, desire; strive for, grasp at,"</span></span></span></dt><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
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This blog is dedicated to my culinary lifestyle guru Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and host of the inspiring show River Cottage. Haha, this picture captures Hugh in more ways than you could know :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif560qd5g_cxyL_JJdfz_Cm_-cdFG7b1fxKX_7hIW22ta6c7EYo9JQlZ9u2nokUUS3ef_yrM6mV5BkrOKj-_ENOygChyphenhyphengLEmHbUJnxfZDUXrmgaeY4Bhh-dT9PoQ7tgDv3renzC_R4SMwI/s1600/hugh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif560qd5g_cxyL_JJdfz_Cm_-cdFG7b1fxKX_7hIW22ta6c7EYo9JQlZ9u2nokUUS3ef_yrM6mV5BkrOKj-_ENOygChyphenhyphengLEmHbUJnxfZDUXrmgaeY4Bhh-dT9PoQ7tgDv3renzC_R4SMwI/s320/hugh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Lunch today was a tribute to Hugh:<br />
<br />
pan fried mackerel (a sustainable species) stuffed with bread crumbs, parmesan, and chopped wet garlic stalks (wet garlic is what it is when you pull it out of the ground before you dry it). We pan fried the left-over stuffing so it got crispy and sprinkled it on the fish.<br />
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pasta salad with rocket (arugula), crumbled feta, broad beans (same as fava, I think), and the chopped bulb of the wet garlic, drizzled with olive oil and a dash of cracked black pepper.<br />
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oh my goodness. Talk about summer in your mouth. And for dessert I made gooseberry cheesecake in a glass with strawberries and raspberries on top (here, lots of people make cheesecake that sets in the fridge which you don't have to bake because there are no eggs in it).<br />
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All of the produce and the fish were from our farmer's market. Everyone should try mackerel. It was amazing. I don't know if you can get it fresh in the US, though. It's one of the most sustainable fish you can eat. I wish I could make this meal for all my loved ones.<br />
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****<br />
That was last Saturday's lunch. This Saturday (yesterday) was rosemary-stuffed mackerel with asparagus. It's not only local seafood we've been trying. We also really like mutton after having made delicious mutton kebabs for our cookout in the meadows a few weeks ago. I actually like it better than lamb!<br />
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As another tribute to Hugh, Alex and I have become urban foragers. Don't worry, there's no illegal trespassing involved. Greyfriar's Church near us has planted several community herb gardens and we visited today. They were madly overflowing with fresh herbs that begged to be picked. We nibbled on their delicious wild strawberries while we sniffed out the different herbs. Here is our yield from today's forage:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUAj3RAkko461e3SqdmnA25G8K4ccM4rGapX0G4HnFLXy_6aZhRmFFmdawGeAieqJOfqpZYZsrdC_ztee4pQcUT4o1LTtAInxt6Wg2mIJV1ukm1TEG82gBfnq7GEQvkswKT9J7NFRQm01/s1600/IMG_9172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUAj3RAkko461e3SqdmnA25G8K4ccM4rGapX0G4HnFLXy_6aZhRmFFmdawGeAieqJOfqpZYZsrdC_ztee4pQcUT4o1LTtAInxt6Wg2mIJV1ukm1TEG82gBfnq7GEQvkswKT9J7NFRQm01/s320/IMG_9172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
These pix are also on facebook but I'll label them again anyways. From top to bottom, left to right: chamomile, tri-colored sage, spearmint, lemon verbena, oregano, thyme, variegated thyme, peppermint, and ginger mint. I think I'm gonna make some great tea :)<br />
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I hope we can find delicious things like mackerel and mutton back home or some new interesting thing we haven't tried before. Honestly though, if you want to enhance your culinary repertoire, you must travel to another country. I didn't think any of my tastes would change or any culinary adventures would come my way (besides haggis) in Scotland, the land of meat and potatoes. I was so wrong. When you have an amazing farmer's market, half of which is devoted to consciously raised and caught meat it's easy. You just have to be daring enough to try!<br />
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Hugh has taught us that you don't have to be a vegetarian to be serious about animal welfare. His holistic approach to meat (breeding, raising, butchering, and using the whole animal: a process from start to finish) gives animals the respect they deserve for providing us with their meat. I haven't tried brains or headcheese, but haggis is made of some offal things (teehee) that don't actually taste too bad. I enjoy supporting the local farmers who come to Edinburgh every Saturday with their goods. The meat is so much better than the stuff in the grocery store and I know I am supporting their efforts to produce humanely-raised and eco-friendly food. I'm really going to miss all the meats and fish local to Scotland so with my four farmer's markets left until I leave, I'll be eating as much mackerel, mutton, turkey mince, and venison as I can!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-78977218436318283002011-06-17T14:00:00.000-07:002011-06-17T14:01:49.270-07:00Matching Game!Here's a vocabulary matching game. Some are easy and I've mentioned them before. Match the British word on the left with the correct definition on the right:<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">ice lolly tired<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">bin pacifier<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">neep eraser<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">tattie eggplant<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">banger underwear<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">chips Sprite<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">crisps sidewalk<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">pudding undershirt <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">biscuit popsicle<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">crackers flashlight<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">boot amazed<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">knackered french fries<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">courgette potato<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">aubergine diaper<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">lemonade procrastinate<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">lorry sausage<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">dummy trashcan<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">jumper dessert<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">pants rutabaga <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">pavement cookie<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">vest zucchini <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">torch trunk<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">rubber sweater<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">nappy potato chips<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 11pt;">faff Christmas party favor<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">gobsmacked truck</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-16659753080102909632011-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:002011-06-11T12:31:48.853-07:00Twentieth Word: halcyon<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">halcyon- 1540s, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">halcyon dayes</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">alcyonei dies</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, Gk.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">alkyonides hemerai</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">14 days of calm weather at the winter solstice, when a mythical bird (identified with the kingfisher) was said to breed in a nest floating on calm seas. From</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">halcyon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(n.), late 14c., from L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">halcyon,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">from Gk.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">halkyon,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">variant (perhaps a misspelling) of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">alkyon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"kingfisher"</span><br />
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This word is fitting for two reasons. One, the album by Deerhunter that we listened to a lot on our trip is called Halcyon Digest. Two, halcyon means happy, joyful, carefree. Welcome to Skye.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkZgRFFvm1Pv_CR-4GCkeacNlLvfaFEd5AAq0nIttWXLEtIsqB8LbeT7eoOEZEG_LVLdXLUaAKaeCGYXGcGpKsVgKo-K3BElOiKAgPQHhy7LbTyaGsJfH-ViQ75Zhhp284JLzYwnVAWKv/s1600/IMG_8988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkZgRFFvm1Pv_CR-4GCkeacNlLvfaFEd5AAq0nIttWXLEtIsqB8LbeT7eoOEZEG_LVLdXLUaAKaeCGYXGcGpKsVgKo-K3BElOiKAgPQHhy7LbTyaGsJfH-ViQ75Zhhp284JLzYwnVAWKv/s320/IMG_8988.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The Isle of Skye was beautiful. My impressions of it from GoogleMaps street view were that it was mildly hilly but this couldn't be further from reality. From Glen Coe through Glen Shiel and up to Kyle of Lochalsh the highlands kept growing and Skye burst up from the waters to tower over the horizon. The first thing that greeted us was the Cuillin range. Beautiful, red-tipped cones that wind around the southern portion of the island. We had beautiful weather for the drive up but rain welcomed us onto Skye. We took a one lane road from Broadford along the southern fringe of the Cuillins to Elgol, hardly a town, to view the craggy mountains beyond the bay. See facebook for pix.<br />
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The first day consisted of our drive up, the drive to Elgol and back, and winding our way through the rain to our wonderful hostel on the western coast. After dinner the weather cleared up and we drove to Talisker Bay. Gorgeous cliffs, lots of sheep, and salty sea air. and a waterfall :)<br />
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We expected rain the entire time we were on Skye but Wednesday morning I woke up early to glorious sun and warm weather. While the others slept in, I took a walk down the lane our hostel was on just to catch views of the peninsula we were on. Living in the city, with the constant din of traffic, sea gulls and drunks shouting,makes me appreciate walks like this. Stillness, the glassy waters of the bay, sheep munching on grass, walking down the middle of the road the only person awake.<br />
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Excited by the prospect of sunny weather, the four of us packed into our tiny 2-door and we drove off to Portree, the largest, um, village in Skye. We took in the scenery while listening to great music like Beirut, Fleet Foxes, and Mumford & Sons. Portree is a charming harbor town with great views of the Isle of Raasay. We got coffees and delicious and cheap baked goods and strolled around town. Tummies satisfied, we headed to the Old Man of Storr. I expected this rock formation to be one of those where you pull off the road into a car park and you lean against the railing to take pictures of the monolith beyond. Nope. We parked on the side of the road and took the 2 mile trail up and up and up through the woods until we came out at the base of the Storr. As Sarah's blog will attest, we said "only a little further" about five different times and wound up spending a good two hours pretending to be mountain goats. The views were beyond words. They were beyond my picture-taking abilities too. I kept being struck by how mountainous everything I could see was. I don't know why I expected the mountains to flatten out as you get further from Fort William.<br />
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We drove up to Kilt Rock and the Quirraing which is stunning in it's own right but we were all needing bathrooms and were tired out from our previous hike. We continued our drive around the northern tip of the Totternish peninsula and decided on heading back to the hostel for dinner and resting. We spent our evening playing cards and listening to the live folk music provided by our hostel owners and some guests. It made me miss Scotland already.<br />
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Thursday morning we headed through a dreary Skye to Dunvegan castle. We didn't go in- it was so cold and wet outside and at that point we were so sick of driving. We took a beautiful drive on our way back to the bridge to Skye and headed home. Alex managed driving a stick shift with his left hand and driving on the left side of the road very well. Don't tell the rental company but I tried my hand at it too and it wasn't too bad.<br />
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Scotland is plain gorgeous. That's it. I feel so blessed to have been to places like Hungary, Romania, and Scotland- places that people often overlook. As any of our guests can tell you, Scotland is wonderful. It's hard not to think about our time winding down here but I am so glad we went to Skye. I am trying to make this place as much my own as I can before we go. It's gotten under my skin and I don't think it will let me go without a fight (heck, I'll be fighting too!). So that's all for now. Enjoy the facebook pictures.<br />
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Say What?<br />
So far as I've heard, "Gaelic" is pronounced ga-lik (a as in apple) when it's referring to Scottish Gaelic and it's pronounced gay-lik when it's referring to Irish Gaelic.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-70517901303478861442011-05-30T03:51:00.000-07:002011-05-30T03:51:38.907-07:00Nineteenth Word: Dissertation<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">dissertation: 1610s </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"discussion, debate," from L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">dissertationem, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">dis-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"apart" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> +</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">serere</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to arrange words"</span><br />
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I suppose it's time to introduce you to my new on-again-off-again friend Dissertation. We met a while back, mid-April I believe. My professor introduced us. She's obsessed with compound words. Not any old compound words, mind you, but the kind you find in newspaper headlines. Things like '<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b>Greek Debt Talks</b> Widen <b>Euro-Zone Divisions</b>'. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think she's collecting them. You know, when I met her I thought we had a lot in common: a shared interest in words, linguistic persuasions of the lexicalist kind - I mean, I had just finished up a course on English Word Formation. Loved it! So I thought, sure, I'll give her a chance. Well, she dropped a bomb on me a few days later. I <i>thought </i>she was a Lexicalist but I come to find out over a nice cup of tea that she is kind of against that. She said she has onomasiological tendencies. Tendencies, ha! That's like the president of the NRA saying he has "conservative tendencies"! I was really mad that she had been lying to me this whole time. In hindsight though, there were signs. She kept hinting at it, giving me new "reading material". </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You should be glad to know she hasn't converted me. But I'm giving her side a chance. Truly, I like wrestling with her assertions and coming up with counter examples. But really, that's not my tendency as a linguist. I tend to hear a new theory and try and work with it (although this one's a toughie). We've been working through our differences for over a month now and while her theory is pretty progressive, it's still relatively new and there are definitely some holes. What's interesting to me though is she still hasn't given me any good reasons to think her collection of newspaper headline compounds actually work within the framework of her theory. So I've decided to take that task on and run a study, with the help of all of you, to see if we can make some headway. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let me explain a few terms you came across in the above paragraphs (if you're still reading, that is). Lexicalism is a theory of word formation (you know...forming words...) in which there are distinct processes like compounding (sailboat), attaching suffixes and prefixes (industrialize, restart), and several others. Lexicalism, the name, comes from the idea of the mental lexicon, which is just the dictionary we have in our heads of all the words we know. My word formation class focused on this school of thought. </span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Onomasiologists, however, don't believe that compounding and suffixation etc are separate processes. Semantically (<i>semantic </i>has to do with meaning), all these processes have the same relationships. In other words, the words are related in the same way whether or not you compound or attach a suffix. For example, <i>driver </i>is "someone (the -er suffix) who drives" while a <i>chairman </i>is "someone (man) who chairs". both man and -er mean "someone who does something (a verb usually)". <i>driver </i>is formed adding a suffix while <i>chairman </i>is a compound. It seems the processes aren't different semantically. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">It seems that onomasiology makes sense from this standpoint and it would be pretty complicated to explain why I still hold the Lexicalist view. But I am trying to see how far Onomasiology can stretch as a theory to account for data that hasn't been studied - compounds that consist of 3 or more words (one of my favorites comes from <i>The</i> <i>Atlantic</i>: 'Russian Robot Collie Patent Sketches'. yes, Russian patent sketches for a robot dog. or is it patent sketches for a Russian robot dog? or is it sketches for a Russian patent of a robot dog?) See, the semantics -relationship between words- gets a little weird when you have so many parts.... So that's where you come in. I'm going to test your instincts as to what compounds like 'Russian Robot Collie Patent Sketches' mean. And then I'm going to see how well this Onomasiology Theory stands up to my data. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Bless you for sticking with this til the end. I promise I won't make you read my dissertation ;)</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-34968728464962872011-05-17T06:32:00.000-07:002011-05-17T06:32:38.215-07:00Eighteenth Word: London<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">London - </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chief city and capital of England, L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Londinium</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(c.115), often explained as "place belonging to a man named Londinos," a supposed Celtic personal name meaning "the wild one" (www.etymonline.com)</span><br />
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So, like a guest ale on at the local pub that you've never tried, here am I, Alex, to treat you to tales of shenanigans and misadventures of the trip that Adam, Mike and I had in Longdong. Adam and I traveled all day by plane, train and automobile to get to London where we met Mike. It was like we had the band the back together again. We looked it too, what with our stylish facial hair and their hip black glasses. We said our yo mans, hugged, did our secret handshakes etc. and started walking to the hostel. Thus commenced the walking of the trip. We did a lot of walking.<br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We got to the hostel and napped a bit before heading out and exploring our area. We were in the Southwark borough, pretty close to London Bridge. We found a pub with a good happy hour special and drank some real ales (slightly chilled, lightly carbonated English brews, cask conditioned and served. Oh, okay, I won't steer off course yet.), had some dinner and ended our Thursday night at a place called the Trinity, an empty-ish pub next to our hostel. It was there that we ran into Dana, a "short-blonde-druggie-hipster-chick" as Adam described her. She was an American that had studied there a couple of years and so knew the city, and was returning to visit some friends. She was super talkative and excited to give us a local's guide to the city. She gave us her map and circled a bunch of places that we should go, for example: Holland Park, an adult playground, with a zipline and a huge tire swing where peacocks run free; Primrose Hill, where we can see great views of the city; Fabric, a pub/club six stories underground with an amazing laser light show. Okay, I guess I don't remember any other place she told us to go, because those were the only places we were really interested in. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Friday was our big day. We wanted to hit Holland Park for the zipline and peacocks, and since it was past Hyde Park we'd go through that too. After that would be Primrose Hill, and after that we'd grab a drink with Audrey and her boyfriend Lee at near Victoria Station, where they were coming in to London to visit with Lee's aunt for a few days. So. We started walking from our hostel to Westminster Bridge to see that and Parliament Square and Big Ben. Beautiful. Tons of people. From there we walked through St. James's Park and Green Park, then into Hyde Park. On the way we got a frisbee and played next to a lake. It was a beautiful day. We found this tree that was like a house, and we hung out in it for a while before we kept going. So many monuments to writers, important philosophers, Albert, King whats-his-name, the war, yer mom, you name it. We finally got to Holland Park, after going through I don't know how many neighborhoods and parks and stuff, and it seemed like basically a normal park. We found a map of it on a sign and found where the "adventure playground" was, and headed that way. On the way there was an orangery, which I'm still not sure what that is, but it looked cool - old buildings, modern sculptures, giant chess board, you know, normal orangery stuff, I'm sure. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, after walking for probably 4 hours, we arrived at the playground. It was a bit of - okay, a big - letdown. Tons of toddlers with their late 20s early 30somethings mums. Yeah, there was a zipline. Yeah, a big tire swing. But we were hoping to bring beers here and laugh at peacocks fighting while playing on giant adult-sized seesaws. Me and Mike made the best of the tarzan swing while trying to glance away from all of the moms' stares before we said bye-bye. Looking back, we maybe shouldn't have trusted Dana so much. What with all the talk of acid and ecstasy, I'm pretty sure the peacocks must've been a hallucination. Oh well. We saw a lot of London we'd probably never see otherwise. We made it to Primrose Hill (by bus) and that was pretty. At least that wasn't a hallucination. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Friday night (ha! and you thought our day was over! shhyeah, right!) we wanted to visit the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Pub of the Year 2010-11, The Harp. It was near Covent Gardens, and we couldn't really find it. We had gone to another pub before that and we were kind of lost as to which direction the pub was in. I was on the phone with Julia and she was on the computer figuring out where we were in relation to the pub ("wait, so you're still on Long Acre?!") and so eventually we just gave up. Continuing down the wrong street, we found this little tiny alley (only about two feet wide) and walked down that, just because. It opened up eventually and there were people drinking in the alley and a door that was propped open. We went in and found the coolest little pub, with 10 or so real ales on and sweet decor. We went out front to see what pub we were in, and of course, you guessed it. The Harp. *Brrrriiinggg!* We stayed there for some nice Sambrooks ales, but because we couldn't find it, it was almost closing time, and couldn't stay long. We left to have a beer on a footbridge over the Thames. "Epic," as one passerby commented. On the way back, we were taking photos of Mike doing embarrassing things like jumping off of things and stuff, and Adam took the camera and ran off down some stairs. He said he thought we were following him, but we went around to meet him at the bottom. When we got there, he wasn't. We called, and waited, and got mad, and worried, and eventually after an hour or so, took a bus back to our hostel. When we got back to the hostel around 2:30, he wasn't there. We started really worrying then, like what if he got mugged, etc? There were some bikes you could rent by the hostel, and we jumped on them and headed down the route we thought he probably took, maybe down London Bridge, and around that vicinity. No luck. After an hour or so we decided Mike would head back to the hostel and text me if Adam was there. He was. Asleep. Awesome. What a sweet Friday, huh? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Saturday. Since I've already written an entire book and you stopped reading up before the Harp, I'll put this in nice easy bullets.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">-Westminster Abbey costs <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">£16 per person to get into. Plus a really long line, not worth it, for us.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- I saw a zombie dwarf running down London Bridge. Freaky.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- We walked a ton again, this time down Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, and Oxford Circus, just kind of shopping and seeing things. Got some cheap stuff at Primark. Busiest, scariest Primark ever. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">-We went back to the Harp Saturday night and saw Matthew Fox (from LOST) there. Cool.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- I guess that's it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Overall, London was awesome. By Sunday we were limping like senior citizens from all the walking, but I think for the most part, that was okay. We saw a lot of London for how short a time we were there, and we had a lot of fun. London's got so many different parts to it - an old, majestic part, a cool hipster part (though we never did make it to Fabric), a modern business-y part, a super commercial part with tons of street performers swallowing balloon animals and stuff. And there's tons of cool parks. But you know, any city remotely like that I think is gonna be cool when you're with guys like Adam and Mike. You can't help but have fun, even when your feet feel like they're gonna fall off. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Say What?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">London : Longdong, Fundon... anyone got any other good ones? </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-44204767456596687782011-05-06T08:36:00.000-07:002011-05-06T08:36:21.923-07:00Sixteenth Word: York<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">York-a city in northern England, O.Eng</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Eoforwic</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, earlier</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Eborakon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(c.150), an ancient Celtic name, probably meaning "Yew-Tree Estate"</span><br />
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My family spent Saturday through Wednesday in Edinburgh. We saw all the typical sights: the castle, the palace, the parliament, Calton Hill, the Meadows, Arthur's Seat, Craigmillar Castle, the Royal Mile and Princes Street Gardens. We had tea at cute little Clarinda's on the Royal Mile after visiting the palace. This place is your grandma's house with pencil sketches of dogs, pictures of girls with dolls, and doilies everywhere. We all discovered "cream tea" which is actually a scone with butter jam and whipped cream served with a cup of tea. Delish! We met up with Sarah over the weekend because her group from Calvin was visiting. We had birthday dinner Saturday night. Linnea and Alex made chicken risotto.<br />
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Monday we went to North Berwick for my birthday. It's this adorable seaside town with the National Seabird Center. We got to see puffins and all kinds of seabirds that nest out on the rocks in the Firth of Forth. Bass Rock is 3 miles off the coast and is 300 feet tall. It was huge! and so beautiful. It was a rather grey day but eventually cleared up and we beach combed and hunted for seashells in the afternoon. Whereas the Highlands reminded me of the Pacific northwest in a way, North Berwick reminded me a lot of Cape Cod and the east coast. Tuesday we went to the place where Alex cooks, David Bann, for dinner before going to see Alex perform in Rent.<br />
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Thursday, we took the train to Newcastle, rented a car, and drove to Housesteads, a Roman fort built in 124AD. We walked along Hadrian's wall, the wall dividing the Roman south from the Scottish/Pictish (?) north. Alex went back to Edinburgh because he had performances all weekend and the rest of us took the train to York to meet up with Sarah and Mike.<br />
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York is so cute! It has a charming little old town, a beautiful minster, and the flowers and trees were all in bloom. Sarah showed us all the typical sights. We visited the minster and it's crypt and walked through the Shambles (a street on which all the buildings are droopy, saggy, falling apart and yet remaining upright-apparently Diagon Alley in the HP books was modeled after it). We rented a river boat and cruised down the Ouse for an hour. We got gelato and ate Yorkshire puddings the size of dinner plates. It was quite a charming town.<br />
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On my favorite day in York, we rented a car and drove north to the Yorkshire Moors. We stopped at Rievaulx Abbey which is set in an idyllic valley with sheep, rolling hills, and only about five cottages nearby. The abbey is a huge ruin, the largest I've seen yet and by far the best I've been to. I LOVED it. It was so beautiful (made better by the 65 degree weather!). We traveled through the villages of Helmsley and Hutton-le-Hole. We eventually ended up at Castle Howard (not actually a castle but a grand country estate). It had beautiful grounds that we enjoyed in the warm weather! Back to York for dinner.<br />
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Our last day, we stayed in town. Mom and dad went to the Yorkshire museum while Sarah, Nene, Mike, and I got gelato (yes at 10am). We visited the Minster and its crypt, ate at Sarah's favorite cafe Middleton's, and walked the city walls. Another glorious day. To escape all of the Saturday crowds, we rented a river boat for an hour and cruised down the Ouse. York is definitely a place to visit when in the UK. It is very charming and cute. Made all the better because we could see where Sarah has spent the semester.<br />
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I know this blog is way past due but my life after my parents left Edinburgh has consisted of papers, papers, papers. Then Laura, my cousin, visited last week (much fun!) and Adam is here this week and next. I've got an exam Tuesday and my dissertation proposal due a week from Monday ("Meaning Predictability in Compounding and Phrasal Attribution"). We're on the final leg of our journey now but I'm sure we'll make the most of it this summer :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-20005157102597976402011-04-11T13:09:00.000-07:002011-04-11T13:11:11.236-07:00Fifteenth Word: Caledonia<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>Caledonia</i> Roman name of part of northern Britain, taken from the name of former inhabitants, of unknown origin, perhaps Celtic; since 18c, applied poetically to Scotland or the Scottish Highlands.</span><br />
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</div>Edinburgh never fails to greet my guests with terrible weather. For a lucky few, the weather has only misbehaved for the first day. My family happens to be some of the lucky few. Fort William, however, knew we were coming to visit before seeing Edinburgh and put on a spectacular display of whipping wind and rain. The family arrived two Thursdays ago and Alex and I met them at the airport where we rented a van to drive up to Fort William for two days.<br />
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The drive up was gorgeous: full of "oohs" and "ahhs" and one giddy "Oh, run!" from Linnea about the first frolicking lamb she saw (we don't get much of those in the US). Sadly, it is lambing season and the lambs received a majority of the "ooh look!"s from my family (they <i>were </i>really cute though....).<br />
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The highlands were <i>huge</i>. The mountains were at least twice the size I expected them to be. Their foreboding immensity was not only accentuated by the driving rains, whipping wind, and menacing grey clouds but by their treelessness. No one cared about the weather when it came to taking pictures. Too gorgeous for words! I've seen a lot of the world but the Scottish highlands would be part of my top recommendations. Something about this place resonates with me. I guess mountains always do....<br />
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Around late afternoon the weather quieted down and we reached Fort William. We drove to Inverlochy Castle, a ruin, which we romped around in and on and through. Quite fun and, I believe, the first castle experience for the family. We drove to our chalet next which had a great view of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK. The air was humid but thick with the smell of campfires. We were in our element! After unpacking, we walked around the horse farm that the chalet owners run. Beautiful horses and an idyllic setting for a farm. Alex and Dad cooked us a "gorgeous" dinner of local mussels, scallops, and monk fish which we had picked up in Glencoe.<br />
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The next day we took a train over the Glenfinnan viaduct which made its debut in the second Harry Potter film. So what if it was raining. Harry Potter beats rain, always. It was so much fun. We walked around Glenfinnan and up to the viaduct. It was a fun but soggy morning. After getting lunch in Fort William, we drove through the Great Glen (gorgeous again!) as the skies cleared up. We hiked to a distant waterfall tucked back in the mountains. It was a wonderful and challenging hike up through the mountains. Unfortunately, my camera decided not to save about half my pictures from this hike and then it died entirely. Bah. At least I have memories! Such a fun two days. Blogs about the week in Edinburgh and the trip to York yet to come.<br />
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Say What?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; background-color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">A' Ghàidhealtachd </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which means Highlands in Scottish Gaelic. It's pronounced </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(I think)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <i>geh-uhl-dechg </i>where the 'ch' is like the one in Scottish "loch" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-54714152673414489122011-03-24T13:10:00.000-07:002011-03-24T13:10:07.922-07:00Fourteenth Word: OutwithAs a sort of "Say What?" substitute, the title of this blog is for my dad who recently had an encounter with this word. <i>Outwith </i>means 'beyond' or 'outside of.' You will hear it used especially if you call any businesses <i>outwith</i> their normal business hours. It's mostly found in Northern England and Scotland.<br />
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Jordan, Alex, and I took advantage of this 55-degree sunny day (and as a celebratory end to classes and some papers) by going to the Pentland hills to the southwest of the city. We took a 45 minute bus ride out and promptly got ourselves lost. After a quick GoogleMaps search, Jordan (and Al's intuition) got us back on track. We wandered through the neighborhoods of Balerno Village, passed through a neighborhood woodland walk, and meandered past farmland to finally arrive at the trail head towards Harlaw Reservoir at the base of some of the hills. I was struck by how much of our walk thus far reminded me of Michigan. The trail we took looked like the one you would take to Hoffmaster beach in MI. The roads we wandered down reminded me of Lowell. I feel so at home in the countryside because it is so familiar to me.<br />
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The reservoir walk was a beautiful trek around the waters with trees on one side and sheep-grazing fields on the other. I will admit I can't help taking pictures of stone walls. Probably because they are less common back home. But the texture, color, moss, lichen, shape, how they settle right into the landscape, make them such good subjects for photographs. We found some strange ruins that seemed to still be in use for something but they looked so cool against the hills that we had to walk through them. We wanted to climb some hills but Alex had to be to work so we just enjoyed our walk around the waters. The day was indescribably beautiful (especially for Scotland). Don't get me wrong, Scotland can provide some beautiful days but a long, dark, and dreary winter makes these days even more beautiful.<br />
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Getting out into the countryside adds so much depth to my experience here. Not even the countryside, a different neighborhood will do. Just knowing places. Getting out of my immediate experience so I can really <i>experience</i>. I am so looking forward to going to Fort William next week with my family. The highlands are beautiful. I've posted some pictures on facebook of our day. I hope they make you want to come to Scotland some day. It seems like such a forgotten place to the rest of the world, but it is so beautiful!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-82275462791451507192011-02-27T10:49:00.000-08:002011-03-01T02:13:01.650-08:00Thirteenth Word: LuckLuck <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">15c. from Mid. Du.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">luc</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, shortening of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">gheluc</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"happiness, good fortune," of unknown origin. Related to Mid. High Ger.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">g(e)lücke,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Ger.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Glück</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"fortune, good luck."</span><br />
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Brittany came to visit this week and the week started out on the wrong foot. It was actually our feet that led to the problems. I went to pick Britt up from the bus stop. Since she didn't have a cell I decided to just wait for her about an hour after her (early morning) flight landed. So I was out at the bus stop around 8 am. Bus after bus passed and Britt wasn't on any of them. After an hour, I decided to walk around the block (the bus only comes every 10 mins so I figured I had some time). As I was coming back around the corner I saw an Airport Bus at the stop and ran ahead in case Britt was waiting there. When I got there though she wasn't there. So I waited another 45 minutes at the stop. I was getting worried because I didn't know where she was and I figured she would have been on the bus by now. I decided to walk home and check my facebook because she had been leaving me updates on her travelling through fb. I don't know why but halfway home I had a change of heart and turned around. I crossed the street and almost right away heard someone call my name. Yep, Britt. She was standing right there where I crossed to, not really near the bus stop she was supposed to be at. Turns out, she got off the very bus I had missed because of my little venture around the block. She had panicked when she didn't see me waiting for her and walked all the way down Princes Street (almost a mile). We had 2 phone messages from her ("Please find me!") and for some reason she just thought she'd wait for me on the street that happened to be the way to my flat. oh. and it was raining the whole time.<br />
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But since then we've been to the palace, up Arthur's Seat, to an American football game, to Glasgow for a day of shopping, down the Royal Mile, and through Princes Street Gardens. And the weather has been gorgeous! It's been really fun having her visit. Hopefully we'll get to Calton Hill tomorrow and that should pretty much round out our touristy activities.<br />
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Say What?<br />
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A few nights ago we had our British friends over (always perfect fodder for Say What?. I happened to use the phrase "thick as a brick" and they both started laughing at me. So I asked what they would say instead: Thick as two short planks ("you know, stacked on top of each other.")Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-56646368645464991752011-02-13T07:37:00.000-08:002011-02-14T02:12:00.235-08:00Twelfth Word: Scot<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Scot: O.Eng</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Scottas</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(pl.) "inhabitants of Ireland, Irishmen," from Late Latin</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Scotti</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(c.400), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Celtic (but answering to no known tribal name; Ir.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Scots</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">appears to be a Latin borrowing). The name followed the Irish tribe which invaded Scotland after the Romans withdrew from Britain in 423 C.E., and after the time of Alfred the Great the O.Eng word described Irish who had settled in the northwest of Britain.</span><br />
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Rain. Gah. Sarah and Mike came for the weekend, and their trip coincided perfectly with the only rainy weekend in 2011. We had a marvelous time though and the rain just gave us an excuse to make homemade pizza and play a bunch of games. Of the touristy things, we did go to Calton Hill, the Parliament, the ruins on Arthur's Seat, through Princes Street Gardens and along Princes Street. It was wonderful to see family from home.<br />
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The previous week Alex and I went to a Robert Burns' dinner. Rabbie Burns is Scotland's national poet (a "Great Scot!" if there ever was one). Basically, the dinner is haggis, neeps, and tatties. But before digging in, the haggis must be addressed. Yes, you must address the haggis. Rabbie wrote a poem called "To a Haggis" which was sung before (for?) the haggis:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSaqaI5GRHHTEmoFYnmLWWniN_WlEhxtgHLy9XUd-onPgqFISFqtwnRFvhk8WzaNfkcrg3R5TeOOlkARzTZAUXzB9QesEoZ0zuWhV6xwcFA9ezrOgkF6ezElIIZZp-o8m-WOTmUj3Sq1On/s1600/IMG_7600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSaqaI5GRHHTEmoFYnmLWWniN_WlEhxtgHLy9XUd-onPgqFISFqtwnRFvhk8WzaNfkcrg3R5TeOOlkARzTZAUXzB9QesEoZ0zuWhV6xwcFA9ezrOgkF6ezElIIZZp-o8m-WOTmUj3Sq1On/s320/IMG_7600.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have to add the first stanza here because it's just so funny:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Fair <a href="http://www.robertburns.org/works/glossary/616.html">fa'</a> your honest, <a href="http://www.robertburns.org/works/glossary/1506.html">sonsie</a> face, (<i>sonsie </i>means pleasant)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Great chieftain o' the pudding-race! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a href="http://www.robertburns.org/works/glossary/10.html">Aboon</a> them a' yet tak your place, (<i>aboon </i>is above)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Painch, tripe, or thairm: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a href="http://www.robertburns.org/works/glossary/1824.html">Weel</a> are ye <a href="http://www.robertburns.org/works/glossary/1889.html">wordy</a> o'a grace (<i>wordy </i>is worthy)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">As lang's my arm. </span></div><br />
This haggis was the mother of all haggises. Holy cow! (or whatever it's made of). It was over a foot long!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84AYldjitMg3Jhoa3P0HQi0zCjFZdIZ4Oq9-xwve6A9-vbnTmfBE-MrMaIVBnU_AwrBxDzJcKJ9CHusLYwP-X6t-PGizaoB652V31ukdZVU8sd7isbJuhtwb_oKbbUfWZhF3Hd6cMvOr2/s1600/IMG_7595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84AYldjitMg3Jhoa3P0HQi0zCjFZdIZ4Oq9-xwve6A9-vbnTmfBE-MrMaIVBnU_AwrBxDzJcKJ9CHusLYwP-X6t-PGizaoB652V31ukdZVU8sd7isbJuhtwb_oKbbUfWZhF3Hd6cMvOr2/s320/IMG_7595.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
For reference, normal haggises are about 5 inches long and 3ish inches wide. It was very tasty though. Alex and I thought it would be funny if instead of saying there was an elephant in the room (something no one wants to talk about) that we would say, "Maybe we should address the haggis." :) I love language!<br />
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This week I attended proofreading training and am now a volunteer proofreader for the school. Undergraduates who aren't native English speakers can send in their essays to be proofread by one of us. Also, we've gotten the first round of essay assignments. I <i>should</i> be working on them but blogging is more fun. (oh yes, I've chopped about 6 inches off my hair too).<br />
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Finally, yesterday Jordan and I went on the trip with the International Student Center to Bamburgh Castle in England and Melrose Abbey in Scotland. The bus ride was through beautiful farmland lined by hedgerows and filled with sheep. The route hugged the coast so we had beautiful views of headlands and crashing waves. Bamburgh Castle is the last inhabited castle in the UK (I think). The inside wasn't as beautiful as the outside. I really enjoyed going down to the beach and smelling the refreshing sea breeze. It made me miss Lake Michigan! We had only a short amount of time at Melrose Abbey. As a result, there were 117 of us scrambling around taking pictures. The Abbey ruins were beautiful (check out the facebook pix)! The area around was so hilly and green. We passed manor houses set into the hills with four smoking chimneys and circular drives. Man, to be born into wealth in this country! It was a lovely escape for a day.<br />
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Say What?<br />
I don't think I've told this story yet.<br />
The background info is that Alex worked at The West Room for a week or so with Rory before he decided to take the job at Pierre Victoire. Well, Alex quit Pierre Victoire after having a terrible time with the other kitchen staff and after a confrontation arose one day. He sort of stormed out. Well, Al had mentioned quitting to his former boss at The West Room and that boss told Rory that Alex came to work drunk when he quit. We couldn't figure out why that guy would lie about Alex like that. That's when Al realized he told the boss that he was really pissed and decided to quit. We had a good laugh because over here pissed means drunk but in America it means really angry.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-23531807108578897952011-01-21T04:46:00.000-08:002011-01-21T04:46:01.267-08:00Eleventh Word: DandelionThis etymology has nothing to do with anything but it's an interesting one!<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">dandelion: early 15c., from M.Fr.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">dent de lion</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, lit. "lion's tooth" (from its toothed leaves), translation of M.L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">dens leonis</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">. Other folk names</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">refer to the plant's more authentic diuretic qualities, preserved in M.E.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">piss-a-bed</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">and Fr.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">pissenlit "piss in bed".</span></span><br />
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It's a new year and a new semester, and life is passing every more quickly. I can't believe January is almost at an end! I have so many things to look forward to this semester and hardly any of them are school related! My sister and her fiance will be arriving in the UK this upcoming week to begin their semesters abroad in York and London, respectively. Sarah and Mike are planning to visit in the beginning of February. Our first guests from home! My friend Brittany is coming in the end of February, and then my family is coming the first week of April (the same week that the musical Al is in is opening!). Our friend Adam will be visiting in May sometime. I can't wait to show off this city!<br />
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This week has been busy catching up with everyone who was gone over the holidays. We celebrated our friend Jason West's birthday last night with some rounds of poker and a game of Huggermugger (a dorky linguists' game that we love). Tonight we are going to see our friend John Green's band play in Grassmarket. A few of our friends from church are in his band so it should be a good time! Al is going to Glasgow with some friends for a Sleigh Bells concert tomorrow night, too. (Bonus points to the English nerd who can tell me how to properly "possessify" the phrase "my friend x's" which I attempted twice in this paragraph! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ahem, Sarah VanderMolen and Emily Cutter...</span>)<br />
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Now for the nitty-gritty. I'm taking only three classes this semester: English Word Formation, Dialectology of the British Isles, and Optimality Theory (yuck). I'm enjoying having so much free time because I'm in denial about having to select a research topic in the next few months (meaning, I <i>should</i> be in the library trying to find a topic). Still haven't gotten marks back from last semester's work :(<br />
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When you're immersed in a field for so long, it's easy to take for granted that other people might have no idea what that field is about. Linguistics is definitely one of those fields because it is so small (relatively speaking). What I love about linguistics, though, is that <i>everyone</i> is a linguist in a way, they just don't know it. Everyone (with veeery rare exceptions) has a mastery of language. Everyone speaks grammatically. Everyone can control and manipulate language according to rules in their brains that they aren't even aware of at a conscious level. The more I learn about linguistics, the more the human brain amazes me. Babies are geniuses! More so than adults, at least when it comes to language. But the sheer amount of linguistic information that our brains process in mere nanoseconds is ridiculous! Computers don't even compare! Linguistics is at the same time, foreign language learning, history, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, metacognition, and mathematics. It is not a field for the faint of heart.<br />
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It's hard to convince people why I am in a field that won't make me a lot of money and has limited job possibilities. Those people are very practically minded (and their is nothing wrong with that). But everyday I learn more amazing things about how God made our brains work so we can communicate with others. How can I not want to stand in amazement everyday after a great class or after reading books on language? Money is not as enticing to me as the fulfillment I get from being engulfed in wonderment on a daily basis. If you still don't understand, that's ok. I hope you have something that gets you excited about life and humbles you at the amazing-ness of it. Language is that for me.<br />
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Say What?<br />
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Ok, this is not a British thing, but Al and I are reading Steven Pinker's <i>The Language Instinct</i> and this is an excerpt (1994: 209):<br />
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"One of the first computer parsers [a computer that derives the different meanings of ambiguous sentences], developed at Harvard in the 1960s, provides a famous example [of computers getting it all wrong]. The sentence <i>Time flies like an arrow</i> is surely unambiguous...(ignoring the difference between literal and metaphorical meaning). But to the surprise of the programmers, the sharp-eyed computer found it to have five different [meanings]! (It helps if you re-read the initial sentence after you read each sentence below in order to get how the computer could have rendered that meaning)<br />
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1. Time proceeds as quickly as an arrow proceeds. (The intended meaning)<br />
2. Measure the speed of flies in the same way that you measure the speed of an arrow.<br />
3. Measure the speed of flies in the same way that an arrow measures the speed of flies.<br />
4. Measure the speed of flies that resemble an arrow.<br />
5. Flies of a particular kind, time-flies, are fond of an arrow.<br />
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Among computer scientists the discovery has been summed up in the aphorism 'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.'" :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-1672552274188338462011-01-06T08:43:00.000-08:002011-01-06T08:43:31.712-08:00Tenth Word: Fond<i>fond </i>Instead of giving you an etymology, this word has an interesting syntactical usage. It is something called a "transitive adjective." Most adjectives don't take an object (like, "he is <i>mad</i>.") but <i>fond</i> must always take an object. No one can be fond. "I am fond" sounds weird. You must be fond <i>of</i> something. Well, these are things I am <i>fond</i> of.<br />
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I don't want to forget these things about Edinburgh. I don't think I will, and I'm sure I'll add to this list, but this is just to share with you pieces of the city that make me sigh, chuckle, or even drool.<br />
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1) If you look at a satellite view of Grand Rapids on GoogleMaps you'll notice the all too famous grid pattern of streets and city blocks, houses just far apart enough to keep out of your neighbor's personal bubble, backyards and front yards, space. In Edinburgh (especially Edinburgh), people literally live on top of each other. The city planners must have decided that just because a building was in a certain spot didn't mean they couldn't build something right on top of it, and not in the same style necessarily. There's even two hotels on a street near us that share a wall. Every building is squished together. I love it. It makes for that cute postcard look. But the twisty streets and bridges also make for a complex and photogenic Old Town. Victoria Street (West Bow) is my favorite curved street. It winds up a hill and at the top is another street that basically sits on top of all the roofs of the buildings lining Victoria Street. Plus, it's where the cheese monger has a shop.<br />
The next two streets over are streets running under huge archways on top of which are other streets. The fourth street is another bowed street called Candlemaker Row. It's not only a maze, it's amazing! hardy har.<br />
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2) The Mosque Kitchen is this awesome (and inexpensive)outdoor....can you call it a restaurant? You walk in a door to get your (amazing!....or should I say "gorgeous"?) food from the two men serving it and walk back to the covered courtyard to eat the steaming hot curried chicken and rice with a huge, larger-than-a-plate, piece of naan. With all the pigeons, leaves, and the cold, it really has a feel of an outdoor soup kitchen. Everyone is bundled up and eat with plastic utensils. And of course, the delightful sign beckoning you to dispose of your trash is a proud and adorably ignorant display of linguistic ambiguity: "Please clear your dishes when finished in the bins provided." As if one may be having so much fun in the bins provided that they forget to clear their plastic "dishes."<br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">3) The way our apartment faces, Alex and I can never see the sun, but I see the effects of it on the castle out our window. It reminds me of Monet and how he painted the Rouen Cathedral in different lighting. I wake up with that castle and go to sleep with it. It stands out orange against a darkening blue sky; tinges of pink speckle the bricks in the early morning when the sun is in the east; the upward shafts of light illuminate this monument through the long hours of darkness. Sometimes lights are on all night and I pretend a princesses is in a fit of sleepless insomnia as her lover battles the British with William Wallace's army. Ok, maybe I don't go that far, but I do wish I could wear pretty Jane Austen dresses all the time and run around palace grounds like a princess shirking her royal obligation to poise and reputation. You try having a castle out your window sometime and see how your thoughts wander!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">4) Edinburgh is rife with fodder for "Say What?". Some of our favorite examples are:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-Bin your litter.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-No dog fouling.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-Beware of pedestrians.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-Park and display ("Have you paid and displayed?")</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I guess I should save some examples for "Say What?" shouldn't I?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Say What?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Oregano. No, not o-RE-gah-no. It's o-re-GAH-no. No lie. It's weird.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Shallots. No, not SHA-lots. It's sha-LOTS. Where do they come up with this?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Basil is not BAY-zil, but BAA-zil (like the a in apple).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Corriander is what we call cilantro, both swede ("sweed") and turnip are names for what we call rutabaga, and pudding is any kind of dessert here (but mostly cakes). Our pudding is their custard.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Also, food can be for "eat in or take away" instead of for "here or to go."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-69879764070852475422010-12-27T05:39:00.000-08:002010-12-27T05:39:35.306-08:00Ninth Word: Beer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Beer: OldE.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">beor</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, a word of much-disputed and ambiguous origin, but probably a 6c. W.Ger. monastic borrowing of Vulgar Latin.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">biber</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"a drink, beverage" (from L. infinitive</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">bibere</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to drink;" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> Another suggestion is that it comes from P.Gmc.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">*beuwoz-,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">*beuwo-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"barley." The native Germanic word for the beverage was the one that yielded</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="crossreference" href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ale" style="color: #800020; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">ale</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(q.v.).</span><br />
<br />
Alex and I spent his birthday weekend in Belgium. That's where the trouble starts.<br />
<br />
We took the "bus to the airport," which is not the same as the "airport bus." It was rush hour and we thought the bus only took half an hour to get to the airport. Wrong. It took us two hours. We missed our flight. We were so depressed. We actually took the correct "airport bus" home. I told my parents the story and they generously offered to loan us the money to buy a flight out the next morning. We accepted and took all the necessary precautions to make our flight on time the next day. Except, I set my alarm for pm instead of am. I woke up at 4am and just happened to check my clock: 15 minutes until we needed to catch the airport bus (a 5-7minute walk away). No showers, no breakfast, nothing. Just up and out the door. We caught the bus with some minutes to spare and from this point on everything is smooth sailing (until we try to get home).<br />
<br />
fyi: we went on this trip specifically to enjoy and learn about the Belgian beer tradition. And for the chocolate. And the Christmas markets. And I suppose the waffles too.<br />
<br />
Thursday<br />
Alex and I arrived in Brussels around 9:30am and caught a train up to Bruges where we would spend the first two days of our trip. Bruges is exactly the kind of Christmas postcard town you want to be in around the holidays. Charming. But, of course, it was raining. When I stepped out of the train station I noticed two things immediately: the rain smelled like a sewer but the air smelled like chocolate. Also, we were not going to get by with our English. Hardly anyone spoke it. Bruges is in the Flemish region so that made it even more difficult. The neighborhood around our hostel was pretty quiet except that on every other building or so were speakers blasting out Christmas music. I guess they take Christmas seriously in these parts.<br />
<br />
Bruges is called the "Venice of the North" because of the canals criss-crossing throughout the city. We explored as much as we could without getting too wet. We went into the Church of our Lady where we got to see Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child" sculpture. We wanted a respite from the cold (the church wasn't heated) so we found a tea shop nearby and got coffee :) They gave us Belgian chocolates on the side. We went to de Halve Maan brewery afterwards and had a tour of their facility. It was very informative and interesting. And the best part, of course, was the free beer we got at the end.<br />
<br />
Bruges is atrociously expensive. It took us a while to find a restaurant that served anything under 20 euros. We found a cozy place on the Groet Markt (grand market) and then went out to a tiny locals pub. I mean, NO tourists come to this place. We stuck out, but had a lot of fun. Alex and I drank some wonderful beers and played lots of backgammon.<br />
<br />
Friday<br />
The next day, we walked along the main waterway in order to bring our luggage to the lockers at the train station. I posed for pictures by a few of the windmills lining the canal. We enjoyed the bright sunshine and newly fallen snow. After storing our backpacks, we went to the Groet Markt again and walked around the Christmas market. We got a bratwurst and a Belgian waffle. They stuff the waffles with sugar. I mean, it's like a waffle and sugar sandwich. But they are really yummy. Belgium is also credited with the invention of French fries and there are fry shops all over the place. I was not too impressed. They taste like McDonald's fries. Nothing to get your panties in a bunch about. We climbed up the belfry overlooking the square and got some lovely views of the town. We did a lot more exploring and eventually found our way to Jerusalemkirk, a church that is a copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (now destroyed). It was cool. We were also so cold and tired that we headed back to the train station and went to Brussels.<br />
<br />
In Brussels, we had the same problem of no one speaking English. We went to Chinese for dinner and everything was in French. We just ordered and hoped for the best! We walked around the Grand Place where there was a huge Christmas market and hordes of tourists. We had a drink at an Irish pub that was recommended to us but then decided to just go back to our hotel and relax watching French game shows on TV.<br />
<br />
Saturday<br />
Al's birthday. We took the tram to an awesome flea market in the morning. Alex found a guitar he really wanted to buy, but of course, how would we get it home? After taking several pictures and looking at all the crazy stuff, we went to the Museum of Instruments. There were so many instruments I didn't even know existed! It was really cool to see them, but we also had headphones that allowed us to listed to examples of the instruments too. Afterwards, we headed toward Cantillon Brewery. Alex can fill you in on the details. This tour was fun too. We got to try some very different beers.<br />
<br />
We went back up to Old Town to Delirium Taphouse, a three-story bar that holds a Guinness World Record for most bottled beers (over 2,500!). We had lots of fun trying new beers and talking about our favorites. On this whole trip neither of us had the same beer twice. We missed so many of our friends while we were hanging out at Delirium but we had a fabulous time. Dinner was hard to find. We didn't want to be in a touristy area but there really weren't many other restaurants around. We settled on a small Italian place for Al's birthday dinner and it was surprisingly delicious.<br />
<br />
Sunday<br />
We did a walking tour of the European Union buildings since Brussels is considered the capital of the EU. We walked through a really cool neighborhood that kind of reminded me of Chicago. Then we found our way to the European Commission, which was a really boring but humongous building. and then walked down toward a big and beautiful park. We found ourselves at the European Parliament, which was another boring building, but hey, now we can say we've seen them. By this time, we were so cold we wanted to get inside so we took the metro to a really cool neighborhood that happened to have a farmer's market going on. I bought a Belgian waffle again and we sat for a long time in a coffee shop. That night, we went to dinner near the old town and went to a few more pubs. We got to try so many delicious Belgian beers on our trip and see two wonderful cities.<br />
<br />
Trying to get home the next day was a nightmare. We got up at 6am to get to the airport in the south only to arrive and find our flight had been canceled. We could either get a refund or reschedule our flight for Thursday (it was Monday)! So we got a refund and found a really expensive flight out for the next day at the airport in the north. After about an hour and a half by train (we missed a connecting train) we got to the airport and hunkered down for the next twenty-four hours. When you decide to sleep in an airport because you've spent all your money on a new flight home, your sense of perspective gets thrown off. Pizza Hut becomes a luxury. Your pickiness about where to sleep becomes tinged with irony. Personal hygiene goes out the window. I had about 4 or 5 salami and gouda sandwiches during these 24 hours (we bought meat and cheese at the grocery store). Tiredness and exhaustion overcame us and we settled down in a Quick Burger fast-food restaurant, one on each side of a booth. The Red Cross had given us each a wool blanket. So many travelers were stranded because the airport had run out of de-icing fluid for the planes. The next day we managed to fly up to Southampton, England only to find the flight we thought we missed from being delayed an hour had actually been canceled. So again, we waited, this time for five hours, before we boarded a plane to Edinburgh. We finally made it home after 40 hours. (oh, and I contracted influenza and have been on the couch for the past four days)<br />
<br />
Good trip, good beers, great time with Alex. We are never travelling to a northern country in the winter again. Too cold, too many travel delays. But it was worth it. We had a great time.<br />
<br />
Say What?<br />
<br />
Bruges is in the Flemish region, and they speak Flemish, yet the word we use for the city is French ("Bruges"). The locals call it "Brugge," the Flemish word.<br />
<br />
Brussels is in the French region, they speak French, yet the word we use for the city is Flemish ("Brussel"). The locals call it "Bruxelles," the French word.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-83182884351822379092010-12-01T03:34:00.000-08:002010-12-01T03:34:51.753-08:00Eighth Word: Decorate<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>decorate: </i>early 15c., from Latin</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">decoratus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, pp. of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">decorare</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to decorate, adorn, embellish, beautify," from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">decus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(gen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">decoris</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">) "an ornament," from Proto-Indo European base</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">*dek-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to receive, be suitable" (see <i>decent</i>)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Monday was too Christmas-y to fill with homework and responsibility. So, with the snow falling gently on the castle out our window, Alex and I set out to decorate our flat for Christmas. The previous tenants had left several red and gold ornaments, some colored lights, and a small (fake) tree. By small I mean one foot tall. We thought it would suffice until we actually took the tree out of the closet and set it on the table. No good. You could barely see it, let alone decorate it. The people before us must not have been filled with enough Christmas cheer or something, because I would not be able to stare at that weenie tree for the next month. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Alex and I braved the cold and wind to head to...Pound-Saver. Yes, it's like a Dollar Store back home. I have never been Christmas tree shopping at a store before (let alone a Pound-Saver/Dollar Store). Luckily, we found a nice four-footer, grabbed some extra lights and headed back to put our tree together. For comparison:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGw19Uec8Vn4zkp1zNM0s9b7G30OqCGOs4RXj1Gyvz7mYteKrlBKMBNikz6UfTgM0P8m0RZmfvTDfM7pgFJV4jEFs2y0qqbqeusTSrGdfL7Tf2f6crf8ngyn1o666gOSU1Mn0-VkMwZnr/s1600/IMG_7179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGw19Uec8Vn4zkp1zNM0s9b7G30OqCGOs4RXj1Gyvz7mYteKrlBKMBNikz6UfTgM0P8m0RZmfvTDfM7pgFJV4jEFs2y0qqbqeusTSrGdfL7Tf2f6crf8ngyn1o666gOSU1Mn0-VkMwZnr/s320/IMG_7179.JPG" width="229" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">So many things wrong with that last paragraph. I have a very pure heart when it comes to chopping down a <i>real</i> tree from nature. Give me the sawdust, the snow, the sap and pokey needles! Give me a tree that is too tall and wide when you finally get it indoors! Give me precious minutes wasted to nudge the tree back and forth and get it perfectly vertical! It's a team effort. Not a one man job. Well:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuLEYf7aLHZg-Q7mjrSV2S58frP7tY6glGPkew76fdWsZ73lFm31tUi_GHvAt0Nxh2g8G-p6gzK65XRIdETluen92UOQVbrPaGRjRShc1LsAKDRCmcY__Tz9WrHlVZv1L8eBUL1rbn5W1/s1600/IMG_7178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuLEYf7aLHZg-Q7mjrSV2S58frP7tY6glGPkew76fdWsZ73lFm31tUi_GHvAt0Nxh2g8G-p6gzK65XRIdETluen92UOQVbrPaGRjRShc1LsAKDRCmcY__Tz9WrHlVZv1L8eBUL1rbn5W1/s320/IMG_7178.JPG" width="206" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I made Alex help anyway. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had a delightful afternoon of hanging ornaments and lights and listening to Christmas music. Unfortunately, the ornaments that were here already didn't come with hooks, so we improvised by using paper clips, rubber bands, and string. I collaged a star for the top. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So our house was all set up and I had to head to class. We were both excited for me to come home so we could sit in the glow of our tree that night with warm mugs of tea and some leftover truffles from Thanksgiving. With my luck, this day wasn't going to stay so magical. When I came home, the power had gone out. It seemed everyone else had power though so we called the emergency line at Scottish Power and only got a machine. We laugh that everyone is freaking out about the snow but places have lost power and the snow hasn't stopped yet. Anyway, our whole block eventually ran out of power (we could see candles in everyone's windows) and had to wait two hours (as promised by Scottish Power) to get our power back on. So we did not enjoy our Christmas tree (which we couldn't even see), did not enjoy warm mugs of tea (our appliances are electric) and suffered in the cold and dark. Everyone got power back at the two hour mark <i>except </i>us! What a night! We didn't get power back until 10pm (a 6 hour outage). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, we were able to enjoy our little four-foot fake tree finally and we have been enjoying it ever since. I have never put up a tree before December before but you should see the snow and the castle! I can't avoid the magic and cheer they give off! A small fake tree may not be what I'm used to but I'm loving it. And in the words of Charlie Brown, "It's not such a bad little tree."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnMx_RuOuWh2_-1SLOPWVATV-vC97seYkr2jEKScxHyoGQstAp63BOpv3vnDzrEnGEW4uZVos-JUrOnAB-4uenG4vD6SoZfsIricq9EIh1BjBsMfs1HGW6Ye1jxfmYSZnVQ0_28ep7ZaZ/s1600/IMG_7198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnMx_RuOuWh2_-1SLOPWVATV-vC97seYkr2jEKScxHyoGQstAp63BOpv3vnDzrEnGEW4uZVos-JUrOnAB-4uenG4vD6SoZfsIricq9EIh1BjBsMfs1HGW6Ye1jxfmYSZnVQ0_28ep7ZaZ/s320/IMG_7198.JPG" width="253" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-36683081301256308402010-11-27T08:22:00.000-08:002010-11-27T08:28:06.159-08:00Seventh Word: Thank<dt class="highlight" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">thank: O.E.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">þancian</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to give thanks," from Proto-Germanic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">*thankojan,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">*thankoz</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"thought, gratitude," from PIE base</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">*tong-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"to think, feel.</span></span></dt><br />
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I'm writing this post as I eat some Thanksgiving left-overs and look out at our snow-covered castle. For anyone who knows me, these left-overs would not be on my list of favorite foods (greenbean casserole, sweet potato casserole, haggis) but the comfort and nostalgia they bring (besides the haggis, I guess) are what make these Thanksgiving foods an exception.<br />
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Alex and I hosted seven other people for dinner and two others joined us for dessert. We managed to fit eleven people into this tiny flat! Much to my surprise, the dinner went by with out any significant disaster. Ok, we broke the bowl all the mashed potatoes were in, the turkey was done an hour before all the guests arrived, and Alex forgot to take out the giblets :) But everything tasted so good! Here's a basic rundown of the foodstuffs:<br />
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-a 9-10lb turkey, not dry and very delicious<br />
-mashed potatoes and gravy<br />
-excellent green bean casserole<br />
-sweet potato casserole<br />
-corn pudding<br />
-stuffing<br />
-rolls<br />
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We were blessed with a diversity of cultures at our meal: American (Jason's from Mississippi which is definitely a different culture than ours up north), Scottish, English, and Belgian. Our Scottish landlords' son brought some haggis. It was so tasty! It went perfectly will all the other flavors we had. If we can find some good stuff in the US it might make an appearance at next year's feast (beware, families!). For dessert, I made a pumpkin pie, Jason brought chess pie, which as far as I can tell is like a butter tart, and pecan pie (we had trouble deciding how to pronounce "pecan." <b>pee</b>-can, pee-<b>can</b>, <b>pee</b><i>-</i>cahn, or pih-<b>cahn</b>).<br />
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Our Belgian friend made delicious truffles, and Sydney (an American) brought marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey's chocolate. Our British friends brought whisky to add to black tea (apparently a typical Christmas drink where they are from...not even the Scots had heard of it). Every non-American there was given a s'more to eat :) I think they liked them. I know they thought they were ridiculous and messy. Also, none of them believed us about why they are called s'mores!<br />
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We played a few rounds of Telephone Pictionary and Balderdash (remember, we're in a Linguistics program!), which was full of raucous hilarity. And the best part of the evening? SNOW! It was the first snowfall of the season and they were beautiful fluffy flakes! I went out to the roof right below us and made a snow angel :) It was magical:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPWprZQ36PtqQ7ZNzPXAwHAu0Ov6pzFmoeIz4nq4BfLHCvx010nib32rg8QItDnnvhfkEt-UihheOyXYEYo3r_9s5NnAtw0JMX6T-Sla50qyMIxKjlSN9v0VrA5Ycv6CVPg_i9tEv4ns_/s1600/IMG_7098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPWprZQ36PtqQ7ZNzPXAwHAu0Ov6pzFmoeIz4nq4BfLHCvx010nib32rg8QItDnnvhfkEt-UihheOyXYEYo3r_9s5NnAtw0JMX6T-Sla50qyMIxKjlSN9v0VrA5Ycv6CVPg_i9tEv4ns_/s320/IMG_7098.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The best part is that the snow is still here! (I'll admit, I listened to Christmas music this morning.) And we're supposed to get more tonight.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanksgiving is such a great holiday, especially for the food, but last night, five cultures came together and shared food traditions and stories of holiday feasts and I think we all felt pretty thankful for being together. Most of us were displaced from our families back home and it felt good to be a part of a family again. Alex and I missed our families, of course, but our family over here is pretty cool too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My "Say What?" in this post comes from an interesting cultural difference that was mentioned last night:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We were all talking about childhood memories and Alex brought up "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Ben, who is from England, noted that Brits must be more cautious about tv violence than Americans because when he was growing up it was called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-58875676928966895082010-11-09T12:58:00.000-08:002010-11-09T12:58:12.214-08:00Sixth Word: Dessert<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>dessert: </i>c.1600, from M.Fr.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">dessert</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(mid-16c.) "last course," lit. "removal of what has been served," from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">desservir</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"clear the table," lit. "un-serve," from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">des-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"remove, undo"</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">You will get the joke once I've told my stories. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I grew up making Christmas cookies with my mom every December. There were at least five or six kinds. When you're a kid, you like the "cut-out cookies"; sugar cookies that you get to decorate with frostings of various colors and myriad kinds of sprinkles. You laugh when your sister shows you her one-eyed snowman or at the Santa who's only "wearing" undergarments. Snow-top cookies, Russian tea cakes, spritz, magic cookie bars, peanut-butter kisses. Cookies. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Last year was my first year to attempt the Christmas cookie spree solo (Al and I had a place of our own then, remember?). All went well...I guess the snow-tops <i>were </i>a little hard...and I didn't add enough sugar. In my defense, the oven we had was a ruthless monster that gobbled up your fare as soon as you stopped paying attention. Running roughly 50 degrees hotter than the dial was set at, one had to keep a keen eye the little morsels lest they turn black. That doesn't explain the sugar though...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Something I can't blame on the oven, is something many of you have heard me tell of before. Alex's dad and I both love pie. So for one of our birthdays (can't remember), I decided to bake a cherry pie. My mom cans cherries every summer and I noticed that we had a jar of them in our pantry. I also had a few left over in the freezer. As I'm stirring the cherries on the stove, I add in the frozen ones and notice that they are a much brighter red than the ones that I was stirring. I figured it was either because they were frozen or that they were two different kinds of cherries. The mixture took a long time to thicken up and wasn't even that thick in the end. I poured them into my pie crust, made the top crust look all pretty, and carefully placed the pie into the oven. I watched that thing like a hawk. I was <u>not</u> going to bring a burnt pie to this party. Let me tell you, it looked beautiful. I carried it so carefully on my lap in the car and then into the Masons' house. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">I cut into the beauty after all the candles had been blown out and stuff oozed everywhere. Actually, "ooze" implies some form of coagulation. The thing was a mess. I cut Alex and me slices and we bit in. The flavor was pretty good. The crust was too, but...we kept crunching down on something every bite. Did the cherries still have their pits? It was so weird. I've never had a cherry pie crunch before. Realization dawned on Alex's face sure as the sun does each morning. The previous week he had gone to pick concord grapes at his friend's house and put a can of them in our pantry!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Well, to make a long year short, that was pretty much the end of my mess with baking. Then Edinburgh came. New country, new oven. Ok, nothing beats the grape pie story, but US-metric conversions aren't easy as pie (if you know what I mean). To sum up, milliliters and grams are NOT the same thing. Yes, you need to invest in a scale. No, you can't just eyeball it. I have ended up with several, paper-thin, mushy cookies (oh yea, add baking soda!). S</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">o making cookies one day, t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">he consistency of the dough was completely wrong because we didn't understand that 250g (1c) of butter and 300ml (probably less than 200g (2/3c)) of flour would make a soggy batch of cookies. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> We had to add almost a half bag more of flour.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> But they turned out well. It was a big accomplishment figuring out that one :) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">So now, I'm sitting here smelling the wafting aroma of cinnamon and treacle (molasses, to you folk) as our cookies bake away in our perfectly-on-temperature-although-it's-in-Celsius oven. mmm...I can just taste them. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Say What?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">squidgy: squishy (although, to me it sounds a little denser than something squishy). Alex says, squidgy can also be "soft" as in a "squidgy neck pillow." See:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfP7WnjzxTKYg5LV9Ro0-uC4LXg6-V1qg_jaD305wGZnZHfzY-xKkfLIKQVz-0EPBzZQfwQFZAmj5_jqFfHAEoPd9q7PGPfKoOutpYvw6BE9uKsH2M9Hvn4YeUvQLwbb3aKqlDSkkSuOP/s1600/squidgy_travel_pillows_web_page_version_740_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfP7WnjzxTKYg5LV9Ro0-uC4LXg6-V1qg_jaD305wGZnZHfzY-xKkfLIKQVz-0EPBzZQfwQFZAmj5_jqFfHAEoPd9q7PGPfKoOutpYvw6BE9uKsH2M9Hvn4YeUvQLwbb3aKqlDSkkSuOP/s320/squidgy_travel_pillows_web_page_version_740_02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-91051967231242004292010-10-19T06:27:00.000-07:002010-10-19T06:27:33.521-07:00Fifth Word: Companion<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Companion: c.1300, from O.Fr.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">compagnon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"fellow, mate, friend, partner" (12c.), from L.L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">companionem</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(nom.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">companio</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">), lit. "bread fellow, messmate," from L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">com-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"with" (see</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a class="crossreference" href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=com-" style="color: #800020; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">com-</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">) +</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">panis</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"bread." Found first in 6c. Frankish Lex Salica, and probably a translation of a Germanic word (cf. Gothic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">gahlaiba</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"messmate," from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">hlaib</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"loaf of bread").</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Perhaps fittingly, Alex makes delicious cheese scones and we frequently eat them together. I guess he makes a good "companion." Hardy-har. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">This past Saturday was Alex's and my first anniversary. We</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> celebrated our companionship by sleeping in late, going to the farmer's market near our flat, eating a yummy Italian lunch and going to the National Gallery for the Impressionist Gardens exhibit. While standing in line for tickets a women was leaving with her family and asked Alex and me if we wanted two free tickets that she had! We told her it was our anniversary so it was a great gift. We saved 20 pounds! The exhibit was nice but crowded since it was the last weekend it was showing. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Saturday night we went to The Grain Store restaurant, courtesy of my family, for delicious food and wine. I got venison saddle and Alex got rump and shoulder of lamb. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Sunday, we took a morning train up to Inverness, about a 4 hour ride north. The fall colors were beautiful! The train passed through valleys and gorges with a river running beside for most of the trip. The further north we got, the more barren the land became. Scotland had been clear-cut for timber earlier in its history and because of the short days and eroded soil regrowth was basically non-existent. The bleak and barren landscape was beautiful in a sad sort of way. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Inverness was not what I expected. I expected a metropolis sort of city...much more commercialized and modern (don't know why I thought this). Inverness was a charming little town with a great river running through. We took pleasant walks along the banks with the fall-colored trees guiding us on. We missed the bus to Loch Ness but Inverness was cute enough to occupy our day. It was wonderful just being outside and feeling fall. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">As this post's theme is "companion," I'd like to give a special shout-out to my sister, Sarah, who has found her companion in life, Mike. Congrats on your engagement!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Say What?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">gorgeous: used to describe tasty food. So far, I haven't heard it used to describe anything other than food.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVU7pqaRpcMrlBPThd6jfrXX7aunqhZ4OvJ_J33VcvU7lOAERHFObY05V_5mGBf7lh-FCtSwJtyPMsq5G4REkTalPBvnLm9icUEKkO-c63sj6Ji2OZE-B2V2BNfxM6bJafy092ewggViVT/s1600/IMG_6823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVU7pqaRpcMrlBPThd6jfrXX7aunqhZ4OvJ_J33VcvU7lOAERHFObY05V_5mGBf7lh-FCtSwJtyPMsq5G4REkTalPBvnLm9icUEKkO-c63sj6Ji2OZE-B2V2BNfxM6bJafy092ewggViVT/s320/IMG_6823.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Pictures from this week:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112612&id=15303278&l=1d77be7889">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112612&id=15303278&l=1d77be7889</a></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-2468897137477378562010-10-08T14:35:00.000-07:002010-10-08T14:39:26.291-07:00Fourth Word: Meander<dt class="highlight" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Meander: 1570s (n.) "confusion, intricacies," from L. </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign"><i>meander</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>, from Gk. </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign"><i>Maiandros</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>, name of a river in Phrygia, noted for its winding course. The verb meaning "to flow in a winding course" (of rivers) is attested from 1610s</i></span></dt><br />
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A beautiful day, no classes, and several bus routes to the coast made for an intriguing adventure today. I can't say it was "successful," but we went somewhere we've never been. Leith is a port city on the Firth of Forth easily seen from any of the tall hills or monuments in Edinburgh. It's only about a 25 minute bus ride but might not be worth the fare. Evidently, Alex and I walked the wrong direction after getting off the bus. The water was pretty but it was only a busy road and some row houses. Not much to see. We walked along the water for a while until we decided to just get on another bus in the other direction. We walked a bit around Leith when we finally got into town but it wasn't that great so we left and took a bus to Calton Hill. We had fabulous sunny views of Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags from Calton Hill. We also got a splash of fall color from the trees as we climbed to the top.<br />
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Apart from that little adventure, classes have occupied my time. They're really nothing to write home about, but here I am doing it anyways. I guess my intro classes feel like intro classes (really basic stuff...unless you count Semantics, which is pretty much logic and equations (and confusion!) all the time)). I am enjoying Middle English and Reading Old English very much. I have at least one translation per night, and it's cool to actually be able to read (somewhat) this ancient form of English. Other than that, I don't have any homework. To be honest, I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth yet, but I suppose we do need to get everyone on the same page before all the specialized classes.<br />
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I am increasingly interested in Phonology (the study of speech sounds in a language) and perhaps using that to a historical end. After taking Old English though, I don't think I could handle morphology (which had been my other interest. It's the study of word formation, kinda...like endings and inflections of nouns and verbs...ugh).<br />
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Alex has been working a few "trial shifts" at some restaurants nearby and will, hopefully, be deciding on a job this week. He also has an audition for RENT tomorrow...I'll let you know how that goes. Alright, I've decided to add a portion to my blog called "Say What?" dedicated to a particular silly thing the Brits/Scots say that is totally weird/different to us (no offense!).These will be examples we've actually heard used.<br />
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Say What?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Bob's your uncle</b> (sometimes elaborately <b>Robert's your father's brother</b>) is a commonly used expression mainly in Britain, Ireland and Commonwealth nations. Typically, someone says it to conclude a set of simple instructions to mean, "and there you have it," or "you're all set." For example, "To make a ham sandwich, just put a piece of ham between two slices of buttered bread, and Bob's your uncle." (-wikipedia)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Week 3 Pictures:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111821&id=15303278&l=3b5a00d158">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111821&id=15303278&l=3b5a00d158</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-19382758533504343322010-09-28T08:30:00.000-07:002010-09-29T06:49:08.764-07:00Third word: Haggis<em><span style="font-size: small;">Haggis: early 15c., now chiefly Scottish, but common in M.E., perhaps from O.Fr. agace meaning "magpie," on analogy of the odds and ends the bird collects</span></em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBDRwdtNj2Xcy0u7BqevfaYG_1FFoxG-CVroQTbagFkWG_iei0NuBByXPhiX8EOaNLYcLbnrkwyUuN7tFmxE-U95A09BF7eoc7GDj4L18XU3ZavyFgqTX-OgzJW-Mb2glZz2yfagwYvvmu/s1600/Picture+068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBDRwdtNj2Xcy0u7BqevfaYG_1FFoxG-CVroQTbagFkWG_iei0NuBByXPhiX8EOaNLYcLbnrkwyUuN7tFmxE-U95A09BF7eoc7GDj4L18XU3ZavyFgqTX-OgzJW-Mb2glZz2yfagwYvvmu/s320/Picture+068.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><em><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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Alex and I have been tourists more than I thought. While swimming through all the red tape and bureaucracy of -well, living, I guess- I hadn't thought much had happened since we moved here. However, things have been happening little by little. So, to keep up with our bureaucratic matters: we got a phone today! Not <em>two, </em>but one, because I "haven't been living in the UK long enough to establish a credit record" so TalkMobile won't allow me to purchase two phone lines. But one phone is not none, thank goodness. Also, Alex's computer is fixed and we <em>should</em> be getting internet tomorrow (yay!). Oh, and we got our cost of living check that I deposited in our fully functional bank account! Things are coming together!<br />
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Our adventures started with haggis. We went to Greyfriars Bobby's Bar for dinner one night and Al got haggis. Before I talk about haggis, a little background info on Greyfriars Bobby, the dog. He was so loyal that when his master died he laid on the grave for 14 years until he himself died...so they say. Anyway, haggis. It's actually not that bad. It usually consists of heart, lung, kidney, rusk (?) and is mixed with oats and onions. Basically, it tasted like meatloaf-<em>good</em> meatloaf (Mom, your meatloaf tastes like haggis...heehee).<br />
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Last week we also toured the Palace of Holyroodhouse ('rood' being the ol' fashioned way of saying 'cross'). We got to see bed chambers and sitting rooms, the dining room etc. I don't think the Queen uses these rooms much. We only got to tour the second floor. We got to see Mary, Queen of Scots' bed chamber and where Rizzio, her personal secretary, was stabbed like 18 times by her husband and bled to death in front of her. The gardens and abbey ruins were awesome. I took a picture of Al standing exactly where the Queen and Pope were standing in the picture I took of them. That was cool. We also got to turn our tickets in to annual passes, so if anyone comes to visit Alex and I can go for free!<br />
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You can go a little stir-crazy living in a busy city and I really needed to get out. So, last Saturday, Alex and I took a bus to Stirling, a town comparable to Edinburgh in layout but a lot smaller. It's only about 30 miles away. We climbed up the streets of the old town to reach the castle which, like Edinburgh Castle, is situated at the top of a volcanic rock formation. Alex and I paid 26 pounds each for free access to all the castles in Scotland (basically if you go to two castles you've paid for it)! The views were amazing (I prooooomise pictures soon). We got to see the foothills of the northern highlands in one direction and the lower hills of the southern highlands in another direction. Sterling Castle had a panoramic view of the whole valley and was certainly advantageously situated. Nearby is where William Wallace fought and defeated the English. Mary, Queen of Scots spent most of her early childhood in this castle but was born in nearby Linlithgow.<br />
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We walked to the royal gardens, which have long been deserted, to see the castle from below. It was a beautiful day with little wind and a bright sky. The leaves were beginning to turn as well. Also, we got to go to Primark. For those of you who know, this is God's gift to the shopaholic. Cheap(!!!), stylish clothes. It was awesome. <br />
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I'll write my next blog about my classes, which are in their second week now. The odds and ends are slowly coming together and maybe life will soon be a bit more normal. For now, we are settling in, figuring it out, and having some fun.<br />
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Pictures of Week 1:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111472&id=15303278&l=">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111472&id=15303278&l=</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">Pictures of Week 2:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111473&id=15303278&l=1c2b4d57c1">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111473&id=15303278&l=1c2b4d57c1</a></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-2446991284870940002010-09-18T12:41:00.000-07:002010-09-18T12:41:14.496-07:00Second Word: Move<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">move: late 13c., from Anglo-Fr.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">movir</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(O.Fr.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">moveir</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">), from L.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">movere</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">"move, set in motion" (pp.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">motus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">, freq.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">motare</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">),</span><br />
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Edinburgh greeted us with blowing wind and whipping rain. We didn't care. If that was the price to pay for fresh air (not the stale kind they provide you with on airplanes), then we paid. We've been here a week, and since then, we've had only light drizzles.<br />
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Our apartment is compact but just the right size for us. Two good sized bedrooms, a living/dining/kitchen room, and a bathroom no bigger than the one we had in the US (which was quite small). Alex and I had our first "breakdown" of respecting the local culture and trying to fit in when we went grocery shopping the night we arrived and saw this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7l57JKTbGbvILjjgbdZtmrrBVqiyhCcmF2XkZ0kZ3tD6qPVDBnrx9KR4suWH8ar-QU4xtPXU5waRIVxoyVxK5SijvK_Z5srmnCRC-_clLWFMMITY8GO0uH8kWSSimM3S-5p14pusjUn1/s1600/Picture+023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7l57JKTbGbvILjjgbdZtmrrBVqiyhCcmF2XkZ0kZ3tD6qPVDBnrx9KR4suWH8ar-QU4xtPXU5waRIVxoyVxK5SijvK_Z5srmnCRC-_clLWFMMITY8GO0uH8kWSSimM3S-5p14pusjUn1/s320/Picture+023.jpg" /></a></div><br />
We died laughing right there in the store over the fact that we could buy orange juice with "juicy bits" (aka "pulp"). If you didn't want "juicy bits" you could get "smooth". We felt bad, but what can you do?<br />
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The week continued with several business items to attend to. I registered for classes, and just to impress you, here are my courses for the two semesters:<br />
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Sem 1<br />
Intros to Phonology, Semantics, Syntax, and Language Research (4 different classes)<br />
Middle English<br />
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Sem 2<br />
Diachronic Linguistics<br />
English Word Formation<br />
Medieval Dialectology<br />
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The stressors of home apparently followed us to Edinburgh. We can't get internet in our flat until we have a phone number, but we can't get cell phones until we have a bank account. The bank account is going to take five days to process. And, still, my computer is at HP for a <i>third </i>time being "fixed".<br />
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Alex and I did have time to be tourists this week though. We climbed up Arthur's Seat, a dormant volcano right in the middle of the city. It's about an hour climb and the scenery is beautiful! For those of you who didn't know, the Pope's only papal visit this year was to Scotland and happened to be the same day we were climbing Arthur's Seat. The Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Queen stays when she visits, is at the base. Since the Queen is Duchess of Edinburgh, she met the Pope at the Palace. We happened to be about 300 feet up the hill and could see over the Palace walls. We saw the Queen come out on a red carpet with the Pope, and then we saw their motorcade leave the Palace on their way around the city and eventually to Glasgow. Both times I've been to Edinburgh now the Queen has been here too.<br />
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I promise pictures as soon as we get our own internet. We like it so far and there are many things to occupy our time. We are getting our bearings and finding the city very walkable.<br />
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I start classes on Monday and the adventures will continue. Though the cogs of our adventure (phones, bank account, internet, computer) are a bit rusty, we have set in motion a new life and it's moving along whether we are ready or not.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398084069806684644.post-81185752701503676512010-08-28T15:48:00.000-07:002010-08-30T11:01:43.088-07:00First Word: Adventure<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Adventure: the original meaning was "to arrive," in Latin, but in Middle English it took a turn through "risk/danger" (a trial of one's chances), and "perilous undertaking" (early 14c.), and thence to "a novel or exciting incident" (1570). <i>-etymonline.com</i></span></span></span><br />
<div><br />
</div><div>It seems a great adventure must always start with a great misadventure. This is a story about my great adventure. But I must begin with my great misadventures in order to give perspective to what someone will put up with to get where they want to go.</div><div><br />
</div><div>These musings began while I was on the phone with tech support for the second time (45 minutes each!), after my three-month-old laptop had already been sent in, repaired, and sent back. So much trouble caused by such a stupid little problem: beeps. I seriously wear a name tag that says: Hello, my name is Julia, and my computer beeps (no, seriously, I don't). But it <i>is</i> really annoying just sitting there and then <i>beep</i>! Randomly, all the time, some of the time, never. Grrr! I don't know why it beeps (and apparently tech support doesn't either). They decided it must be the keyboard and replaced it but to no avail. Too bad they don't get credit for trying.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Somehow, a move to Edinburgh, Scotland couldn't be complete without several bumps (or beeps, as the case may be) along the way. In the good ol' days of fleeing the religious intolerance of England, emigration to the New World encompassed braving the perils of a raging sea, contracting whatever illness inflicted a shipmate, weeks of travel, and upon arrival, no one to greet you and help you on your way. A sense of the unknown was a fog that hovered throughout the journey, but as we all know, the hunger for a better world overpowered the longing to turn around.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Modern-day perils aren't nearly as foreboding (nor as exciting). For example, computer beeps. Also, government legislation that slows down the financial aid process thereby severely reducing the amount of time in which to apply for a visa, get it processed, and finally returned before you leave in 8 days! Whew! And still we must wait because if we don't get our visas, we don't fly because the UK Boarder Agency has our passports that they will paste our visas into. We pay the money to change the flight, cancel the hostel until we get the visas, and then just wait. AND, I can't register as a student at the University until I can give the school a photocopy of my visa! Oh, and there was also the camera repair, the packing, the lack of motivation to pack, the spackling, the computer getting sent back a <i>second </i>time, getting my cavity filled, getting Alex's five cavities filled, and the power going out twice for several hours today.</div><div><br />
</div><div>This may seem like complaining (it <i>is </i>complaining!), but it's <i>my </i>misadventure and I'm entitled. To be fair, it's Alex's misadventure too. I don't know if that makes it any better though. We have 8 days of misadventure left and then on to the adventure...provided we get our visas in time. So I guess that my hunger for a "new world" is what is holding all this together. You can put up with a lot when adventure comes calling. Our "perilous undertaking" is soon to be a "novel and exciting incident"! On to Edinburgh!</div><div><br />
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</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1