Americans As Tourists

I haven't been overseas much, but I did spend 8 days in England and countless days in Canada. As a rule, I try to be respectful of other cultures, especially when I'm the foreign one. However, the natives aren't always as pleasant. I've been in the company of friends of natives of a country where our accent/phrasing was made fun of. This was in Canada, so I guess it was fair play seeing how our dear friends to the North (East & West) are ridiculed so often by Americans. I've heard other accounts ranging from being welcomed with open arms (Italy) to general hostility (France). I found a link on Happy Fun Pundit to Jane Galt, who wrote a great blog entry on Americans as Tourists. Her entry was inspired by a post by Ted Barlow, who was inspired by an article by the BBC, who received their information from research done by Expedia (UK). What a intricate web we weave.

Rearranging House

Matt and I spent the last three days rearranging furniture in the house. We wanted a better sitting area and now we have two sitting areas in the living room. It's the make-one-room-like-two trick that you often see on home decorating programs like The Christopher Lowell Show on Discovery. So now we have the enjoy-the-view-of-fire-place reading and chatting area and the watch-tv-listen-to-music-and-talk area. I will take pictures some day and put them on here. You probably have noticed I'm not big on graphics. Mostly because I don't have time to fiddle around with the site.

One Last Note on County Fair

I'm thrilled to be done with the Fair. Ugh. That's all I can say. The breaking point was on Saturday when I walked to the restrooms. For some reason I didn't take my usual route (behind Midway) and walked straight down the main Midway area. I got asked for my phone number, asked to play games, yelled at for not playing their games, the hey-can-I-ask-you-a-favour? line, and many others. At another tent, a guy asked if he would see me at the beer tent later. It was like someone declared games open for the male species to find a mate (or someone to play with). Ick. The night ended well though with good brews at the Barker Brewing Company in Fredonia. Good beer!