Differences between USA/UK; fun facts

Whenever I'm in the USA I get asked what it's like in Scotland. More often that not I now say "It's much the same as here" But I guess on my first trip I saw a LOT of differences. Of course, I've only been to Northwest Arkansas (and just over the state lines into Oklahoma and Missourri) so some of my observations may be state-specific, but here are a few of the differences that I recall noticing that first trip.

In the UK we:

• don't have drive through banks (nope, got to find somewhere to park your car, walk to the bank and get your cash). We don't have drive-through pharmacies or Utility providers either.
• don't have 50 different fast food chains (pretty much we have McD's, BK, KFC and Dominos the same as USA but that's about it - yes there are a few others dotted around but not real nationwide chains)
• get a lot more rain!
• we think 77 Degrees Farenheit is a hot day!
• sit on the right and drive on the left
• have a lot more smaller cars with smaller engines (probably because our gas prices are around 3x those in the USA)
• already have tax included in the ticket price, you buy a £20 shirt, it's £20.
• call it a supermarket (as opposed to a grocery store) and it's pretty standard in the UK to buy your cigarettes and alcohol there as well as your groceries
• call a grill a barbecue and a broiler a grill (still causes confusion when I visit the USA)

In the USA they:

• don't have a National Health Service (most people I personally met can't afford to visit a doctor when they get sick,  and one or two even went thousands of dollars into debt when they needed an operation, a scary thought to me!)
• have drive-in movies (I went for the first time ever last summer, lay on an airbed in the back of the pick-up truck and thought it was sooooo cool)
• are really Patriotic and it's common to see small versions of the US flag in people's gardens
• don't have roundabouts (okay, where I  have been in the USA they don't)
• can turn right at a red traffic light

That's the tip of the proverbial ice-berg, but spending time in the USA, I hardly notice a difference at all anymore. Feel free to comment with any observations you've made.

Made in the USA	Multi Union Jack
American Flags	Pink Union Jack

More patriotic gifts here.

Rednecks were Scottish, interesting huh?

I was looking up Redneck 'stuff' for another website and decided to find out about the origins of the term. I was surprised to find that the (or one of the) earliest references to the name as it's present definition in American culture was from 1893 (1): "...poorer inhabitants of the rural districts...", yet there is evidence of a much earlier usage of the term in both Scottish and American history.

The term refers to the Scottish Covenanters of the 1600's, those whom opposed taking the Church of England as the official state church (the political union of Scotland with England did not occur until 1707 when the United Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, prior to this Scotland was an independent sovereign state). The Covenanters held that Scotland desired a Presbyterian church government and signed documents to that effect in the mid 1600's, often using their own blood to sign. Many Covenanters wore a piece of red cloth around their necks as a sign of their position and so the term Red Neck became slang for 'Scottish Dissenter'.

As the union with England became inevitable and executions without trial reigned, many Covenanters fled to Ireland and North America setting up new Presbyterian Churches where they settled. The Dictionary of American Regional English (1) shows the earliest American citation of the term Redneck's used as a name for Presbyterians is from 1830: "...the Presbyterians of Fayetteville [North Carolina]".

There is also a Scottish origin for the term Hillbilly, which I may come back to later in time.

(1)Frederic Gomes Cassidy & Joan Houston Hall, Dictionary of American Regional English, 2002, pg 531

Redneck Love by NateOwens

Presbyterian symbol by mcanderson76

Barr's Irn Bru - Latest Ad

Ever since I can remember Barr's Irn Bru has been my favourite soft drink. I remember as a kid the Barr's factory was in the town of Wishaw, not far from where I lived, and you could go along and buy directly from the factory. To those of you not in the UK (or more precisely Scotland), irn bru is a bright orange coloured soda described as 'mixed fruit' flavour.

Long time slogans of the drink were "Made in Scotland from girders" and "Scotland's other national drink". In recent years their ad campaigns have become funnier and perhaps more controversial. The parody of the children's animation "the Snowman" (a beautiful adaptation of the Raymond Briggs book set to the song "Walking in the Air) was hilarious. The animation tells the tale of a young boy building a snowman and the snowman later coming to life, very sweet and worth a look if by some chance you have never seen it. The Irn Bru admen cheekily adapted the animation to have the snowman try and get a drink of the young boy's irn bru, when the boy continually refuses, the snowman lets go of his and and sends him crashing back down to earth. It was definately on of the more memorable ad campaigns I've seen, very funny in a somewhat understated way. This clip isn't "The Snowman" though, it's Barr's latest offering; some find it hilarious, others find it offensive but at the end of the day, it's only a bit of fun. Enjoy.

So the World Cup Starts on the 11th June......

Although I'm not really into football (soccer) anymore, there seems absolutely no way that I can avoid the World Cup. It's going to be all over tv, newspapers and the internet for pretty much 2 months. So with that in mind, and considering that my home Country of Scotland did NOT qualify (big surprise huh?) I wondered who I should support. "Easy," say some of you, "support England." I could well support England but am I being unfaithful to Scotland if I support England? For years I've failed to understand why in some endeavours we compete as the UK, whilst in others we are still separated into Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. I could support Brazil, the favourites to win (at least then I'd know I was backing a good team - not that England aren't a good team, just my knowledge on the subject is so poor). Or I could support my fiance's team, USA, though he is as much of a football (soccer) fan as I am. Maybe I should pick the team with the prettiest flag? That may be as good a selection criteria as any. If your National team didn't make it to the World Cup, who will you support and why?

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