I’ve lived in Balerno since 1991. It’s home. But Illinois, the American state where I grew up, is also home. I think of myself as a transplant – uprooted from the rich, dark farmland in the Midwest, and replanted in harder, rockier UK soil. Though I feel quite at home here, growing up in a place with different customs means that I don’t always see things in the same way as my neighbour.
Alike but different
“Quick, come look at this bird!” called my husband. “What is it?” We were visiting family in the States, and my other half was looking out the window. “It’s a robin! Can’t you tell by its red breast? We have robins in the UK.” “Not like this we don’t. It’s huge! It must be four times their size!” I considered for a moment, summoning up a picture of the robins so popular on British Christmas cards. My husband was right. This American version seemed to be a different bird. “I have no idea,” I said. “I guess I just think of the ones I see in the UK as babies.” By this point I’d become used to the fact that so many things in our two similar countries were alike but not alike. In both places salt and pepper shakers have a different number of holes. But in the US the salt shaker is the one with fewer holes, while shakers in the UK are exactly opposite. Consequently, in my early years in Britain I over-salted my food, thinking I needed to tip the shaker more than I actually did. 26 | www.konect.scot
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