Speaking British, honey.
Everyone who comes to Scargill to live "in Community" agrees to work in some capacity. Some people work here for years. (like the Directors, the Chaplains, the administrative team, etc. And others come here to live in Community for 1-2 years. (these are mostly college age kids who are here for their "gap year". Some of these are International Community members from all over the world, like India, Hungary, Africa, Spain, etc. And I guess I am kinda part of that International Community because I am the only person here from America right now. (More about that in a minute.) I am technically on "Sabbatical" while I am here which by the Scargill definition means that I am here for a temporary time and agree to work for my room and meals, and I can also take part in any of the seminars or programs available during my time off. And there are also "working friends" who are mostly lovely retired adults who live somewhere in England and like to come to Scargill for a few days at a time to volunteer their time. From what I have observed, we couldn't get along without them.
I've been in the UK before so I thought I would have no problem at all with the language. I mean we all speak English, right? Wrong. They speak British. And I speak American. Southern-style, honey. I was really surprised at how difficult it was to understand everyone. I'm not talking about the charming British accents. Its one thing to be a tourist, saying hello, or making a purchase, or ordering from a menu. But its another thing when you are trying to have a serious conversation and you have no idea what the person just replied to you.
So a few days after I arrived, I started composing a little song about all the different words we use to describe the same thing and I sang it for the Community one day. They all accepted it with the good-natured way I meant it and I think it helped break the ice a little more. It has certainly opened up conversations for me with everyone. And I really admire the international students for coming here and speaking English. I cannot imaging how hard it must be for them. England is a small country (about the size of North Carolina) but they have many different dialects and accents. Sometimes it is hard for the British to understand each other, depending on what area of the country they are from. So you can imagine what they must think if I offer them some waddur. (water) Or what runs through my mind when a man says its a bit chilly and he's going to nip off to get his jumper from the boot. (translation: run out to get his sweater from the trunk of the car.)
Moral of the Story: Seriously, learning to accept each other and communicate with each other with all our differences and diversities is part of being open, loving, and genuinely respecting each other as brothers and sisters. It's a heart-warming thing in a way that I have never had the opportunity to experience before. And I love it.
Here's my silly little song:
I say tomato. You say to-mah-toe.
I say potato. Do you say po-tah-toe?
But a baked potato, you call a jacket spud.
Let's call the whole thing off!
Someone asked me to Hoover.
But my ears heard "hover"
So I stood around and hovered
while someone else hoovered.
OH NO! Hoover= vacuum.
Vacuum= Hoover
Let's call the whole thing off!
You lay the table. I set the table.
You say trolley. I say cart.
You say rubbish. I say trash.
Let's call the whole thing off!
You say Gammon. I say ham
You say pudding. I say dessert.
You say sweetie. I say candy.
Let's call the whole thing off!
When you say biscuits, you mean cookies.
When I say biscuits, I mean bread.
(A little like a round scone, but soft and slightly salty)
Let's call the whole thing off!
When you say TEA,
I think cold sweet tea.
When you say "gotta nip off"
I'm thinking scissors.
Celsius, Fahrenheit,
Liters, Gallons,
Let's call the whole thing off!
But, Oh, if we call the whole thing off,
then we must part.
And oh, when we have to part
then that will surely break my heart.
When you say "creche"
I think Christmas
And when you say holiday
I also think Christmas.
(see how confusing this is?)
When you say coach, I say bus.
When you say lorry, I say truck.
When you say car park, I say Parking Lot.
Oh, Let's call the whole thing off!
But wait!
When you say sister, and I say brother,
We all know what that means
cause we love each other.
Its our love for Jesus
that bonds us all together...
So I'm calling the calling-off OFF!
Yes, I'm calling the calling-off OFF!
A couple weeks ago, I went with some of the Community to "Billy Bob's"'
https://www.billybobsparlour.com/
This is a British interpretation of retro Americana. Felt kinda like we were in Nebraska. It was surreal for me. Kinda like a British Pub in the USA. The menu was American food and signs said "Howdy."
I ordered grits so everyone could have their first taste of one of our real American foods. But the funniest thing to me was the reaction to the American signs that said "RESTROOMS"
My new Brazilian friend Gabrielle said "Why do you call it a restroom? You don't go in there to rest."
HMM, Gabrielle, I really don't know why we say Restroom.
The British say Toilet or Loo. And the really funny thing here at Scargill is while all the rooms have a sink, many of the guest rooms do not have toilets and tubs in the room (Which they call en-suite). So you go down the hall for showers and trips to the loo. If a door says TOILET, that is all there is. But if it says SHOWER, that is all there is. And one room says BATHROOM and the bathtub is all there is. No toilet. Cause it said Bathroom. Kinda tricky. Keeps everyone on their toes.
So we might use different words, but we're all basically the same when you get right down to it. You say Loo and I say Restroom, we mean the same thing. Know what I mean? 😜
Till next time,
Deep Peace to ya'll,
Audrey
