I feel like I should say something momentous since it's now June already. I can't believe it. Almost halfway through my field study. My research is actually going much better--this week, I've had 4 interviews, which is quite a lot. And I'm gathering quite a bit of good data, so I'm happy about that, hopefully I'll be able to write a good paper. There's not too much to say about it, it's not like France where I was going to really cool places everyday (I really really miss that--I had a pain au raisin for breakfast this morning, brought back some goooood memories.)
Some more British/Guernseyisms:
on Wednesday, I had to get out to the lady's house to interview her. She lives in St Pierre du Bois, which is one of the really rural parishes. The directions to her house looked like this:
- You know the cup-and-saucer? Ok, take the first left after that. (Except I was coming the opposite way by bus, so I had to figure out which road was the one right before Fort Grey)
- Keep going quite a ways until you get to a fork in the road, stay in the middle.
- Keep walking all the way until you see a house on the left, we're by ourselves, a cottage with an addition, and a lean-to greenhouse. (Fine, except practically ALL the houses in the rural parishes look like that...so I was a bit worried)
I asked her if there was a street name or something, and she said, oh yes, it's Rue de Clercs. I soon figured out why she hadn't given me the name, because there are no road signs. (You can never tell with Guernsey, sometimes there are, sometimes there aren't any.) I did look her phone number up in this wonderful book Sheila has, and found out that her house is called Le Tablet, so that was a relief when I saw the sign above the door. (Houses here don't have numbers, they have names. Which I always thought was a lovely idea--reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. But it makes it a bit dodgy with directions). But hey, I found it! Exactly as she had described it. So I was quite proud of myself haha.
Another British thing: our professor's idea of a "quick lunch" is NOT the American version. I was thinking, oh I'll make a sandwich, grab an apple and run out the door. But no, "quick lunch" meant taking an hour to prepare meat, potatoes and vegetables, setting the table and sitting down to a proper meal. hahaha, I don't think I'll ever get used to that, I eat too many of my meals on the way out the door.
I've noticed I've started using some British words--you can probably tell from reading this. I use "bit" and "quite" and "lift" and "flat" now, I'm almost used to it. Oh and "lovely" instead of beautiful. They also seem to use "fantastic" a lot, maybe that's just a Guernsey thing.
Oh--embarrassing moment of the week: we were at church on Sunday, and one of the visiting elders noticed me and Peter sitting there (Amy's in Germany for the week). So after the meeting he asked if I was Peter's wife. hahaha. I was like uh, no, we are both BYU students. He wasn't even flustered, he just took it in stride, oh ok, what are you studying, type thing. Oh it was funny. And really awkward.
Well that's about all I can think of to share from the last week--I didn't even go to a museum or anything. Next week the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations start, so I'm really excited about that, should be lots to do. I did finally get the jubilee thing explained to me the other day. I knew they were every 10 years(ish) to celebrate how long the monarch has been on the throne, but I didn't know it corresponded to wedding years. Apparently if you've been married for sixty years, it's your diamond wedding, fifty is golden, forty is pearl, and then there's a ruby for either thirty or 25, I can't remember. Anyway, so that's where it started. The current queen of England is having her diamond jubilee this week, since she was crowned in 1952. One of the ladies I was talking to said they think she wants to beat Queen Victoria, so she has to last 4 1/2 more years. I must say I'm very American, in that I don't really get the whole royalty thing. It's very serious for them. And every former British colony is having jubilee celebrations as well--Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand. Except us haha. Of course, we would NEVER refer to ourselves as a "former British colony", even though if you think about it, we are. That had never occurred to me before, as funny as it sounds.
There's nothing like living in another country to make you realize things about your own. Some things I really miss, just because they are familiar, and others I think we should be more like Europe in. The same lady I was talking to on Wednesday told me she'd never been to America (you'd be surprised at how many people have here) even though she goes to France all the time, and has been to Australia and Canada and various other places. She told me that she just feels like America is too big, and dangerous. (That's another Britishism, they refer to it as America, never the States, or the United States. Oh and it's the war of American Independence, not the Revolutionary War). Her daughter was an exchange student in Pennsylvania I think, and absolutely loved it. But she said she just worried and worried about her. Traditional Guernsey is very very safe. The town isn't anymore, but in the smaller parishes you still get that small-town feeling. Strangers offer to give you rides, stop to help lost tourists and there is nothing suspicious about it. They are just friendly and want to help. As if to prove her point, her husband offered me a lift to the bus stop so I wouldn't miss it. At home I would have NEVER, first off, gone to someone's house I didn't know by myself in the middle of the country (and they wouldn't have invited me over the phone) and I would not accept a ride from a stranger I just met 5 minutes before. But it's different here, people genuinely want to help you out. They never used to lock their doors or cars and nothing got stolen. That's changed now, but I feel like I got a glimpse of how things used to be, all over the world really. It was really really nice. And it's a shame that we can't be more trusting like that anymore. If everyone was honest, things could go back to the way they were. Ah well, c'est la vie.
