Bits and Bobs 3

This is along the Thurso River. I walk along here almost every day. 

There are so many things I would like to write about our experiences here in Scotland, but we are running out of time. So here are a few bits and bobs I will just comment on.

HEN PARTIES

These are what we would call “Bachelorette Parties.”  A thing I have only seen here – but maybe it’s happening in the US as well – is that the bridal party all wear sashes. They say, “Bridesmaid” or “Maid of Honor.”  Brides wear “Bride” and sometimes a veil as well.

ALCOHOL

It is not only legal to drink alcohol on trains, but it is legal to bring your own alcohol to consume on trains.  However, it cannot be consumed after 10pm. When questioned as to why that is, it’s because of football and/or rugby games. Apparently, people get so worked up over their team’s loss or victory, that they can get violent and/or destructive. And since alcohol contributes to that, they don’t allow consumption after 10 pm. 

The legal blood alcohol level here is low - 0.05. So people here take it very seriously. Groups will have a designated driver who will not consume any alcohol at all. OR they will simply hire a taxi. Mike has even finished a golf tournament, where men have driven to the tournament and then consumed a lot of alcohol afterwards. When questioned, he was told they will take a taxi home and return the next day to pick up their car. I think we in the US could use such a view of alcohol.   Zero tolerance.  How can you really know when and how much you are impaired?

If you are driving while intoxicated, it is called ‘drink driving.’ (We call it ‘drunk driving in the US). They do not mess around with intoxicated driving here. The penalty for driving under the influence here is high -  get caught driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink and you’ll definitely lose your license for at least a year. You also face an unlimited fine and you can be imprisoned for up to six months. We can see why it just pays to have a designated driver or hire a taxi. It’s just not worth the cost.

“ALIGHT”

This word makes me smile. It is used a lot here. I especially hear it on the trains and see it at rail stations. The conductor will say, “Please take care while alighting from the train.” Obviously, it means 'stepping off.' 

SURFING

Just before we moved here, I was told that the international surfing competitions were held right here in Thurso. Seriously?   So, of course I had to look into that. Turns out there is one in the fall and another in the spring. We were all over it last fall, but on that day, when we drove to the pier, we didn’t see anything. I thought I must have misunderstood. Turned out that there are about 5 different beaches in the area they can surf on and will change beaches at the last minute if the waves are better elsewhere. Too bad we didn’t find that out until too late that day. Then we missed the spring one because we were on our way back from Italy.

Weeelllll,……we saw them surfing this year!  Now, rest assured that we have seen surfers now and then throughout the year. (Crazy people!) But our son Bryan was here a couple of weeks ago and I was showing him around town, which of course, meant taking him to the Thurso beach and pier. Well, what to our wondering eyes should we see? But surfers AND surfing kayakers!  There were 2 competitions happening over several days. So, the next day, we walked out to Thurso East and out over the rocks past Thurso Castle to get close to the action. We didn’t stay long because we had places to take Bryan – but I was glad to have seen some of it. Check!(off the list of things to see and do here)

This may or may not play. We shall see.
It is a short clip of some of the surfers. 

VERGE

You know the expressions, “living on the verge” and “on the verge of tears”?   Well, come to find out that a ‘verge’ is part of the road.  I had no idea. I have seen road signs about not driving on the verge.

ADVERTISING

How do you find out what’s going on in a small town?  Walk along the High Street (the main shopping street) and look at the windows, of course!  (Or have local friends who will message you!)  Yes, this is how things are advertised here. I love it. And once I knew this, I knew to look for them.  You can also find them on bulletin boards in the grocery shops and hotels. 

Quiz Nights

Pubs host “Quiz Nights.” Now, you are probably more ‘hip’ than Mike and I and you probably already know about these, but for us, it was new. We have only been to 3 Quiz Nights, but they sure were fun. You form your own teams with 4-6 members. We called ourselves things like “The Yanks,” and surprisingly, a good number of questions are actually directly related to American things, so you would think that would give us a leg-up. Not necessarily.  It only costs a couple of pounds per person to play and it’s an evening’s entertainment. And every event was raising money for a charity.

TROLLEYS

Trolleys are shopping carts. The ones in our Tesco are four-wheel drive. They are free to use, hwever, you cannot leave the parking lot with them, or apparently an alarm will sound. I have not tested it, but I believe the sign. (I had a picture of that somewhere....)

Another grocery store here is Lidl. They also have trolleys, but you have to put a pound coin deposit to ‘unlock’ them. You get the pound back when you return it. OR you can have a handy little plastic or metal ‘coin’ that you can carry on your key ring.

THINGS ABOUT BABIES

Baby strollers are called ‘prams.’ Here in Scotland – and probably all over the UK – parents go prepared. They have these plastic covers that go over the prams to keep the rain off the baby – and yet, the baby can still see out. Isn’t that clever?

I have only ever heard the word ‘creche’ in relation to the Christmas story. The ‘creche’ is the manger scene that you get out at Christmas time. But here, a nursery where babies and young children are cared for is called a ‘creche.’

DRIVING

We are long-past the stress of driving on the left side of the road. We are long-over the idea that the lanes in the roads are more narrow than at home. We learned long ago how to drive down single track roads and correctly pass oncoming vehicles in the 'passing places'. We stopped getting excited over the signs that say, “Oncoming traffic may be in middle of road” and we no longer laugh at the elderly people signs or the ‘Squirrel Crossing next 1 ¾ mile” signs. We have learned how to weave in and out of parked cars on the side of the road, taking turns with the oncoming traffic (It is amazing how well this system works!!)

This is an example of a two lane street. Cars are parked on one side, blocking the driving lane.
So what do you do?   If there is enough room for two cars to pass, then the car with the blocked
lane drives in the middle.    If there is not enough room for two cars to pass, then the car in the blocked lane gives way to the car in the clear lane and then passes the parked cars. 

But there are some things I don't think I've mentioned yet about driving here.

1. There do not seem to be any ‘STOP’ signs. There is only solid line on the road at the intersection and the fact that most full stops are pretty obvious.

2.     The traffic lights at intersections not  only go from GREEN to YELLOW to RED, but they also go from RED to YELLOW to  GREEN.   Now, we are not entirely sure of why that is, but I have my theory. MY theory is that since most vehicles here are standard transmission and drivers are taught (and required) to stop, take the vehicle out of gear and apply the hand brake, so that the RED to YELLOW light is to signal the drivers to release the hand brake and put the car into gear. By the time they have done that, the light has changed to GREEN and traffic moves along. 

If Mike and I had taken the drivers’ tests here, we would probably know the answer to that for sure. But it sounds reasonable.

3.     The ‘passing lane’ is called the ‘overtaking’ lane. Cars do not pass. They ‘overtake.’ 

4.     Cars are parked in the ‘car park.’  Makes sense.

5.     Cars are ‘hired,’ not rented.

6.     If you damage property -  like a roadside fence – while driving – you will be held financially responsible for fixing/replacing it.

“ONE-OFF”

This is an expression that is used quite often. A “one-off” is just what it sounds like. It is something that does not usually happen. Sort of a “one-time” thing. I love this expression.

“SORTED”

I love this word as well. Things here get ‘sorted.’  If you are gathering your things together, you might be asked if you are sorted. Once you get yourself together and are ready,  or once you have made decisions about something, someone might say to you, “That’s you, sorted.”

“BRILLIANT”

People are brilliant. Ideas are brilliant. Here, ‘brilliant’ is a common expression and is used in everyday language and is heard in almost every conversation.

My friends Judy and Gary and their friends were here to visit us in September. Gary was delighted with this word and decided he was going to incorporate it into his own everyday language.  He managed to use it several times in the couple of days he was here. I can't wait to hear him use it when I am home again. 

PECKISH

I'm not really sure if I used this word before I came here. I want to say yes. But 'peckish' is when you are a little hungry.  When I saw this sign on the ferry, I knew I had to have the picture.  

HABERDASHERY

Can you even guess what this word means? I surely could not.

Elizabeth’s – a business up the street – sells upholstery material, sheets, pillows and blankets – with a ‘haberdashery’ upstairs.  A ‘haberdashery’ is a store that sells small sewing items, like thread and needles and buttons. Now you know. 

PROPER

"Proper" is used a lot here and because I like it so much, I have incorporated it into my own vocabulary. I was amused to find it on a menu.  

“WHILST”

This is also a very common word and makes me laugh.I have only seen it written and not actually said.  I take pictures of signs that use this word.

BREAD

Bread is always offered to you as ‘white’ or ‘brown.’ Never called wheat.

There is a type of roll here called a ‘bap.’ It would be similar to our hamburger buns, only not as hardy.

SUGAR

Tables have both brown and white sugar cubes. I finally had to ask why. Turns out, the white sugar is for tea and brown sugar is for coffee. Who knew?

MOVIES

You don’t go to the movies here. You go to the ‘cinema’ to see ‘films.’

We have a small cinema here. It has 2 screens and usually has 4 movies showing.

There is also a bar/restaurant in the building, and I have heard from one friend that if you order your meal before you go into the movie, they will have it timed to be ready to be served when the movie, er…film…., is over. Pretty cool.

This cinema also has a bowling alley. Both were built by the US Military when they had a base here many years ago. The bowling alley is no longer used. (I think that large and heavy ball indoor bowling never really caught on here. I think lawn bowling is preferred (which, by the way, has an indoor winter league as well). 

About once a month, there is an Event Cinema, which is often a musical or opera or the like that has been filmed live and is shown in cinemas later. We have only been to see two. We would love to see more, but they start at 7:30 and last about 3 hours. I was falling asleep during the last one –  but not because it was boring. Not by any means! It was just too late for me to be sitting still in the dark. Actually, the last one we saw was Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet.   Mike heard several phrases in that show that he later commented on, saying, “That’s where that expression comes from.” (like, “something’s rotten in Denmark.”

VISITORS

The last of the visitors have come and gone.

Honestly, we have been quite surprised by the number of people who have been willing to make the long trip to the most-northerly town in Scotland - to see US!. It is definitely no small thing and each one has been a super-blessing to us. 

Judy and Gary Wagenblast and their friends, Candy and Rich, stayed in Thurso for a couple of days at the end of September. They left us to meet their tour group in Glasgow, where they were going on to see lower parts of Scotland and then on to Ireland. 

Somehow, this was the only group picture we took.

A week later, Nancy and Doug Pruitt stayed with us for 4 nights and then went on to Ireland as well. (Scotland/Ireland seem to be a common combo)

And a week after that, our son, Bryan, was here for 4 nights. We put him back on the plane to return to Germany, where he was traveling for several weeks. 

Well, we have been here for 17 months and there are still interesting things to see and hear and do. I wish I could record everything. I wish I could recall everything.   But those of you who know me know that I can’t even retell a joke very well.

I will end this post with a few fun pictures:

When I saw this, I thought it said, "Red Squirrel REPRODUCTION Zone."    LOL!

I admit I don't hear the word 'knickers' here a lot. I think it is really used more by the English.
But there is something about that word that makes me giggle.