12.21.2009

Scottish Attraction

I realize that there's a number of times during all my rants and raves and posts on this blog (and in conversation, Facebook status updates and general feelings of absence) that I go on about all the things we miss about Texas. But there's quite a number of things we've come to appreciate and enjoy about life in Scotland and it's high time they got pointed out, so here they are in no particular order:

Fish and chips.... they are always fresh and nutritious delicious.

Whisky and wine... the quality of these two items here far surpasses the "average" bottles found at home.

Snow... our newest infatuation, since we've never lived in a place where it's actually supposed to snow. Seeing how we are about as far dang north as you can get, Aberdeen's winter has us chattering our teeth.

Social scene... granted there's one in every town, but we've really come to enjoy Aberdeen's. People are pretty friendly and we have a good group of folks that we frequent the bars and pubs with. I also like that all of these joints are located on Union Street, so the idea of barhopping isn't a pain at all. It's a hop, skip and a jump.

Lack of traffic... Aberdeen's idea of 5 o'clock traffic is the fact that it takes you 20 minutes instead of 10 to get home. Mike doesn't have to drive far to get to his office and, well, we all know I reach mine on foot. If there's ever a day I complain of traffic, all is lost.

Coziness... cold or warm weather, the UK and European scene have a way of accomodating this word to its fullest. Cafes, shops, pubs, restaurants, they all tend to be on the small side and naturally the buildings and establishments are older and more weathered giving you a sense of being quite cozy inside.

Travel... this could easily top the list. We never thought we'd be in a setting that allowed us to easily access so many amazing parts of the world. This coming spring and summer we'll be travelling our socks off!

Scenery... the country here is beautiful. It's gorgeous in the summer when the flowers are in full bloom (the country takes pride in its flora), the fall is incredible as sharp hues of foliage announce the changing of seasons and the winter is crisp and laced with icey tree branches and white fields covered with frost or snow.

Calmness... our life has changed drastically since we moved to Aberdeen. No more are we fighting Galleria traffic, struggling to keep dates and events or burning up the road to Dallas or College Station every other weekend. All of the sudden, we've been blessed with peace. The opportunity to literally enjoy each day for what it has to offer, to spend time with each other, to concentrate on small portions of family or friends as they visit and to casually explore a new world. (Though I must thank the caretakers of our 4 pets, as they've taken on a huge one-year task! It also provides us peace of mind knowing they're so well cared for.)

Wit and banter... it's extremely entertaining listening to the Scots speak. Their choice of phrases or wording is often very humorous. And as we travel abroad more and more, hearing French, Italian, German, etc., our ears are enriched with the fantastic web of culture we weave.



3 comments:

  1. Here! Here!! Well said!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thumbs up to this post. I'm still in the beginning stages of realizing how different everything is...but that's just it. It's different not better or worse than what we are used to, just a different way of life. Which is the whole reason of my journey, to see what it's like living somewhere else!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for you Jaclyn! It's hard to remember sometimes, especially when you get homesick. But focusing on the positive stuff and the cool new experiences you are getting definitely helps. Keep up your blog, I love reading about Paris! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from any readers out there, just keep it clean and friendly!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...