A telling minor difference between the UK and Italy is that virtually every time we saw an Italian flag, an EU flag was next to it and flown at the same height. In the five years I lived in England,…
Minor Ridiculousness: Winter Clothing in the Valley of the Sun
Even though Arizona basically doesn’t have a winter int he same sense most of the country does, all the swimming and grilling things disappear from major stores at the same time as they do in Wisconsin, and presumably, the rest of the…
Minor Differences: Bread and Cheese
A common complaint of the British when visiting the US is that the bread and the cheese are terrible. British people I have spoken to often seem to think most American cheese is that really processed rubbery stuff or at…
Minor Differences: Changing Jobs
So, big news. Chris got a job. But you may being thinking, “didn’t he already have a full time job?” He did. He quit and got another one. This is something that felt more like a major difference from his…
Minor Differences: No Daylight Saving Time
A difference from anywhere else either of us have lived is that the majority of the state of Arizona does not observe daylight saving time (summer time in the UK). The rest of the US will be changing this weekend…
Minor Differences: Grape vs Blackcurrant and the Moon
We have continued experiencing minor differences. One is the existence of grape soda. This is part of a wider trend of artificially colored food based differences. In the US, purple candies and drinks usually mean grape, for instance, the purple…
Minor Differences: Gardening and Herbs
Now, both the British and the Americans do garden. Both my and Chris’s fathers are avid gardeners, but what’s less common, especially among people of our generation and younger in the South East of Britain, is having outside space. As…
Minor Differences: Starry, Starry Nights and Credit Unions
One of the reasons we picked the Phoenix area is the mostly clear, epic skies. They have not disappointed and have been a bit of a minor difference from our life in the UK. Whenever we were out at night,…
Minor Differences: Power Sockets and Light Switches
As long time readers may recall, we prefer American plugs to British ones. One thing I am less sure about is the relationship between power sockets and what I think of as light switches. I know they don’t need to…
Minor Differences: Christmas Shopping
Much of what pertains to Christmas and its preparations in the US and the UK is similar, but of course, not everything. Here’s a video of us exploring some of the things are US specific to Christmas: