Today's Post is About Scotland
Dec. 14th, 2013 02:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
netgirl_y2kAnd comes, once again, in the form of a list.
-I am Scottish; you probably already know this, as like many Scots I am compelled to mention the fact that I am Scottish once every three and a half minutes, lest anyone take me for English.
-I have a noticeable if not strong Scottish accent, which I am told is pleasing to the ear. This is the result of having a teacher for a mother, who spent many of my formative years rapping my knuckles with a spoon and saying things like, "the word's not aye, it's yes" and "don't say cannae, it's can't."
-I have lived in and around Glasgow my whole life, it's my home city and I have endless affection for it; so much so that when some friends suggested including it on their honeymoon tour of Scotland I immediately embarked on an enthusiastic sales pitch about the assorted delights of Edinburgh.
-A Glasgow Kiss is a headbutt. A Glasgow Shower is when you've been out drinking all night, haven't showered before work, and douse yourself in an entire bottle of cheap body spray; it's worth noting that this doesn't result in you smelling like anything other than a person who's been out drinking all night and hasn't showered, except now you trigger people's allergies if they stand too close to you.
-Nobody actually eats deep fried mars bars, they're just a trick we play on tourists; chip shop owners in Aberdeen have been known to burst into song at the sight of an approaching American for just this reason.
-Vegetarian haggis tastes better than regular haggis.
-Scotland has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world; I genuinely believe this, I've seen it, usually from the window of fast moving trains while I journey between two places equally grey and industrial and dreary.
-We have lots of fun slang words; of which my favourite is driech which means overcast, miserable, rainy, cold weather. Describes today perfectly, describes every bloody day perfectly.
-The umbrella is a pointless item here, as the rain conspires with the wind and the ground to come at you from every angle at once. The general Scottish constitution is one of a people whose ancestors accepted that they were just going to always be wet; and this is true even if you only got here last week.
-There will be an independence referendum next year. I am in favour of independence, many of my acquaintances are against it; I believe that what most people actually want is some kind of increased devolution, where Scotland will make most of our own decisions, but the UK government would still be there in Westminster for ease of blame should it all go tits up.
-I am Scottish; you probably already know this, as like many Scots I am compelled to mention the fact that I am Scottish once every three and a half minutes, lest anyone take me for English.
-I have a noticeable if not strong Scottish accent, which I am told is pleasing to the ear. This is the result of having a teacher for a mother, who spent many of my formative years rapping my knuckles with a spoon and saying things like, "the word's not aye, it's yes" and "don't say cannae, it's can't."
-I have lived in and around Glasgow my whole life, it's my home city and I have endless affection for it; so much so that when some friends suggested including it on their honeymoon tour of Scotland I immediately embarked on an enthusiastic sales pitch about the assorted delights of Edinburgh.
-A Glasgow Kiss is a headbutt. A Glasgow Shower is when you've been out drinking all night, haven't showered before work, and douse yourself in an entire bottle of cheap body spray; it's worth noting that this doesn't result in you smelling like anything other than a person who's been out drinking all night and hasn't showered, except now you trigger people's allergies if they stand too close to you.
-Nobody actually eats deep fried mars bars, they're just a trick we play on tourists; chip shop owners in Aberdeen have been known to burst into song at the sight of an approaching American for just this reason.
-Vegetarian haggis tastes better than regular haggis.
-Scotland has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world; I genuinely believe this, I've seen it, usually from the window of fast moving trains while I journey between two places equally grey and industrial and dreary.
-We have lots of fun slang words; of which my favourite is driech which means overcast, miserable, rainy, cold weather. Describes today perfectly, describes every bloody day perfectly.
-The umbrella is a pointless item here, as the rain conspires with the wind and the ground to come at you from every angle at once. The general Scottish constitution is one of a people whose ancestors accepted that they were just going to always be wet; and this is true even if you only got here last week.
-There will be an independence referendum next year. I am in favour of independence, many of my acquaintances are against it; I believe that what most people actually want is some kind of increased devolution, where Scotland will make most of our own decisions, but the UK government would still be there in Westminster for ease of blame should it all go tits up.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-14 04:54 pm (UTC)I jest, of course. Best place in the world. And I hope you get to visit someday.
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Date: 2013-12-14 05:01 pm (UTC)And really, that sounds fun to me! It just look so gorgeous, and you have castles. And you have weird food…I LOVE WEIRD FOOD!
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Date: 2013-12-14 05:17 pm (UTC)I had a couple of fandom friends visit Scotland earlier in the year, and on their last night I got them so drunk they barely made their plane. So, yeah, that is the sort of thing that we do here.
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Date: 2013-12-15 04:03 am (UTC)ETA: Although given this friend, I don't know whether to attribute it to her being her or something in the air.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-15 02:45 pm (UTC)I'm pretty sure everyone who works at the major airports is by this point pretty used to people turning up looking like they shouldn't be out of bed let alone on a plane.