Through the eyes of a visitor

My CouchSurfer has now left as quickly as she arrived. It's been a lovely time, as she's a lovely girl. Everything we had to eat was "great", every place we've been has been "cool" and she knows when to laugh at your jokes and adds a little "that's funny" to cement it. In short, as my parents would say, her parents raised her right.

It's funny to think that September equals three years for me being on these crazy British Isles. My CouchSurfer looks at me as if I'm a native. She says I have a bit of an accent (vigorously denied here at Team CG), though I do unconsciously and consciously pepper my talk with British and Scots words. And things here are different for her -- it looks foreign, but some place that could be familiar to her very soon.

It's also funny to think that she sees these things that we take for granted. The things that I feel are normal are foreign. There are things that are completely different from the US that I totally don't recognise as alien anymore. I shall share what I remember.

• There are more redheads here than there are in the US. Obviously, American media convinces you otherwise. If you're in a lot of three or more attractive women, you will have a redheaded friend, a la Sex in the City or Desperate Housewives. In two days, the CouchSurfer, herself a redhead, counted 26 others. You try that there.
• The toilets here are different. The bowl is smaller, the drainage pipe is positioned differently and there is not as much water in the bowl. Now you know.