Halloween is huge over here. I understand that this is fairly recent, and I'm sure Australia will go the same way soon enough - it's one more bonanza for the shops after all.
Both the girls have Halloween parties to attend. We've bought and carved a pumpkin - I'd never seen the right kind of pumpkin in Australia, it was great fun (although gross!) to hollow it out and carve a pumpkin-y face on. The girls were thrilled when I inserted the candles.
I hope they'll be even more excited on fireworks night, I've bought a pack of 17 fireworks with great names like 'asteroid' and my personal fav 'desert sunrise'. We avoided the 'atomic blitz' and 'annihilation' sets! Fireworks have been banned in Australia for at least 20 years, so it'll be fun to have our one and only chance. I admit I'm a little scared, but I'm sure that will just lead to a very careful set-off.
Pics of both events to follow.
Thursday 28 October 2010
Sunday 24 October 2010
Hidden Glasgow 5. Old Fashioned, in a good way!
I have been thinking how much I have enjoyed the way that Glasgow is so traditional in many ways. This can be a bad thing – for example when opening a bank account still relies on meeting with a bank manager and convincing them you should (although with most banking free I’m certainly not complaining at the lack of insincere niceness you get in Aus). But mostly it’s lovely. People have good china for when their friends come to tea. You can still have your old unwanted clothes collected regularly by charity. Mail still comes on a Saturday. Heck, there’s even a milkman! All this combined with a fast paced, exciting vibrant city. Choice.
I had heard that Australia was ‘laid back’, but just what this meant was hard to define when you haven’t lived anywhere else. I certainly felt stressed out a lot of the time! Homes are a good example of the difference, here the front room must always look immaculate and the blinds should be open so that everyone can see how lovely your room is. I hadn’t really come across this is Australia, especially if you have kids in the house, it’s kind of expected that your rooms will be cluttered and messy (if not actually dirty) most of the time. Wandering down the street is like walking through a fancy home magazine, people have beautiful bouquets of flowers, exciting wallpaper, bespoke furniture… all on display. Even those who have kids running around seem to manage this feat, I do sometimes feel like I’m letting the street down a bit with our chaotic lived in room.
Another difference is the care that everyone, but especially women and girls take with their appearance. At first I was intimidated by the yummy mummies with their nice clothes, neat hair and makeup for the school run. However, this mode of self care has a different subtext than it would in Australia. These are not aloof people trying to put you down, it’s just habit and a different society.
In fact, I’ve made some amazing friends here, it’s going to tear my heart out to leave! We’ve been embraced, accepted and made to feel part of the family here. It’s one of the contradictions of Glasgow that I’d most like to portray, there is a prickly almost hostile face that can be shown to visitors, slightly defensive, wary that this town can make an easy target, the butt of a joke. However, give the town a go, look past the seedy East end of the town and you’ll be richly rewarded indeed. The people’s warmth here makes the weather seem insignificant. There is formality, but with a cheeky sense of humour. These are, in my experience, the kind of people who just get on, make the best of life, escape on holidays to see the sun in Winter and work hard the rest of the year to make it all happen.
The South side has the feel of a large country town, I barely know anyone, yet I rarely go to the shops without bumping into a friend. It’s lovely. And five mins drive away you really ARE in the countryside, expansive views and cows to boot. Meanwhile, a quick train trip in the other direction and you are in the midst of a cosmopolitan city.
There is nowhere in the UK I would rather live, I am so proud to call Glasgow my adopted home.
I had heard that Australia was ‘laid back’, but just what this meant was hard to define when you haven’t lived anywhere else. I certainly felt stressed out a lot of the time! Homes are a good example of the difference, here the front room must always look immaculate and the blinds should be open so that everyone can see how lovely your room is. I hadn’t really come across this is Australia, especially if you have kids in the house, it’s kind of expected that your rooms will be cluttered and messy (if not actually dirty) most of the time. Wandering down the street is like walking through a fancy home magazine, people have beautiful bouquets of flowers, exciting wallpaper, bespoke furniture… all on display. Even those who have kids running around seem to manage this feat, I do sometimes feel like I’m letting the street down a bit with our chaotic lived in room.
Another difference is the care that everyone, but especially women and girls take with their appearance. At first I was intimidated by the yummy mummies with their nice clothes, neat hair and makeup for the school run. However, this mode of self care has a different subtext than it would in Australia. These are not aloof people trying to put you down, it’s just habit and a different society.
In fact, I’ve made some amazing friends here, it’s going to tear my heart out to leave! We’ve been embraced, accepted and made to feel part of the family here. It’s one of the contradictions of Glasgow that I’d most like to portray, there is a prickly almost hostile face that can be shown to visitors, slightly defensive, wary that this town can make an easy target, the butt of a joke. However, give the town a go, look past the seedy East end of the town and you’ll be richly rewarded indeed. The people’s warmth here makes the weather seem insignificant. There is formality, but with a cheeky sense of humour. These are, in my experience, the kind of people who just get on, make the best of life, escape on holidays to see the sun in Winter and work hard the rest of the year to make it all happen.
The South side has the feel of a large country town, I barely know anyone, yet I rarely go to the shops without bumping into a friend. It’s lovely. And five mins drive away you really ARE in the countryside, expansive views and cows to boot. Meanwhile, a quick train trip in the other direction and you are in the midst of a cosmopolitan city.
There is nowhere in the UK I would rather live, I am so proud to call Glasgow my adopted home.
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