tea towels

I'm leaving England in the morning. It's gone by very quickly. I've liked it here a lot. Especially the broadband. And the cheese. I feel a little sad to be leaving b/c Didsbury is so nice.

A few signs that I've been here long enough (too long?) though:

*Have started using the adjective "massive." A lot. But not "ruddy great" yet.

*Actually caught myself saying "whilst" the other day. Had to slap myself upside the head.

*Any state of weather that does not involve water falling directly on my head is now deemed "y'know, not too bad".

*Most Troubling: Have begun to think of dish towels as presents. I first saw the souvenir "tea towel" in Australia. It can have anything on it--funny, serious, pretty, cheesy. I used to think they were hilarious. Like ROTFL bizarre. One of the first presents Daniel ever gave me (I'm not even sure we were dating yet) was a tea towel of the Tower of London. I found this extremely, extremely peculiar.

And the tea towels are everywhere. We went to Wordsworth's house: "Buy a tea towel! Take the daffodil poem home with you!" A couple weekends ago I saw one with "Thanks for feeding the dog." I passed. But then we went to Westminster and they had these very pretty tea towels with a picture of Westminster Abbey on them. I thought, "I really want one of these! And it would make a nice gift..." And the conversion was complete.

So one lucky reader will be awarded the coveted (?) Westminster Abbey tea towel next week! I'm sure you can't wait.