Settling In

Four months into our adventure and life seems more familiar and not so foreign. We have found the pleasure and charm in our surroundings. We remember to look right, then left when crossing the street, we cross an intersection on the diagonal, and have discovered that pubs are friendly places. Here is a list of words that are now popping up in our speech.

New words we have learned (or new uses):

Trousers----DON’T say pants unless you want a glare
Jotters------ notebooks
Traybakes-- bars and brownies
Rubbers---- erasers
Lift--------- elevator
Roundabout- rotary
Lorrie-------truck
Bonnet----- hood of car
Scheme---- plan or curriculum
Theme----- conference or meeting
Offers------ sales or specials
Jumper----- sweater
Coach------- tour bus
Contraflow-- lane switch on the highway (as if the driving on the left is not bad enough)
Top-up------ top off or fill up
Mobile------ cell phone
Trainers---- sneakers
Turn-ups--- cuffs
Aubergine-- eggplant
Queue------ line up (and they love to queue)
Tariff------- rate or cost
VAT-------- sales tax which is a brutal 17.5%
Bacon rolls-- bacon on a flour roll--these really need to be imported
Wee a fabulous all purpose word: the wee ones, have a wee look, take a wee walk, etc