I know, I know, I got behind. I had nothing to talk about last week, and the longer I waited, the less I felt like writing. So after a week and half I feel very little like writing, but now that I’ve started I’m alright.

I suppose one of the little cultural quirks here that I’m still figuring out is the perception/portrayal of Liverpudlians (I don’t think anyone from England will read this so hopefully no one will get offended). The colloquial term for a person from Liverpool is “Scouser,” after “scouse,” a popular dish in Liverpool pubs. From what I’ve been able to figure out, “Scouser” isn’t really an offensive term. Slightly derogatory, maybe, but only as much as “redneck,” or possibly “trailer trash.” I’d say, actually, that Scousers (how they are usually portrayed) are the closest English equivalent of rednecks. (Like I said above, I’m not trying to offend anyone. Just telling it like it is.) I’m not really sure, specifically, why Scousers are often portrayed negatively (crude, uneducated, “blonde,” etc.). I know the Scouse accent is often made fun of, because it is significantly different from that of the rest of the North.

A couple weeks ago I watched an episode of a show called Red Dwarf. It’s a cult sci-fi comedy. Very British. One of the characters in the show, Lister, is supposed to be from Liverpool, and the show uses this as an opportunity to make Scouse jokes. I only saw the one episode, but at one point, when things got heated between Lister and another character, Lister put the cigarette he had been holding completely in his mouth.

“Did he just eat a fag?” One of my fellow-audience members asked (and in case you weren’t aware, fag=cigarette, inoffensive).

I had my own pictures, but lost them all in SD-card-related technical difficulties. Also you can click the pic to read an article/blog about the rollers in public.

“Yeah,” another audience member answered.

“Why?”

“Because he’s a Scouser!” As if this should have been obvious.

Also, if you haven’t heard of Desperate Scousewives, it is worth looking into. It’s basically the Liverpool version of Jersey Shore. One of the trends the women in the show follow is wearing curlers (or rollers) in public. This isn’t an exaggeration. When International Society went on a scavenger hunt in Liverpool, we were told that we would get five points for every picture of a woman in rollers. My team saw around ten, half of which were all together as a group of friends. It’s an interesting trend, one that I’d be curious to know the origins of but which would be difficult to actually track down. It’s another one of the things that Scousers may be made fun of for in the media.

That’s all for now, I suppose. I’ll keep it short. I think I’m having trouble finding things to write about because I’m starting to adjust more. I hit the trough of that acclimation graph on Thursday night, though, and I hit pretty hard. I had been starting to worry that I wasn’t more homesick, but on Thursday, I suddenly really wanted to go home. I’m alright now though; I already started to climb back up. Overall, I think I’ve become pretty well-adjusted, and I’m finding it harder to be surprised.

Bonus fun fact:
umbrella = brolly

Marissa