How to confuse yourself and offend people.

Don't panic.  Despite the title of this post, I'm still having an incredible time.  I'm just...confusing myself and offending people.  Allow me to elaborate.

First, the confusion.  The greater part of today has been spent trying to find sufficient measuring utensils.  My dilemma last time was measuring cups.  It's true, the Scottish don't believe in normal (normal being an incredibly relative term) measuring cups, with the handles and stuff.  But what they seem to be really and truly opposed to is measuring anything in cups.  They really like milliliters, and they're okay with fluid ounces, but cups they simply will not do.  Tina and I trooped alllll over Edinburgh today looking for something that measured in cups.  We actually found a set of normal measuring cups, handles and all, in normal cup denominations, but they were like £10 and that is just not worth it.  But I was encouraged by the fact that they actually exist.  What did not seem to exist at all, however, was measuring spoons.  Nowhere, nowhere did they have anything that even vaguely resembled a teaspoon or a tablespoon or any fraction thereof.  So finally, after all our trooping and much negotiating with several very kind Scottish shop workers, we ended up in a kitchen store (right place).  And I found several very small measuring cups that measured teaspoons (??), but I pictured trying to measure half a teaspoon of baking soda in a little cup that didn't go below 1 tsp and just really wanted the spoons.  So finally, finally we found the spoons.  Measuring spoons, with a tablespoon and a teaspoon and a half teaspoon and a quarter teaspoon.  So beautiful.  As for the measuring cups, I finally settled for a little silicone cup that measures in milliliters.  I definitely should have gone for something that had fluid ounces as well...oh, well!  I'll probably just end up measuring it out in tablespoons and making permanent-marker markings on my cup, a la my delightful homemade measuring cup from this summer, for those of you who saw it.  Creativity is where it's at.

Now, as for offending people.  It wasn't as bad as it could have been.  But unfortunately it was my Scottish flatmate, who in all honesty I think is not crazy about the rest of us already.  So, she has this coffee mug that says "Devolution", and then it's something about 10 years of the Scottish Parliament.  I was unaware of the political definition of "devolution", so I had been really confused about the mug already, and then we were in the kitchen and Tina asked me about it, so I told her the definition of devolution that I know: as the dictionary puts it, "descent or degeneration into a lower or worse state".  (Not verbatim, of course, but you know.)  So we were laughing about it, thinking it must be some joke about the degeneration of the Scottish Parliament, but it was weird because it looks so official.  So then Rebecca came in and we were like, okay, we have to ask you about your mug...is it a joke?  And she gives us this look.  "Why would it be a joke?"  So I'm quickly backtracking, and we're both kind of fumbling, and eventually she kind of explained the political term, and Tina and I laughed awkwardly and explained what we were thinking...Rebecca left quickly after that.  It didn't even have to be a cultural thing, just that I'm apparently kind of stupid and it unfortunately came out as a cultural thing.  Oooooops.

So it's been a somewhat embarrassing day.  Also, the weather is apparently done playing nice for the new international students, so today it's been really rainy and windy and rather lousy in general.  My umbrella turned inside out and was pretty much done after that, so I've been a little soggy for a lot of the day.  On the bright side, the humidity is making my hair really pretty and wavy, when it's not actually wet.  Another positive is that Tina and I hit up the university poster sale today and got some decorations, so my room isn't quite so bare anymore.  I got a Friends poster.  Heh heh.  Me gusta mucho.

Let me share with you the brand-new lexicon I am acquiring!  (Plus provide some reference points for various things.)

Cheers = thank you, you're welcome, goodbye, have a nice day, bless you, excuse me...
Freshers = freshmen
Flat = apartment
Pavement = sidewalk
Lift = elevator
Pound = 1.5 dollars
Kilogram (kilo) = 2.2 pounds (I'm still working on this one)
University = college (can't say college here, college = high school maybe?)

More on all of that as I figure more things out.

Cheers.