Yeah I had to teach this Oxford guy how to row, and he kept calling them "bow side" and "stroke side"... how stupid is that.*

So there is something that I just cannot wait to say which is of great importance in the understanding of transatlantic relations. It is nothing to do with language or culture or anything like this, but it's the biggest and strangest difference between countries and I also noticed it way back in 2004, back when I used to talk shit in top-secret notebooks rather than on the internets (I really ought to burn some of those, come to think of it. I know that in theory I'll look back on them some day and be enchanted, or somebody else will find them awesome, but... no. I've spent enough time the past couple of weeks looking at stuff other people have left behind to know what I want to leave behind, and it is not that). It confused me then, and it still confuses me now.

It is, of course, the movement of squirrels. I am not inventing this, grey squirrels ACTUALLY move differently here to the way they move in the UK. Back at home, they all bound around like big fluffy letter "m"s all the time, except when they are actually climbing vertically and have to hold on; over here, however, the things SAUNTER. Seriously. They either walk or do a sort of power walky jog, but it's one back leg one front rather than hopping. Needless to say, I think this is the root of that whole old memey "LOL SQUIRRELS ARE GOING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD" thing that still occasionally pops up. Back home, it's an unfunny juvenile thing to say about a cute fluffy mammal, but here it actually has grounds in the way the fuzz-rats walk about like they own the place. And since last time I noticed it I was in a forest near one of the Great Lakes, it can't just be a regional thing. Squirrels genuinely do move differently in different countries. There is your fact for today.

Ho hum, what else is going down... I'm too listless to upload pictures so no visual aids for you today. I been doing variations on a theme, except now I row as well- I've spent depressingly little time in a boat so far given that I'm paying quite a bit of money for classes, but I think that's due to change tomorrow provided I can get up in time. I'm also bemused by the people I'm in a class with- there wasn't much need for conversation yesterday, but today I was with a father son combo who not only made no effort to talk to me, but did not even SMILE BACK at me when I greeted them on the dock. I know it's early in the morning, guys, but there's reserved and then there's just fucking rude. There's so little class interaction going on that I'm pretty sure most of them don't even know I'm British, which sort of puts me out a little bit. I want the attention from being different so I can complain about it D:

I have also got the phone number for one of the payphones on the Metro so I can try ringing it every time I go past and see if anybody answers. Not quite sure what I'll do if they do... probably hang up in terror. This may seem like a stupid thing, but actually the fact that I wanted to call a Metro payphone yesterday meant that I figured out my phone was lost whilst there was still a possibility of recovering it. This event was the highlight of my Monday, which probably shows you how dismal it was. Today has been better, though, I made a list and then did everything on it which is an anal but immensely satisfying way to feel like you've achieved something even when all you've done is spent about 3 cumulative hours in a library and then gone to the post office. Things are good though even on bad days. I'm not sure if it's the new location or a natural progression away from the general negativity which was second year, but I'm thinking about things in a much better way than usual, which is a welcome change even if it's probably temporary.

I am, as an old acquaintance would have said, "growing up". Always always growing, that has to be a good thing. Maybe not "up" though. maybe sideways. I am "growing away" and "growing towards" and maybe even "growing out" of some things that it's about time I grew out of***. This is a good fact which requires recording.

It occurs to me (or, you know, occurred, in the past. At the Capital South metro station, to be exact) that I have a very high opinion of the low opinions I hold about pretty much everything I am and everything I do. I should work on rationalising that one. Or, you know, using it as a motive to not be such a self-flagellating perfectionist all the time. We'll see about that.

*ROWER TALK: this was not actually said about me but it was said with the intention of me hearing, before the instructor realised I was British (he still doesn't know I'm an Oxford rower too no less). Right after the conversation, we got on sculling simulator things, and he came up to me and was like "yeah, you're a sweeper... you row port, right?" and I had to break it to him that I had NO FUCKING CLUE what that meant because I am a stroke sider. I then explained the whole "it's stroke side because stroke rows on that side" thing, to which he responded with "what if you starboard rig** the boat?" and then "you British have weird names for everything". True, sir, but we also win all the medals. I think tomorrow I'll teach him about "easy oar"- here it's "wain off". WTF.

**MORE ROWER TALK: "starboard rig the boat". I KNOW. WHAT. It's called "bow rigging". Plus calling them port and starboard when you're sitting backwards is just unnecessarily complicated.

*** by this I definitely do not refer to Pokemon or Twilight or Mortal Engines or ANY of those awesome cultural things for kids I love. More... oh I don't know ask me in person and I'll tell you if I trust you enough. It'll be a nice test of our friendship.