This post will be short and simple. The English love tea. I don’t have much else to say about it, but I can’t glaze over that important and deeply ingrained tradition as I reflect on my English lessons. For a while, I insisted the English love for tea was a direct parallel to the United…

In my last post I mentioned having learned to “contain myself when possible” within the first few months, probably weeks, of moving to Oxford. The English, I noted, are not a particularly loud bunch. (Kate Fox refers to English mildness as a key social characteristic in her Watching the English.) And I am not a…

One of my Subway lessons taught me that these new people did not prioritize convenience in the way I did. I believe this to be the most difficult lesson for Americans in particular–a culture so focused on making things faster and easier and then a little faster and even easier–to learn when moving overseas. At…

Subway in England comforted me. During my first Oxford adventure–studying abroad for a semester in 2006–my friends and I once walked 45 minutes just to eat there and feel like we were at home. Oxford has other American chains such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King, but since I never go to those…

As I was munching on my Subway sandwich at lunch today (six-inch turkey on honey oat, all veggies but onions and jalapenos, thankyou), it got me thinking about England (will explain later), which in turn got me thinking about my blog. The original purpose of my blogging aspirations was to talk about a year spent in…

When she was younger, my cousin Allison’s daughter Callie called my mom “Uncle Deanie” instead of “Aunt Denalyn.” The Deanie part, understandable. Denalyn is difficult for most adults to pronounce. The Uncle part, hilarious. And so it’s stuck for several years and often times I, my sisters and brother-in-law affectionately refer to my mom as…

I haven’t lived in the city of Nashville for very long, about seven months. That’s enough time to experience a couple of seasons, find some great restaurants, declare a few “favorite places,” and meet several new faces. I still tell people I’m from Texas. I still consider myself a newby to the area, and I…

That’s the only reality show I would ever consider doing and I kinda feel like I was just on it. 5 cities in 10 days- that qualifies, right?? Over the past week and a half I hit up Paris with my cousin Dana, her daughter (could someone please tell me if this makes her my…