Adapting to a culture? Find a child. They are the best teachers.

Today in my history class, a very English classmate* stopped the conversation we were having to ask:

"Did you seriously just say 'y'all'?"

Apparently he did not realize that people still say that, or at least when they are not saying it in gest. And it made me miss B., the little boy I nanny, who is equally judgmental against my lack of separation between 'you' and 'all.' H. (B.'s sister) had an appendectomy last week, so I haven't seen them in over a week. While H. is infatuated with any and all things "American" (embracing all American slang, especially if it is used on Glee, a tv show which we discuss frequently), her brother is more typically English. He loves to tease me about being American, saying things like "mad** as Americans!"

B. has taken it upon himself to train me in the 'correct' way of speaking, while studying American English at the same time by reading American novels. He often makes enquiries such as "what does dagnabit mean?" and "so... being grounded is something negative, isn't it?" Recently, we have been working on incorporating a few phrases into my vocabulary:

- "nip to the shop" (tr: To run to the store for something quickly)

- "nip to the loo" (tr: To run to the bathroom)

- "faffing about" (tr: Something involving being indecisive while wasting time. An example was given to me that a girl is faffing about if she keeps changing clothes before going out. I misuse this a lot.)

And I realized during these "lessons" that having a child around while you are trying to adapt to a new culture is priceless. They, like you, are often attempting to understand the world around them, and therefore give excellent explanations of why something is done or said. It is also far less embarrassing to ask a child something seemingly obvious to everyone around you ("so... when you approach another person on the sidewalk, do you move to the right or the left?").

Yesterday, while having brunch with some fellow American friends, one of them was telling a story about how the cultural confusion runs both ways in London. Earlier that week, my friend had been shopping at the grocery store, when she overheard a conversation of an English nanny with her charge from an American family. The nanny was reading the grocery list given to her by the mom, and she kept asking the little boy she was with what his "mum means by oatmeal."*** The little boy looked back and shrugged, leaving the nanny to again stare at the breakfast foods aisle, wondering what this "oatmeal" might look like. My friend graciously came to her aid, to which the nanny was very grateful.

This nanny is running a life parallel to mine, though she is in her home country. I guess you can't ever be too comfortable with only having knowledge of the customs in your hometown- or watch out, an American will move in down the street!

* Our class is only 4 people, so we share a lot of our personal lives with each other. He plays cricket and rows on the weekends.

** Mad=crazy (not angry).

*** Over here, oatmeal is called porridge and is creamier than ours.