assimilation incomplete

The month of March will mark one (cumulative) year that I've lived in Aberdeen. So I'm inclined to think that all the necessary cultural adjustments have been made.

I know my way around: Not only do I know that Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Somerfield are all grocery stores, I can also stroll through their aisles and recognize product brands! I cook with turnips and make rocket salad. I snack on oat cakes and jaffa cakes (and know they are vastly different). And darnit, I know what a chip butty is!

But sometimes I forget that we Canadians, while discovering Brits have quirky eating habits, also bring some of our own eccentricities to the table (pun intended).

On Sunday afternoon I made a batch of (very British, I thought) potato & leek soup. You'd be hard pressed to find a box of Premium Plus on the shelves of the above mentioned supermarkets (or any sort of soda cracker for that matter), so Dean and I use various crackers as replacements. The soup wasn't too bad, frankly, and the crackers gave it some necessary bite.

A few hours later our friend Alastair came over (Alastair of stole-my-sister's-heart fame). I offered him some leftover soup, heated it up and served it with our latest cracker of choice.

Midway through his supper, Ally nearly dropped his spoon with shock. Gaping at me he asked, "Are you pregnant?"

I was cracking into my own after dinner snack: granny smith apple slices smothered in peanut butter. A perfectly normal treat in North America, but apparently a shocking pairing in Great Britain!

He overcame his astonishment and tried it, and liked it! All was well.

This morning I received a call from my twin sis, who had spoken with her lad the night before, during which conversation he not only recounted the apple incident, but also the soup incident. What soup incident you ask? Apparently crackers and soup is yet another ridiculous combination in the UK. Turns out, before I whipped out the apples and Skippy, Ally already thought I was a cullinary freak.

This from a nation that deep-fries pizza, eats Marmite for breakfast (or Marmite at all, really), doesn't refrigerate eggs at the supermarket, and serves cold pancakes as a dessert! sheesh!