Service with(out) a Smile

Of course with this being the holiday season, i've been paying a few trips to the shops for snacks, alcohol and goodness knows what else. Generally, i've not had much problem with the service here - mostly staff are friendly and pleasant enough and after an initial enquiry they'll leave you be to browse to your heart's content and, should you need anything, they're generally as happy as a pig in muck (to utilise a YOrkshire colloquiolism) when it comes to helping you. Of course, there are the extreme ends to this spectrum - with one being the assistants who REFUSE to leave you alone no matter what you say to them. And then there are those that make it clear that helping you or serving you is a GREAT inconvenience to them and how dare you interrupt their otherwise important task of doing nothing else.

Now, given the time of year, you'd think that everyone would be pretty cheerful - but the shops i've been to have been a different case entirely. The number of times i've been at the Till (Cash Register, checkout - whatever you want to call it!) and had staff talking on the phone or talking to their friend on the till next door, or chatting to co-workers and barely paying any attention to you at all. It's not that i demand attention but when you have to check the till yourself to see how much you have to pay 'cause they can't be bothered to tell you, i say it's pretty bad. And with 'nary even a hello or goodbye, i suppose you could ask why i keep going back there - and it's mainly cause the store in question is over the road from my apartment and handy for milk and other such nick-nacks. When i (eventually) get my car, i suspect i may find other places to shop. At least where you can get a smile from time to time!

Every Second Counts

Fear not, for this is not going to be a diatribe on some (bad) old UK quiz show hosted by Paul Daniels (does anyone remember this programme or is it just me?) but something altogther more sophisticated. Well, almost. So, as the end of the year approaches and everyone gears up for the usual round of getting drunk (as if most people need to use New Year's Eve as an excuse!), i have been doing the rounds and asking lots of people what they plan on doing with their extra second this year. Met, usually, with some degree of puzzlement (is that a word? Well, it is now) and confusion, i have had to repeatedly explain the fact that, this year, a leap second will be added to December 31st giving us all an extra second to pause for thought. Or perhaps order another drink at the bar.

Y'see, the atomic clocks - the most accurate time keepers on the globe are astonishingly accurate to the point where they will lose a second every billion or so years - so a lot better than your average Swatch. However, the fact that they don't lose time isn't the problem - more the fact that friction causes the Earth's rotation to slow down such that solar time (based on the Earth's rotation on itself) tends to drift out of alignment with the atomic clocks - also known as UTC (Universal Co-ordinated Time). Thus, this year the extra second will be added to bring the two back into closer alingment and will be the first leap second in 7 years. Surprisingly, this will be the 22nd leap second added since the first on eon June 30 1972 (they are added either on the 30 June or 31st December) and there have been no substractions to date. So, remember, this year will be '5...4...3...2...1...1...".

Wouldn't Credit It

So, the ongoing saga of how it is to be a foreigner in America and constantly getting messed about by the big corporation continued today when i finally got round to sorting out a credit card for my bank account. Now, first you should understand that i absolutely hate being in debt, and dislike credit cards immensely. I have always been of the mind that you should only spend money if you have it, rather than spending someone else's instead. Having said that, i also understand that in some cases they are, unfortunately, a necessity - such as in making purchases over the internet off some sites, and also (apparently) they are essential for hiring a car over here (i've been told that no credit card means no car here). In my case, it's also necessary for me to establish a credit history here - and will hopefully stop future companies asking for ridiculously large deposits instead (i find it ridiculous that you need a credit card to show you have a good credit history. Personally, i would've thought that NOT having a credit card would show you in a better light. But who am i?). It's not that i mind paying deposits cause, ultimately, i will get them back - but in the meantime, it is essentially 'dead money' not doing anything much at all.

Anyway, i wandered round to my neighbourhood Bank of America branch to see what the options were - and was met by a pleasant enough lady who told me that the only option open to me was a secured credit card - basically, i have to pay them the amount i want as my credit limit as collateral for the card. Somewhat confused by the name 'credit card' here, i asked why this was the case - only to be informed that it's cause i'm a non-US citizen and have no credit history here! Talk about Catch-22. Anyway, i went ahead with the whole thing - cause i think in the long run it'll help me. I suppose the one positive in all this is that the money i give them as collateral is actually put in a high interest account and will be gaining more than if it were in my current account (aka 'checking account' here). There is also the fact that 6-12 months down the line, provided good behaviour by myself with regards to the card and paying off, then i can be 'upgraded' to a regular credit card. Presumably this will be one where i can actually get 'credit'!!

Boxing Day?

As i sit here writing this, it's now six months since i arrived in the US and i have to say that it's absolutely flown by - and i'm sure it must feel the same for some of you as well. Anyway, when i've mentioned this to friends over here, or to those who have asked, i've always said '6 months on Boxing DAy' only to be met with the response of 'Boxing Day?'. Thus, i've had to explain that that's what we call the 26th December in the UK. And, of course, i've nearly always been asked why.

Now the first reason that always springs to my mind is that it's the day when you get rid of all the boxes and wrappings from Christmas (so it's more of a Boxing Out day) - and i vaguely remember being told that when i was younger. However, if you look on the Net, there are also two other schools of thought - the first being that it was the day when the household servants were given gifts - their Servant Boxes - by their masters. The second is that it was apparently the traditional day when the churches would break open their collection boxes to distribute money to the poor. Now whether any of these reasons are true, i have no idea - but Boxing Day it is, and Boxing day it always will be. Just pity the person who thought it meant there was a World Title Fight on somewhere and wanting to know where he could watch it!

25/12

A short and rather predictable post today: Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! (Told you it was predictable!)

Christmas Eve, Bulgarian Style

So as Christmas Eve was approaching, i got an invite from a workmate, Stefka, to spend that evening with a couple of other workmates at her house for a Bulgarian Christmas Eve tradition. Y'see, in Bulgaria, its the custom to fast for December (i think that's what they said) - not in the sense of not eating at all, but essentially becoming vegetarian and forsaking meat. This is to allow the body to 'detox' as it were from meat. Thus, Christmas Evev is a sort of last pre-meat feast and is, by tradition, meant to consist of simple fare (fortunately, the younger generation disregard the alcohol aspect of this).

Thus, Saturday came around and, armed with two bottles of red wine (thinking of the anti-oxidants here), off i went. The food was, to be blunt, fantastic - considering there was no meat (and i do like meat, i confess). One of the nicest was rice wrapped within (i think) grape leaves - annd a great mix of vegetables with olive oil and garlic. This was one amongst many dishes (there was some roast peanuts and cashews for later as well - i LOVE cashews) so, suffice to say, it was easy to follow the Christmas tradition of eating lots. There was also some entertainment in the form of Bulgarian Folk Music - yet we didn't manage to get Stefka up and dancing. One of these days, mark my word!!

Last Minute Shopping

By now, i'm sure those select group of people who leave all thoughts of buying presents until today, are busy scrambling round the shops as fast as possible in the hope of finding that 'just perfect' gift for so-and-so's second cousins, daughter's uncle Frank who always remembers to send a pair of socks. Or something. Anyway, it seems that this tradition extends to the US as well. I made the mistake of having a wander downtown earlier today to find a considerable number of stressed looking people doing exactly that. Now, normally i try not to be smug, but in this case the urge was too strong!

Now when it comes to Christmas presents and shopping, i like to be organised - i often start thinking of things to get people about the beginning of October onwards - and then go through the process of tracking things down or buying them over the next few weeks. Well, of course this has pretty much gone out of the window with me moving over here - in large part due to not having a car (to go to all the shops off the Peninsula) and the whole issues with getting to the post office. All i say now is thank goodness for the internet - this year was a matter of ordering the appropriate presents and getting them sent directly to the right people. QED. Made Christmas a heck of a lot easier for me anyway.

The Longest Night

As many of you may know, today is the Winter Solstice - the official start of winter and the date on which there is the shortest day and longest night. So for those of you with S.A.D. (that's season affective disorder), today is when those nights will slowly start to get shorter. This also means no more walking home in the dark at 5 pm. What some of you may not know (although i'd be surprised) is that the day over in the UK will actually be shorter than the day here (likewise the UK will have a longer night). And this is in large part to what's happening with the Earth itself.

Y'see the seasons are caused by the fact that the Earth is not completely vertical on its axis, leaning instead 23 degrees and 27 minutes off it. This planetary pose is what causes all the variety of our climate as it is a major factor in determining how many hours and minutes each hemisphere receives precious sunlight. Thus, the winter solstice is when, because of the earth's tilt, your hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun. This is also why there are the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn latitude lines - on thhe winter solstice, the sun is only directly overhead at noon on the Tropic of Capricorn - likewise, on the Tropic of Cancer at Summer Solstice. Thus, the distance you are from these lines will dictate how many hours of daylight and night you will get. This is also why places in the far North have six month long nights - cause the sun is so low in the sky as to be over the horizon. Happy Solstice to all!

Fast and French

Continuing in my quest to familiarise myself with Charleston eateries (at least before anyone visits me - so i know some decent places), lunchtime today found me heading downtown with three friends to a place known to the locals as 'Fast and French' (I may have mentioned this place before - apologies if so, but let's face it, is ANYONE really going to trawl through 124 previous posts to look?). The reason for this rather snappy moniker is that the locals here were unable to pronounce it's real name (I forget what it's called actually - but it's also called G and M - the name of the place shortened to first initials). Anyway, it's a small, cosy little place in the heart of downtown - a stone's throw away from the number of art galleries that Charleston has (I say galleries - they are really just shops. Every now and then, there are art walks where people stroll from gallery to gallery and get tremendously drunk on free wine). They have both lunch and evening menu and, i am told, have fondue every Thursday Night (didn't that go out in the late 70s?!).

One thing that surprises is how many people they manage to cram into such a small area - it's a rather long and narrow area - the width cannot be more than 15-20 feet if that yet i'd say you could get a good 20-30 people there. Surprisingly, this doesn't feel at all crowded - as i said, it comes across as more cosy and makes the atmosphere a bit more friendly i suppose. Anyway, they have a few lunch specials - usually soups and a grilled sandwich of some kind. Given the cool weather, we all went for this - today, a beef barley soup (very nice - not at all watery as can be the trouble with this kind) and a grilled vegetable sandwich (also tasty) with some fruit. The added bonus here is that you get a drink included - with the option of a glass of house wine. Who could refuse a glass of red wine at 1pm? Certainly not me - and all for $10 (which includes the tip i left as well) - pretty good going if you ask me.

Party Party Three: Return of the Alcohol

As if there hadn't been enough parties this past week or so (hey, who needs an excuse to party?), last night was the Department of Biochemistry Christmas Gathering at a hotel downtown (The Embassy Suites - where i stayed when i visited here in February). Having bought a new shirt for the occasion, and dusted off some ties, i spent a good 20 minutes sorting out my hair (I gave it a good spiking!) and off to the ballroom! Anyway, as is always best with these things, there was a lot of good food (although i steered clear of the oysters and crab claws) and some reasonable alcohol (helped by the fact it's free). Can you guess that fun was had?

Anyway, once the night wore on a bit, there was a DJ and some space for everyone to shake their booty if they so wished (I did, as did others) and a wide variety of music was played. We had some latino stuff for the people to strut their salsa if they so wished (i think i was at the bar when this was on, so i didn't get chance to) and then we had some classic old cheesy songs like the Macarena - and the dance floor was crammed full for that one. The funny thing was that the DJ decided to speed it up halfway through and consequently a lot of people got lost so we had some interesting synchronisations going. So, with dancing, drink, food, chatter, and general laughing, what more do you need at this time of the year? Other than perhaps some Alka Seltzer.

Party Party Two: The hangover strikes back!

With having the departmental Christmas party tomorrow evening, i was planning on having a relatively quiet evening today - but this turned out not to be the case. I was invited by a workmate to the Department of Medicine Christmas party. Y'see, my boss (Dr. Hannun) is in Biochemistry whereas his wife and frequent collaborator (Dr. Obeid) is in the Department of Medicine, even though we share the same floor on the same building. Go figure! Anyway, I scrubbed up and smartened myself up suitably to attend the party - held at the Aquarium on the far side of the peninsula to MUSC. I had been warned that this was going to be suitably snobby and i wasn't disappointed - something about the medical profession over here that dictates most of them have to have their heads lodged firmly up their own backsides. However, this afforded plenty of entertainment along the lines of Doctors + Alcohol = Chaos.

Despite this somewhat aloof attitude, i was very happy to be there - mainly cause of the large range of free alcohol they had on offer (it was getting to a point where the guys at the table where having my drink ready before i got to the front of the queue - is that a bad thing?). Plus, i hadn't made it out to the aquarium before, and so had the chance to wander round and check things out. This is a very pleasant place - with a focus on the species common to the Low Country area. So, what with one thing and another, there was plenty of animal watching - although i have to say that the fish seemed to be having a better time than SOME of the medical crowd.

Brit Pop

Having recently grown weary of the somewhat limited amount of CDs i managed to bring over here, i finally caved in and decided to download Yahoo music - just so i can have some access to a wider variety of stuff. This isn't too bad value - you pay a fixed (small) price per month to have access to the songs so you can listen to them at your whim. Then, if you decide you want to download them properly, you can pay an extra amount per song (i doubt i'll ever do this, but you never know). At the moment, i think it's pretty good value so am gonna stick with it - but i imagine at some point in the future, it'll annoy me and i'll quit. Hey, watch this space!

Anyway, no sooner had i downloaded the programs etc., i went to town and spent a few hours downloading approximately 500 songs (give or take) and putting them into some decent playlists for the lab. Now, major priority for me was to download some music from across the Pond (the UK) that isn't really very popular over here or hasn't really made it. This has prompted lots of questions from colleagues along the lines of 'Oooh, this is good, who is it?' followed by repeated blank looks when i explain. Take for example, Oasis - who this year (i think it was) released their sixth album ("Don't Believe The Truth" - assuming you don't count "The Masterplan"). Well, over here, all the Oasis they are aware of are the first two albums (at best) and a smattering of songs. In this case, perhaps, you could argue that they're better off - as it's widely held that after albums 1 and 2, the group went downhill. But then that's subjective. Anyway, you can be rest assured that i am slowly educating the Americans in good amounts of British music. Well, at least the REALLY cheesy stuff!

Let There Be Light(s)

Back in the UK, I view Christmas with a mixed feeling of weariness (mainly over how long the season gets stretched out) and child-like exciement - mainly cause i look forward to seeing family. Well, of course, being over here this year means that the family thing is not so much of an issue - I won't be going back over to the UK for Christmas (saving those holidays for trips to Canada in spring, and the UK in July/August). Thus, my general feelings, you would expect to be weariness of it all - but the fact that the 'holiday season' didn't begin till Thanksgiving has helped temper that somewhat. Plus, the general excitement of Christmas in a different country has helped raised interest to a degree. Anyway, what has been more cause for amusement and bemusement has been the decorating over here. Now, we all now (at least in the UK) that the Americans have to go bigger and better - well, it seems to extend to this as well.

I had the dubious pleasure, last Friday, of being driven round Park Circle in North Charleston - a big roundabout - which has been liberally decorated with a vast array of lights, both tasteful (a white light Christmas tree) to the ghastly (pretty much everything else). Apparently, people come from quite a way around to see it (and say 'what a bloody waste!' in my opinion). Anyway, this seems to extend to the family household. Have any of you seen "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" where he lights up the whole house? Well, you can see where i'm shooting for. Combine that with a giant inflatable Santa and, hey presto! I'll say one thing though - i bet the power companies love this time of year!

To Dunk or Not To Dunk

Yesterday in the lab was our Christmas lunch - where everyone brings a dish (either home-made or bought) and we all basically eat, sit around and gossip for a good hour or so. Someone even bought along some Starbucks coffee so we all had enough caffeine to keep us going for the rest of the afternoon. Anyway, this was a very pleasant affair - but at some point along the way, i caused something of a surprise by dunking a biscuit (I refuse to call them cookies!) in my coffee. This surprise was mainly good - Kathy, lab manager of one of the two labs here (not my one, but the other) adores dunking biscuits in hot drinks but it's apparently something not done down here in the South. Suffice to say, she grabbed some more coffee and followed suit - enjoying a guilty pleasure.

This got me thinking, somewhat humurously, that i should set up a Dunker's Anonymous group or something - imagine it. "My name's Chris and i like to dunk!" Even the refreshments table would have to be free of all confectionary lest anyone should indulge in the habit! Anyway, we all discussed the pros and cons of dunking (major con - when the biscuit gets so soggy it falls into the drink and ends up a congealed mess at the bottom of the cup) although, alas, we never really got beyond the 'It's just something not done' for an explanation as to why people don't do it - perhaps in a more conservative society, dunking biscuits is to liberal a thing to do. Or something. Who can tell?

Back to the Ballet: The Nutcracker

Now the festive season is upon us, its a traditional time for Hollywood, tv networks and the like to roll out their offerings in the spirit of the season (they have had a lot of Christmas specials on already here - they seem to like putting them on a few weeks early as opposed on to on and around Christmas Day itself as in the UK). The local ballet group - as mentioned in a previous post (about Peter Pan, if you recall) this week staged their version of the Tchaikowsky ballet, "The Nutcracker" - a fantasy tale about a young girl whose Nutcracker present comes to life, is turned into a prince and whisks her off on a fantastical journey. I say it is this groups version in that all dances were 'designed' by the resident choreographer rather than using a classical choreography associated with the ballet. So, was it any good?

Generally, yes, it was. The sets and costumes were fantastic (there were some red dresses at one point that were literally blinding - even from the balcony!), the music was exquisite (Tchaikowsky is a favourite composer of mine) and the dancing was largely very impressive. If there were any grumbles to be had, its that the choreography itself was inconsistent. The latter half of the show has a variety of different dances - with distinct music to accompany each. It all culminates in a grand Pas de deux with the caveliar and Sugar Plum fairy (she of the famous 'Dance Of') which, unfortunately, fell a bit flat here - the music is grand and emotional, and the dancing - whilst technically impressive, just didn't match that emotion. Anyway, favourite dance for me was that of the Snowflakes at the end of the first act - cleverly put together with 16 dancers such that there was symmetry and pattern across the stage - like snowflakes themselves. All in all, an enjoyable afternoon (i went to the matinee performance) if not solely for the music - with the ballet as an added bonus!

Party Party One!

Of course, no festive season would be complete without any number of parties and social gatherings to go to and tonight was one of the first - a party at the home of Chiara and Maurizio - two work colleagues who have their own research groups in the Biochemical Sciences Building (Chiara was a postdoc for my boss Yusuf sometime ago but is now a semi-independent investigator, Maurizio is an independent investigator). The last party i attended at their house, we were all up till about 2.30 in the morning singing songs and generally having a laugh. Today was something of a similar affair - except we weren't up quite that late (the curse of having to do lots of experiments before the Christmas break) but there was plenty of singing going along as Maurizio likes to play guitar (and does so very well, i might add, considering he is self-taught), Motohiro (the new post doc) plays sax and between the two of them they have some pretty good accompaniment (as well as some excellent blues playing). Naturally, anyone else there who wanted to sing just got up and went for it (there was even a microphone too).

SO how many times did I have a sing? Well, as is usual with me, it takes a lot for me to get up there and sing that first time but then you can't get me off!! I did a fair few numbers over the course of the evening (but didn't hog the microphone i should add - Motohiro repeated his karaoke success with a song or two as well). Anyway, suffice to say, a fun time was had by all - and we even all managed to stayt relatively sober. Quite what this is relative too is anyone's guess!!

Winter Weather

Having planned to write a short diatribe about the weather here - basically being very British and moaning how bloody cold its gotten (in relative terms - probably not anywhere near as cold as the Mother country), i was kind of screwed when i woke up this morning to find glorious sunshine and temperate weather outside. So, one quick rethink later and i can now talk about how weather is messing with my head a bit in terms of perception. Okay, so its December - winter is upon us, pretty much, and Christmas will soon (thank God) be over. Yet for me over here, something doesn't quite click. It doesn't feel like this time of year - it actually feels like later Summer or early Autumn to me still right now and its precisely because of the weather.

Y'see, its been pretty variable the last couple of weeks - somedays its sun and clear skies (like today), others it's that wonderfully depressing rain - the kind where you can barely see it but it gets you absolutely soaking wet. Then there's the odd tropical downpour (no flooding lately though) and then there's the nice cold days which, on the whole I like - provided i'm wrapped up. My feelings for why i can feel this cold a lot here is because the summers are so ridiculously hot that the relative drop in temperature is larger than that in the UK, even though we don't make it down that low (I thnk about 4C is the lowest its got here overnight). Anyway, all this chopping and changing of weather certainly makes me feel right at home - but with rather more temperate days of late, my whole internal calendar is completely messed up (so what's new?). So much for the promise of "four similar but distinct seasons" that was trumpeted about it the MUSC information i got. I haven't quite seen any yet!

Going Postal

As the holiday season rolls around, this is the time of year when Royal Mail (in the UK) is usually swamped and struggles to keep up (not that they do that brilliant a job for the rest of the year anyway). Well, firstly, let me offer an apology - i know that some of my friends back home are taking the trouble to send me Christmas cards but, unfortunately, i will not be able to this year. This is largely for two reasons - the first being that i have not had much time at all to even think about going out to buy Christmas cards (and the odd ones i have glimpsed in the shops look, to be frank, pretty tacky). The second reason is the simple fact that for me to post anything, it means i have to take a trip downtown to the Post office. Y'see, the price of sending things back to the UK varies and is rarely the same (at least it hasn't been so far!) so it's not really plausible for me to fix stamps and put letters in the mailbox (sorry, postbox!). Of course, it would help if they actually had post boxes here as well - but it seems they don't any more.

From talking to some of the older lab members here, it appears that there used to be post boxes all over the place (same with public telephones as well) - but, it seems, they decided to get rid of them. Now, i know what you're thinking - does that mean everyone has to go to the post office? Not so - if you have post to send, then you merely place your stamped letters on the back of/in your mailbox and the postman takes it when he comes to drop off your mail for the day. I guess it makes sense - if they're going to be around, they may as well take it with them, but then it doesn't really help me with the whole cost issue. Anyway, i shall likely be doing the whole e-card thing this year - remember to check ur mail!!

Wash Day Drama

Having severely procrastinated with regards to my laundry (sorry, washing!), I finally managed to haul myself to the laundrette whereupon i blatantly ignored the signs suggesting that overloading the machines is a bad idea, and sat down with Harry Potter 6 (i'm re-reading it for the first time to see if it's an better) to wait. However, I soon found that I didn't need a book to keep me entertained. I have mentioned on here previously (way back when i posted about my first wash day) that there was something of a sense that there was a social side to it all. Well, I discovered today that there was also the melodramatic angle as well.

Now, far be it from me to eavesdrop on conversations but, let's face it, the volume that most people speak over here makes it difficult not to hear what they're shouting down their mobiles about. This particularly applies to the girls here (sorry - it sounds blatantly sexist, but it's true). Take, for example, the young woman who was at the end of the row. From what she said, it seemed she worked in TV but she made the point of ringing up four people (within an hour, i should add) to moan about her ex-boyfriend, what a bastard he was, and how she so didn't care but it was annoying that he was carrying on with so-and-so from California who wasn't even pretty and everyone hated her etc. etc. Talk aboout rivaling the soaps! (you *knew* that pun would work itself in their somewhere). Anyway, i had to resist the urge to jump in and tell her that she was talking a lot of rubbish but then the entertainment would have stopped. Suffice to say, I can't wait to see what adventures i'll be able to listen to the next time I visit. It's better than the TV!

A Wealth of Weddings

As I start nosying around for flights for my return trip to the UK next July (I know it's early but time is flying by as usual), i had time to reflect on what i want to do when i get back there. Of course, chief of the list is attending the weddings of friends of mine - the main reason for having a return trip then (and not Christmas) is that it coincided with a wedding on the 30th July. Happily, for me, another friend is getting married on August 12th next year and, as this is in my time frame, it means i can go to both. Then it hit me that i seem to be at that time of life when a lot of friends and relatives around my own age are getting hitched - Manchester friends Judith and Dave are getting married in a week or two (i hope everything goes off without a hitch, so to speak, guys - sorry i can't be there), then there's the two weddings next year, one of my (many) cousins is getting married the January after, and then my brother in Summer 2007 - the main reason for my trip back to the UK the next year (seems my annual trips are destined to circulate around weddings). When i add this to the four or five weddings that i have attended in the past couple of years, it seems that the apparent trend in decreased marriage is certainly not evident in my circles - only everyone is getting hitched but me!

However, as of today (I believe) this may all change, at least in the UK. As of today, same sex couples were allowed to register relationships as a civil partnership - which legally entitles them to similar (not quite identical) rights as married couples - importantly, next of kin rights in hospitals, and legislation on what happens if a person dies without a will. Whilst it has stressed that it does not represent a marriage, the wording seems to suggest that it is as close as can be possible - and the agreement can even be annulled in a 'divorce' if necessary. Of course, same sex marriages are legal in other parts of Europe - Holland for example (but then the Dutch have always been relaxed on such matters). However, over here there is still lots of wrangling going on - some states accept same sex 'marriages' whereas others don't - and there is still lots of debate going on between senate, congress and the states themselves. I shall be watching it all with great interest.

Backlash

A question that i have been asked frequently since arriving in the US, is what the American opinion of their Commander in Chief is (that's the president if you didn't know!). My understanding is that South Carolina is a republican state and always has been - and is not considered a swing state in the elections (a state where opinion is known to change - these are crucial for the presidential candidates and are where the game is won or lost). Thus, you would expect a lot of the people to be wholly in favour of their president - yet this seems not to be the case. A look around the streets as i wander around reveals lots of signs declaring support for the Democrats,and their last candidate John Kerry. Furthermore, engaging people in conversation reveals a similar picture - a bitter after taste left by Bush' victory in both 2001 and last year. Of course, when considering this, you have to remember that i haven't spoken to any non-city folk who, as i understand, are much more staunchly conservative. And you also have to wonder if people with anti-Bush attitudes actually went out to vote for the opposition.

This attitude, it appears, is not confined to South Carolina and their seems to be a general feeling of distrust, anger and bewilderment at just what exactly George W. is doing right. This week, for instance, he came on TV to announce that he had 'a plan for Iraq' that will be easily implemented and allow US forces to be removed within a couple of years. The plan was met somewhat with scorn and a lot of criticism in the media. And then later in the week, 19 US soldiers were killed in Iraq - one of the worst weeks since the war was declared 'over' by El Presidente. What with this, and other setbacks of late - the response to Hurricane Katrina, the withdrawal of his Supreme Court Candidate - it seems that the Bush administration is going through a tough time. My only hope is that the same is happening for Mr. Blair in the UK