The Story Behind the Picture

Posted on by evelacey

I apologise for not writing any blog posts recently – I’ve been very engrossed in work and haven’t done very much outside of work. Last night, I decided that I was going to pick up my camera again to take some long-awaited photos of Pittsburgh’s skyline. It was a Saturday, so it had to be an eventful trip. My Saturdays here have so far comprised of being stuck in townships outside of Pittsburgh, riding buses without fares, dropping my keys down an elevator shaft and generally wasting a lot of time and energy.  Read More

Driving

Posted on by evelacey

Driving in the United States is definitely different from driving in the UK. The most obvious difference is driving on the righthand side of the road. I’d prepared myself for this by cycling to the shops and back each week, so that I was used to being on the “wrong side” and immersing myself in traffic behaviour. There are some daft drivers out there. Someone once told me never to trust the other drivers on the road. The same is true for the USA’s roads.  Read More

Buses

Posted on by evelacey

For those of you who know me, I loved buses in the UK. I preferred taking buses instead of walking or driving. There was even a time when I considered becoming a bus driver. But the buses are different in Pittsburgh. For a start, the buses in Pittsburgh have bike racks. I wouldn’t want to come across a bus as a pedestrian, as the bike racks protrude from the front of the bus. Read More

Biscuits

Posted on by evelacey

I’m grateful for not having to learn an entirely new language after moving to a different country, but there are a fair few American English words and phrases that have been tripping me up. After 5 weeks, I’m still getting interchanging “Pounds” and “Dollars”, which is a little unfortunate when writing cheques (USA = checks…). Read More

Supermarkets

Posted on by evelacey

I’m so glad I was introduced to Trader Joe’s for food shopping. It’s a relatively small shop, which could probably be compared to Tesco Metro size-wise. Trader Joe’s feels more like a farmers market though, as it hasn’t got harsh lighting and there are wooden crates of food. Read More

An English Pedestrian

Posted on by evelacey

No surprises here – Pittsburgh is definitely best suited to car drivers. Everything is spread out. I feel like I need to take a couple of lessons before I buy my own car. For now, I’m relying on my very own feet(!), the Port Authority bus network and my Pittsburgh family. Read More

Electricity

Posted on by evelacey

I mentioned that I’d already seen a tropical thunderstorm. The sky was yellow and there was a lot of lightning. I was watching the Avengers on a big TV in a tall living room. Just as a ball of fire rolled across the screen from right to left, a thick 6ft electrical spark appeared by the side of the TV. I’ve only ever seen such a scene in films, so to see it in reality was terrifying. The TV wasn’t that phased – it just turned itself back on again. Read More

The Weather

Posted on by evelacey

I’ve decided to create a blog to highlight the many differences between the UK and the USA. Seeing as I’ve recently moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the differences are still very fresh in my mind.

In true British style, my first blog post has to be about the weather. It’s a conversation starter and it’s part of the British culture to complain about the weather. Read More