(no subject)

[raven]

One day I will publish a collection of short articles entitled Incidences of Mental Editorialising Prompted By Queueing Up At US Immigration. Except maybe I shouldn't, because of course I get irrationally vitriolic inside my head post-long-haul, but I think the cnclusion I reached this time round was that while I like America - I like the people (my friends and relatives over here are among the loveliest people I know) I like the landscapes and architecture, I like banoffee pie, I like cinnamon-flavoured sweets - what I don't like is how gauche and graceless it can be. More than that, I don't like those moments that I find just viscerally disturbing about the place: witness the frantic mother lifting the crying five-year-old up to be fingerprinted below the sign saying "Welcome to the United States of America", not to mention the immigration officials wandering around with guns.

Enough of that. I am in the States, and am very happy to be here. I went to Heathrow yesterday with an entourage - I patiently endured my mother and Mani's parents telling me not to lose my passport and not to go off with a stranger, but was slightly less patient when they were so busy bickering about how Life Was Better In The Old Days days to notice that I was, er, leaving the country - and settled myself on the most horrific flight known to humankind. I was sat next to a pair of stereotypical middle Englanders, reading the Sunday Torygraph and vocally agreeing with most of it, and eventually I ended up giggling helplessly to myself because I fitted into every category: the nasty darkies don't appreciate a good Christian education (check), mealy-mouthed liberals sending Britain to the dogs (check), nasty queers ruining moral fibre (check), Oxford-educated intellectual snobs don't have a clue about Real Life (check), the BBC are dumbing down their current affairs programmes (check), heathens building Hindu temples in London (check). Oh, dear me, why do I even exist?

That said, the amusement palled after six hours of this, and the flight was two hours late, as well. But I walked out of customs at JFK to find Munna and Shweta, two of my cousins, waiting for me, and it was so lovely to see them. They live about two hours out of NYC in a small town in Connecticut, which is very pretty, for all I've seen of it; I woke up this morning at half seven, which is half past twelve BST and thus all is well in the world; I'm listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and answering comments bit by bit.

Um. That's it for a bit, I guess. I have internet, do email me. (And, amchau, I'm sorry, but there might be a bit of a dent in your phone bill! I got that last message of yours just as I was strolling into JFK, unfortunately.) And I need to confirm arrangements for the end of the work, as to when I'm arriving in NYC and such, and I will. But right now being very lazy is probably in order.

Comments

[biascut.livejournal.com]

But banoffee pie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banoffee_pie) is English!

I love the fact that we all think banoffee pie is, like, archetypically American. I've even seen it sold in supermarkets as Real American Banoffee Pie.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

I (said the American) am baffled at the mere idea that anyone could consider banoffee pie to be American. Really??

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I had no idea it wasn't until you told me that you'd never heard of it, many years back - the Wikipedia article reveals that it comes from deepest Sussex, and seems to present a fairly good argument for its provenance.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I always thought so! Honestly!

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

...yeah, I was just going to say, I've never even heard of banoffee pie. :D

Welcome to America! I'm sorry we're so consistently unwelcoming in our airports (and their associated coffee shops).

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*crazy giggling* I cannot wait to see you so you can tease me in person.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

...I fitted into every category: the nasty darkies don't appreciate a good Christian education (check), mealy-mouthed liberals sending Britain to the dogs (check), nasty queers ruining moral fibre (check), Oxford-educated intellectual snobs don't have a clue about Real Life (check), the BBC are dumbing down their current affairs programmes (check), heathens building Hindu temples in London (check).

I am proud to be friends with someone who is so obviously Dangerous and Subversive. I wonder what they'd think about fanfic? :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Fanfic is the WORK OF THE DEVIL, OMG! *g*

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Or possibly the work of queer liberal intellectual heathen snobs like you. Same thing, really ;)

[absinthe-shadow.livejournal.com]

They asked me about 80 million questions regarding how much money I was bringing into the country? *boggles* Do I look like a currency smuggler or something? Hope you have a lovely time, and congratulations on doing so well at the BBC! *hugs*

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Yes, of course you do! Everything about you suggests you have counterfeit dollars hidden in your socks.

...thanks, dear. *hugs right back atcha*

[amchau.livejournal.com]

Obviously, people like you and I should be banned. (Are they building a new Hindu temple in London, or was this a news story about the one in Neasden?)

No dent! If I spend £2.50 in a week, all my weekend texts are free. My phone company may hate me a little bit for texting people who are landing in the USA, but it hasn't cost me anything at all. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

A new one, I think. And heh, it's good to know there's no dent.

[amchau.livejournal.com]

Yay for another temple! If it's new, I shall have an excuse to try and talk you into visiting it with me. :) (I like the one in Neasden. I can't pin it down, but there is in fact something elegantly and eccentrically British about walking past a row of boring suburban houses and discovering a beautiful Indian building. Hopefully in a positive, multicultural, happy sort of way, and not a colonial stealing treasures sort of way, given that the Hindu community here were the ones to build it. Ahem. Stop rambling, Am-Chau!) Believe me, I'm pretty pleased with the phone deal as well.