American fries? This is shocking. Americans call them "French fries." This is itself an injustice since frites (fries) were a Belgian invention, not a French one. Fish and chips does NOT mean fish and American fries. American fries, as served in McDonalds, are horrible little matchsticks of potato whereas chips are great big sticks of potato as thick as your finger. However, kudos to you for learning English in Scotland. (At least, unlike London, the place is not overrun with Russians.) Most English people can't understand an awful lot of Scots.

To Eats Wombats: I think you misread her article. She did not call them "American Fries", but "American fries". As in, what American's think of when they hear the word "fries". In America, "fries" simply means fried strips of potato regardless of the thickness, not only what McDonalds sells. To the author: Very nice article. It provides a very interesting contrast of cultures. Thank you.

He he! If you can understand the Scots, you're doing really well. There's a lot of native English speakers who cannot understand the Scots at all. I can because I was sent to Glasgow to work for a couple of months and because one of my colleagues was a Glaswegian. I now live in Germany and often have to "translate" for European colleagues who have real trouble understanding people from Scotland, northern England or Ireland. About castles, renovations and taps (which I believe the Americans call "faucets"): Beware of the period style renovation where the newly renovated bathroom still has separate hot and cold taps, albeit new taps!

excellent article and you never do quite forget your home. Do not underestimate the value of hot water and men in trousers that is true. and like most Americans I simply call them "fries" - the fish and chips version are thicker than the potato strips at take out places but could be called fries when compared to crisps.

As a Scotsman i can tell you that the authors misrepresentation of the phrase American fries is by no means the only mistake in the article, clubs in Scotland don't close until 3am and i assure they are packed right to the end, also this belief that we all live in mansions and castles is ridiculous, while there are many castles and some are lived in it is not the standard housing and i can assure you all that no student lives in one regardless of what village she visited. The women enjoy dressing up for going out as much as any Russian I've ever met, granted I've only met 3 Russian women but they were all from Moscow. The tap situation is ridiculous, the "old days of two taps" baffles me as brand new houses are fitted with two taps except in the kitchen where there is normally one running both hot and cold, we never have our water shut off like she described in Moscow so i cant understand why she disliked the Scottish system more then the Russian one, and any castle that is lived in is renovated by wealthy people and i am sure have top of the range water and electricity systems. I doubt whether she really visited Scotland at all, more likely she pieced it all together from hear'say.

This was a great read and yes, I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you to learn Scottish English (which is not the same as Scots Eats Wombats but it's a common mistake). I can only hope that staying here (Scotland) that you can use 'bring' and 'take' in the way they are intended unlike in American English. I would recommend if you get the change to go to the East Coast in central Scotland and get some chippy brown sauce (or just 'chippy' sauce) on your fish and chips, it's far better that way (if you haven't already tried that is). Jo- if you can understand Weegies good on you - most Scottish people can't understand a strong Glaswegian accent lol. I think you were being too kind about the state of people on a night ut on Scotland - most look a bit of a state to be honest. I'm not sure if it's just because you were (are?) staying in a small town but in Edinburgh (and Glasgow) the clubs are open till 3am and 5am during the festival (in Edinburgh) though to be honest, I would still bet on Russians lasting a bit longer lol. Really enjoyed your article.

You do realize that the hot/cold water problem could be solved quite easily simply by attaching a hose to the taps and then connecting the two hoses with a three way junction (or just gluing them together). That way you'd be able to easily adjust the heat of the water. Easy as pie ;)

I've heard a number of people complaining about 'primitive' hot and cold taps and never could understand where they were coming from. Is this it ? That they were too dumb to realise they you could use both taps at the same time ? The only thing a mixer tap does is mix the hot and cold water just before it comes out while the separate taps let the water mix in the sink/bath. It doesn't take long for anyone with half a brain to quickly work out how much to turn on each tap to get the desired temperature. Test the water before you reach the desired level and adjust the taps. I think this equates to the sheer bafflement that most men have with the fuss that women make about leaving the toilet seat up. Also most Americans have no idea what British chips are. I've eaten in places over there and gotten everything from McDonalds-like fries to potato wedges with the skin still on and all called chips when served with fish. If you really want the best example of British chips, you have to go to a British-style fish and chip shop. Not even the best home-made or most expensive restaurant can even come close to a decent 'chippy'.

August 03, 2010, 22:15, Scotsman wrote > I doubt whether she really visited Scotland at all, more likely she pieced it all together from hear'say. Seconded

"the Russians stay out the absolute latest." You should visit Spain... a real eye-opener for those who enjoy the "absolute latest" thing.

August 08, 2010, 22:28, Me wrote > "the Russians stay out the absolute latest." > You should visit Spain... a real eye-opener for those who enjoy the "absolute latest" thing. Check out Berlin.. Go out on a Thursday night and stay clubbing until Monday evening.

"french fries": french has nothing to do with France, [to french: to cut into slivers or thin strips before cooking. Fries are indeed originating from Belgium, but we fry them 2 times, first at 160C, then at 180C. don't see this happen abroad. McDonald don't serve frenched potatoes, these are produces from potato starch. Greetz,

Fish and chips are a real killer, meaning they will kill you, though not instantly. Fried in lard, these dripping 'chips' are perhaps the most disgusting thing I ate in England. No, wait - the English breakfast was worse. I threw up in a flowerpot even, sorry to say so. Those white beans in tomato sauce, the sawdust filled 'bangers' [sausages], oh my....

whoever took that picture completely ripped off the cover art for the "alexisonfire" google it RIP OFF

European Mediterranean "late" CAN'T be beaten:-)

"Remember in the old days when there was a separate hot water and cold water tap?" What do you mean, old days? My house has got that, and in no way is that abnormal. You only have single-tap sinks in public toilets. Seriously, what are you talking about?

Wonderful piece, Natalia. You sound like a very talented and observant person, and your command of English is superb. One can only wish most native English speakers on either side of the pond had such a command. It is amazing to me that people would be so critical and nitpicky over details in such a well written and entertaining piece. That they still use separate hot and cold taps in the UK and think this and putting the water you wish to wash your face with in some germy sink as normal is indicative of how the entire country is in serious need of a renovation. I think the last one was done when Queen Victoria was still a girl. I have not seen such defensiveness over silly and indefensible things since I lived in Greece, another country in serious need of an overhaul. One would think the Brits, Scots or otherwise, would be beyond such things. Natalia, you are always welcome to come back to the States and share some of our American fries/French fries/whatever-you-want-to-call-them potatoes anytime (oh, any by the way, I have seen where even French gourmet chefs say we have the best potatoes, which we sometimes call spuds). Ah, linguistics. Go figure. Bravo, Natalia!

September 07, 2010, 23:09, Connor wrote > "Remember in the old days when there was a separate hot water and cold water tap?" What do you mean, old days? My house has got that, and in no way is that abnormal. You only have single-tap sinks in public toilets. Seriously, what are you talking about? I don't know what YOU'RE talking about. I can't remember the last time I saw a sink with separate knobs for hot and cold. Those have been very rare for over 15 years I'd say. I remember there was a joke about it in the first season of Seinfeld. lol..

A friend pf mine fitted a nice new French mixer tap to their bath, rather expensive. When his wife came home and tried it the first thing she said was 'By the time this bath fills up it will be cold'. The problem with most mixer taps is they are slow. You can't try a mixer tap int he shop, you can only hope the thing works at least as well as the old set up did. As for a dirty basin, we do clean ours every day, strange that, perhaps they don't in Russia. Frying chips in lard is against the law. That has been dictated by one of those glorious EU directives. It has to be cooking oil. To compare decent chips to 'fries' is like decent sausage to something bought cheap from a take away. I can remember the good old days of cooking chips in beef dripping. There was no cooking oil. Fish and chips helped us during 2 world wars as often there was little else around. I really would be careful what you say about the kilt. The Germans called them 'The ladies from hell', but only once.