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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| The Queen's diamond jubilee in New York: the (reluctant) expat's guide | The Queen's diamond jubilee in New York: the (reluctant) expat's guide |
| (30 days later) | |
| Hurrah! It's the Queen's diamond jubilee! Oh, but I'm in New York. Never mind – as an English wife and mother living in the United States I'm well equipped to celebrate from afar. I've been doing it for 15 years. So Yay! to Her Majesty then. | Hurrah! It's the Queen's diamond jubilee! Oh, but I'm in New York. Never mind – as an English wife and mother living in the United States I'm well equipped to celebrate from afar. I've been doing it for 15 years. So Yay! to Her Majesty then. |
| Decoration-wise we're in good shape for this weekend's festivities. We've had Union Jacks liberally strewn about our house as décor for years. Our food bags (canvas and insulated) are decorated with them. Our hot-water bottles are covered in them. (My daughter says the fact we even have hot-water bottles pegs us as Brits in a country whose indoor temperature never drops below 70 degrees.) | Decoration-wise we're in good shape for this weekend's festivities. We've had Union Jacks liberally strewn about our house as décor for years. Our food bags (canvas and insulated) are decorated with them. Our hot-water bottles are covered in them. (My daughter says the fact we even have hot-water bottles pegs us as Brits in a country whose indoor temperature never drops below 70 degrees.) |
| We have that little model of the Queen who waves her hand at us on sunny days standing on our kitchen windowsill. We have a Union Jack doorstop so you know what you're entering when you come in. We have bunting. Our bunting hung indoors year-round until just a couple of weeks ago, when my husband surreptitiously took it down and hung in its place a picture of The Rockettes. The treachery! | We have that little model of the Queen who waves her hand at us on sunny days standing on our kitchen windowsill. We have a Union Jack doorstop so you know what you're entering when you come in. We have bunting. Our bunting hung indoors year-round until just a couple of weeks ago, when my husband surreptitiously took it down and hung in its place a picture of The Rockettes. The treachery! |
| His act of rebellion prompted this exchange between us on Twitter. | His act of rebellion prompted this exchange between us on Twitter. |
| His silence was consent. | His silence was consent. |
| My two daughters, Molly and Alice, being bilingual, can sing both God Save the Queen and My Country 'Tis of Thee. To celebrate the Jubilee, they will make Eton Mess, a delicious English concoction of strawberries, whipped cream and meringue, although they'll say they're eating it for 'dessert' rather than 'pudding', which will make me cringe as it always does. They'll enjoy bangers and mash as a fitting tribute to Her Majesty. When we set the table we'll put down the placemats that come from Highgrove, Prince Charles's house. | My two daughters, Molly and Alice, being bilingual, can sing both God Save the Queen and My Country 'Tis of Thee. To celebrate the Jubilee, they will make Eton Mess, a delicious English concoction of strawberries, whipped cream and meringue, although they'll say they're eating it for 'dessert' rather than 'pudding', which will make me cringe as it always does. They'll enjoy bangers and mash as a fitting tribute to Her Majesty. When we set the table we'll put down the placemats that come from Highgrove, Prince Charles's house. |
| Someone brought them as a house present a couple of years ago. You are right. They are indeed the best gift ever. | Someone brought them as a house present a couple of years ago. You are right. They are indeed the best gift ever. |
| My husband won't wear the cufflinks I gave him 10 years ago – the pair where one side is a Union Jack, and the other the Stars and Stripes, but that's because he never has. | My husband won't wear the cufflinks I gave him 10 years ago – the pair where one side is a Union Jack, and the other the Stars and Stripes, but that's because he never has. |
| It's meant to rain in our neighborhood this weekend, so we might pull out one of our jigsaws while we watch the English festivities on television. We could do the one of the hunt meet, or the pier at Southwold (where my father lives) or the tricky one of Henley Regatta. While we do them, we'll probably make a cup of tea, and have some toast and marmite. We will eat and drink on Emma Bridgewater china covered with British birds and flowers. Honestly, we could be anywhere. | It's meant to rain in our neighborhood this weekend, so we might pull out one of our jigsaws while we watch the English festivities on television. We could do the one of the hunt meet, or the pier at Southwold (where my father lives) or the tricky one of Henley Regatta. While we do them, we'll probably make a cup of tea, and have some toast and marmite. We will eat and drink on Emma Bridgewater china covered with British birds and flowers. Honestly, we could be anywhere. |
| Outside our house, the hydrangeas are coming into bloom. This is another slight bone of contention in the Keller house, because I say hy-DRAIN-ja and my husband, Bill, says hy-DRAH-nja. This is a mispronunciation that drives me mad (or 'nuts' as I suppose I must say.) For some reason, my daughters feel as I do, even though their favorite activity is telling me I'm "saying it wrong, MOM." | Outside our house, the hydrangeas are coming into bloom. This is another slight bone of contention in the Keller house, because I say hy-DRAIN-ja and my husband, Bill, says hy-DRAH-nja. This is a mispronunciation that drives me mad (or 'nuts' as I suppose I must say.) For some reason, my daughters feel as I do, even though their favorite activity is telling me I'm "saying it wrong, MOM." |
| But the difference in our accents and pronunciation is a given that we don't really hear anymore. Although I should add that my husband said to me recently, "Are you aware that when you watch ceremonial events from the motherland on TV — royal weddings, royal funerals, the Leveson hearings – your accent gets about 40% plummier?" | But the difference in our accents and pronunciation is a given that we don't really hear anymore. Although I should add that my husband said to me recently, "Are you aware that when you watch ceremonial events from the motherland on TV — royal weddings, royal funerals, the Leveson hearings – your accent gets about 40% plummier?" |
| I was a bit gob-smacked by that one. | I was a bit gob-smacked by that one. |
| And because he has to live as a foreigner in his own country this weekend, while I fill his house with sentimentality from across the pond, I'll leave the last word on the subject to Bill. | And because he has to live as a foreigner in his own country this weekend, while I fill his house with sentimentality from across the pond, I'll leave the last word on the subject to Bill. |
| "Thanks to this jubilee, I suddenly understand that your difficulty with arithmetic is English," he said this afternoon. | "Thanks to this jubilee, I suddenly understand that your difficulty with arithmetic is English," he said this afternoon. |
| "How else to explain that your people are celebrating her diamond jubilee on the 59th anniversary of her ascent?" | "How else to explain that your people are celebrating her diamond jubilee on the 59th anniversary of her ascent?" |
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