Living Abroad

Lots of things in this piece about living abroad (which I first saw posted by a British friend currently working as a journalist in Kuwait!) are true – especially how, after a while, you really do have two separate, complete lives, and wherever you are, you're at least partly missing the other one. As the author writes, "There will always be a part of you that is far away from its home."

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Speaking of being abroad... Apparently just the fact of living outside the US qualifies me for special surveillance of my communications by my own government. Thanks, US government. You've outdone yourself yet again.

(Have you all been following the unfolding story about this data surveillance program? Not surprising, really, but still. YIKES. I'm translating an article about this today, so it's on my mind. And now that I've written about it, I guess I'm on the list...)

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On a happier note, have some more cool maps:

My friend Anton pointed me to these incredibly cool maps that show in fascinating detail some of the dialect divides within the US – for example, how we pronounce words such as "pecan" and "pajamas," or usage classics like "pop" vs. "soda" vs. "coke."

I love the places where the linguistic boundaries fall with clarity, but also the unexpected anomalies, like how Maine has a different word entirely for a traffic circle/roundabout, or how two random urban bits of the Midwest (but not Chicago) staunchly say "soda" instead of "pop."

Or that "you guys" vs. "y'all" map falls out just as clearly as you would expect between north and south – except for a bit of Kentucky where they apparently try to bridge the gap by saying "you all."