As the Dos Texpatriates continue to zip code hop, we have picked up a few habits that linger along with us. Here are a few things that haven't quite worn off:
1. Turning the tires toward the curb- despite finding ourselves once again in flat-as-a-board Texas, we still can't resist cranking the wheels inward toward the curb to prevent major catastrophe in the event of the car sliding away downhill.
2. Izzit? I am definitely more guilty of this one than my counterpart, but the South Africanism of replying with "izzit?" in place of "really?" when answering in semi-disbelief, simply hasn't worn off. Example:
TEXPATRIATE 1: "So there is actually a huge South African wine section at the Specs downtown"
TEXPATRIATE 2: "Izzit? That is exciting."
Note that when replying with "Izzit?" you are allowed to completely disregard normal grammar rules regulating tense and number. Just give it a try, you will see.... its catchy.
3. Requiring that food be tear-inducing levels of spiciness in order to be considered tasty. This one certainly hasn't worn off despite our exposure to less-enlightened food cultures.
4. California Eco-mindedness This one really came to fruition today as I pretended to take a casual stroll around the neighborhood while actually looking for a good place to bury the week's compost collection. Aware that should my actions be discovered, it could result in some type of reprimand or citation, I prepared a spiel on the "urban fertilization program" I was spearheading in the neighborhood. Luckily, I did not have to test the believe-ability of this plan...yet.
As time elapses, I am sure that we will discover additional cultural elements that continue along with us on our journey, but for now, I think this is a hella-good list. (kidding... the sufer-lingo never really took).
