Which culture?

It's been brought to my attention that I refer to myself in terms of British or more specifically, Scottish people.  I often refer to Americans as 'you' not 'us/we' and the British as 'us/we' not 'them'.

Due to my residing in the UK for nearly 12 years I feel well-adapted to the culture of this nation, and the country from which I originate seems almost foreign to me.  This is not a judgement on one culture being superior to the other.  Where I currently live feels like 'home' and I feel like a visitor in the US.  This has nothing to do with patriotism as I am American, but I'm also a citizen of the UK and this is where I've made my permanent home. Yes, I was born and raised in the US and lived there for 48 years, but I haven't lived there in what seems like a very long time.  I drove there for 30 years before moving abroad but I'm used to driving in the UK and driving on the left side in a right hand drive car feels natural to me, not the other way around.  I am so accustomed to different spellings that I often find that a spelling such as 'color' looks incorrect to me.

I regret not doing a  blog or journal when I first arrived here.  A summary at the end of each year would be interesting to look back on.

It amazes me that a few expats (and others) think they are being traitors or betraying their American identity by using non-American terms or identifying with a culture other than the American one.  Some expats enjoy the attention they get by using American terms even when they are confusing.  Seems to me this is done by only relatively new expats as this just gets tiresome after living in a new country for a few years.  It's been implied, and sometimes outright accusatory, that I must be a traitor or unpatriotic by becoming totally acclimated to the culture in which I live.  This is my home for the rest of my life so my question is - why wouldn't I?  Is there some point that needs to be proven by clinging to a culture that is no longer part of my everyday life?

As for adapting to the language my question is if you move to France are you going to learn to speak French, or are you going to make your life very difficult, if not impossible, by clinging to your own language and culture?  How is this different from moving to an English-speaking country?

My blog on vocabulary changes I have made

Comments and questions are welcome.

Gale force winds in Scotland

Most of Scotland and other parts of the UK and Ireland had strong winds today.  Up to 90 mph were predicted for our area, with higher winds measured in other areas.  Schools and businesses were closed.  Ferries cancelled.  Bridges closed.
Video in front of our house:

Winds reached up 165 mph in some areas.  

Newspaper - lots of storm photos

BBC Storm video

New blogs

I have recently added two blogs  I thought might be helpful.  

The first is How I quit smoking.

The other is How I got fit and healthy at 60.

We are getting ready for our trek to Michigan for the holidays and leave next week.  We're looking forward to seeing family, but not really anxious to see the snow!

Some blog readers ask where my photos are kept.  I have a link in the sidebar of this blog but if you only get updates by email, you won't see it.  Photo collections

A sunny day

Lovely, sunny day today with temp around 50F/10C, so grabbed my camera on my way out to do a 4 mile power walk.

Holy Loch - around the tip of the peninsula from our house

'Doon' the road near the pier

Lots of big Victorian houses on our road

The pier

A lonely-looking boat and garden

Updates

Danny and I are going into Glasgow tomorrow for an overnight trip which will include a classical concert featuring the Scottish Symphony Orchestra.  Danny's birthday is on the 21st.  

I'm quite pleased with myself as I've reached my goal weight after lots of hard work and calorie counting.  My intentions are to never need to diet again, so I still need to work hard, forever.

Our trip to Michigan for the holidays is in less than 4 weeks and we're very much looking forward to it!  Not the snow - the family.  

Part of my exercise today was a hike:

Wise words

Morocco

Finally made plans for my big 6-0 the end of February.  Going to Agadir, Morocco with friends for 10 days.  It should be sunny with highs around 70 degrees.

Visit Agadir in Morocco

Sunrise

Ralph Waldo Emerson quote

embedded in a photo I took on the Isle of Barra....

Quiet

Very quiet here.  I quit the 365 project (photo a day for a year) at day 201 as I found it was taking too many hours a day with taking, choosing, editing, sorting and uploading shots, viewing others photos and commenting on them, etc.  365 very definitely helped me improve my photography skills and forced me to become more creative.  

Been concentrating on working out, eating healthily and losing weight, meditating, catching up on reading, and planning future trips.

Going to Glasgow next month for an overnight outing for Danny's birthday and we'll attend a concert.  Mid-December we go to Michigan for 3 weeks.  End of February for my 60th birthday is as yet unplanned but I'm leaning toward a few days in Barcelona.  More travel later in the year and probable trip to Uganda in January 2013 for Doreen's graduation from Makerere Univerisity.  

Liked the golden glow on top of this hill across the loch yesterday: