"Football"

This word caused much controversy when I was in the States last year. Depending on where you are in the world, you could really be describing three totally different sports with this word. Most of my friends tried to accommodate my vocabulary and used ‘football’ in the way I understood, although it was always evident when they were doing so. Between themselves they always referred to it as 'soccer'. Really, this is just one of many examples of words that are shared but have totally different meanings. For instance 'emo', 'packet', 'pants', 'jersey' – all have different meaning, depending on where you are. That's when I realised I was actually going to be learning a new language, not only new words, but new pronunciations for words I grew up to say a certain. I soon learned the words to stay away from as well (as they would always invoke an amusing response): ‘rubbish’, ‘lorry’ and ‘trolley’ to name just a few. The reverse was also true, they would come out with statements like “where’s it at?” or “I’m going to give it a going over with the sweeper later” and sometimes I just had to put two and two together, putting words with actions to figure it out for myself. Sometimes I would just be sitting there having ‘eureka’ moments.

Another thing I had to get used to was the stereotypes. I had a few preconceived ideas of what America was about but I never for a second expected that I was about to become the victim to this! I mean, think of every cliché imaginable and then having to put up with people coming out with them every single day, often delivered with terrible ‘British’ accents. Without premise or context, I would be asked whether I “fancy a pint down the pub?" or "do you want some vinegar on your fish and chips?". Great conversation-starters, were often something like: "did you have a butler in England?” or “do you drink tea?” Oh and of course they assume that you know so-‘n-so from London, always just London, nowhere else – what’s with that? So of course you say you know several people named “Bob”, but none of them fit the description they provided. When describing where I live, it just so happens that I’m not that far away from London, which only aggravated the situation: once they know you live in the South of England, near London, they seem to rattle off all everything they know about some historic fact, political event or the Queen.

I was taken to two different pubs, as a ‘treat’, both very different. I was instantly in denial when I saw the neon-lit enterprise we pulled up to but the disbelief wore off when we got inside. The one was supposedly 'British', but I saw that any similarities were only decorative: a few pictures on the wall depicting scenes from fox hunting and some dart boards beside the slot machines. I must say, it was a little strange drinking a pint of Boddingtons and eating a chicken and mushroom pie (which they refer to as a ‘pot pie’) in an American ‘pub’ – but I valued the novelty. I tried to haggle a free drink on the house because I was the only true Brit in the building, but it didn’t fly.

The second one I was taken to was an Irish pub in Colorado. I was talked into trying their fish & chips, when really what I wanted was a good ½ pounder burger! Actually, come to think of it, that is what I got, but I tried the haddock from a friend’s plate. I mean, why would I want to eat British cuisine when I came to the States to try something a bit different? Even here in the UK, I see a good beef burger as a bit of a treat. The great thing about this place was that they served Guinness on tap! I've always seen Irish-style pubs in the big cities throughout my US travels. I do enjoy American food though. There’s an imitation steak ranch in my town called ‘Smith & Western’, where we’d go to celebrate birthdays and special occasions, one of which was a parting gift from my parents just before my first trip to the US.

Back to the subject of sport, there are a few no-go areas in conversation. Firstly, most Americans have never heard of Snooker or Cricket and if they have, they would not be able to tell you the first thing about either one of them. If you try say to them that their football is more like our rugby, you’ll have a hard time explaining differences in rugby’s rules, for example, only being allowed to pass back, line-outs, scrums, rucks, drop-kicks etc... but the idea of a touchdown being like scoring a try and the way tackles are usually executed are similar in both sports.

I won't say that I'm not a fan of American football, but I won't go as far as to say I support any particular team (which is also true of my stance towards British football). Having said that, I enjoyed the sense of unity that the game brought to the communities I lived in. My first Superbowl experience was in Atlanta when I was staying with a family who enjoyed celebrating the Superbowl each year. I think sport is celebrated by British and Americans alike, albeit very differently. For example, it is seldom a family celebration in the UK, usually a group of guys watching the game at the pub. I also see the Superbowl as their way of compensating for not having as many holidays *cough* I mean.. vacations, as we do here.

The two teams in the final were the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. I believe it was the Colts who won, although the end result to me was only a small part of what made the Superbowl memorable. The advertisements, sorry, commercials, that came on were sometimes just as entertaining as the game itself! Back then, in 2007, Doritos were hosting the campaign and many independant entrants sumbitted their videos. Our favourite was this one:






Whenever I watch Superbowl now, I support the Cowboys - not only because I have learned about their team and have become fond of their quarterback, Tony Romo, and
enjoyed seeing them play in the semi-finals last year.