Christmas in America is a-comin' already - and Rita isn't too happy about it... “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells” sang the little boys in the back seat, loud and enthusiastic rather than tuneful. “Really boys,” I interrupted, “it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!” I tried to interest them in a made-up turkey song, ... Read More...
Rita is tired of the worldwide image of the Ugly American, and explains why in her usual mild, non-confrontational way... The first Americans I ever met were disguised as Canadians. They had sewn maple leaf patches onto their backpacks because they were so tired of being confronted about the Vietnam ... Read More...
Our ex-pat American correspondent Rita is lucky enough to live in Maryland, home of one of the most beautiful Falls in the world. But can you ever escape modern life, even when Leaf Peeping?... September is over, and as the days dwindle down to a precious few, an annual American ritual ... Read More...
In which the determinedly lapsed Rita fails to shake off her Catholic roots... When we crossed the Mason-Dixon line and I saw the Maryland countryside for the first time, I was reminded of England. After five years in California the green, gently rolling Maryland hills dotted with sheep and cattle were ... Read More...
Fear is always with us, says Rita in her latest dispatch from the States, and sometimes it's justified... “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s words are among the most well known American sound bites of the 20th century. They are often interpreted as ... Read More...
Rita discovers that the town where she used to work has been voted the second snobbiest in America... The dog days of summer are traditionally silly season for the news media here as soaring temperatures drive political discourse into the stratosphere of the absurd and inspire heat-stressed Americans to act out ... Read More...
Rita discovers the story of a little Quaker town that became the capital city of the U.S. for just one day... The charming little town of Brookeville is nestled in the suburban sprawl of Washington D.C. as it once nestled in the green and pleasant Maryland countryside. But suburban sprawl maintains ... Read More...
British ex-pat Rita faces up to just how American she has become... I celebrated my birthday this month and realized that I have now lived in the U.S. for exactly two thirds of my life. My early years in England seem, well, a lifetime away. My England was the England of ... Read More...
Of course Michael Gove didn't actually ban any American books from schools, but that didn't stop a good argument about British and American literature. Rita weighs in... Two contrary news stories from Britain caught this librarian’s attention recently as they both have to do with books. First was education minister Michael ... Read More...
We may like to think we're savvy travellers, not typical tourists, but things can go horribly wrong... I’ll never forget the moment we realized we were lost – in rural Mexico, neither of us with a word of Spanish, our cruise ship a long bus and boat ride away and due ... Read More...