Oh say can you seeee...

O say does that star spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

So it's President's Day Weekend and all.  Which aside from being another long weekend, also means I get to post pictures of the American flag for no other reason.

And to say this: What happened to national pride being a bad thing in England? The St George's Cross is now synonymous with either football hooliganism or the National Front.

From living in America, I have now seen that national pride doesn't have to be a bad thing.  It can be a wonderful, unifying thing.  Here, it helps people remember that even though they can all be separated by their differences - be it race, gender, or political leanings - and even though they can all learn to respect each other's differences for their right to be so, national pride means that when it really comes down to it, they are all still beautifully linked by one thing.  What it means to be an American.  And how important that is.

I wish in England that we could also try and find that balance of respect for our differences, without losing sight of what it is that makes England England, and celebrating that. 

And... end scene.

So, also, as I have an extra day to play with, I have changed the way the old bloggy-wog looks. Yes, I've given it a new outfit, the other one was getting a bit old and needed a wash.  Haha, I jest, I jest. I've been meaning to do it for a while, make it a bit more jazzy-jeff!  Let me know what you think, I like it for now.

And also as I have an extra day, I've got a bit of time to mention about the weeks most exciting event: When Rachel and Turk came to visit!!

Here they are:

It snowed while they were here.  As you can see, Turk is clearly unused to such a phenomenon.

We did lots of things, but one of my favorites was going to see the Statue of Liberty:

It was a very cold day, but Rachel and I battled through this setback to listen on the audio guide all about how Libby got made in France and shipped all the way over here.  

Being there and imagining the crowds the day it was unveiled was a great experience.  We then went on to Ellis Island and learnt about the harrowing and emotional ordeal that was going through immigration back in the day.  Thankfully it wasn't like that for me!  But everyone was so desperate to get over here and make a better life for themselves.  To them it was the land of dreams coming true.

I can see why they thought that..