{"id":10886,"date":"2020-09-11T11:05:51","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T10:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prettygoodbritain.com\/wp\/?p=10886"},"modified":"2024-06-08T16:06:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T15:06:46","slug":"a-foreign-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prettygoodbritain.com\/wp\/?p=10886","title":{"rendered":"A foreign country"},"content":{"rendered":"

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1991-1995 we lived on Sussex Street in Jersey City,<\/a> our last address before moving to England. It was a 2 bed shotgun apartment in Paulus Hook, a neighbourhood clinging to the eastern edge of New Jersey. (Definition of a shotgun: one room leads directly to the next in a straight line, such that you can pull the trigger in say the kitchen, and if the doors are lined up as they were with ours, hit a burglar climbing through the bedroom window.) We were in 2L, though here it would be 1L, as on this side of the pond the count doesn’t really start until you’re above the ground floor. Rent wasn\u2019t bad; it\u2019s now a rather pricey area.<\/p>\n

Therese appears to be reading the Newark Star-Ledger, which Sunday edition competed with the New York Times for roughage. I note that there\u2019s a book called Medical Tests to her right, these being the days before Dr Google.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s sitting in one of a pair of wonderful old polished dark wood and velour chairs we bought at The Salvation Army charity shop for a song. (Most of our furniture was similarly sourced.) We would\u2019ve carried them home a mile or so from the shop. They weren\u2019t light.<\/p>\n

The kitchen is in the back. The window overlooked the Statue of Liberty, perhaps a few dozen of her giant steps away.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t call Jersey City a \u201cslice of heaven<\/a>\u201d, as the mayor suggested it could be to make the credulous feel better about their life choices, but we were reasonably happy there. It was a little like living in NYC but better, as it was cheaper and we had a grand view of the Manhattan skyline a few minutes walk from our doorstep.<\/p>\n

The women just upstairs were lovers and fighters. When they weren\u2019t scrapping they played Enya. This one, over and over:<\/p>\n