Do you realise how bad your skin will look when you’re fifty?

Two weeks in and already we’re settling into familiar routines. I’ve noticed that Courtney and I only really nag each other about two things (one each), apart from TV. I complain about her eating habits; without me around to cook for her she’d eat nothing but toast and takeaway. On the other hand she is dumbfounded by the way I happily wash my face with hand soap, or whatever’s close to the basin, or just cold water. She tells me that there’s a programme on TV in which gay men do lifestyle make-overs to straight men. One of the first things the gay blokes do (before they redecorate the straight bloke’s house and throw out his clothes) is run into the bathroom and shriek about the lack of facial scrub.

It strikes me that our nagging of each other might reveal the root of the difference between European and American schools of thought. I, being European, think that all problems can be solved with food and a sensible approach to eating. Courtney, being American, thinks that all problems can be solved with the correct soap and a good amount of scrubbing. Guts vs face; Insides vs Exteriors; Digest vs purge. Stop me when you’re bored, or if you think I’m spouting gibberish.

It’s -10 Fahrenheit outside again today. That’s 42 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing. When I finally convert these numbers into Celsius I’ll be horrified, I’m sure.

I just did. It’s -23 degrees Celsius. I knew it felt cold out there.