Hello there. I seem to have unofficially gone from updating once a week to once every two weeks. Oops.
It's hard to think of things to talk about. At first it's like wow, everything's different! After five months it'd difficult to notice little cultural differences. But here's one...
BritBit 1: CCTV. I don’t know what it stands for, but basically it’s a bunch of surveillance cameras all over the place. Whenever you walk into a store it has a sign that says something to the effect of, “This place is being monitored by CCTV”. At first I thought it was some special sort of camera that everyone had, but I see it absolutely everywhere. Apparently it’s the government keeping track of people. Some people don’t like the idea of being constantly watched, which is understandable. For some reason the first thing I thought of when I found out that it was the government’s cameras is that it’s good, because if you’re ever falsely accused of a crime you will already have cameras everywhere proving you weren’t there. I watch too many cop shows.
You know, I think about different things for BritBits all the time, but as soon as I sit down to write, I forget what they are.
Wait, I think I remember one:
BritBit 2: As well. As well, as well, as well. People here say “As well” all the time. Americans just say “too” usually. It’s like every conversation I hear, people say “As well”. It’s slightly annoying.
BritBit3 3: Top Shop. It’s a really popular clothing store. Apparently they have them in the U.S. too, but I’m not very fashionable so I didn’t hear of its existence until I got here.
BritBit 4: The X Factor. It’s a show kind of like American Idol…actually, it might be exactly like that, I’ve never seen it. It’s a singing competition and everyone loves it; it’s huge. It might be coming to the U.S. soon, so Americans will get to experience it as well…oh crap, I’ve started saying it too.
I’m really, really tired. Papers aren’t fun. I know I just had some due the last time I posted, but I had another one due today.
It’s weird to think I only have a few more months here. I’m not looking forward to the reverse culture shock…being surrounded by Americans again…ugh. It’s weird to think about. I’m so used to hearing stuff like, “I’m gonna go to the pub and get a pint, yeah, and do a bit of dancing as well.” It’ll be odd to hear the American version, “Dude, I’m going to the club tonight and getting wasted.”
Okay, that’s all I have to say. Later.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
A bit of travel
Hey there! Papers, papers, papers. So much writing to do. Uni is so much fun. Not.
Well, I actually have something to talk about this week. On Saturday I went on a trip to Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace. Last term I had gone on a bunch of trips and so far this is the only one I’ve gone on. There’s a reason for that.
So I went to the Study Abroad office to buy some tickets for the trips they offered (which, by the way, are fewer than last term). I get there and oops, every trip except one (which I don’t want to go on) is sold out. I decided to sign up for the waiting list for Stratford.
Onto last week. I get an email saying a ticket has opened up and that it was a first come first serve basis. What do I do? I run to the office and buy it, that’s what, getting there about 25 minutes after the email was sent. So I guess that worked out in the end, huh?
Anyway, Stratford was oddly entertaining. I learned the meaning of the word ‘potluck’. In Shakespeare’s time they would cook a sort of stew in a pot and they’d just throw food in there, and every time bits of food would get stuck on the bottom of the pot, and whenever they cooked they would scrape the food off the bottom and mix it in with the rest of it. If you got the food you wanted, like chicken or beef or something, then you had potluck. Yay history! Also, ew history.
Guess what else? The phrase to be “worth your salt” is about the fact that salt used to be really expensive. And they ate on square wooden plates and they washed them with ash or something. Also, they kept a fire going in the kitchen all day and night, and if a wife didn’t keep it going her husband had the right to hit her. Ugh, history.
We saw Shakespeare’s house (where he grew up) and his and Anne Hathaway’s cottage (his wife). We actually got to go inside the cottage, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures. The tour guide was going on about different idioms like the potluck thing, and then at the end he oh so casually mentioned they were selling a book in the gift shop that talked about other idioms as well. How clever. Not.
Overall it was a good tour. I say it was oddly entertaining because I usually find history boring, but learning about the meanings of all those phrases was cool. I guess that’s why I’m an English major.
Moving on, here’s a quick thing I remembered while I was in the store today:
BritBit 1: This is one of those everyday things you forget about after a while. In the UK they write down the price of the item on the item itself. That is, the price you see on the item/near the item is what you pay. In the U.S. they tell you the price BEFORE tax, so the actual price is slightly higher. Here if it says 14.99 then it’s actually 14.99, not 15.07 or whatever. I actually noticed this when I first got here but, as I said, I forgot.
The U.S. apparently got snow last week. We got a bit of snow today but not much. Here’s hoping it doesn’t come here.
Also, the Superbowl was last night. I hadn’t even known it was on. I don’t know who played and I don’t care who won, but I’ve watched some of the ads online and they were pretty good, especially the Doritos ones.
Well, time to go work on those papers. See you next time!
Well, I actually have something to talk about this week. On Saturday I went on a trip to Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace. Last term I had gone on a bunch of trips and so far this is the only one I’ve gone on. There’s a reason for that.
So I went to the Study Abroad office to buy some tickets for the trips they offered (which, by the way, are fewer than last term). I get there and oops, every trip except one (which I don’t want to go on) is sold out. I decided to sign up for the waiting list for Stratford.
Onto last week. I get an email saying a ticket has opened up and that it was a first come first serve basis. What do I do? I run to the office and buy it, that’s what, getting there about 25 minutes after the email was sent. So I guess that worked out in the end, huh?
Anyway, Stratford was oddly entertaining. I learned the meaning of the word ‘potluck’. In Shakespeare’s time they would cook a sort of stew in a pot and they’d just throw food in there, and every time bits of food would get stuck on the bottom of the pot, and whenever they cooked they would scrape the food off the bottom and mix it in with the rest of it. If you got the food you wanted, like chicken or beef or something, then you had potluck. Yay history! Also, ew history.
Guess what else? The phrase to be “worth your salt” is about the fact that salt used to be really expensive. And they ate on square wooden plates and they washed them with ash or something. Also, they kept a fire going in the kitchen all day and night, and if a wife didn’t keep it going her husband had the right to hit her. Ugh, history.
We saw Shakespeare’s house (where he grew up) and his and Anne Hathaway’s cottage (his wife). We actually got to go inside the cottage, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures. The tour guide was going on about different idioms like the potluck thing, and then at the end he oh so casually mentioned they were selling a book in the gift shop that talked about other idioms as well. How clever. Not.
Overall it was a good tour. I say it was oddly entertaining because I usually find history boring, but learning about the meanings of all those phrases was cool. I guess that’s why I’m an English major.
Moving on, here’s a quick thing I remembered while I was in the store today:
BritBit 1: This is one of those everyday things you forget about after a while. In the UK they write down the price of the item on the item itself. That is, the price you see on the item/near the item is what you pay. In the U.S. they tell you the price BEFORE tax, so the actual price is slightly higher. Here if it says 14.99 then it’s actually 14.99, not 15.07 or whatever. I actually noticed this when I first got here but, as I said, I forgot.
The U.S. apparently got snow last week. We got a bit of snow today but not much. Here’s hoping it doesn’t come here.
Also, the Superbowl was last night. I hadn’t even known it was on. I don’t know who played and I don’t care who won, but I’ve watched some of the ads online and they were pretty good, especially the Doritos ones.
Well, time to go work on those papers. See you next time!
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