Hi there my loyal bloggy friends.
I'm sure you have all been sitting in your homes, crying every day, wondering where your fav blogger has been for the last couple of weeks.
Well, I'm on vacation.
In England.
It's awesome.
But I feel kinda bad that I've been neglecting my bloggity blog blog. So I figured I would come back on Tuesday to make a Tuesday Ten of some of the things I love and don't love that are different here. I have been having such a fantastic time here, seeing my parents, meeting new people, relaxing, being with my awesome family. I'm not going to bore you all with the details of my holiday, because I'm pretty sure you don't want to read a blog that is like...50 pages long, and has 462 pictures on it (yeah, that's how many pictures I've taken so far, and I don't come home for another 2 weeks. Oh man...) So, I'll give you a little sneak peek at what I've been up to. And don't worry, I'm not going to make the list like, "OH EM GEE, THEY LYKE, TOTALLY DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!!11!!! LOL!!!!" Because I'm pretty sure you guys already know that...
10 Different Things In England
1. They have weird chips crisp flavors. Like worchester. And roast chicken. And cheese and onion. Weird. BUT, sooooo good. Well, the worchester one is awesome anyway. And the roast chicken. When I told one of my new friends that they have weird flavors but they don't have ketchup flavor which makes me sad because I love ketchup chips, she said, "ketchup crisps? That's disgusting!" She said that WHILE EATING a bag of prawn cocktail crisps. And she called me disgusting! Weirdo.
2. Eating out costs about a billion dollars. And it's totally not worth it. Y'know when you go out for dinner, and you get a huge steak, and lots of sides, and it's the best thing you've ever eaten. Then you get dessert. And you just want to explode from all the good food? PLUS, you've had like, 12 refills of pop, because refills are free (and if they're not, you kinda want to punch a dolphin because of the injustice of it all?), and when you get the bill, it's still under 30 bucks? No dice here. When you eat out, it's kinda gross. The service is terrible. As in, you see your server seat you, then you never see them again. And when you order a pop, you better nurse that small tiny drink of yours, because you just paid £3 (about $5) for that drink and if you want another one, you've gotta pay another £3. For three sips. Cuinn and I have been so blessed that we are able to eat at my parents house, because eating out every day would have bankrupted us. And there are so many better ways to become bankrupt.
3. When you go to some kind of play place for kids, other parents will NOT play with you. At home, if we went to some kind of playground, you would go home with about 20 new friends. Everyone kind of plays with each other, the mums chat with each other, often going out for a coffee/tea/hot chocolate together afterwards. Here? They avert their eyes. We went to a big play place and anytime Aislynn started playing with another child, the mum would scoop up their kid and go somewhere else. Which was a little disappointing because Aislynn really loves other children and I think she is really missing her little friends at home.
4. English people are not nearly as reserved as you think. I went into a store to try on a shirt because it was really pretty and looked like a good deal. I took the shirt to the change room to try it on. There were woman just....changing. In the open. Which made me so uncomfortable that I just put the shirt down and walked away. We went to the pool, and when we got to the change room, I asked my mum where the change rooms were. Like, where you can close a door and be naked by yourself. She said, "they don't have that here." Again. Woman were just getting changed. In the open. With all their nakedness on display. Now, you all must know by now that I really have space issues and privacy issues. In a really big way. I found somewhere to change. With a door. I was so uncomfortable.
5. People here drink tea. A lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that England is known for drinking tea, but I bet you don't know how many times they drink a tea a day here. Neither do I, because I lost count after 12. And we hadn't even eaten dinner yet!
6. When you stay at someone's house, they put a hot water bottle in your bed before you go to sleep so that your bed is all nice and toasty when you go to sleep. Isn't that awesome?!? Seriously, it was SUCH a big surprise the first time it happened I thought it was a mistake. But then it kept happening. I am going to be so sad when I go home and there isn't a hot water bottle in my bed. They also heat up your plate when you eat! I think I need to start that when I go home.
7. If you want some electricity in your house, you have to put money into the meter in your closet. Like, actual, real money. Into a meter. In your closet.
8. Everybody, even part timers, get a minimum of 5 weeks vacation a year. Doesn't matter how much or how little you work. You get 5 weeks.
9. A lot of things are so much cheaper here, and I know that when I go back to Canada, I'm going to be really annoyed paying what we pay. For example, baby wipes. For the EXACT same amount of wipes we get in Canada it's £7 (about $11?) here. In Canada? Closer to $25. PLUS TAX. Fruit is so much cheaper here, so is the fresh produce, and a lot of it is better!
10. They don't have @$$holes on the road. Everybody just....drives in peace. They get out of the way if someone is going faster than you, nobody drives on the shoulder to pass a big long line of cars, everyone follows the rules. I think sometimes there are a few speeders, but seriously, people are pretty awesome about following the rules. Although, they don't have stupid rules here, the traffic runs so smoothly, it makes me not want to go home and drive in the stupidness of Canada.
So there are just a few differences between there and here. There are loads more, but those are the ones that popped into my head now. There are a lot of things that are just better here. There are a lot of really compelling reasons to move here. BUT, there are definitely things I miss from home. Plus, I really miss my friends. Aislynn and I are missing our routine and mommy groups, even if we are really enjoying being with my parents. (Aislynn is loving her grandparents. Especially when they give her chocolate. And crisps. And jam loaded scones. And haggis. And all the other treats she is getting.)
Cuinn and I are enjoying our holiday so much, but don't worry, we will come home. And I'll try to blog more.
But for now, I'm off for a cuppa.
