A Work in Progress

Back in August 2010, I had my most recently dental emergency, outlined in this post.   It turned out to be no big deal, and for about 75 bucks they cleaned, xray, and fixed my broken tooth.  They also filled another one.  It took less than two years for that filling to break and I had a similar panic when I realized it.  Feeling the hole in my tooth was shocking and concerning (and gross as it meant that I swallowed the filling).  I, of course, as a responsible adult, have put off finding a new dentist for almost two years.  After carrying my insurance card for six months in order to find a dentist, yesterday I couldn't find it.  So, I had to call work to get the name of the insurance company.  Then call the insurance company, get my numbers, then find a dentist.  This sounds easy, but when faced with a list of faceless dentists, how does one choose?  Luckily, my sisters dentist was on the list and I am now left to wait with my holy to...

I was happy to end on part 9, but the other day, a thought popped into my head, and my last Coventry story begged to be told. On to an even 10! My last British stereotype/perhaps actual real trait, is that of emotion. Or, the lack thereof. Good old 'stiff upper lip' and all that. Don't get panicked, or sad, or worried; wash it all down to an unreachable place with a cup of tea. Now, that sounds harsh! Everyone I met seemed perfectly normal, well adjusted, and happy to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Well, mostly. I think a lot of people are like me and play their emotions very close to the chest. Can't fault them for that. The one time I felt the stiff upper lip attitude was when I found myself crying in public. Again. After an amazing going away party hosted by the best friends I could have shared this whole experience with, I found myself faced with my last day in Coventry. It was much like any last day of higher education, strange, emotional, and diff...

It is difficult to describe the feelings of joy, excitement, sadness, and utter weirdness I have felt over the last week. I finally arrived back in London after a tiring couple of days traveling and living like a hobo.  I felt such comfort and contentedness when I arrived, and I headed to my friends house, reunited with my suitcases, and overjoyed to stretch out on a proper bed. The next day, I absorbed my Morocco souvenirs into my suitcases, barely keeping them under the allotted 23kgs. 10 lbs of chocolate seriously doesn't help. And all of it is to give away.  Most of it. Some of it.  A few pieces. I spent part of the afternoon checking up on my favorites in the National Gallery.  Then I met my cousin which was super weird as we usually only meet once a year at Christmas.  But it was really awesome to catch up and exchange our love of all things British.  It felt as though it had been far longer than a month since I left Coventry as I met a couple of co...

Roundup! What's with having to press a button to get out of a building. I’m pretty sure this is just to make foreigners (or just me) look stupid. Charitably funded air ambulances are simply a brilliant idea. The thought of not having to pay taxes toward them, and that insurance companies would not be billed $10,000 every time I flew someone at work is simply heart-warming.  Support your local air ambulance! I love that everyone here has the same ring tone. It is particularly amusing on the train when the Nokia do-do-do-do starts and everyone looks around while patting their pockets or digging through their purses. Hilarious. Even better is the confident person who immediately says 'it can't be me' and does nothing. It always turns out that it's their phone that is ringing. And it always turns out that that person is me. Things would be a lot easier for foreigners if they didn't use A4 size paper here. It's off by just enough that I cannot eas...

I really want to get maybe, 1000 of my closest friends together and put them in a queue to nowhere through an English city center. I just want to see if people will join a random line with no discernible beginning or destination. Every few minutes, the person at the 'front' could move up a few steps, and all will follow, but really they are waiting for nothing. I hypothesise that this would work. People would join the queue, then feel too silly after a few minutes to ask just what they were queuing for. How long could that go on? UK sociologists: a challenge. But the British queuing thing is true, and most Brits will admit to it. It makes things very orderly, which I enjoy. It is mostly clearly seen at the cash machine where everyone is very respectful of PIN protection. I have only seen queue confusion at the market where the politeness will make anyone crazy with unending 'You go' 'No, you go.' 'Really, you were here first.' 'Are you sur...

Few things reveal cultural differences and distinctions more than alcoholic beverages and their consumption. There is nothing more British than a pint of real ale. Real ale is a phenomenon to me, each with a different taste, color, and origin. There are so many, most pubs have a couple standard options and a rotation of several others.  When I go to the pub, I just pick one at random and hope for the best. This tact hasn't let me down! I guess I can clarify that a 'real ale' or cask ale uses traditional ingredients, is fermented in the same container it is dispensed from, and no CO2 is added. This mostly means that each brew tastes distinctive and it doesn't come out of a regular tap, but has to be manually pumped from the cask. They are brewed all over the country (and world) and each brewery has its own flavors and secret recipes. Basically, a lager, is a lager, is a lager, as I was wisely told, and a cask ale is always different and usually always good. Ther...

Like all transitional phases of life, the last few days here in Cov have been strange and great and sad at the same time.  The next few days will be handing in my thesis, packing all my stuff into suitcases, stocking up on my favorite candy and tea, eating at the best restaurants in town, and hanging with friends that I will soon have to leave for some time. I had my last service at the cathedral on Sunday which was very nice and peaceful.  Later, a couple of friends and I finally went to Cadbury World to check out how Britain's favorite chocolate is made.  This is completely worth it, if you can get tons of discounts on entry like we did.  It's pretty camp and silly, but has a fair balance of stuff for kids and adults. After the history of chocolate and Cadbury's, at a very brief point we actually saw some factory action where the bars were being put into wrappers.  What I found interesting is that they are very insistent about not taking photos in that area....

I started last weekend by hitting the Brick Lane Sunday market in London. This was pretty cool, but I felt not hipster enough. Most of the market was overpriced new clothes, but more so, overpriced vintage clothes. Outside of that there was some awesome street food to be had, which frankly interests me way more than clothes of any era. I had an awesome Japanese 'rice thingy' and a Thai pumpkin curry which I plan to attempt to replicate when I get home. The Sunday market spreads to the street where tiny yard sales take place right on the pavement set in 'Banglatown' where there are about a million curry houses as well as cool foreign grocery stores and sweet shops. I stopped in to the Brick Lane Beigel Bake because when the queue for a place doubles back and out the door, it is almost always worth standing in. Here you can watch them bake the bagels and then buy one for 20p. A true London bargain. In the evening, I took in a free organ concert at Westminster Ab...

When I think of British stereotypes, I think of boring food, rainy days, and bad teeth. Stereotypes are sometimes (usually) based in fact and as an American, I know that the rest of the world thinks that we have excessively large cars, yards, hamburgers, and pretty much everything else is too big too (which is all true). So, I am not surprised when people make jokes about my SUV, our cowboy hats, crappy beer, and the fact that I have the nerve to complain about gas prices. I openly admit to these less than charming characteristics of Americans, and more openly, make fun of them mercilessly. But back to making fun of my adopted country. All Britons will admit that the food is boring, but that doesn't mean it's not good. And yeah, it rains a lot here. In fact, it's raining now. But, it makes the grass green. So, take that. I have recently discovered that most Britons I know don't know that they are mocked in other countries for having bad teeth. I don't know ...

Tomato-Tomahto. Let's not call the whole thing off. I guess I can't do this series without a word on words. I didn't really want to get into the lexicography of US v. UK terms. Mostly because it quickly gets confusing and some of it I knew before I arrived. Also, I find most of it quite charming. For example, why don't we call it a car boot? And nothing sounds better than “a mini cooper with white bonnet stripes.” But some words are just too fancy. I mean, courgette? Aubergine? Seriously. Almost every conversation I have with a Brit ends up with talk of our vocab minutiae and the whole thing is just one of life’s mysteries. No one can explain why a sweater is a jumper, a trash can is a bin, or a backpack is a rucksack. Am I going to wear a bathing suit or a...a swimming costume? I can't even say that without giggling. There are a million more, none of which have any explanation; and the American Revolution would be stretching it. Some of it, though, l...

Breakfast can be a great time in the UK. I have raved about the 'full English' before and have now experienced its many variations including but not limited to blood pudding, fried toast, potato scone, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, baked beans, but always including the staples of fried egg, rasher of bacon, and sausages. How to go wrong? Add a little porridge with sugar and cream: dream breakfast. On the colder side of breakfast, the UK have extremely boring cereals. Granted, Weetabix , Alpen , and Crunchy Nut, aren't bad, but simply can't compare to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Corn Pops, and the mother of all breakfast cereals: Lucky Charms. It is an urban myth that Lucky Charms was banned here due to its lack of nutrition and contribution to poor oral health. Though it is true that it can only be found in speciality shops at a ludicrously inflated price. Speaking of cereal, can anyone justify UHT milk? I swear I'd never seen this 'ultra high temperature' treat...

If you're in the UK and find yourself wondering; cookies are biscuits, biscuits are scones (kind of), chips are crisps, fries are chips, and crackers are also biscuits (or explosives). To go along with most of those things, let me emphasize the importance of tea. Sure, we in the US have southern sweet tea that is so sweet you could pour it over pancakes, but it doesn't fulfill the cultural necessities of a good cuppa. It's not necessarily the taste that keeps people coming back, although it is good. Firstly, it's the process of making it. Sharing with a friend, extending the conversation while waiting for the kettle to boil, and the tea to cool. Not to mention the exciting, jet taking off sound the kettle makes when 220 volts boil the water in seconds. Then there's the methodical nature of the brew: how long the bag stays in, how much milk to add, sugar? no sugar? milk first or last? biscuits? to dip, or not to dip? All of these things define the self-proclaim...

Back when horses were the best form of transport, carrying a sword was not seen as dangerous and eccentric, and most normal people were right handed, people started to chose a side. To drive on. I can say with no historical fact or reference, and based mostly on the 5th grader who edited wikipedia, that the UK started to drive on the left because they wanted to be friendly and shake right hands, or wanted to be able to draw their swords without any interference when riding past each other. Reasons for driving on the right are even more fraught with inaccuracy and range from Napoleon's left handedness, to reduce fights among marching armies, and just plain to get back at the UK as one last act of defiance. I prefer the Napoleon idea, especially has France later owned a large chunk of the US and Canada, and maybe it just filtered through all of North America. Who knows?! But back to the point. I mean, to the point in the first place. They drive on the left here, which takes som...

What is with those people on the street who are representing reputable charity like organisations, but are constantly bothering everyone? You can spot them from a block away, wearing brightly color coordinated t-shirts or jackets. And it's like spotting an ex coming toward you on the street; suddenly panic stricken and shouting 'Oh, my God!' before spinning around to seek an alternative route around them. But sometimes, it's too late. You've been spotted. Eye contact has been made. Your grimace has been greeted with a bright smile and there's no time to turn and run. I usually pretend I am in a hurry (suddenly) but even that doesn't work. Whatever you're in a hurry for 'this will only take a minute.' “Sorry, I'm in a hurry...” “Oh, this will only take a minute.” “Actually, I'm in labor. Can't you tell? Hoo-Hoo Hee-Hee” “My house is on fire.” “I'm late meeting my birth mother for the first time.” “But I'll take only a m...

A few days ago, Andy stopped over for a visit on his way to Greece. Shout out! He came to visit sunny Coventry and then we headed down to London for a night on the town. We had dinner in Leicester Square then double- decker bussed it over to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see Wicked. It was a very clever and great show that made me want to a. reread that book and b. sing loudly and proudly as much as possible. It seems like such an awesome job to sing like that every day. There are some amazing voices in that show, wow. Great costumes and set design too, but what do I expect from a proper west end show? Of course the costumes and sets and voices were good! I do wonder what L. Frank Baum would think of it. In the morning, Andy left at some un -Godly hour, and I slept until a more reasonable time before heading to the London Transport Museum. I have just a minor obsession with the London tube which makes this museum awesome. From the beginnings of public transport to how ...

Seeing my parents off while I stayed in the station was one of the hardest things I've done here. We had settled so well back into our usual travel mode, that it was very surreal to not be going home with them. Now again immune to the embarrassment of crying in public, I stood in the tube station for a few minutes before donning sunglasses, popping in the elitist headphones and heading back into the city. It was pretty much decided that ice cream was in order when I remembered that C and I had stumbled across a Chipoltle which I found shocking and incredible and nearly had me licking the windows on the way past. So, I decided that an overpriced burrito was in my immediate future. But where was that? I attempted to retrace my steps for about 45 minutes before seeing it in the distance like a shining beacon of hope. I practically jogged there and excitedly waited in line, ordered my usual carnitas bowl and even got a diet coke. A-Mazing. I was renewed. Now, I think I'm r...

I have been travelling around this glorious rock for the last four weeks and will (after a proper lie-in) sort it all out on the blog. From London to Skye and many places in between; over 1200 miles driven, and many more covered in trains, boats, kayaks and on foot, it's been a weird and wonderful time. Nothing beats familiar faces in, well, familiar places. Hours of planning, months of anticipation, and hours of terrified driving were all worth it, and I can only hope that the blog reflects my warm, happy, and exhilarated feelings I have for this country and my loved ones.

I'm proud to ride the tube today.

As far as I can tell, Carlisle is nothing but one way streets in the direction no one wants to go and strange parking rules. Well, it also has a cool cathedral, but who doesn't?! Their cathedral originally dates back to the Normans, built in 1122. I mean, seriously? Then in the 13th century they did a little DIY refurbishment which increased its size and kind of made it not line up properly. It survived the reformation, but during the civil war Oliver Cromwell and his mates decided it would be a good idea to tear down half of the Norman part, leaving the cathedral an unusual shape and quite a bit smaller. But, it is still pretty magnificent, quite a beautiful place and a very interesting history, once we found someone who could explain why the aisle didn't line up properly. Near Carlisle, is the Birdoswald Roman Fort (that's 'bird-oswald' as opposed to 'birdos-wald' like I was saying), where the longest complete section of Hadrian's Wall is. Back ...

There are a few places when mentioned to some English, causes them to get a wistful, faraway look in their eyes and smile dreamily. The Yorkshire Dales is one of these places. 'Oh, the dales!...' they'll say before composing themselves long enough to tell you that there's no way to see it all in one day. Indeed not! But we tried to see as much as we could. We started in Grassington. What a lovely little town. Oh, the dales are also a place that cause me to overuse the words 'lovely' and 'charming' but seriously, there are no better adjectives for it. We stopped liberally, which meant pulled over a lot, because there is no shortage of lovely views, but there is a shortage of safe places to pull over and enjoy them. The hills got higher, sheep more cheeky, and the ammount of dry stone walls was incredible. It's like the dry stone wall salesman came to town, for real! We stopped in Hawes to go into the Wendsleydale Creamery. Cheese, Cheese, Cheese...