Tuesday, October 19, 2010

You say PotAto, I say POtato.

Well I have been here for about a month now. And though it is not too much of a culture change since we and the Brits are similar in many ways. But there are a few things I have noticed that make me usually giggle, or sometimes be slightly confused. So I though I would write some. I am sure I will add through this list throughout the year.

We will start with pretty harmless examples, the phrases in speaking:
Queue up = getting in a line
Cheers = used when saying thanks you or hello, kind of a greeting (I hear it a lot at my job).
Alright?= How are you? (This one always throws me off, because I am used to people only asking if you are alright when you seem like something is wrong).
Jumper= Sweater ( I was so confused when people would talk about needing to get a jumper. I kept imagining a onesie looking outfit for adults.....awkward).
Rubbish = Trash
Top-up = What you do with your phone when it is almost out of minutes/texts
Mobile = Cell phone
Rubbers = Erasers
Coach = Bus
Duvet = Blanket (I think this was one of the reasons I had such a difficult time finding a blanket and pillow the first few days. Blankets here are exclusively for babies.)

Okay, now is where I get a little harsh. This will be done in bullet point form since nothing here is equal to US standard. The food:
  • Coffee - UGH! I am sure some of you have heard my rant about it. 90 % of the time it is instant here. I had never tasted instant coffee my 25 years till a month ago. DI.SGUS.TING. (Thank goodness for Starbucks and chain marketing).
  • Cereal- I love me some cereal, I could live off of it. Here they have crap cereal. It is all bland flavors. No Cap'n Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Frosted Mini-Wheats etc. Basically all the delicious sugar cereals.
  • THE MEAT! Everything here has some sort of pork product in it. And you all know, I am slightly kosher in that I do not eat pig meat. Not for religious beliefs, but because I do NOT like it. I have tried and tried, but this is a strictly no pig zone. But it is is everywhere. Sandwiches are chicken salad w/bacon or sausage and chicken or All day breakfast meat. Gross. You people are gonna die at age 30.
  • Biscuits = cookies here. Not a problem but glad I figured it out. The cookies are not fantastic here, which brings me to desserts...
  • Desserts- mostly weird puddings. Has no one heard of a brownie or pie? Apparently not I will say they have a huge variety of candy bars. Which is the usual way to get a chocolate fix. I am not a huge candy bar eater, but a girl's gotta do what I gotta do for some chocolate.
  • Chips- Known as crisps here. Not that they are bad but weird flavors. I have not been brave enough to try them. But some examples are prawn cocktail, worschester sauce, bacon and mustard, roast chicken, fish and chips and etc.
  • Pizza- They put chicken and corn on it. And I will not even tell you about the "American" or "Texas BBQ" pizzas.
Okay, I think that is it for now. Some makes me laugh, some makes me sad. But I knew getting into this I would encounter these oddities. Can't even imagine what they think is funny about me or America. Probably nothing. I am adorable.

2 comments:

  1. I love that you said you are adorable! The rubbers = erasers thing made me LOL!

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  2. A jumper is a sweater?! I'm so glad you went to England so I could learn that! I read all the Confessions of a Shopaholic books and I was so confused when Bex would talk about jumpers! I know I even googled it once, but it didn't help. Very good to know.

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