Another Very International Thanksgiving

I celebrated Thanksgiving this year with:

• 4 English
• 5 French
• 1 Ukranian
• 1 Spaniard
• 1 Italian
• 1 Australian
• + me and Jane, the American girls

I took a half day off work to make turkey, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, stuffing, green beans, butternut squash casserole, carrots, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole and apple pie.

My homemade apple pie

Authentic decorations from my Aunt Marlene

 

 

What She Learned

I mentioned in my previous post that a friend came to visit me last month. As it was her first time to England and to Europe in general, I had the chance to see it all for the first time from a fresh pair of eyes. After being here for a year and half those things that were different no longer phase me and sometimes I forget that something would be uncommon for an American.

We had many moments where I found myself saying... "Oh, yeah I forgot to tell you that.... "

In no particular order - the things she learned:

1. Plug outlets have switches, you have to turn them on
2. Eggs are left out on the counter, everywhere in the world except USA
3. Hold on to your tube ticket, you need it to get out on the other end
4. Europeans didn't like George W. Bush
5. Mayonnaise comes on everything
6.  When given directions - turn left and then another left - this is literally the first place possible to turn left, even if its an alley... and not the next "city block"
7. Nobody talks about distances in terms of blocks
8. Bright clothing is not popular in winter
9. You have to ask for sandwiches specifically without butter on the bread
10. Nobody wears fleeces as everyday winter outerwear
11. Look right - better yet, look both ways - cars come out of nowhere
12. You have to pay to use the bathroom in public places
13. Say you want tap water, not still, otherwise you pay for it
14. If you don't love Harry Potter, you're apparently not American
15. Short skirts or jean shorts with tights are all the rage. Doesn't matter what size you are.
16. Gas costs twice as much as in the U.S.
17. Nobody talks about their feelings
18. Tax is always included in the price tag

I'll be back

Dear loyal blog followers,

I'll be back. I haven't forgotten.

November was a crazy month of business and personal travel taking me to Stockholm, Brussels, Dublin, Paris and Madrid in about 4 weeks.

Its not as glamorous as it sounds though. Lots of airports, conference rooms, hotels, planes, trains, buses, passport control lines and early morning wake ups at ungodly hours.

During the month of craziness I did have some down time and my highschool friend Susie came to visit.  We did some London touring and headed to Dublin for the weekend. Guinness just tastes better in Ireland. Fact.

Guiness Factory, Dublin, November 2012

Don't Lose Passport

Note to self:  DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT.

I go through many moments of paranoia while travelling - obsessively checking and double checking my bag to be sure my passport is where I put it. Losing it has always been a concern of course... like the time in 2005 when a train conductor took it from me in Italy and wouldn't give it back until my friend and I got off...

That concern is only doubled when your passport contains a very valuable visa stamp indicating you have right to work in a foreign country.



Recently, an American friend living and working here was on a business trip in NYC and she misplaced her passport. After getting a new USA passport within 24 hours and getting her parents to overnight her birth certificate to her to do this, she headed to the British Embassy to replace her visa. The embassy very kindly turned her away and said sorry, go reapply.

Even though they have all her information, including her fingerprints to identify her, she had to completely reapply for the visa, a process that takes at least a week.

In order to obtain a new visa, you have to do the following:

1. Have your new USA passport on hand
2. Complete the visa application with the same information previously supplied
3. Attach a letter from your company stating you still work for them.
4. Get your fingerprints taken at an official designated location - an appointment that can take up to a week or more to make.
5. Attach a UK regulation size passport photo
6. Get a police report stating your Visa was lost.

Needless to say, this loss was all very expensive, costing around $1,000 for the expedited USA passport and UK visa replacement alone.

If you try to go back into the UK without the visa, you technically don't have the right to be working there without. Not sure what happens. I don't want to find out.

What happens if you lose your passport and you're not in the USA at the time but some other random country? I really, really, really don't want to find that out either.

Halloween

The English have embraced the Halloween holiday in their own way, and I think they like it because it incorporates one of their most favorite things: "Fancy Dress"

They love a good costume party and these go on any day of the year. Its not uncommon to find people in fancy dress in any given pub on a weekend and the themes can be hilarious and elaborate.

I've argued with a coworker that dressing up for Halloween does NOT mean the costume must be scary and he does not believe me. I told him I dressed as a bunny when I was his daughter's age and he dressed her like a witch anyway and sent her off to nursery school. My coworkers all have children and they've told me the schools allow the kids to have a non-uniform day and go to school in fancy dress. Apparently they're all ghouls and goblins and witches. Dress up day lacks superheros and Disney princesses. I guess you can dress as a princess any old day if you're 4 years old.

While they do wear costumes on Halloween, you won't really find kids trick or treating in England. The American tradition is frowned upon and feedback on this varies, but apparently there are sentiments and laws that imply that trick or treating is form of begging. I don't see it becoming mainstream anytime soon.

This same coworker above told me that growing up in Yorkshire, they had something called Mischief Night, which happens the night before Bonfire Night (4 Nov). No treating, just trickery... starting on the tame side - ding dong ditch and spanning to other types of shenanigans that would be deemed much worse than that.

The roots of Halloween in the UK are more deeply intertwined with its origin, All Hollows Eve, but in modern day, you'll see more and more commercialization with Halloween promotions, costumes and themed candy available at supermarkets.

My housemmate and neighbor, Becca and Kate, made me dress up as zombie doctors with them last night. Against my will, I had my face painted and wore blood spattered scrubs. Not going to be sharing those photos here!

Nobody Beeps Here

Its rare to hear a car beep in England. Maybe it is just Oxford, but in 15 months of driving I could maybe count the number of times I've heard a honk on one hand.

Not surprisingly, people courteously chose to flash their lights when they need to get your attention, rather than beep. The British citizens actually use the horn as it was designed, to warn of danger. How refreshing and a change from living in downtown Chicago where cab drivers obnoxiously honk their horns at every stoplight, no matter what and for no real reason at all.

• When you are trying to make a right turn across traffic, cars will flash their lights to indicate they'll stop and let you turn, so that the cars behind don't have to wait for you.
• When you're tailed by a car in the fast lane and they want to go faster than you, they will flash their brights to say - get out of my way.
• When you're not paying attention and a light becomes green, lights will flash behind you.
• Even the electronic key fobs to lock car doors don't sound the horn, but only flash the car's lights when you hit the lock button. It seems all the car manufacturers have chosen to omit this feature.

Living in this honk free zone is easy on the ears.

London 2012 Olympics

The Olympics are gone. There was a collective sense of deflation in the UK when it was all over. The Paralympics closed and the Olympic Park shut its gates for the next 2 years as it goes through a transformation for post Games use. The consensus is that no one knew what to do with themselves when it was all over - like the deflation of coming home from an extended vacation to bills, chores and work. The consensus is that is that it was a resounding success despite all the worry and cynical Op Ed pieces in newspapers across the country. The Brits love to complain... and those that did wound up enjoying it all along with the rest of us.

For over a month I went in to London regularly for Olympic events and to soak up the fever. Good show, London!

The Olympic Park in Stratford was massive and reminded me of Disney World. You didn't even have the sense that you were in London and upon entering you were greeted with all kinds of signs indicated how far it was to each venue. The wheel chair tennis match I attended was a 35 minute walk from the entrance. I think I must have walked 10 miles by the end of that day.

USA Women's Volleyball match vs. Serbia at Earls Court. USA won!  

@Wheel Chair Tennis Match at the Olympic Park

@Wheel Chair Rugby at the Olympic Park

Watching the Men's Marathon @Monument, London

Waving at Jessica Ennis, Gold Medal, Heptathalon - London 2012  athlete parade

You can click on the album below to see more pictures:

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I have no idea what to watch on TV now. I guess its back to talent shows and How I Met Your Mother re-runs.