Cherio from Jolly London!

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Hello!

It is becoming more and more apparent to me that while the English and the Southern USA cultures are similar, they are also very different. One thing we have in common that the New York students here find odd is the friendliness and generally happy disposition. I can go to the supermarket in Corpus and people will say hello, nod, and say little things like 'hows the weather' or 'this fruit looks good'. The same seems to be true here. Everyone is generally happy and says hello when you pass. I really enjoy this aspect, because its comforting, more like being at home.

Though, there are vast other difference. I find that people love the outdoors here. Every day I see countless numbers of people running, walking, walking their dogs, laying around in the grass, sitting in parks, and just being outside. We drive by parks that are just full of picnic blankets and people just being all around outside, filling the parks full. This is foreign to me because parks in Corpus and Plainview seem to never have an attendance. Though, I must admit, the weather here is amazing...


Well, I'm having lunch as I write this, which is supposed to be BBQ Chicken Pizza, but to be honest, I'm not quite sure what it is. The food isn't always good. It is very hit or miss here. This is like..some sort of salsa on hard bread with semi-melted cheese and warm chicken on it. Their other pizza choices were 'Vegetable', and 'Ham'. Neither of which sounded appealing, so I went with BBQ. Clara ordered 'Nachos' yesterday and was horrified when she was served tortilla chips with steamed vegetables (and possibly cheese, its debatable that any cheese was actually present at all) on top. Actually, Clara seems to have bad luck with food here.

Oh, other neat things I've picked up:

"She's screwing us off" means "She is staring or looking at us"
"Alright" means "How are you doing today"

Quid and Pound are the same. 5 quid is the same as 5 pound, though its actually called Pound, quid is slang for 'money' in general.

I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them right now. Yesterday we went to Oxford street (famous shopping market) and did some souvenir buying. Today we are going to Westminster Abbey to tour the inside. I'll put up pictures of it later.

Cheers!

-Ryan

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Photos

Me in Clara's Room
Clara has a 'normal' room which is very small. I have a 'special' room which I like to think of as 'somewhat small'. At least, from a Ryan scale, it is small.

The Wishing Well!
Pub! I love them! They have the best food and best names!

Wasn't Ready
At a pastry shop..wasn't ready for a photo.. (No hair gel at this time still)

Statue at Buckingham
Me at another statue

Oye! You there!
Classic London tourist photo :D

My 'London Police' booth photo
Classic London Police hat, classic picture!

Subway Navigators!
Me and James on the Subway (clara taking the picture)

Comments

[Ida Tanaka]

English food
I have to agree with you about the food...Erika and I found it to be very bland and less than satisfying. We did have one Chinese meal that was pretty good, but the next time we had Chinese it was not even recognizable as such, and it tasted blah. We found that we were happier eating junk food...just to get some flavor! Be sure to try those Walkers chicken flavored crisps!

[ryanedwards]

Oh, I will sure look for them. I'm quite fond of Jammie Dodgers, Crunchies, and Terry's Chocolate orange. Though, I can get all of that at world market! However, I did get some orange kit-kat, and mint kit-kat. Can't find the lemon yet. I have the Walker's cheese and onion chips, but haven't found chicken yet. I will though! Overall the best mean I had was at a pub. It was ribs with chips and corn on the cob for only 6 pounds!

[kimber]

haha
wasn't ready damn u look like ur on crack! haha!! oh so have u seen a lot of mini coopers?? i saw a red one the other day and thought of you.

[Sarah Cutler]

Get Over It!
Oh, would you stop your pathetic comments about the food already?! How foolish of you two to expect PIZZA and NACHOS, two very Americanized foods, to the be the same over seas where they specialize in meals with lower caloric intake, lamb and seafood. Here's a hint- don't order what you would normally order back in the states. (I wouldn't even order nachos in New York City!) On a lighter note, I can't wait to hear what you have to say about Westminster Abbey! GORGEOUS inside! I love the dialect(?) you're picking up! You can't forget these!! Cheers and love!

[Sam]

Finally got caught up with all this! I agree, Londoners have some of the strangest ways of saying things. Most of the food on the island is bland and of a less-than-pleasing texture, even if they are foreign cuisine. This may sound really cliche, and I don't know if you're a fish person, but fish and chips is a really safe bet, and if you ask around you can probably find some good spots. The prawn cocktails I had were good also. If Cadbury still makes Fuse bars, do yourself a favor and buy a gross of them. Sounds like you're having a blast, thanks for keeping us posted!

[kimber]

bring me back that telly booth haha

[ryanedwards]

Silly Sarah, we don't have a choice of food in the cafeteria on campus. They just make 1 'meat' meal (which is always involving chicken) and 1 'vegitarian' meal. They try really hard to make us 'feel at home' by cooking horrid nachos, something they seem to think was an enchilada, and baked-soggy 'southern' fried chicken. I wish they would just cook what they normally cook....