Another planet

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Geo: 53.3331, -6.2489

Its easy to find things to write about when everything you do and see is so different to what you do at home. Cambodia, Vietnam, India, and Nepal they have such a different approach to life and a whole alternative system, that what is normal for them is obscure for those of us coming from a more anglo influenced country. When you hit a country like England after being in the sub-continent for so long there is a mixed feeling of relief and disappointment. The relief comes from the ability to speak the language, read signs and newspapers, ask somebody for directions and understand the laws/ rules/ regulation and from knowing in a more developed society that those laws etc. are applied and adhered to on a consistent level right across the country. The disappointment stems from the known, the people and its society is so organised that it leaves very little room for the strange, unusual and different. There is less colour, movement and things seem a little drab. While the chance to explore and experience another country still has its attraction not having to struggle so hard almost takes some of the fun out of it. I never thought being frustrated and confused would be part of the enjoyment of travel. When you have to work out for yourself how you are going to get to where you want or how to get what you want without the ability of communication the experience turns into an enjoyable problem solving exercise. Although being in an anglo country like the UK has it similarities to Australia its quite obvious that there are some major differences. The first thing I noticed about the English is the colour of their skin. Even the more seasoned outdoors person has an opaqueness about them, some to the point of translucent, their skin doesn't have a pink hue to it but more like a washed out blue, the type you would find in the sky of a faded water colour painting. It was interesting to come directly from Delhi in India where it was around 40°c with the humidity hovering above 80%, you would still see some locals walking around with thick jackets and beanies on and then you arrive in London at the height of summer where it is 22°c with a wind chill factor of 5 and you see the pastiest of people wearing shorts and T-shirts enjoying the glorious sunshine. The English are a bit odd compared to the rest of Europe; they still maintain their own currency, they drive on the right, the temperature is given in Fahrenheit and they still measure distances in miles, it is little wonder that the rest of the EU treat them slightly differently. The main contribution that English seem to have given to the rest of the EU is their language, while every other country is struggling to maintain their language English as a language is booming, everybody wants to learn English, well everybody but the French of course. Right throughout the world English is becoming the universal language eventually it will be the one language that unites the world, well the rest of the world except for France and chances are the only ones who are going to complain about the French being left out are going to be the French any way. It seems though that the English are taking a bet each way because while there is the use of miles and Fahrenheit etc. they sell petrol and milk by the litter but beer by the pint and fruit and vegetables by the kilo while at the same time telling you how much it will cost per pound. So instead of keeping their original imperial system which I imagine everybody in the country understood or alternatively changing to the more widely used metric system that the rest of the world apart from America use, they have try to adopt a mixture of both. As you can no doubt surmise this leads to confusion frustration and sometimes bewilderment, I find it hard to believe that anybody having to deal with this situation on a daily basis thinks that the government has done a wonderful job and that they are worth every Drachma (or whatever currency they happen to be using) they get paid. Shopping in England is a unique experience also when you go to an English supermarket the first thing you notice is the extensive use of packaging the second is how many different types of sausages there are. Firstly the packaging, everything is wrapped in plastic even the fruit and vegetables, for what purpose I am not sure but often you are not even given the option to buy something that is not in some form of packaging. It's heart breaking to buy a head of broccoli that has shrink wrap plastic over it, fruit in plastic tubs that have plastic netting over the top of them or mushrooms that also come ready chosen in another plastic tub with cling film covering them. Im not sure why this is the case, but I am very surprised that there is not a greater demand for it to be reduced. As for the sausages, personally being a vegetarian Im not very aware of the range of meat products available, but Im pretty sure in my wildest dreams I would never have imagined so many uses for ground up pig meat. They come in every shape and size, from all over the EU, smoked, boiled, cured, what hasn't been done to a sausage obviously cant be done to any viable meat product. There is literally a whole 2 sided refrigerated isle in the supermarket dedicated to stuffed minced porcine produce. Another slightly disturbing thing about the supermarket is how cheap it is to buy highly processed food as opposed to fresh fruit and veg. In fact ready-made cakes and sweets are so much cheaper that it's little wonder the English are overtaking the Americans as the fattest race on the planet. In reality the amount and variety of processed food available is such that you could get away with only owning a microwave oven and never have to cook a meal in your entire life. Its pleasant to find once you get out of the larger cities its easier to come across farmers markets, where fresh local produce is available and is reasonably cheap. Its not so obvious in the cities but it would appear that those in the rural areas are thankfully living on more than pork sausage and cream cakes.

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Comments

[Sandy Gorski]

That's amazing Darren. Plastic & pig meat. Arhggggg! musn't be fun shopping for dinner.

[enis]

Have a pint for me ; )