Thursday, October 4, 2012

Becomming a Brit?

So how am I getting on?

It has been 15 months so far, and we have 8 more months to go. I'd say it is like any place, you take the good with the bad. I think living here has changed me in some ways, and made me miss home in other ways, as summarized below:


Bloody Well Right
  • I drink tea pretty much every afternoon, with milk even. That is very British, right.
  • I am wearing clothes that aren't solid colors and don't match perfectly (a la Old Navy/Gapish looking). Man you can pick out the Americanos here by the matchy-patchy thing they have going on.
  • I saw both Pixie Geldof and Princess Beatrice in the same week, and I knew who they were.
  • I LOVE taking the Tube and not ever driving. You never have to worry about insurance, car payments, dog hair on the seats, or DUIs.
  • I am a BBC devotee: radio, TV, the I-player......all of it. A fine institution.

Nor Cal Rocks
  • I still despise the cold/wet/damp, and I am a few months from really hating the dark. The sun sets here at about 3:45 in the winter, kill me now. This is going to take a lot of booze to get through.
  • I miss biking the hills.
  • I miss hiking and running the hills.
  • I miss camping, you cannot camp anywhere in the UK without significant rain gear and a lot of tea. 
  • I still cannot get assimilated into the bar culture. When we meet friends for drinks after work, by about 8:30 I am drunk and too starving to see straight. I need to EAT dinner, it is not a skippable meal in any way, shape, or form people. 

I often get asked whether we are going to extend our visas past their June 1st expiration. Ya know, I just don't think we will.

Never say never, but most of the Top 10 Things I Love To Do cannot be done here in London, sad. This is mostly because I am a wuss and will not race or camp in the cold and rain.......sucks to be me.

Off to Cologne, Germany. Photos to follow.

No comments: