Anyway, today my Brit Culture class visited Hampton Court Palace, which was Henry VIII's home. It was absolutely stunning! So much beautiful architecture, rich history, a maze, gorgeous gardens and landscape...I could've easily spent the entire day there! Posted a few pics below...
The crappy thing about afterwards was that we had to go back into campus for more class; I have felt so tired all day! Surprisingly, the two-hour class flew by; we watched a lot of videos (one was quite silly; it was about the Union Jack, or the flag, and part of the film followed a fellow named Graham who worked for the flag institute. No, that is not a typo. Basically he patrols the streets of London and inspects the union flags hanging about. I laughed out loud at several points and also couldn't help but wonder how much dear Graham gets paid.)
Now, observations/stuff I've learned. I've only been here for...oh...five days now, and already I am soaking up the differences between here and the states. For example:
~ I swear, the buses in Surbiton and Kingston get more and more crowded every day. White-knuckling the handrail at every application of the brakes is taking some getting used to (yes, on crowded buses, you stand if there are no seats available. Same for trains and the tube)
~ People here like to queue, that is, wait in line. Or make lines. A "queue" is a line.
~ Brits are much more reserved than Americans. By a factor of about a bazillion. We Americans often perceive that as rude, but I don't.
~ Every day that I have been here, the sun will be in full blazing glory all the way through the morning, then it will be drastically cloudy by afternoon. As I type this, it's 6:19 in the evening and it is sunny again.
~ At stores, instead of sale prices reading "50% off" or "25% off", here, it's in fraction form.
~ I've noticed women wearing a lot of floral-patterned clothing, especially in London. Scarves too! Yay for me on that one, since I have a scarf fetish.
~ When you go out to eat, anywhere, you pay before you eat. Much like Papaleno's in Berea.
~ Grocery shopping is different here, too. Many people here only buy a few things at a time, unlike the states where we usually go in once a week and just buy everything. They do have carts, but you have to pay to use them, so people use baskets.
~ Pop (or soda...sorry, I call it pop) has no corn syrup, so it tastes way better. In fact, they don't use corn syrup anywhere here.
~ When crossing crosswalks (called "zebras" over here), if you just wait at the curb, traffic won't stop. You actually have to step out into the walk for traffic to stop. That still scares me sometimes.
~ Roads are VERY narrow. I still hold my breath every time I'm on a bus and it passes a full right-lane of incoming traffic.
~ In the states, at a sporting event or something, we always sing the national anthem and put our hands over our hearts. None of that over here. It's also slightly taboo to have a British flag in your backyard. According to a movie we watched in class today the union flag only flies 18 days out of the year.
~ Military time is used. Still trying to figure that out...
~ If a taxi does not have its license plate number in the front windshield, it's not a legit, registered taxi and you probably shouldn't take it.
~ Quid is another term for a British pound. Also takes some getting used to...
~ People say "Cheers!" when they hang up the phone.
~ Pigeons are very brave here. They just walk right out in front of you, usually in large packs.
~ I found a dollar store!!!! (Not an observation...just felt like sharing).
So yeah...learned a lot already, with so much more to learn! Can't wait! :D
blessings, H
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