What the Heck, Britain? Kathryn's List of British Peculiarities

So. As much as it is awesome here, there are a few things that I find slightly odd, I thought I would share them with you here (in no particular order):

1)  Snow
       Last week, London and the rest of the UK got one of the earliest snows it has ever had. And the country stopped. Gatwick airport closed, trains stopped running and people were forced to sleep in them, cars were abandoned on the highway, and the mail stopped being delivered. As someone who spent the last four winters in Michigan, I had very little sympathy. We figure out how to shovel and salt our own walks and the government figures out how to plow and salt the roads. Now. I know that it snows a lot less here so they are less prepared, and I know that outside London there was a lot more snow, and I know that London is really big and has a lot more roads and what not to take care of. But still. It's only snow. Also, it's snowing now and is forecast to tomorrow, when I am supposed to be flying home.Oh bother.

2) Taps
     For some strange reasons, a lot of the hand washing sinks, like those in public restrooms, have two faucets: one for hot, and one for cold. I can understand the value of these for baths or even sinks for washing dishes, but hand washing? It leaves you with two options: freezing cold or blisteringly hot.

3) Post Offices
     Oh. My. Gosh. The post office. Since I am applying for PhD programmes right now, which means many mind numbing things, like entering the exact same information thirteen times (Wainfan, Kathryn T., Undergradute: University of Michigan, etc etc), writing about how I'm awesome and smart and they should let me in and what not. But one of the most frustrating things is having to wait through the infinitely long ques at the Post Office which for some reason, has to do everything from mail letters and packages to passports to selling insurance and phone cards, to even having something resembling a bank account (called the post office card account, when I was interning in the House of Commons it was one of the things we got a ton of letters about). Since it's close to Christmas, I suppose they're busier than usual, but I still find them super annoying. Not to mention it costs way too much to mail a single piece of paper to the US with any sort of guarantee.

4) School sponsored alcohol
     Apparently, the London School of Economics gives their seminar leaders an "entertainment budget" roughly equal to one drink per student. So last week I had drinks with two of my seminar leaders, which the school paid for. Which was odd on many levels. First: it's talking to/ being with a teacher outside of class time. I realize that teachers are people too and have lives and what not but a part of me still hasn't gotten over that first grade astonishment when  you see your teacher in the shops and realize they don't live at school. Second: the school is paying for it. At Michigan, they wouldn't reimburse alcohol, even if everyone was of age.

Anywho. Angelique is supposed to arrive shortly and will spend the night with me since she's flying home tomorrow as well. I am praying to the weather gods/ imps/ spirits/ powers that be that I can get out on time so I don't miss my connection.

Till Next Time,
Kathryn