Of Triangular Sandwiches and Lemonade

One of the most overused quotes when describing the Anglo-American relationship is that the US and the UK are "two countries separated by a common language". While I thought it was amusing the first time I heard it, I must say that I am now getting rather sick of it. Aside from the fact that it gets old, I think that it implies that the only thing different between our two countries is language, while that is clearly not the case.

I have lived in London before, spending two months in 2008 interning in Parliament so I had some sense of what I was getting into before I came this time. There are a lot of things that people expect when coming to the UK. Most people know, for example, that they drive on the other side of the road, chips= fries, and colour and labour are spelled with an added u. But there are still some things, smaller things, that remind me that I am, to use another oft quoted phrase, not in Kansas anymore. Here are some, in no particular order:

 Triangular sandwiches:


Pret is another one of the triangular sandwich shops



    Britain has some strange obsession with pre-packaged sandwiches that are cut diagonally and put into triangle shaped boxes. There are at least three ubiquitous chains all over London that sell these along with sandwiches on baguettes, salads, fruit and what not. My favorite of these is "Eat" simply because of the name. I can just imagine the conversation:

"Hmm darling, what do you think we should name our store"

"I don't know, dear this is the millionth time you've asked me. People don't care what you call a place, all they want to do is eat"

"That's brilliant!"  

Keyboards:

Mostly the set up is still the same but there a few things moved. The quotation marks are shift+2, where the @ symbol is and the @ symbol is where the quotation marks usually are. There also an extra key next to the enter where the # and ~ are. The £ (pound sign) is above the 3, there is a $ over the 4 and the ` and ¬ symbols are where the ~ usually is. Now, I know that this isn't all that different but, as a child of the 90s, I grew up learning to type, it is pretty much second nature to me. And it is driving me mad to try and get used to it. Especially since I am using my US keyboard on my laptop and a British one here on campus so I can't just convert completely. The number of times I typed @Eat@ instead of "Eat" earlier in this entry was quite annoying.

Lemonade:

In the US, Lemonade is a lovely summer drink made from lemons, water, and sugar. Occasionally, if people are feeling fancy it can be made of sparkling water and there might be some raspberry or strawberry flavor thrown in. Sprite, 7-UP, or Sierra Mist is a clear soda that they claim is lemon lime flavored but we all know is just Sprite (or 7-Up or Sierra Mist) flavored. Here, Lemonade is what we would call Sprite and Cloudy Lemonade is what we would call lemonade.  

The Electric Kettle:

It's kind of one of the bet inventions in the world. It'll boil water really fast without you having to use the microwave or the stove and then you can make tea. Which is also awesome. The one at Siodhbra's Aunt and Uncle's house is almost constantly in use.

On a separate note, I had a meeting about US loans today. The guy who ran it was really very nice and was availing us of all of the tales of woe regarding the law changes that the US government made and how little time they had to actually figure things out. So, again in my life, it seems that I am a beta tester. That means they still are trying to figure stuff out, like how we can apply for additional loans if we need and what not.

Also, I am officially a registered student of The London School of Economics and Political Science. With a student ID card and everything. (Cue expressions of OooOoos). Like almost everything else, the EU students get to go through a quicker line while I had to stand with all of the non special people. Note to self: figure out how to get EU citizenship without giving up my US one.

Until later,

Kathryn