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

Weather: It Sucks Here

Hello Internet,

I was walking down the street in London Town the day before yesterday when I looked up and saw what had to be the most depressingly funny billboard in the world, a British Airways advertisement that read: "Chin up, Britain. The sun is shining somewhere." Now, I have not been a Londoner for very long, but even I must admit that I have been somewhat deflated by the rather depressing weather over the course of the past.....since I have been here.

As a former Southern Californian, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know what weather is, but if I did, I would know that it sucks here. The North Atlantic is just not as nice a place as Los Angeles, where a forecast of "sunny skies and seventy degrees" can pretty much be applied to 360 days out of every year, except for that weird five-day stretch in late December when these things called "clouds" appear and Southern Californians stop in their tracks and look upward at the cold wet stuff falling out of the sky. Still don't know what that stuff is called, but it's extremely common in this country. They've even invented ingenious devices called "umbrellers" that act as portable round ceilings to protect themselves from it. Katie keeps telling me to buy one, but I keep refusing to believe I'm going to need one ever again. And again. And again. And again.

So from this perspective, the BA ad really strikes a chord, especially given how close London is to everything European. Sunny Spain, refreshing France, illuminated Italy, and gorgeous Greece are only a few hundred miles away, and I must tell you, it's damn tempting from a weather perspective alone. Moving to Britain is a little bit like being transformed into a slightly wet, chilly vampire with a funny accent. The only nice thing about this arrangement is that all of the other slightly wet, chilly vampires around you are similarly distressed, so you're never very lonely.

And with that I am off to commiserate with my fellow vampires (and my lovely roommate) at the local pub, another charming British habit. I suspect that all of the bartenders here must supplement the local ale with Vitamin D, which explains why we're all in various pubs so very often. That, and with all that cold wet stuff falling out of the sky, it's too miserable to be outside.

Cheerio for now, Internet. Stay warm.

Siodhbrrrrra