Photo Friday - Brecon Beacons

This is one of many peaks in the Brecon Beacons. A site to put on the visit list if you're ever in Wales.

Photo Friday!! - Cardiff



Here is a view of Cardiff from nearly fifteen stories up on a clear, sunny day. You can see Queen Street and just make out the Millenium Stadium on the left.

Quick Word!

To avoid burnout, I'll try to be a bit more brief with my posts, but continue sharing out differences that I discover or that occur to me over time. Today's realization: Americans prefer the word "almost" over "nearly". For British people it would appear the opposite is true.

Quick tip #1

If you happen to be looking for a Radio Shack equivalent in the UK, look up Maplins. They have all the wires and parts you might expect to find.

Photo Friday!! - Royal Mail Letterbox

This is what the post boxes look like in Great Britain. If you're wondering what in the world the huge E II R is in the middle, It stands for Elizabeth Regina (Queen in Latin) II (because she is Elizabeth the second). This is tradition for the Royal Mail. They put the Latin initials of the reigning monarch on the post box once it is erected. Unlike the US Postal service, you can't leave mail in your mailbox and raise the flag for the postman to pick it up. You have to either drop your postaged letter in one of these or go to a post office.


- An American in the UK

Photo Friday!! - London Metropolitan Police Constable

This is what your typical constable looks like in London. There are regular officers who wear bright yellow jackets (like highway workers) and checkered hats and there are also community support officers who are somewhat like our college cops, but they get cooler uniforms. Most law enforcement officers are unarmed in the UK, unless they're in train stations or airports. They are usually packing a sub-machine gun when they are in public transport hubs.

Do you have a picture request? If so, email it to USAmericanintheUK@gmail.com and I'll do my best to get it for you.


-An American in the UK

Photo Friday!! - St. James Park

St. James park is located in London, England. It's actually quite a nice park, especially in the summer months. I took a couple of strolls in it when I went to London last June and it's almost like walking into a Disney forest with all of the squirrels running around and coming up to people or even following them around! If you're going to London and are anywhere near St. James, make sure you take your own stroll in the park and bring some nuts for the squirrels, they'll eat right out of your hand!

If you've been there or have a good story to tell about St. James Park, leave it in the comments below for the other viewers to read.

- An American in the UK

"England and America are two countries separated by a common language "

So maybe George Bernard Shaw knew what he was talking about when he said that. Even today there are times when I look confused when someone asks me to "give it a bash" or someone else looks confused when I ask for fries (chips over here) with my burger. It amazes me how much we've changed directions with the English language since the 18th century in America.

There are so many different words and phrases that are used in the UK that I have compiled a fairly long list of them. I plan on sharing them throughout my posts, but I'll give you a good list of them now to go away with and feel a little more experienced in what words mean what.

American	British
Thanks	Ta, Cheers
Ornery	Cheeky
Isn't it?	Innit?
TV, Television	Telly
Disappointed	Gutted
Cash Register	Till
ATM	Cashpoint
Fries	Chips
Chips	Crisps
Jello	Jelly
Jelly	Jam
Restroom	Loo
Pants	Trousers
Underwear	Knickers, Pants
Friend	Mate
Great	Brilliant
Good Looking	Fit
Car Hood	Bonnet
Car Trunk	Boot

If you would like me to elaborate on any of these examples or provide you with an example of how these words would be used in every day British, let me know.

As you can see, there are some words that would easily confuse someone if you use any of these words an American context. I constantly call chips fries which will normally get you a strange pause before figuring out what you're talking about or before they say "excuse me?" Just think of it this way.. It's probably hard enough to understand what in the world I'm saying in the first place with my American accent (yes, we all have one, we just don't think of ourselves ever having an accent), not to mention I'm asking for the wrong thing entirely. It's easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that everyone should know what I mean. How hard can it be? Don't you watch TV? You should know what fries are! But, then you realize that you're not in Kansas anymore (to quote probably the worst and most overused joke that people like to state to someone from Kansas; if you don't know what I'm talking about maybe you should google the Wizard of Oz and read up on it..)

Maybe I was a little harsh in the first "official" blog. I didn't mean to discourage you commenting at all. Please do leave a comment, just don't descend into anarchy in the comments. I would really like to hear from you, the readers, as to what you would most like to have discussed. You control the topics, let's remember that. I just write about them. So, right now, you're giving me free reign to write about whatever I want to. This means that I'll be writing about language and geography (since they are favorite subjects of mine) and you won't get as much of the cool stuff or stories. Also, if you have an experience from travelling to the UK that you would like me to integrate into the different topics, feel free to email me (again, at USAmericanintheUK@gmail.com) and I'll be sure to pass your story along and give a link to your blog if you want me to.

I think I've rambled on enough for one post. Hope I actually hear from some of you this time.. or else. (you've been warned)

-An American in the UK

Tired, but happy: Superbowl XLV - in the UK

Yes, I watched the superbowl tonight here in the UK. Luckily for the last four years BBC has shown it here live. I did the normal thing and had a bunch of the guys over and we had a good time feasting on chips and salsa and chicken wings. There were a few times I had to explain some of the rules, but for the most part (thanks to Madden and also because most of the guys follow American football in some way) they knew what was going on. We were even able to watch it in HD since it was also playing on BBC One HD!

My snopsis of the game: Greenbay started phenominally and showed why they got to the superbowl in the first place. Before the end of the first half the Steelers answered back and came back with a vengence in the second half. I was sitting a little more uneasy than I was in the first half when the game came down to a one possession lead. Through a little bit of strategy and amazing Greenbay defence we came through as the victors!

An American in America

(if you couldn't tell I'm a Greenbay fan)

The only thing I missed about the coverage was the good commercials, but I'll have to look them up online tomorrow. The game showed from 10:30pm to about 3:30am, so I'm sorry if my post is a little bit jarbled and all over the place. It just goes to show that you can still enjoy a bit of home even from 5,000 miles away. (you can change enjoy to plain "be ashamed of" when it came to Christina Aguilera and The Black-eyed Peas)


- An American in the UK

Introductions

Introductions

I'm really just starting this to see how much interest there is in the topic of an American living in the United Kingdom. Whether it's because you're getting ready to move to the UK, want to move or visit te UK, or it's just because you happen to be curious; I hope I can provide an accurate picture of what to expect when you get here through my experiences. I want you to feel free to ask questions, give suggestions (or even corrections for you native British readers), and be able to discuss without unnecessary hostility to each other about life in the UK. My interpretation of living in the UK is not by any means 100% accurate or true for the whole of Britain. I can merely tell you how it appears from my point of view.

So, before I get started, the email to send your afore mentioned comments, suggestions, questions, etc. would be USAmericanintheUK@gmail.com. I know you have the comments down below, but I would much rather that any communication intended for me to see is sent to my email box. Call me old fashioned, but I tire easily of reading through comments as they generally descend into arguments that no one cares about or cares too much about. Emailing me will ensure that your voice is heard. I will do my best to respond to you quickly, or through my blog itself. I feel that this will be the best way to run things. Again, you can email me if you disagree (not that I'll see it your way, but at least you can say that you tried to reason with me).

Alright, it's really starting now, so sit back, relax, put on a cup of tea and let's get introductions out of the way.

Actual Introductions

Hello there. You might be wandering some things.. such as: Where did I come from? Where am I now? Why am I where I am now? Settle down... I will tell you.

I was born and raised in rural Kansas, for those of you who don't know where that is, it's in the middle of the USA. Just look for the middle rectangular state with a squiggly line on the top right. Kansas is known for being flat, desolate, and boring to outsiders (and some insiders), but to me, it's home. There's nothing quite like the thunderstorms in the spring and summer, or like the crazy winter weather that can't ever make up its mind, or the ability to see for miles and miles, and most of all I think I miss the stars at night. Enough of that homelovin' stuff. Where am I now??

I currently live in Cardiff, Wales. To those of you who are geographically challenged, this is on the west south west side of the island of Great Britain. It's important to note (for you outsiders) that Wales is indeed a country, it is part of the United Kingdom, and people here get quite easily flustered if you refer to them as English. Yes, I'm a long way from the wheat fields of Kansas, but how in the world did I end up here?

About six years ago I got on a (then) popular social networking site called Xanga. I do believe my Xanga profile is still in existence today. I was looking for an international pen pal on day and I just happened to click on metro areas in the UK, then I clicked on Cardiff (which I had never previously heard of). I found the profile of a Cardiff girl and thought that her profile was interesting enough. She had similar interests and cool pictures of the countryside so I decided to message her and ask if it was OK to post on her page. Then things progressed to writing letters when I went away for college, then on to phone calls, and flowers, and rings, and now we're married and living in the UK.

All your questions answered, and I haven't even truly started this post! Sometimes I do amaze myself.

The beginning? De-education.

In order for my my fellow Americans (and anyone else unfamiliar with the UK) to understand exactly what's going on over here (in the sense of geography, or political divisions) I must zap out any generalizations that I have found myself to have had, and pretty much every person I know from back home to have. Great Britain is the island that most of you would probably be inclined to just call "England." In fact, Great Britain (the island) is composed of three different countries: England, Scotland, and Wales (not in order of favorites, but in alphabetical. The United Kingdom is composed of four major countries, (along with some territories and such, but we don't want to get too far into this on the first date) the three that I just listed and Northern Ireland. I believe I have a graphic designed to demonstrate these four countries on a map..

Isn't it beautiful? I made it myself.


The problem isn't necessarily that you don't know that there are other countries on this island. It's more of the generalization problem I referred to earlier. Landmarks and famous things you think of are most likely in England:  The Queen, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square. And all of those (even the queen mostly) are in London! Stonehenge? Southwest England. Sherwood Forest? England. The white cliffs of Dover? Any guesses? That's right.. England. Even the big soccer (or football as it's called here) teams are English cities: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool. Now, to be fair to the rest of Great Britain, there are some great places to check out, but we'll get to that another time.

 I say all of that to say this. It's not that we, as Americans aren't educated. I think it's due to the fact that most of the touristy places are in England, most of the Hollywood depictions of Britain are also in England and therefore we tend to generalize the whole island (and Northern Ireland) into being England.

Alright! I feel like I've covered a good amount of ground here and will leave it here. If you have any requests or interests, please let me know by submitting your question and or request to USAmericanintheUK@gmail.com. (Remember, the email is the best way!)


- American in the UK