Englaaand?
I iz alive!
Sigh. I have been so busy lately I haven't had any time to just sit around and do nothing, which is totally my favorite thing to do. I have managed to read a little more of the Wheel of Time (book one stiiiilll) on the tube, which I am enjoying. I'm not sure what it is about it that I love because it's pretty stereotypical, but it's just satisfying in some way. I like the world in it, the lore, and the Ways, and the way everyone keeps saying things like "the Pattern weaves as it will" and "so the Wheel turns" without ever explaining wtf they mean. Actually it's nice that the book isn't talking down to you and explaining everything as if you're stupid. Too much expository is boring. And when I saw Wanted the movie with all the "loom of doom" stuff, I thought it was really stupid, but Wheel of Time says mysterious stuff without sounding dumb, which I like. and the name Rand Al'Thor is just cool:)
So England...let's see, things I didn't know about England until I moved here:
1- It's so green! I don't know when I've ever seen so much greenery and flowers. And sheep! (if you drive out of London). And people here care wayyy too much about their hedges/gardens/flowers. I can't imagine anyone in NY being so interested in making sure they have well-tended gardens etc. I wonder why people here are so into it; so far I've come up with the "keeping up with the Joneses" excuse. Why else do mild-mannered little old ladies get positively terrorist about their neighbors hedges encroaching out of their allotted space? Lol I laughed for quite a long time after I heard someone get really upset about their neighbors encroaching:P Their death wish was to blow it up before they die so they can't go to prison for it. Hard. Core.
2- The weather IS unpredictable. I didn't know this was why English people are obsessed with talking about the weather! What to wear when I go outside? Who the fuck knows! Nowadays I try to be prepared, summer shirt, winter jacket, umbrella, god knows what shoes. Omid Djalili was right, people are obsessed with the weather here. "I will never get the hang of this secret lover's code!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpPLG51uYek
3- TV here is very weird. It either plays what my heart desires (Friends/Frasier reruns and all the Rocky movies), or it plays extremely weird reality shows that make American tv look good. WTF is Snog Marry Avoid? With celebrity lookalikes? Where do they find all these extremely sad looking women who don't want to change their look (and yet still agree to come on the show). And why does the make-over make them look so frumpy? Also how do you win that tv show about filling your trolley with expensive stuff? Because I would think it would be better to just find the most expensive thing in the store and win by having lots of that, but I see people wasting time trying to wrestle ironing boards into their carts, so what's the deal with that? And why is Jersey Shore, ALWAYS ON? Just in general actually, WHY JERSEY SHORE, WHY CRUEL WORLD WHY!
Some tv is interesting though, there was a late night thing about a girl with a "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome" I think, where every six weeks she has to go to sleep for two weeks. And if they wake her up, she is like an evil version of herself and swears constantly and hates everyone. So far, I don't think she is sick, I think she just figured out how to get the world to call it a syndrome, I like to sleep too and I hate being woken. She also managed to miss all her exams and wake up in time for prom. Success!
There was also this funny funny episode of Fonejacker, which seems to be about a guy who makes prank calls by jacking the phone line that someone is calling. He pretended to be someone with a really BAD Indian accent to someone who wanted to buy tickets to something. I just couldn't stop giggling everytime he said "Dolly Paaaartiiings" instead of Dolly Parton. Whyyy are Indian accents so funny? Gudehgudeh!:)
4- People dress better here. Not everyone, but in central for sure. Perhaps if I live here long enough, I will absorb the effortlessness they seem to have! For me it is already too much trying to match my shoes to my purse:P Ifail.
5- They have a chocolate brand here called Guu. Guu is Guud. Nuff said.
Actually, the word Guu seems to be following me around. In Vancouver I had dinner at this place called Guu with Garlic, a japanese izakaya. Which I didn't know meant drinking establishment that happened to serve foodz. So I was a bit surprised to see the chef drinking from a pitcher while he cooked, and then having shots with his guests for their birthdays (It was *everybody's* birthday. Seriously). But damn if it wasn't the most fun atmosphere! Drunk peoplez are fun!
And sushi in Vancouver is amazing. I know it is a city meant for outdoorsy hiking and canoeing but I pretty much spent the whole time eating. Lunch? Twice a day! Dinner? Right after lunch with no break! I swear, it was like an eating marathon. I ate even when I was totally full. Completely ridiculous trip. People kept asking us if we'd come for the hiking or the sea or the basically anything outdoorsy and we'd be like nope nope and they'd just give us a look and ask...so what did you come for? haha
I have more, but I iz sleepy now. Will update moar laterz.
Sigh. I have been so busy lately I haven't had any time to just sit around and do nothing, which is totally my favorite thing to do. I have managed to read a little more of the Wheel of Time (book one stiiiilll) on the tube, which I am enjoying. I'm not sure what it is about it that I love because it's pretty stereotypical, but it's just satisfying in some way. I like the world in it, the lore, and the Ways, and the way everyone keeps saying things like "the Pattern weaves as it will" and "so the Wheel turns" without ever explaining wtf they mean. Actually it's nice that the book isn't talking down to you and explaining everything as if you're stupid. Too much expository is boring. And when I saw Wanted the movie with all the "loom of doom" stuff, I thought it was really stupid, but Wheel of Time says mysterious stuff without sounding dumb, which I like. and the name Rand Al'Thor is just cool:)
So England...let's see, things I didn't know about England until I moved here:
1- It's so green! I don't know when I've ever seen so much greenery and flowers. And sheep! (if you drive out of London). And people here care wayyy too much about their hedges/gardens/flowers. I can't imagine anyone in NY being so interested in making sure they have well-tended gardens etc. I wonder why people here are so into it; so far I've come up with the "keeping up with the Joneses" excuse. Why else do mild-mannered little old ladies get positively terrorist about their neighbors hedges encroaching out of their allotted space? Lol I laughed for quite a long time after I heard someone get really upset about their neighbors encroaching:P Their death wish was to blow it up before they die so they can't go to prison for it. Hard. Core.
2- The weather IS unpredictable. I didn't know this was why English people are obsessed with talking about the weather! What to wear when I go outside? Who the fuck knows! Nowadays I try to be prepared, summer shirt, winter jacket, umbrella, god knows what shoes. Omid Djalili was right, people are obsessed with the weather here. "I will never get the hang of this secret lover's code!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpPLG51uYek
3- TV here is very weird. It either plays what my heart desires (Friends/Frasier reruns and all the Rocky movies), or it plays extremely weird reality shows that make American tv look good. WTF is Snog Marry Avoid? With celebrity lookalikes? Where do they find all these extremely sad looking women who don't want to change their look (and yet still agree to come on the show). And why does the make-over make them look so frumpy? Also how do you win that tv show about filling your trolley with expensive stuff? Because I would think it would be better to just find the most expensive thing in the store and win by having lots of that, but I see people wasting time trying to wrestle ironing boards into their carts, so what's the deal with that? And why is Jersey Shore, ALWAYS ON? Just in general actually, WHY JERSEY SHORE, WHY CRUEL WORLD WHY!
Some tv is interesting though, there was a late night thing about a girl with a "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome" I think, where every six weeks she has to go to sleep for two weeks. And if they wake her up, she is like an evil version of herself and swears constantly and hates everyone. So far, I don't think she is sick, I think she just figured out how to get the world to call it a syndrome, I like to sleep too and I hate being woken. She also managed to miss all her exams and wake up in time for prom. Success!
There was also this funny funny episode of Fonejacker, which seems to be about a guy who makes prank calls by jacking the phone line that someone is calling. He pretended to be someone with a really BAD Indian accent to someone who wanted to buy tickets to something. I just couldn't stop giggling everytime he said "Dolly Paaaartiiings" instead of Dolly Parton. Whyyy are Indian accents so funny? Gudehgudeh!:)
4- People dress better here. Not everyone, but in central for sure. Perhaps if I live here long enough, I will absorb the effortlessness they seem to have! For me it is already too much trying to match my shoes to my purse:P Ifail.
5- They have a chocolate brand here called Guu. Guu is Guud. Nuff said.
Actually, the word Guu seems to be following me around. In Vancouver I had dinner at this place called Guu with Garlic, a japanese izakaya. Which I didn't know meant drinking establishment that happened to serve foodz. So I was a bit surprised to see the chef drinking from a pitcher while he cooked, and then having shots with his guests for their birthdays (It was *everybody's* birthday. Seriously). But damn if it wasn't the most fun atmosphere! Drunk peoplez are fun!
And sushi in Vancouver is amazing. I know it is a city meant for outdoorsy hiking and canoeing but I pretty much spent the whole time eating. Lunch? Twice a day! Dinner? Right after lunch with no break! I swear, it was like an eating marathon. I ate even when I was totally full. Completely ridiculous trip. People kept asking us if we'd come for the hiking or the sea or the basically anything outdoorsy and we'd be like nope nope and they'd just give us a look and ask...so what did you come for? haha
I have more, but I iz sleepy now. Will update moar laterz.