The lure of McDonald's

Well, after five weeks in London, I finally went to McDonald's. It wasn't because I missed it, but because of the lure of a free movie ticket! I bought a "large meal deal" (Quarter Pounder) so that I could get a voucher for 2 for 1 at the cinema. My flatmate and I are hopefully going to go to see the new "007" movie soon. The atmosphere was pretty nice for a McDonald's- fresh gerbera daisies on the tables- but too bad the fries weren't hot :(





Although I have now had McDonald's, I still have not succumbed to the doorways of Subway, KFC, or Starbucks. While I love these American staples, I am not feeling the pull to have them here. There's so many other new choices in London. I do REALLY miss Tex-Mex though.





As I'm continuing to learn about the British culture, I've made note of some observations:

• They love crisps! (potato chips) and eat them at all times of the day


• Many men here wear Levi's jeans


• They seem to like velcro on their shoes...all ages


• They love Kit Kats and they make many different kinds


• They're good about taking time for tea/coffee. I was surprised to find out that they drink coffee as much as tea in England- and it's always offered together ("Would you like some tea or coffee?"). I mentioned this to someone a few weeks ago and they said drinking as much coffee as tea had become a trend here about 10 years ago. All the high schools I work at have a morning "Break time" where the students can eat a snack and are free to walk around campus for about 30 minutes, usually around 10:30am. This is the adults' time for tea or coffee! And I loved it all Half Term in October (student holiday) when I was working all week at the hospital, and about 2:00pm each day, another Speech and Language Therapist would ask, "Anyone for tea/coffee?"

In the last 2 weeks, I've observed some of my students in their lessons and have enjoyed some of the lectures. One History lesson's objective was "Elizabeth I- Finding a 'Middle Way' for England". The History teacher was talking about Queen Elizabeth's struggle to find middle ground for the Catholics and Protestants. And in another lesson, I heard the English teacher referencing the "I Have a Dream Speech" from MLK. In one lesson I was learning about the Tudors (which I LOVE), and in another at the same school I was listening to the teacher talk about a famous American while she taught about the literary devices of his speech.

Here are some recent pics:

The Crown Pub

Piccadilly Circus

Rosie, Trish, Vicky

Outside the Crown Pub

Friday, November 14th

Native Americans (?)

A singing group at Harrow Town Centre

Saturday, November 15th

A gallery inside the Victoria & Albert Museum

Sunday, November 16th

I only got through 4 rooms in the "England 1600-1800" section...

I look at and read everything

I had to take a picture of this Fish Shop. I thought, "How ironic. A Chinese fish and chip shop!?!" Later someone told me it's well-known and very good. Huh. Who knew?

(Near one of my high schools in Harrow)

This picture was taken outside the Whole Foods on Kensington High Street. I had heard that some places here help us ex-pats celebrate Thanksgiving!! And I found the genuine Libbey's pumpkin puree there. My flatmate, Elizabeth-Anne, and I are having some Americans over for Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday...since we'll be working Thursday. We're both going to attempt to cook a turkey (a first for us both), and I'm baking a pumpkin pie. We've ordered the turkey from Whole Foods, and we've asked everyone to chip in on that and bring a side. Elizabeth-Anne and I went shopping yesterday (to 3 different grocery stores!) to try to find things to make our American recipes, which is difficult. We finally found a store we had heard about, Partridge's, that sells American foods. I wish I had had my camera to video how excited we were when we saw all they had: Jif Peanut Butter, canned yams, Wheat Thins, Ro-tel, Pop-Tarts, and a lot more. Anyone that knows me well, knows I bought the peanut butter on the spot. I just can't do the English version or organic kind. And it's a small miracle that I've made it 6 weeks without peanut butter!!! I did pay 4.45 pounds for it ($6.75) for a small 18-oz jar, but it will be worth it. Elizabeth-Anne's mom will probably be happy to hear that she can now get Ro-tel here because she was shipping a few cans every so often.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Here's hoping our North American Sports Association channel- really ESPN- will show the OSU/OU football game Saturday. GO POKES!!!)

Saturday, November 8th marks ONE MONTH IN LONDON

This week of work went by really fast. It's starting to feel more and more like home here. This weekend has been pretty full-- with mostly traditions of England.


Friday night I met a friend-of-a-friend. My friend, Amanda, is in Dallas and used to work with Anna, who is from Poland. Anna lives in a section of London called "Little Bombay", so appropriately we went out for Indian food. It was amazing!

Saturday morning I went to St. Paul's Underground stop to watch the Lord Mayor's Parade. The Lord Mayor's Show is always on the second Saturday of November:

Remembrance poppies for Nov. 11

St. Paul's Cathedral

"In return for the support he received from the City, King John granted a Charter on May 9th 1215, confirming the citizens' right to choose their own Mayor and instituting an annual election. The King's condition was that the man chosen by the people was to be presented to him for his approval, and had to swear an oath of allegiance. The Charter stipulated that the new Mayor must be presented to the Sovereign for approval and to swear fealty to the Crown, so each year the newly elected Mayor had to travel from the City to Westminster to pledge allegiance. The Lord Mayor has been making that yearly journey for 784 years."

- http://www.lordmayorsshow.org/

Saturday evening, my flatmate (Elizabeth-Anne) and I went to the Ealing Cricket Club for a Fireworks Display and Bonfire in celebration of Guy Fawkes Night:

"In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor. Fawkes was caught on November 5th with 36 barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of Parliament, and then he was tortured and executed. On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, agitated Londoners joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire."

-http://www.bonfirenight.net/

So even though November 5th was on a Wednesday this week, there were bonfires and fireworks throughout the City from Wed- to the weekend.




This morning I went to a new church, Holy Trinity Brompton, which is located in an amazing part of London where many museums are.

Victoria and Albert Museum

This church was recommended to me from my friend, Erin (sorority sister in Tulsa), whose friend lived here for 3 years. I'm loving all of the suggestions and recommendations from people about where to go and what to see. This church service made me feel even more at home, and I'm looking forward to getting to know more about the church and how to get involved.

I want my vote to be counted

About two weeks before I moved to London, I requested an ballot for absentee voting. I thought I might even have a ballot here before I arrived. Ummmm, no. I waited for three weeks, checking the mail every day. And every day I had no ballot.


So, last Friday I called the US Federal Voting Assistance Program. I thought I had read something about having about a week after the election for them to receive my ballot, which didn't make sense to me, but I wasn't worried in September because I thought I was safe. Well, the man on the phone confirmed what I had thought. The conversation went something like this:


Me- "I think that I still have time to send in my ballot by mail, correct?"
Man- "Yes."
Me- "Okay, so I missed the mail today. How is it possible I can still get it in on time?"
Man- "It just has to be postmarked by November 4th."
Me- "Okay....this may be a stupid question, but won't the results be known by that evening??"
Man- "No- those are only preliminary results. The official results will not be known until November 10th. So as long as the ballot is received by November 10th, then you can get your vote in."


And I did try to get to the post office on time on Saturday morning, and I made it before they closed. However, I thought that the address was on one of the ballot forms I had printed, and it was not. So, I tried again on Monday...and did not make it in time after work. But I just thought, "I still have one more day."


So, TODAY I PUT MY VOTE IN FOR THE NEXT U.S. PRESIDENT! I had to pay 5 pounds ($8)to mail it because the United Kingdom does not "postmark" the mail, so I had to pay for delivery confirmation, but it also means it should definitely get there on time. Whatever happens, I am going to believe that my vote will be counted!

Here's the Post Office where I mailed by ballot home!

Royal Mail

This picture was taken Saturday morning; it's the scene from our living room window. I had never seen the postman before, and I thought his mail trolley was neat.

It's kind of sad to me sitting here tonight in England, as such a historical election is going on in the States. The London press has had plenty to say about what they think about it, which has been interesting to read in the papers. I tried to watch the BBC News Specials earlier since they have correspondents in Washington D.C., Phoenix, and Chicago, but couldn't. It's not even close to being the same. So I will probably check out the U.S. websites tomorrow for the news. We now have to put it all in God's hands.

A week of "firsts"

This week of work was Half Term for the students, so they were on holiday while I was not :(

However, it was a week of many important "firsts":

• I got my first paycheck in the UK!
  

• I received my work email login
  
• I got my NHS Trust ID badge




• I wrote my first two major Speech and Language Therapy reports...where I was thankful that not too much of them needed to be changed due to "Americanisms"




• My UK bank account debit card and cheques came in the mail. Having the bank cark really helps me to feel more like a Local because our US bank cards do not have chips like they do here, so you have to give your card to the cashier to swipe and then sign for it every time, instead of swiping it yourself and then entering your PIN.




• It snowed in London for the first time in October in about 70 years

I did not take this picture; I found it on the BBC London website.

(I didn't see any pretty snow in Notting Hill, but I barely escaped getting caught in a hail storm that night, as I had just walked inside.)

Snow left on the cars and on the ground at the hospital the next morning.

• I went to the London premiere for the new James Bond movie, which was a first for me and also a first for Prince William and Prince Harry! I stood around in the cold for about an hour, but did not see anyone because of the barriers. When I arrived, I heard them announce, "Dame Judy Dench", and then later they played the 007 music and everyone was going crazy when Daniel Craig walked in, but where I was standing, we could not see anyone famous. It was exciting being in the middle of all of it and seeing the red carpet.
  

• I went dressed up for Halloween for the first time in London. Halloween is not 10% as big as it is in the States. They call it "Fancy Dress" when they wear costumes, and it's usually for bachelorette parties. All the girls at work were asking me to take pictures of my costume so they could see it next week. I was worried that we were going to be the only people out who dressed up, but to my surprise, everyone at Notting Hill Art Club was dressed up! It turned out to be a really fun night.

Trish, Elizabeth-Anne, Liuba

A.K.A.

Trinity from The Matrix,

Daisy Duke, "Sergeant Sexy"









Beetlejuice







They really seem to like face paint here

Queen Elizabeth circa 1500s & SHARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The band...looks like they dressed up as a bowling league


Edward Scissorhands!!!