Way to Go ERII:
Queen Elizabeth rescinds Robert Mugabe's honorary knighthood.
Ah, Liz, don't be a hater:
I know it's your house, but did you have to choose my one week in Edinburgh to stay in Holyrood Palace and thus keep me from touring it?
Questions asked by cabbies:
1. Where to?
2. Where are you from?
3. Who is going to win the election? (They know more about our politics than most Americans.)
Household weirdness:
1. Plugs have on/off switches.
2. Bathroom light switch always outside of the bathroom. Which is actually a much smarter system than feeling around in the dark for a switch, but has taken some getting used to.
3. The shower will likely need to be turned on by an electric switch, which will be located outside the bathroom. This makes way less sense than no. 2.
4. Seriously, it is not efficient to have the same machine washing and drying the clothes.
Most needed household item in UK:
A/C or at least a fan. Not for the heat; for the humidity.
Ways UK hotel system is better than ours:
1. Tea and biscuits in every room.
2. Hair dryer in even simplest of rooms.
Ways UK hotel system could be better:
1. En suite is much more civilized and should always be an option.
2. Card keys instead of huge skeleton keys, that I suspect would open any room in the place, placed on a huge key fob that would not fit in the Jolly Green Giant's pocket (if he had pockets, which I don't think he does).
Things we could learn from the UK government:
1. Equalities Minister
2. National Health Service
Way to make C-SPAN more interesting:
Broadcast Parliament instead of Congress.
Ways to improve UK currency:
1. Are two pence coins really necessary?
2. Stop letting every bank in Scotland print their own money. Even if it resembles regular money, it's confusing.
3. Switch to Euro.
Silver lining to weak dollar:
Makes "pounds to dollar" calculation easy even for me. Double everything.
Measurements I understand:
Metres and Litres
Measurements I find somewhat confusing:
Grams
Measurement I will never be able to convert off the top of my head:
Celsius. I know 20 degrees = 68 degrees and guess from there.
Surprising question I've been asked often:
Where in Canada are you from? (Once asked by a Canadian.)
"2 Countries Separated by a Common Language" category:
1. Chips = French Fries
2. Crisps = Chips
2.5: Porridge = Oatmeal. I've always thought it was like Cream of Wheat.
3. I feel impolite asking where the toilet is. Have attempted to use the word "loo" instead, but that makes me feel silly.
4. I apologize to every British or Scottish person I've met, but I am powerless to stop using the word "y'all." I take full responsibility for the ensuing confusion when I use it.
5. Would it kill you to spell place names the way you pronounce them?
6. I promise to stop giggling whenever you say "wee." It's just so charming!
Transportation Britain gets right:
1. Comprehensive public transport.
2. Cool shaped cabs.
Transportation Britain gets wrong:
Stop driving on the wrong side of the road.
Things British t.v. does well:
1. BBC News
2. Top Gear: I've seen this a few times in the US, but I've become addicted to it here.
3. Airport: If I ever saw the Aeroflot guy in person, I 'd have to pinch his cheeks, he's so cute.
Things British TV does not do well:
Pretty much everything else.
US TV Shows on 24/7:
1. Friends
2. Scrubs
(So, basically just like US)
British TV Shows on 24/7:
1. Top Gear (but minus points because it's always reshowing episodes they showed a couple of days earlier)
2. Big Brother
US Food Chain most prevalent in Edinburgh:
Pizza Hut. There are three locations in a 5 block radius of my flat, plus about a dozen others I've come across.
Second most prevalent: Subway
US Food Chain I have only seen once in UK, but very happy to find:
Quiznos. (Ate lunch there today. It was right next to a Subway, natch.)
(Note: I tried to go to Subway last night, but they were Out. Of. Bread. HUH?)
Most improved food item since I last visited a decade ago:
Coffee. (Perhaps Starbucks has helped.)
"Never Eat Mexican Food in UK":
I went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered a margarita. Waitress returned (10 minutes later--tipping really does help foster better service in US) to tell me they were Out. Of. Tequila.
o.O
How does a Mexican restaurant run out of Tequila????
Food item I'd never had before but now can't live without:
Sticky Toffee Pudding. Just the words make me start to drool.
Food item I will never try, I don't care what you say:
Haggis. Just, no.
Delivery restaurants listed in Edinburgh metro area (pop. 1.25 million) yellow (actually blue) pages:
Approximately 22
No. of those restaurants delivering in center of city:
0
Delivery restaurants listed in Arlington, VA, (pop. 206,800) yellow pages:
Gazillion. Possibly more.
No. of brand names available in Marks & Spender Food Hall:
1 (Marks and Spencer)
Taste of M&S Diet Cola vis a vis Diet Coke, on scale of 1 (only in case of extreme emergency) to 10 (this isn't Diet Coke?):
2.5
