Things I LOVE in England

This blog has featured a lot of things I don't like/find weird about England and not nearly enough stuff that I LOVE about it, making it sound like I am not neccessarily loving it. But I am really, truly am. So here is a list of things I love about England.

1. Crumpets. And Scones - delightful baked goods that only England does well. I know we have scones back home, but the scones here are SOOO much better.

2. Obsession with Nutella - their peanut butter isn't very good, but England has replaced it with another ingredient - Nutella. And I love it. Love, Love it.

3. The Pub culture - as a fan of people watching pub culture here is soo cool. Everybody, their brother and their dog (literally) go to the pubs, so you can sit there and people watch all day long and never get bored. Going to a restaurant at home is different. You sit down, you talk to your friends and family, and you find it obnoxious when buddy next to you gets going on about God knows what. But here it is perfectly acceptable to jump in on your neighbour's conversation. And I like it.

4. Lack of Ipods/Blackberry reliance. Riding public transit in Toronto can be a lonely existance as everyone (myself included) is shut off to the world. If they are not earplugged with Ipod speakers then they are focused on checking their Blackberry e-mails or talking on their bluetooth. Here in Europe this behaviour is not as socially acceptable. People are expected to get through a whole meal without checking their phone. If at any moment we are at the pub or a restaurant, we can look around and we will notice that we are the only ones with our phones out on the table, and the only ones who would dare text someone while eating dinner. This has lead me to adapt the habit of ignoring my vibrating phone in my pocket until a conversation has actually come to a natural conclusion before answering it. Insane, I know. Sometimes the text/BBM/Facebook message going off in your pocket just isn't as important as the person sitting directly in front of you. We have to be reminded of this sometimes, as we are North Americans, and our culture wants us to automatically answer those phones but Jocelyn is very good at quipping in "Thank God we all have Blackberries or we'd actually have to talk to each other" to remind us to put our phones away and enjoy the live company around us.

5. The schools here have resources, and money to buy resources. While I find the school system flawed in many ways, the fact that we all have Smart boards instead of chalk boards and projectors to show videos & powerpoints without having to wheel in a ghetto-fab tv &vcr combo like in Ontario is fantastic! Good work England.

6. The bluntness. I have always been a supremely honest person. In a country where being polite and not offending people is our main objective in life (aka Canada, the homeland), my honesty can come off as a bit rude and often get comments like "Dani, tell us what you really think" (accompanied by an eyeroll). I hate putting sugar on the spoon. I like to just say what I want to say and then people know what I'm thinking. I think that is real. Canadians are far too polite sometimes. Don't sugarcoat it, just say what you mean. If you're angry at me, don't swallow it, tell me off! I probably deserve it, I'm a menace! In England people just say what they are thinking. They tell you how they really feel. If they think what you are doing is not cool, you know it. If they love ya, you know it. I love it. I love, love, love it.

7. Cheap Booze! After a long, stressful week it is nice to unwind with a pint of beer that costs 1.5GBP (aka $2.80), or a 4pound bottle of wine (aka $5.50Cdn). Enough said!

8. Cheap Food! Sure they probably just throw it in the microwave and bring it out, but I like getting a burger, fries & a beer for 4pounds. I really do.

9. The word "Proper" - as you can probably tell by reading this blog. I will never be giving up this word, even upon my eventual return to Canada, so get used to it kids!

10. Steak & Ale Pie. So god damn good. So warm and comforting in the cold. I want one right now. I wonder if anyone is at the pub... ahah!

I'll come up with more. I'm having a bit of a brain fart because I've been trapped inside and unable to actually properly enjoy England for the past few days but I'll remember more things later.