24 Days of British Culture: Day 22 - I Need a Toothbrush

After our American house-finding hiatus, we're back to finish off the last 8 days...here you go...

This is the toothbrush section at Boots.  Boots is a kind of a pharmacy/Walgreens/Target-without clothes and food.

The toothbrush section is 3 feet wide:

This is the toothbrush section at Target in Minneapolis.  The toothbrush section is 6 feet wide and twice as tall (insert your British teeth joke here):

24 Days of British Culture: Day 21 - Royalty

You can't discuss English culture without mentioning the Royal Family.  We have yet to run into royalty...this was our closest encounter over the last three years...

24 Days of British Culture: Day 20 - Radiators

Most English homes have boilers and radiators...

They are great for drying clothes, but not the best for even heating in the house.

24 Days of British Culture: Day 19 - Parking

This is a normal and accepted parking practice:

The roads are typically so narrow, that there is no choice but to park halfway on the sidewalk in order to fit two cars side-by-side on the road.

This is another common occurrence due to the square kerbs (curbs) and narrow spots...rim rash (Christina and I are both unfortunately familiar with this:)).

24 Days of British Culture: Day 18 - Grocery Store Oddities

The grocery store is a little different experience than what we were used to in America.

Check this...the cashiers all sit.  It looks a little more comfortable:

And the beer and wine section is larger than the cereal section!

We have also enjoyed participating in the online grocery trend.  Over 12% of all groceries are sold online here, and we are totally hooked.  What a timesaver!  Does Amazon Fresh deliver to MN yet?

24 Days of British Culture: Day 17 - Accents

Before moving to England, we couldn't differentiate between Geordies, Scousers, Yorkshire, and a proper "posh" accent (that would be Queen's English).

We have silly American accents still - we are often mistaken for Canadian actually.  Mara has developed a proper English accent.  Jeryn has developed a nice blend of a Tennessee twang combined with proper English.  Here's an unofficial map of UK accents:

24 Days of British Culture: Day 16 - Ironing and Laundry

Many Brits take their ironing pretty seriously.  Everything is ironed: jeans, knickers, even sheets.  Wrinkles are unacceptable in this society:)

I think Christina is looking forward to American laundry.  She isn't a huge fan of having to go outside to the washer/dryer.  Somehow I'm sure we'll end up with some fancy type of new steam dryer or something that doesn't require an iron.

24 Days of British Culture: Day 15 - High Viz

The safety culture in the UK is strong - super strong.  High visibility vests like this are everywhere!  Guys on motorcycles, train workers, school guard crossing, runners, police officers, factory workers, and our silly girls:

24 Days of British Culture: Day 14 - Police and Bobbies

We've never had any run ins with the police or bobbies since being here (touch wood).  You might notice that they aren't very camouflaged - the fluorescent reflective paint means that you can see them about a mile away.  However, the speed cameras and red light cameras make up for lack of stealth from the police cars (ask Christina:))!

24 Days of British Culture: Day 13 - Rainbows

We have never seen more rainbows in a 3-year period than we have since moving to England.

I remember learning in science that it was not possible to see rainbows between 10am-4pm due to the angle of the sun.  While that generally seems to be true, I don't think that my 8th grade science teacher assumed that we would be this far north.

Moving to...

After 11 years, 2 wonderful children, 4 houses, 2 states, 2 countries, 1 dog, 9 cars, a couple of frequent flyer miles, loads of new brilliant friends, a few tears, lots of laughter, and a WHOLE LOT OF LOVE...

We are sad to say that we are moving again, this time leaving England behind:

But excited to share that we are headed home to Minnesota in April!

Hope to see you soon!!

24 Days of British Culture: Day 12 - Pubs

Pubs aren't bars.  Pubs are pubs.  They close early.  They serve great food, and they allow dogs.  The beer is warm, and the pints are precisely measured.

They always place the pints on one of these plates too...easier to clean up when it foams over I suppose...

The only problem is that most of them all close early - by 11pm most are closing up shop.

24 Days of British Culture: Day 11 - Trains

Train travel in the UK is awesome!  It is always on time, usually reasonably priced, and way less stressful than driving - especially on Fridays when traffic is twice as bad.  Since the UK is such a small country, it is very common for people to commute to work.  We know several people that leave the house on Monday, come home on Friday and have a small flat for the week instead of relocating.

Also interesting is that display boards are always sorted by departure time - not location.  Planes are the same way in Europe.  Makes a ton of sense.

24 Days of British Culture: Day 10 - Music

England is well known for producing some great music bands.

Since moving here, we have two iTunes accounts (one US based, one UK based).  It has been interesting to watch the top 10 charts in America and England side by side.  Sometimes songs start of strong in America, then cross over to the UK.  Sometimes it is the other way around.  It's an interesting way to find great new music.  Here are the two top 15 charts side by side:

24 Days of British Culture: Day 9 - Tea

Tea is a very British experience.  You can drink tea with breakfast, middle of the morning, with your lunch, or even for dinner (or all of them)!  Confusingly, tea is also sometimes what you call dinner.  "What are we having for tea?"  Huh?

In the office, the group takes turns making "a cuppa" for the rest of the office.  It's a standard rule that when someone says "tea", then they need to make a cup for whoever called them on it.

This plays out with some interesting pranks at times - including when someone stole the letter "T" from one of the guys' keyboard.

"Hey!  Where's my letter T?"

Gotcha!

Every hotel room and 95% of homes here have one of these fast-boil kettles: