Random Musings...

I've been here in the paradise of London for two weeks now and I've noticed a few things...

I'm called an "expat" - that seems to sum up my status here. Perhaps that's better than being a tourist - and since I've been asked for directions more times than I can count, I'd safely say people don't assume I'm foreign until I open my mouth. Also - no one knows where Wisconsin or Minnesota are, even saying the Midwest only awards me a vacant nod.

All you have to do to fit in is wear headphones/earbuds - then all sorts of people will stop you to ask you where the hell they are.

Dogs are everywhere and they're small, mostly terrier-type dogs with coats on, always unleashed in the parks, and unbelievably well behaved. I've never heard them bark. Even the rare big dogs are somehow snobbishly graceful in their prancing.

People are really friendly - although they look down too much and are often walking too fast. Men dress really well here (and not just for the office)- pinstripe suits abound, they wear scarfs, button up their wool coats, and are manly enough to wear gloves. The fitted trouser leg is currently in style, as are nice, Italian-leather looking shoes. Women wear anything they want, knee-high boots are popular, as are parisian inspired hats, and the current look is often leggings with some kind of oversized sweater/shirt, or a skirt. Blue-jeans don't quite make the cut here (unless they are quite trendy), and neither do trainers (those would be tennis shoes/Nike's).

Men can also often be seen carrying a woman's bag/purse for her as they hurry down the street. At first I thought it a perfectly good solution for the woman who was drinking hot coffee and walking a brisk pace - but no, it happens even when hands are free and strolling occurs. I like the idea. It's a good idea.

Selfridges has the market on department stores - it's Macy's and Nordstrom's combined and then made better.

British television is obsessed with "Friends" and you can find it anytime you turn the television on.

The ground floor of a building is actually called the "ground floor" and after you've gone up a flight of stairs, you are now at the "First Floor". This is different than in the U.S., and can be confusing when you're meeting someone and they say the third floor and there isn't a lift (yeah, that's the elevator) and then there's no markings. You could be waiting on what you're thinking is the third floor, while they're impatiently on the fourth floor, although they'll tell you it's really the third. (Of course they will smile knowingly and sympathetically when you explain you're from the US).

FOOD is a constant source of interest- Ketchup is not the same, it's sweet, and totally disconcerting as the bottle is the same Heinz...but then again most of the food here is not as expected. A common lunch is a jacket potato filled with baked beans and topped with white shredded cheese, or an omelet with chips (those are french fries), or a baguette with pole tuna and cucumbers...Thankfully there are dozens of small cafe chains that have attempted to claim the corner on healthy eating, such as Pret A Manger, (or PRET for short), or EAT - the cafe of healthy turbo-charged salads. Of course you could stop at a Subway or a Pizza Hut - which actually has wine glasses and linen napkins on the tables. Or you can always stop in any cafe to get Afternoon Tea - know that it will always be English Breakfast, unless you ask differently, and you'll always get milk with it, because no one can quite believe you'd take it without milk and sugar. On the upside, anytime you order tea, you'll always get some kind of cookie with it. Or you could go out for a "pint" - people don't say "let's go get a beer", it's "let's meet for a pint." And don't say "bun - as in hamburger bun, it's called a "bap" - I'd like a tomato and mozzarella bap please." Oh, and they don't believe in ice - drinks are served without it, hotels don't have machines for it - and I get strange looks when I request it.