the royal wedding

Check out my royal wedding post on the Domestic Goddess's blog here.

10 Things I Love About England

I realize I give England a hard time sometimes, I tease it a bit about some of its strange "attributes". What can I say? Cynicism about a place is one of the most common side effects of homesickness. When I’m feeling insecure and a little freaked it helps me feel better when I say things like “What the bleep is this deal with bank tellers trying to sell me mobile phone insurance every time I go into the bank to pay my credit card bill? And why the bleep can’t they SORT MY ACCOUNT OUT SO I CAN BLEEPING PAY MY CREDIT CARD BILL ONLINE??????” See, it’s a way for me to shift the focus of misery off of myself and onto some silly blond girl with 6 brain cells. I know it’s not fair, I know it’s wrong. But anyone who has lived abroad for any extended period of time will tell you this is completely normal mental behaviour. The truth is that I’d probably get annoyed with a bank teller anywhere in the world, this is not something special or unique about England. Another truth is that England really isn’t so bad at all, in fact, I love England, I’m still a little giddy that I get to live here. So since I’m feeling particularly generous on this Friday morning I’m going to make a little top ten shout out list (in no particular order) to those wonderful things that makes England the magnificently beautiful place that it is…

1. Pubs. Hands down the best part about England. Where you will feel and experience the essence of British life through chatting with the locals, taking in the atmosphere, drinking a pint of glorious beer by a hot crackling wood fire, trading gossip with the barman, and enjoying the company of good people

2. English People. What’s most remarkable about the English people I know is that their greatest resource is their own character. Their historical record of endurance and perseverance regardless of the circumstances or consequences has set them apart as a race that exudes a rare kind of permanence. Not a grim or stoic kind but one based on justice and a sense of fair play and tempered with cheerful, joyful and often creative confidence. Such people known intimately make great friends (and spouses:)).

3. The Scenery. Hello, I still get tears in my eyes sometimes just driving through our village. How can such spectacular places exist, and how did I get so lucky to get to live in one??

4. The Soaps. English television can be so shockingly bad that it is actually deliciously good. I don’t know how that’s even possible but it is; watch one episode of Eastenders and you’ll understand. I’m not even ashamed to admit that I haven’t missed an episode since I moved here. Seriously, that’s not an exaggeration. And we didn’t even have a tv until 2 months ago, so I often had to go to great lengths to catch up on the happenings in Albert Square.

5. No ATM fees. I know it’s a small thing, but I really appreciate that I can use any bank’s ATM machine to get cash out and not have to pay a fee. It makes me want to get money out more often and spend it just because it seems free. Hmm, I think I might have just unlocked one of the secrets of English consumerism.

6. Holidays. I get 20 personal days off per year (I get two more next year :)), 8 public holidays, 5 paid sick days (cough cough, what? How did I get to Mallorca? I’m joking!!) and because of the remarkably relaxed work ethic in these parts I get a few half days and full days off from time to time just because. Which is why such terms as POETS day exist--which means Piss Off Early Tomorrow’s Saturday, and at my office we like to abide by that rule pretty much every day. Also, I only work 37.5 hours per week, and by work I mean appear to work. Just kidding. Really, I do work. Sometimes. So lets see, that’s like roughly 35 days off per year. Give or take. Oh yeah, and this year we get an extra day off for the Royal wedding, HOLLER!!

7. Maternity Leave. Woah woah woah, hold your horses. Mom, put the babies r us catalog down. I’m not saying this is something I’ll necessarily benefit from, but if I do happen to be fortunate enough (read: crazy enough) to have babies here I will get a year of maternity leave and will get paid for 9 of those months. Per baby. So I’m thinking how about I have 10 babies in a row and then by the time that’s over it’ll be just about time for me to retire. I know this logic probably appears to be flawed, but with a good team of nannies anything is possible.

8. Pasties, crumpets, parsnips and rhubarb. The best additions to my diet since moving here.

9. History and culture. Each and every place, from the smallest village to the biggest city has some connection to an important historical event, or has the oldest church pew or a pub where a famous outlaw was shot or a hill where a king stopped to do a wee while taking in the view. You can’t walk 10 feet in any direction without seeing something old and significant as far as history is concerned. Which is why England is such a good place for day tripping, you don’t even have to have a destination in mind, just get in the car with a few snacks and drive and wherever you stop you’ll be glad you did.

10. The buildings. I’ve mentioned how our house has oodles of character, as do pretty much all houses in this country. I love love love gazing at the houses and buildings in England, from the crooked little thatched cottages to the mile long rows of terraced houses. I can’t even begin to describe my obsession with chimney pots and wooden beams. Creaky wooden floors? Mmmm! Wee little Hobbit sized doors with a knob in the middle? Yes! Tiny iron gates that open into delightfully colourful patio gardens? YES PLEASE!! Crooked walls? Asymmetrical rooms? Leaded windows with 17th century ironmongery? Stop! It’s too much!

So there you have it people, my top ten list of English loves. But wait, there’s more! I didn’t even mention cream teas, Exmoor Gold, the public right of way system, the national parks, castles, our proximity to the coast, British Airways or English accents. The wonderful things about England are so much greater than annoying bank tellers or the lack of public restrooms. It is a place that inspires and delights, it is rich and lovely and good, and by remembering these things I’m able to stave off homesickness when it occasionally strikes. I love it here.

Materialistic Me

Although I appreciate raindrops on roses and brown paper packages tied up with string, they are not actually a few of my favorite things. My favorite things change often, hey I'm a woman. Since it looks like I wont be doing any shopping anytime in the near future (no job=no disposable income) I will celebrate a few of my favorites now, and perhaps they can become favorites for someone else too.

Cheap Mondays from Urban Outfitters. I'd sleep in these.

Positively Radiant moisturizer by Aveeno with SPF 15.

The Helmer by Ikea, one of the best storage solutions out there in my opinion.

Colorful wool socks knitted by my Auntie M., similar to these--I could use like 100 more pairs (hint hint mom).

Wellies:) A must in England.

**disclaimer: these are things that I actually own, except for the socks and Wellies which are similar. I would never promote something I did not truly love. These products have the Bethany guarantee, which doesn't actually mean much in the real world.

Update: Sam just read this and said "I'm not on there."  He also asked if these are things that I want for birthday presents (it's coming up guys, November 16), which just goes to show you that he hasn't noticed that I already have everything I love and desire.  Except for an old yellow Mini with rust spots that doesn't go over 40 mph.  And is automatic.  Or a border collie puppy, but first we'd have to have kids so they can take care of it, but that's totally out of the question.  

Talk Radio

I began listening to talk radio recently when I got sick of listening to radio hosts talking on music stations in the morning--go figure. When you spend about 2 hours in the car each day, it's nice to have something to distract you from your misery. I'm glad that I swallowed my pride and switched to AM. I now feel like I am somewhat in the loop of what is going on in the world, and it has even inspired me to read the Wall Street Journal--which previously just decomposed on my driveway. These are the things I've learned so far from the programs I tune in to:

-Radio programs are actually interesting. I have even learned tips on saving money and staying out of debt!

-There are a lot of idiots out there who call in and make fools of themselves.

-Radio hosts are often rude and sarcastic to callers, and I like that.

-Radio hosts take themselves very seriously, and maybe they should.

-Radio hosts like to get people riled up

-You can learn about female reproductive problems while driving in your car!

Take this radio host, for example. I have no idea who he is, but look how happy he is! He gets to sit at his desk and talk and get paid for it. That sounds like any womans dream job to me. I bet this photo was taken just after he talked to a caller that agreed with his opnion, or someone who said something really stupid. This guy loves his job



I feel confident enough in myself that I can admit that listening to Chris Baker on my way home from work is one of my favorite times of the day. He is somewhat ridiculous, but he sure makes me laugh. If you live in Houston, and you're tired of hearing Lady Gaga more than you should, you can listen to Chris Baker on 950AM from 3-5 on weekdays--and during commercials, why not switch over to Sean Hannity on 740AM for some ultra full-on debates.

It doesn't matter to me whether or not I agree with what they are saying, it matters that I am making use of my brain. I decide what's right, they just give me ideas to springboard off of. It's kind of fun. Geeky? Probably so.


So the latest issue that I have been thinking about is the whole "click it or ticket" campaign. The Houston police chief said their goal with this program is to hand out 20,000 tickets a year ($$$). Well, why isn't it to get more people to wear their seatbelt Mr. Police Chief? To promote safe driving? Those are my questions. And why do people have to be told to wear a seatbelt anyway? If they are not smart enough to realize how stupid it is not to buckle up, then by all means don't wear one. I think the idea is the same as what they state in the Darwin Awards: refining the gene pool by weeding out the idiots. That's just what I think though. I mean, how can seatbelts be mandatory but motorcycle helmets not be? I wear my seatbelt, do you?

something more serious than swine flu

As this whole swine flu "crisis" spirals out of control I can't help but feel sort of hopeless with mankind. In the past 6 days we have seen countries all over the world closing their borders to Mexico, cancelling flights, closing schools and businesses, and dedicating hours upon hours of riveting media coverage to the sitation. It's really incredible the extent that people have acted--and how quickly. Which is why I feel like we are all a little deluded.

I am a little ashamed that people have reacted to strongly to a virus that hasn't actually affected that many people in the grand scheme of things, especially as the there are many much more serious situations that are largely ignored. The one that weighs the heaviest on me is the war in Darfur. Since it began, there have been as many as 675,000 deaths--murders I should say as it is actually a genocide, and more than 5.5 million people have been displaced.

I will be honest, I did not know the extent of this terrible situation until I read the book What is the What, which is the story of Valentino Achak Deng who was a refugee of the Sudanese civil war in the 80's and 90's. Although his story mainly takes place before the current war in Darfur, it gives a heartwrenching account of how and why the whole conflict began in the first place. All of the proceeds from the book help to fund the The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation and to aid the Sudanese in both American and Sudan. Their website has so much information about the war, and also about how people can volunteer. Another very good organization is World Vision, which focuses on sponsoring children.

I also recently read this comment on a blog post:

I taped a map of North Africa over my bed and studiedDarfur. The war appeared in the media in 2004 but it had begun in the 1890s when the English drew borders that boxed the Arab north and African south inside the same nation now known as Sudan. The English developed the north but left the south a desert. After Sudan gained its independence in 1956, the Arabs saw themselves a degree better than the Africans, and since then both have fought over the identity of the nation. In between the rounds of war, old rituals continued. Each season, Arab herders drove cattle tothe southern region of Darfur, where Fur, Masaaleit and Zaghawa tribes welcomed them. The cattle fertilized soil and helped carry supplies. In 2003, adrought in the North dried wells, turning earth to sand and forcing Arab herders south. They wanted more than grazing for cattle; they wanted new land. Rifles were handed out to African tribesmen. Anger crystallized into rebel groups, among them the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and EqualityMovement. After the rebels raided a military outpost,the Arab dominated government, flush with oil money, bought weapons for the Arab herders creating a militia we now know as the Janjaweed. They galloped into villages; shooting men down, ripping women apart, stuffing bodies into wells or ravines. Refugees fled to the neighboring nations of Chad and the Central African Republic. In the years that followed, 2.5million people were driven from their homes and up to 255,000 were killed.

I hope that more and more people become aware of this situation and talk about it. Something needs to be done soon.

I guess the whole point of this post is to communicate my frustration with how the media selectively covers stories, and blows them out of proportion or leaves them out altogether. We rely on them to let us know what's going on in the world, and they rely on us to get in a tizzy and panic when they say we should. There are a lot more important and serious things going on right now than the swine flu--at least for the flu there are vaccinations and anti-virals. But what vaccine can we give the people of Darfur to save them from the misery they endure every single day?

who to believe

I just had an interesting conversation with my friend Leslie about the FDA and food regulations, and what's safe to eat and what's not. It lead to a broader conversation about how to weed through all the information out there to find out the truth about things. Thanks to the internet you can find out almost anything immediately. For instance, when my soon to be in-laws were in town, we were trying to figure out the weather in both farenheit and celcius. Gail went for the dictionary and and found the equation I went straight to Google and printed out a 3 page chart of conversions.

There's just so much information, and I find it frustrating. How do you find out what's actually true--which organization or website do you believe, and why do you believe it over myriad others stating opposing facts? I received an email the other day about the dangers of drinking water from plastic bottles that have been left in the heat. Almost as soon as I sent it my inbox was flooded with responses including links to websites that both disputed and supported this information, as well as emails from friends saying thanks for sharing. So basically, this did nothing for me, I still don't know if it's safe or not, and how can I?

I personally believe most of the things we ingest, whether proven safe or harmful, probably each contribute in some miniscule way to health problems. Sometimes I don't rinse an apple before eating it--the horror! Is this going to cause cancer, probably not. But it could be a contributing factor along with using skin cream that is not all-natural, and heating my leftover maccaroni in a plastic container, and sitting near a smoker in a bar, and eating a hamburger that is not organic and talking on my cell phone, and drinking a coke and so on and so forth. And these are things I simply cannot worry about when I have to do things like pay bills and apply for a resident visa in another country and drive an hour to work everyday. Of course we should not be careless, and should avoid harmful things when we can--which is why it's important to know what even is harmful.

This particular issue, the watter bottle issue, is not that big of a deal to me, but others are. Political issues, for example, are more important to me. I do not want to know only the liberal's or conservative's point of view, I want to know the truth, and I fear that I rarely am exposed to the truth through the media. Does the US really supply 90% of guns to Mexico, or does it supply 90% percent of the traced guns which is only about 60% of the total. Hmmm. Who actually knows the answer? Who is the ultimate decider? And why do we trust these people so much anyway, they could tell us anything.

My personal conclusion is that you have to take it all into account, ponder it all and then forget about it. If anyone knows of any 100% reliable websites that are confirmed by other 100% reliable websites with information pertaining to anything beneficial to me please let me know.

Recycling.

I am wondering why people still don't recycle. Oh wait, I already know the answer to that. Because it's so inconvenient. In most neighborhoods STILL there are no recycling programs, no truck comes by to pick it up. Well why not I ask you? And who do I need to talk to about this?

At my house we recycle cans, glass, plastic and paper. But we have to do it ourselves. Which means that once every bin is overflowing and we can't park cars in the garage anymore, it's time to take the recycling in. This requires stopping by three different places, in three different parts of town to get everything where it needs to go. This is annoying. But it's well worth the effort in my opinion. And it doesn't actually take that much time, especially if we work it in when we are going by those places anyway.

The interesting thing is that by recycling there is so much less trash, so the number of garbage cans out by our curb is fewer than before. It seems like if everyone recycled, people would be putting out less trash and fewer garbage trucks would need to go around. So the conclusion I come to is that maybe some of those garbage trucks would be able to pick up some recycling every other week. Of course it wouldn't be as easy as that, but come on! It can't be that hard either.

And while I'm at it, why don't fast food restaurants (for a start) recycle either? Wouldn't it just take like three different trash cans? One for paper, one for plastic and one for gross food leftovers? In Taiwan, every business and residence was required to recycle. When we went to McDonalds we separated our trash. It took all of 10 seconds. And our apartment building had one entire room devoted to collecting and separating recycling. Why in Taiwan but not here? In California, some companies get tax incentives for having their employees work from home so they use less gas and so the roads are less congested. Why not in Houston--the traffic is horrific? In England, even the most remote hamlets have recycling trucks come by every other week. Why not in Tomball?

I don't want to sound overly enthusiastic about this, but I do urge each person to live a more responsible life.

Wednesday

Today started out a bit sketchy. First of all, I had to go to the doctor... the doctor. Which is, of course, never pleasant. It's usually a 45 minute drive to the office, but today it ended up being an hour and a half thanks to rush-hour traffic. I had to go to the bathroom SO badly, and after waiting 20 minutes to get through one light, and much gnashing of teeth, I finally came upon a gas station, which was lucky because I was also out of gas. But once I tried to pump the gas the actual nozzle would not go into the tank. If this ever happens to you just know that violently thrusting the nozzle in the general vicinity of the tank will not make it go in, and no combination of obscenities will get the job done either. My advice is move on. Which I did, with much squealing of tires, back into the rain and traffic. Luckily I did not run out of gas. After the appointment I went to work, and for some reason all I could think about was spending quality time with chocolate glazed donuts. Go figure.

The rest of the day was good though. On my drive home I listened to some talk radio. It seems like everyone is talking about the border control problem. I think this is ironic as I am desperate to get into another country myself. But for some reason sailing a small boat over the Atlantic has not yet entered the realm of possibilities for me yet. I wonder what it's like to be so desperate to get into the States that you would spend huge amounts of money and risk your life to do so. I don't think that it's something many people can relate to. I read a really good book last year called Coyotes, by Ted Conover, which is an account of a journalist who joins up with some illegal migrants from Mexico to see what their lives are like as they go back and forth across the border, and from one job to the next in the US. It is incredibly eye-opening--and more importantly mind-opening I dare say. I recommend people read it who feel resentment and condescension toward illegal aliens in this country.

Anyway, as I was listening to these broadcasts I realized that I truly do not know how I feel about it all. Should we let more people in? People who would have much better quality of life here, or keep them out and say it's not our problem. Look out for ourselves or look out for others. There are definitely good arguments to both sides I reckon. This is the problem though, I don't usually feel very strongly either way in political matters. So I am going to attempt to even if it's awkward. I don't want to be a flaky fence-sitter so I am going to have opinions. Some might say that I already am opinionated enough for my own good, and I would say to those people, "You are correct."

So it begins...