A continuation

Spaulding Family home

Right.

So a few hours ago I arrived back on English soil. It was a wonderful trip back home, and my mom was very appreciative that I came back to see the family over Christmas.  So what exactly did I do whilst at home?
First, I ordered some Taco Bell.  A gift from the gods that hooks every person from the Commonwealth I have ever met. Two pals from camp--Sam and Chris--used to order about $20 worth and save it for the next couple days.
I also had a bit of trouble getting back into the mindset that people drive on the right side of the road.

Next, I unpacked and introduced my family to some of the British things I had brought back.  For instance, I made them a proper cup of British tea with milk and sugar.  To top it off I had them try it with Digestives.
I also introduced them to sweets such as Crunchie, Smarties, Double Decker, and Tootie Fruities.
They absolutely loved learning all these new things I was showing and telling them.
Of course, being Minnesota, there was already a good 2 feet of snow on the ground, which is not out of the ordinary at all.

Soon enough, Christmas Eve rolled around, and it was time for family gifts.  Family tradition dictates that we all sit in the living room while the children take turns reading a page from The Christmas Story (you know, the one about the baby and the shepherds and such). After this is done, the gifts are divided, and we take turns opening a gift, starting with the youngest.  There is always a fire in the fireplace, and we have hors d'oeuvres, or "snicker-snackers" set up for us to munch on as we exchange gifts.

The family with their British gifts

Along with the presents I mentioned in my last post, I also included Christmas crackers.  And just as I anticipated, my family thought they were the cat's meow.  So of course once the gifts were opened, I had to get a picture of everyone with their British gifts and their Christmas cracker hats on.

The next day, we headed up to my aunt and uncle's house in Waconia, Minnesota. This is where my mother's side of the family gathers for the holidays.  This has a similar set-up to the Spaulding family Christmas, where this is hors d'oeuvres set out for people to eat, and the family gathers and chats before gifts are given.

The Hot Seat

There is one special difference.  We send all the children to the basement to look for Santa Claus, and once we think he has arrived, we call the kids back upstairs.  Then none other than Santa Claus himself comes through the door, much to the delight of the children. After some "ho-ho-ho-ing," the owner of the house and eldest son of my grandparents leads Santa to a seat.  My grandma then plays Silent Night on the piano while my grandfather reads the Christmas story straight out of the bible.  As is the tradition.  Once this is finished, Santa gets to call people up to "the hot seat" ie his lap. He then asks them if they were good or not during the year, and sometimes people shout out things for Santa to ask about.
For instance, when I got called up, my uncle--Brad--told Santa that he had heard me telling my grandfather that I had not tasted the "sweet fruit of the vine," until I had come over to England.  When Santa raised his eyebrows and said, "Michael, Michael, Michael. What do you have to say about this?"
I had only one answer.
"Santa, you know what, Bradley is correct.  He got me. The truth is, I've been drinking the sweet fruit of the vine every Sunday at mass."
Boy did that one get me off the hook.

The younger grand-kids in the cinema room

Once Santa has quizzed enough people, he gives out one gift--from him--to everyone.  Then he gets up, walks out the door, and goes to wherever he had hidden his sleigh.
From then on, the children open their gifts first and then they usually go downstairs to play. Following this, the adults open their gifts and sociallize until late in the evening, when people slowly start trickling out.

The farm

Now, my family went to go and spend the night at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Cathy's.  They live just down the road, so it was a quick drive. You see, prior to my surprise landing in America, my folks had planned on going out to Montana to visit family and go skiing with the kids.  They were leaving Christmas morning and wouldn't be coming back until after the New Year. That complicated things for me, because my flight was for the 29th. So, we decided that I would stay with my aunt and uncle for a few days while they were in Montana. While it was sad to say goodbye to my family early than anticipated, I am still really glad I got to see them during this time of the year.  Furthermore, I really enjoy my aunt and uncle, and we ended up having a really nice couple of days together out on their farm.
Soon, my time in America was drawing to a close, and I had to pack up my goodies and get on a plane.  I had been wise before I came over, though, and took almost no personal luggage other than gifts. As a result, I was able to bring back things from America that people had asked for.  Examples include Mountain Dew, Lucky Charms, and Twinkies.

Family portrait taken the day I left for England in September

It really was an awesome time.

Back in the U.S.S.A.

My apologies to all.

I know that I have not been the best with my updates here on the blog.
The truth is that I was attempting "Internet silence," as my father and I plotted and planned my secret return to Minnesota as a Christmas surprise for my family and mostly, my mother.
So here is what happened.

My dad--Jim--sent me an email early in November saying that my my mom--Joan--was missing me, and that if I was interested in coming home, he could get a cheap flight with his frequent flyer miles.
He then said this could be a massive Christmas surprise, and that only he and I would know about it.
I liked the idea, and wanted to be a part of this great holiday shenanigan.
So we schemed and plotted as November turned into December.  Knowing I was going home to see the family, I decided I wanted to bring them some Christmas presents from the UK.  In fact, my entire suitcase only contained gifts from England. 
Joshua (9) received an Arsenal football (soccer ball) and an Arsenal cap.
David (11) received a Chelsea football and a Chelsea cap.
Stephen (13) received a pair of goal-keeper gloves and a rugby ball.
Sarah (15), Elizabeth (19), and my mother were given outfits that I thought were "London fashion."
And then my dad received a Manchester United shirt.

At any rate, I flew into Minneapolis on the 14th of December.  My dad picked me up and snuck me home without any of the family knowing. From there, he put me behind the computer desk, and then put a large wrapped box on the desk. This is because my mother had been considering a Mac as the new computer. Dad brought the family upstairs, and told them that the gift had come early and it was too hard to keep hidden for so long, so they could open it early. All the kids were screaming that it was a Mac.  Dad told everyone to close their eyes, and while they were doing that, he removed the box off of the desk and I stuck my head up.  When they opened their eyes, I said, "Hi mom," and everyone screamed.
I wish I had taped it, because it was pretty amazing.  Needless to say, my mom became teary-eyed and still couldn't believe here eyes, while my dad and I just smiled and laughed.

More updates to follow.

Christmas times.

This last week, I had the pleasure of attending my first British Christmas Dinner.  In many senses, it was strikingly similar to an American Thanksgiving dinner.  But yet somehow it was completely different in many ways.


After the success of Thanksgiving dinner in November, a friend of mine who attended, Joe, thought it would be just as fun to have a British Christmas dinner so that I might see how Christmas is done over here.  So this last weekend, I went over to Joe's house early in the day to help and watch the preparations for a Christmas dinner.  Similar to what we had done for the Thanksgiving dinner, Joe had a turkey crown and a full chicken already roasting in the oven. Billy, one of Joe's housemates, was also helping in the baking.  One of the first things I partook in was the peeling of turnips, which I personally don't think I had ever interacted with before. Once this was done, we peeled potatoes--half of which would be made into mashed potatoes and the other half of which would become roasted potatoes.

Joe, the host, is the one in the purple hoodie

Soon, some of the other guests started arriving, bring food, drink, and Christmas decorations.  In fact one girl called Grace brought her entire Christmas tree--decorated and all!
Within no time at all, the sweet aroma of roasting meat and veggies filled the entire house, and with the Christmas tree and Christmas music playing, it was beginning to feel quite festive indeed.
The plates were set and we were ready to eat.  Before doing to, however, it is customary to pull Christmas crackers before the meal starts.  Christmas crackers are non-existent in the States, much to the sorrow of my British companions.  Because of this fact, I feel that I must explain what these mysterious yuletide items are.

Camilla the Italian in a Christmas cracker hat

Christmas crackers are small "tootsie roll" shaped items.  When you are seated at the table, everyone crosses their arms, and grabs a cracker between the person next to them.  In this way, everyone should have a cracker in each hand.  On the count of 3, everyone pulls their end of the "tootsie roll," much like how people pull the wishbone of a turkey.  There is then a massive CRACK as the small explosions within each cracker occurs, and the cracker bursts open to reveal treats.
Now, the winner is the person who had the long end of the cracker.  They traditionally get to keep the goodies, but seeing as it is the holiday season, everyone usually gets a prize.
Inside our particular crackers are a small toy, such as a few marbles or a little airplane.  There is also a joke, usually having the same quality as those found on Laffy Taffy wrappers.
Finally, there is always a little paper crown included, which must be worn at the table or for the rest of the night.  One of the best parts of this tradition is walking around and seeing wealthy business executives and elderly grandparents alike wearing their hats at the table.

Once the cracker had been open, we started the feast. Unfortunately, I was so hungry, I totally forgot to take pictures of the prepared feast.  If memory serves, we had turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, carrots, turnips, roasted potatoes, little sausages wrapped in bacon, and mince pies for dessert, as well as the ever-popular mulled wine.

Sunset at Egham station

A few days after, I ventured into London for some holiday adventures.  I had heard from some of my friends that there was a lovely Christmas fair in Hyde Park called Winter Wonderland.  I decided I'd check it out.  So I took the train into Waterloo station and hopped on the Underground to Hyde Park.  I couldn't believe what I saw.

Creepy animatronic talking tree

It was indeed a holiday fair, but it was on a scale I had never seen.  This place opens in mid November and lasts until the 4th of January.  So it is all temporary.  Yet even so, they had a Ferris wheel with heated pods that went up 15 stories, a power tower, loads of rides and attractions--even roller coasters.

Fun House!

It had a distinct German food culture, offering sausages, bratwursts, wiener schnitzel, and of course, German beer.  I wandered into this place in awe.  So many lights and things to see!  At

Ferris Wheel

the entrance, there was mostly German foods and drinks, but as I continued walking, there were booths all over that were selling all sorts of items and goods. There were glassblowers and wood crafts, wool goods and paintings.  They came from all over Europe, just to sell their goods here at the winter market.

As I wandered deeper into the Wonderland, it evolved into the amusements and attractions sector, where there were fun houses and haunted houses and all sorts of rides and midway games.

Roller Coaster and Power Tower

Genuine Circus under the Big Top

It was interesting that there was a midway game in which players took an air rifle and shot at little targets. Lawsuits and insurance keeps anything remotely close to this type of game out of play. (No pun intended) Simply the fact that the rifles were not fixed to the stand and could be, technically, turned upon the operator or a bystander would be enough to get it shut down before the first shots were fired.

Of course, I decided to take this opportunity that I would never be afforded back home, and played the game.
Naturally--being American (and everyone knows that all Americans are trained assassins with firearms)--I knocked down all the targets. (7/7) Meanwhile, a British man who had brought his girlfriend to the stand and boasted that it would be easy to win her a prize was cursing his gun saying it was broken.  He was too stubborn to ask for help. Turns out he simply didn't know how to take the safety off.



I had to chuckle to myself.
 
Especially when his girlfriend gave me a very impressed smile as I walked away.

Gearing up for Christmas in Britain

The first term is almost done and finished, and Christmas is coming in full force.

Most things remain the same between American Christmas time and British Christmas time.  There are plenty of lights on the main streets, Christmas decorations dotting offices, houses, and rooms.  Even the supermarkets start selling Christmas items way in advance just as they do back home.

mulled wine winesediments.net

Differences noticed thus far have been slight, but fun to observe nonetheless.
Here in England, they have a winter drink I had never heard of before called "mulled wine."  This is defined by encyclopedia.com as "wine mixed with fruit juice, sweetened and flavoured with spices (especially cinnamon, cloves, and ginger), served hot."
This seems to be very popular here, and I've seen it all around.  What they don't have is hot apple cider.
Don't get me wrong, there is an abundance of cider here.  It's just that it is all alcoholic.
Back home, one of the staple winter hot drinks is apple cider.
See, in America, if cider has alcohol in it, it is known as "hard cider."

hot apple cider hotapplecider.ca

When I was asking people here if they'd had non-alcoholic cider before, they just asked if I meant apple juice.  Now, there is a difference between apple juice and apple cider.  Apple cider is non-processed and non-pasteurized, it is fresh and not filtered.  This gives it a shorter shelf life.
At any rate, hot apple cider in the States usually comes with some spices associated with it as well, such as cinnamon.

There is also a typical Christmas food here called a mince pie.  This is a very deceptive term, because in Britain, mince is beef bits.  Because of this, when invited to taste a mince pie, I was expecting some sort of meaty pot-pie type of food.  However, I learned after taking a bite that mince pies contain raisins, other fruit bits, and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

On that note, in Britain, Christmas lights, such as the ones that go around the tree, are called "fairy lights."  Very interesting.

Another difference totally unrelated to Christmas but still popped into my head:
Eggs at the grocery store in America are refrigerated next to the milk section.

flickr.com

Eggs at the grocery store in Britain are out on the shelves next the dry foods.

indyposted.com

Snow in Britain

As promised, I am updating the current situation of snow here in Egham, England.
There is maybe 2 inches of snow on the ground, most of which we got last night. 
As far as how the people are coping with the snow, I must admit that people here do not take it for granted.  In fact, there were about 5 snowball fights in the Founders courtyard last night alone.  I did manage to participate in one of them, where there was about 40 people throwing snowballs at nobody in particular. Later it became a defense snowball fight as a group of the players took refuge on a balcony. Thus they had a vantage point from which to lob their projectiles. 
I futilely tried to rally the troops and storm up the stairs to the balcony, but no one rallied, and I was destroyed.
Not only that, but people have been going sledding, or "sledging" as some call it here.  Everyone really seems to appreciate it a lot more here.  But I suppose you must consider that Minnesota can get 2 feet in a blizzard and nobody bats an eye, and here if they get two inches school is cancelled.  (This is actually true, I received an email from a professor saying there would be no lecture due to the weather conditions).  Furthermore, people just aren't used to navigating in such conditions, most people won't drive in snowy conditions if they can help it.  Like I said, it is just second-nature for those of us who live where snow is common.
This might be why we don't get as excited over the first snow of the year.  While people here figure that it might be the only snow they'll have this winter, Minnesotans know that once the first snow falls, you won't see anything not covered in the white powder for 5 months.
In fact, snowplows are all but non-existent here in Britian.  It is mostly up by Scotland where they are needed.  Instead, you just find big barrels of salt everywhere.  That is the grand solution.  Just salt it up if it is snowing!

First British Snow!!

So as I speak, I am experiencing my first British snow!  While the snow here may drink tea and eat fish and chips, while the snow in America is fat and eats Twinkies, there is one thing that transcends the Atlantic, and that is the amazement and beauty that comes with the first snowfall every year.
As far as I can tell, the taste of British snow is quite similar to its American counterpart.
It has also been interesting watching everyone start to worry about driving conditions and delays in everything else.  Because is Minnesota, I don't think anyone would miss a beat.

More to follow if snow keeps falling.




On a different note, I've decided to add some more Cultural Observations.

Shopping Carts and Shopping Trolleys.
When one goes to a grocery store here in the UK, one uses a shopping trolley, when one is in America, one uses a shopping cart.  The name is not the only difference between here and there.

British Trolley courtesy ausmartinternational.com

American Shopping Cart courtesy versacart.com

Firstly, British trolleys have 4 independently rotating wheels, giving them the ability to shift from side to side easily (like a rolling office chair).
In America, carts have 2 fixed rear wheels, and two rotating wheels in the front (like a conventional car).  I'm not sure why this has happened.

Deposit mechanism on trolleys

Also, you must pay in order to use a trolley in Britain.  Well, you actually just put down a pound deposit, and you get it back when you return the trolley.  This is a measure that is meant to prevent trolley theft, which is huge in this country.  It isn't because every British person is a hooligan, it has more to do with the matter in which they get to the store.
For instance, in America, everyone drives to their local store, parks their car, and grabs a cart from the corral.  They proceed to do their shopping, bag everything up, put it into the cart, walk out to the car, pop the trunk, and load all their shopping in.  The cart then goes back into the corral to be collected by an employee.
In Britain, most people walk to their local store, deposit a pound, take a trolley, do their shopping, and if they end up getting more than they can carry home, they simply take the trolley and push it back to their residence, and then leave the trolley somewhere else.  Many people don't use their cars because driving in England is a hassle, and parking is never free unless you park miles away from where you want to go.  Those that don't have cars use public transport or walk.

Abandoned Trolleys courtesy flickr.com

Because of this phenomenon, one can find abandoned trolleys all over the place. In fact, outside one of the residence halls, there is a massive stack of about 20 discarded trolleys.
Another difference in shopping carts and trolleys is their size.  British shopping trolleys tend not to be as deep as ours. There is also the absence of the bottom rack that American shopping carts have.  This rack serves as a place to put heavy objects such as cases of beverages or bags of dog food.








Street Signs and Road Signs
In Britain, there are two locations for street signs: about 3 feet off of the ground or 20 feet off of the ground on the side of a building.

I cannot begin to tell you how this confused me when I first came here.

homepage.mac.com

tampabay.com

You see, in America--no matter if you are in a major city or in  the middle of nowhere--street signs are always located in one spot.  That is on the corner of the street on a pole with the street names about 7 or 8 feet high.
The exception to this is some larger intersections, where the street names will be in more or less the same location, but in bigger letters hanging on a stoplight.  It is universal, and imperative for driving, as you can easily see which street is coming up next, and which street you are on.

commons.wikimedia.org

Now, in London, the street names are put on the side of buildings if there at all.  They can be anywhere from 8-20 feet off of the ground, and anywhere from directly on the corner of the building to about 20 away from the corner.  This makes navigation difficult.

langleyvillage.co.uk

In addition, roadsigns that aren't on buildings are put on signs that stand about 3 feet off of the ground, meaning that it is quite easy for something to block the sign, such as a person or car or telephone pole.

This has been interesting to learn, and I am starting to finally get the hang of knowing where to look for directions.

Thanksgiving in England and Misadventures in London

You may have noticed that the title of this post says, "Misadventures in London."
This is because I was, in fact, meant to go to Winchester and Stonehenge today with IFSA Butler-the company who sent me abroad.  However, due to a combined effort from Royal Holloway and the IFSA Butler buses, I was left behind.

First, Royal Holloway has this absolutely obnoxious tendency to close every entrance to the university campus except one after 11:30 at night, and doesn't reopen them again until 8 or so.  As a result, I had to reroute myself two times on the way to the train station. This undoubtedly set me back some time. 

British Fighter Plane circa WWII

Then, once I had taken the train into London and taken two different underground lines, as I was hastily making my way towards the pick-up destination Butler gave me, I saw the Stonehenge Buses driving away.

I was none too pleased.  It was about 8:55 in the morning and I was in London. 

St. Mary's Abbey

Well, I decided I'd at least get my money's worth and stay in London a while.  Walk around and whatnot.  So I sauntered on my way, not really going anywhere in particular.  Eventually I came upon the British Science Museum. 

German V-2 Rocket circa WWII

Now, one of the brilliant things about London (especially for me today), is that all museums are free admittance. I've been to the Minnesota Science Museum, and I took it upon myself to look into the Science Museum here. 

This is an early Indian rocket with a sword attatched to it.

Model of British Warship

There was loads to see.  The first thing I learned about was the history of the Steam Engine, followed by a healthy dose of knowledge regarding the development of missiles and space technology.

BMW 3-wheel car similar to one my father and I saw years ago.

Next was a look at British culture through a few hundred years. 
There were boats and planes and plastics and plenty of places to eat.
They also had a section dedicated to children--much like the Minnesota Science Museum--where children could experiment with wind, magnets, light, etc.

After my escapade at the Museum, I wandered around some more, and found myself in front of this store called Harrods.
Someone had told me of this store earlier in the year. They told me that you could buy anything there, especially "back in the day."  Apparently you used to be able to buy lions and such from there.  It is over 150 years old and the 3rd most visited tourist destination in London.
Anyway, I decided to take a gander, and I must say I was not disappointed.

No photos allowed in the shop itself

• This place had 7 floors, and covered the entirety of a city block (a total of 1 million square feet.  One football field is 57,600 square feet.  Do the math, we're looking at a little more than 17 fields of shopping). 
• When I first walked in, I was greeted by Egyptian architecture and decor. This was the famous "Egyptian Room." I was also greeted by doormen in very fancy green uniforms.
• Harrods sells over 350 different types of cheeses, and they have a year-round Christmas section.
• There are 25 different restaurants in the department store.
• Harrods accepts pounds, dollars, and euros.
• The ground floor had a bank where you could buy solid gold bars, flights, £2500 pens, full-size roulette tables, and a 7-foot tall stuffed bear for £2,999. Among the other vast selections.
• The first floor was chock-full of purses, handbags, fragrances, cosmetics, and jewelery.
• Second floor was entirely devoted to ladies clothing.
• Third Floor had an antiques section complete with fossils and mattress-sized crystals. You could also buy pets directly from this floor.
• Fourth floor contained Best Buy, essentially. You could also buy a zebra or cheetah skin.
• Fifth floor was all children's toys and apparel.  Absolutely everything you could want as a child.
• Sixth floor was sports.  There was a full bicycle shop, a place to buy skis, winter garments, golf and horse equipment, and everything else under the sun.

There was so much more that I can't recall simply because my mind was overwhelmed with all I was seeing.

Thanksgiving

Last week one of my friends asked me if I was going to celebrate Thanksgiving this year.  I told him that it wasn't likely.  Somehow, people started asking if we could celebrate Thanksgiving and make an event out of it.  I figured it couldn't hurt, and that it would be fun to show how Americans do Thanksgiving and such. So I sent an email asking for instructions since she is the mastermind behind our massive extended family Thanksgiving back home.

Unfortunately, I must not have made it clear enough regarding my impotence regarding Thanksgiving preparations.  When I say this, it is because neither myself or my co-chef--Chris--realized that one must thaw a turkey for 24-48 hours. 
We made this discovery as we were at the supermarket on Thanksgiving morning. 

Fatal Mistake.

The Thanksgiving table and guests.

Achilles Heel.

Chris came up with a plan to save us.  We would buy a frozen turkey crown, which is just turkey meat but can be cooked from frozen. We would also buy a refrigerated chicken, so as to have something fresh and to maintain the classic aesthetic of a Thanksgiving dinner.  He then helped me find the other necessities, such as cranberries, which are only available in a jar. We had to skip the sweet potatoes because there wasn't any, and there also wasn't any pumpkin pie.  We did manage to get meat, gravy, stuffing, veggies, and potatoes.
Once all way purchased, we headed back to my flat to start the prepping.
It was here that we encountered another obstacle: the kitchen that had been formerly abandoned as long as I had been here suddenly became Hell's Kitchen.  Everyone was making something, but not for Thanksgiving.

Turkey, peas, potatoes, cranberries, Kool-Aid

If I didn't know any better I would have thought that they had planned it.  Luckily, since we had been there first, and asked them politely if they'd be finished by 8:00, they were out of there by the time the guests arrived.
We also realized that we had nowhere near the amount of cooking wares we needed.  But we were resourceful, and made do.

Carrots, gravy, stuffing, and mashed potatoes

We more or less "winged" all of the cooking.  Chris and I were joined by Joe and James, who are also in the geology department.  Together, we had about half of the cooking know-how that any of our respective mothers have.  But soon we had a turkey, a chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, stuffing, cupcakes, and cranberries set and ready on the small table.  Then, to make it more American, I made some Grape Kool-Aid, which none of the 10 guests had ever tried.
Once all was set, I made a bit of a speech/explanation of Thanksgiving, and then said it was tradition to go around and say what one is thankful for.  I mentioned the support of my family, and meeting new friends good enough to share such a time with me.

The largest chicken we could find at Tesco

Then we ate.  And it was good.  Chris and I were afraid the cosmos were out of line.  Somehow everything had come together.  We had nothing but good reviews on everything. Chicken and turkey was succulent, gravy was savory, mashed potatoes soft and fluffy, veggies well cooked, and stuffing full of flavor. 
After all was done, I brought out my secret weapon:


Ice Cream Cake.
From what I understand, ice cream cake isn't present in the UK.  At least not in the way we have it in the States, where you can buy them from Dairy Queen or the grocery store. 
So I took it upon myself to make them one, and I did, out of Oreos, fudge, chocolate, and mint ice cream.  As far as I can tell it was a smashing hit.

Mikey's Minnesotan Mint Murder Ice Cream Cake

It was without a doubt a resounding success.  In my top 20 favorite Thanksgivings.

The Remains