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.