Christmas in England

There’s something different and special about an English Christmas. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it’s just the colder weather or something. But the British really do get into the festive spirit more so than I’ve ever seen the Americans do.

Of course, the Brits undoubtedly drink a lot more than the Americans, and drinking and partying is very much a part of the British Christmas celebrations. The parties tend to start around the first of December and continue throughout the entire month. Every day is a reason to celebrate. And drinking during working hours and at lunch is so commonplace that it is not frowned upon and in fact is encouraged. It’s bizarre.

Most of the Christmas traditions celebrated in America today come from England: Christmas cards, Christmas decorations and Christmas carols, to name a few. Other traditions didn’t quite make their way to the US, such as pantomimes (song and dance dramatizations of well-known fairy tales which encourage audience participation), Christmas crackers, and of course the Queen’s Christmas Message to the nation, broadcast on radio and TV.

Strangely enough, there is one tradition the Brits got from the Americans – the Christmas turkey! Before turkey was introduced to the UK from America, the Brits would celebrate Christmas dinner with a goose. Goose is still widely eaten, but not as much so as turkey. The dinner is traditionally served with roast potatoes, vegetables, and stuffing with gravy. This is usually followed by mince pies and Christmas pudding (a rich fruit cake) served with a brandy sauce or cream.

Christmas Crackers have been a part of traditional British Christmas since 1847. They are used to decorate dinner tables and are brightly-colored paper tubes, twisted at both ends, containing a paper party hat, riddle, and a small toy or trinket. When pulled by two people, the cracker pops open, making a loud cracking sound, as the contents spill out over the table.

The day after Christmas is known in Britain as Boxing Day and is a national holiday. The name is derived from a former tradition of giving a Christmas box (a gift of money or food) to the local poor people and to service people (milkman, postman, etc.). Regardless of where it comes from, it sure is nice to have an extra day off work at Christmas time.

The Ashes

Today England lost “The Ashes” to Australia. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is cricket not the strangest of all sports? The Ashes, as I understand it, is a cricket tournament held between only England and Australia. It all started back in 1882 when England lost to Australia for the first time. As a symbol to show that England’s cricket was “dead,” some of the equipment used in that game was burned and the ashes stored in a small little urn. This tiny urn of ashes is now the trophy prize in the game that has gone on between the two countries ever since.

Even more bizarre is that it is only held in the summer in whichever country is hosting the event. But since summer time in Australia is during England’s winter months, the tournament only gets held ever 18 to 30 months. The next one isn’t until 2009! In any case, England embarrassed itself today by losing The Ashes in the 3^rd of 5 games played. It had already taken them 16 years to win back the urn the last time the tournament was played 15 months ago, only to lose it again today it in a matter of days.

And here’s the best of the lot. The winner of The Ashes is whichever team wins the best of 5 games. And each game takes 5 days to play! With breaks between games, a full 5 games could effectively take over a month to play. And it doesn’t stop there. The games are so long and drawn out that they even take time out for a lunch AND a tea break during each day of play. What a life.

And yet I still don’t understand the first thing about the rules of the game. I’ll leave that to another day.

Update (Fri, Jan 5, 2007):

Well, I overlooked something else about the Ashes. Apparently, even though Australia won The Ashes back on Dec 18^th, the series wasn’t over. They continue to play all 5 games to the end. Today Australia celebrated their first “whitewash” since 1921 by beating England in all 5 games. Now The Ashes is officially over. Good grief. Talk about overkill. Can you imagine the World Series going all 7 games regardless of who might have won?

Halloween and Bonfire Night

Halloween in England is becoming more and more Americanized. We actually had a few trick-or-treaters show up at our door this evening. Paul said he never remembers celebrating Halloween before and certainly had never seen trick-or-treaters appear at his door. Instead, as a kid, he celebrated Bonfire Night on November 5th.

The history goes something like this. In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. (See, terrorism is not a new phenomenon – it goes back a long, long way!) Anyway, Guy Fawkes, one of Britain’s most notorious traitors, was among these men. On November 5, 1605, their “Gunpowder Plot” was foiled and Guy Fawkes was caught, tortured and executed. On the very night that the plot was foiled, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King (as he had planned to appear at Houses of Parliament when it was due to blow up). Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Anyway, back to the traditions that Paul grew up with. Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations went on for a whole week or so, when kids would make up their own dummy of Guy Fawkes (which they called “the Guy.”) They would then set their dummy outside their front door, alongside a jar asking passer-bys for “a penny for the Guy.” Whatever money was collected during the week was then used to buy fireworks for Bonfire Night. On the night itself, “the Guy” is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight, while fireworks go off all around the city.

For a variety of reasons, Bonfire Night is becoming less and less common, while Halloween, with all its American influences, is becoming more and more popular.

British Summer Time

Today our clocks moved back an hour, same as in America. They normally go back at the same time in the fall, but move forward in the spring on different weekends. Daylight Savings Time here is referred to as “British Summer Time.” But the daylight hours experienced here are nothing like those in America.

At the height of summer, the sun rises around 5am and doesn’t set until nearly 9.30pm. Talk about a long day! It’s even more bizarre in the winter when the sun rises around 8am and sets around 4pm. It definitely takes some getting used to.

British Pubs

Another pub lunch today. We normally have at least one a week. Pub lunches are by far the best value for money when eating out in the UK. But the food dulls in comparison to the sheer experience of going to a pub. Pubs are a major part of British history and culture.

Public houses (i.e. “pubs”) were were originally houses where the public could eat, drink and even stay overnight. Signs have hung outside public houses since 1393, when King Richard II decreed they should replace the usual bush outside the door. As most people were illiterate at the time, names were chosen that could easily be illustrated, like the Rose & Crown, coats of arms (Freemasons’ Arms), historical figures (Henry VIII), or heraldic animals (White Lion).

You’ll find pub on nearly every street corner in England. They have always been a place for neighbors and friends (generally men) to meet up and chat. You’ll still find old men gathering in pubs to enjoy a pint and a smoke. Smoking is still allowed in most pubs.

The drink of choice in a pub is draught beer. The beers that are typically offered are those brewed by the local brewers in the area. The main varieties of beer are: lager (lightest of all beers; most American beers are lagers), bitter (stronger and darker than lager), mild ale (sweeter than bitter), stout (thick, dark, creamy; Guiness, which comes from Ireland, is the most famous stout), and cider (traditional English drink found in all pubs; it’s made from apples and comes in a variety of strengths and degrees of dryness).

When ordering a beer on tap, you ask for it by the pint or half-pint. Imported bottled beers are generally also available. Budweiser is normally the only American beer you find in pubs.

You always order and pay for drink and food in advance at the bar. The bartender will hand you your drink, and someone else will bring the food to your table when ready. You do not tip in a pub.

Pub food (also known as “pub grub”) is simple, hearty fare, which normally includes a few select appetizers (mostly fried), a selection of sandwiches, jacket potatoes served with a variety of toppings, and hot meals such as fish & chips, chili, sheppards pie, cottage pie, or a mixed grill. Another common pub lunch is the Ploughman’s lunch, which consists of cheese, salad, pickles and bread. Roast dinners are served in most pubs on Sundays are are the best meal bargain to be found in England.

Coffee, Tea & Biscuits

Everyone knows the British love their tea. But it’s not apparent just how MUCH tea they drink until you go to work in an office environment, where they seem to drink tea all day long. It’s so common that they even have “tea stations” with kettles, hot water dispensers, tea bags, tea spoons, etc. set up for making tea.

When you order tea, you ask for it either white or black (meaning with or without milk). If you want sugar, you then also ask for one or two sugars (meaning one or two teaspoons or cubes of sugar).

Thanks to Starbucks and the many other coffee houses that you find on every corner now (Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, etc.), coffee is quickly taking over as the favorite hot drink, especially among younger people.

Normally you are served “biscuits” with your tea or coffee. Biscuits here, of course, are what I call cookies. But they ARE very tasty and addictive. McVities Biscuits are the most popular in the UK and definitely my favorite. I like the ones that are covered in creamy chocolate.

Traditional English “afternoon teas” are a special treat that you generally only find in high-priced venues, like The Savoy and other expensive London hotels. These teas are normally served with scones (what I call biscuits), teacakes, or cucumber sandwiches, all on fancy English china.

Commuting by Train

Yesterday (for the 2nd time since starting work in May) I had the joy of trying to find an alternative way into work thanks to train disruptions. This time my 7.25am train left Hertford on time, but, after making the first stop in Cuffley, the driver announced that a major power outage had occurred at one of the stations further down the line. As a result, no trains were going into or out of London along these lines. So we sat there in Cuffley for an hour before they decided to move us forward to the next stop (Crews Hill) to give the train behind us a platform to park at for anyone who wanted to get off.

After sitting in Crews Hill for another 30 minutes, Paul (who I had already called to tell of my dilemma) offered to come pick me up and drive me into London. So I got off the train and waited for Paul to reach me some 30 minutes later. By now it’s 9.30am.

Instead of driving me all the way into London (which would have taken ½ day by the time Paul returned to Hertford), he just dropped me at Southgate tube station where I caught 2 underground lines into work. I finally got there at 11am.

Thankfully the trains were running again by the time I got off work. But this is just a classic example of the joys of commuting by train and the problems you encounter. I’m one of the fortunate ones in that there are 2 train lines that come into Hertford, so I’ve always got the option of using one if the other is down.

Buying a Home

I am RELIEVED to say that we have FINALLY moved into our new home. And what an ordeal it has been. Buying a house in England couldn’t be more different than buying one in America.

For starters, a seller is free to list with as many agencies as he wants. It’s not uncommon to see more than one agency’s sign in front of a house for sale. The selling agency gets all the commission; the listing agency gets nothing. But the sale must go through one of the listing agencies.

Commissions here are very low compared to those in America (only 1-2% vs 6-7%). “Estate agents” are paid salaries by the agencies and get very little of the commission earned by the selling agency, therefore estate agents have very little incentive to really sell a place. Also, estate agents in England do not have to be licensed (although the agency does).

When you make an offer to buy a place, there is no legally binding contract. The seller is free to take as many offers as he likes and is not obligated to sell the property. “Gazumping” is a very common problem here and will continue to be until they change the real estate laws. Gazumping is when a seller accepts an offer from one interested party only to accept a higher offer later on from someone else. Unfortunately for the buyer, agents are legally obliged to tell sellers about any other offers on the property. Even if the property is taken off the market once your offer is accepted, anyone who previously viewed the property can still make a bid. If they do, then the agent cannot keep this fact hidden from the seller.

Once you make an offer to buy property, you (the buyer) have to start spending money (all non-refundable) to get the purchase underway without any binding agreement or guarantee that the seller will go through with it. You have to hire a “solicitor” (attorney) to act on your behalf while the seller has his own solicitor acting on his behalf. The realtor doesn’t really have to do anything else once they’ve gotten an offer on the property. All communication is done via the two solicitors.

Your solicitor will arrange the surveys and other legal work that has to be done. Only AFTER all this legal work is done, and only AFTER you obtain a mortgage guarantee from a lender can you actually “exchange” contracts. The sale is not legally binding UNTIL the contracts have been exchanged, and this doesn’t happen until the END of the whole process. As a buyer, you are pretty much screwed if anything goes wrong, since you have no protection whatsoever.

Once the “exchange” is ready to take place, you do not attend a closing or anything like that. Instead, your solicitor will mail you copies of the contract and other paperwork to be signed and witnessed by any non-family member (it can even be a stranger, but it does not even need to be notarized). The paperwork will also get mailed to the seller to countersign. Once everyone has signed, the two solicitors contact you and the seller to inform them that the contracts have been “exchanged.” Once this happens, both parties are obligated to go through with the deal.

On the exchange date, you are also notified of the “completion date,” which normally takes place about a week after exchange. This gives the lender time to transfer monies to your solicitor, who then transfers it to the seller’s solicitor, who then notifies the estate agent that the sale is complete and the keys can be released. So even though as a buyer you effectively “own” your property as of the exchange date and effectively are paying interest on the mortgage from that date, you cannot actually take possession of your new home for another week!

Another disadvantage to buying a home in England (as though there needed to be another one) is that the seller is not obligated to do any repairs, etc. on the home. If an inspection reveals a major defect in the home, then you as the buyer can opt out of the deal. But the seller is in no way obligated to make any repairs. Therefore, all purchases tend to be “as is.” You can choose to have your solicitor write up the contract to state otherwise (like asking the seller to make repairs, etc.), but with so many other people typically chomping at the bit to buy the house, there is no incentive whatsoever for the seller to agree to such a contract. Therefore, as a buyer, you are not protected in any way should the seller decide to trash the property before you move in. You are also not protected should you discover a major defect in the property that was not disclosed.

Now you know why I am so RELIEVED to finally say we have moved into our new home!!!

Sunday Roast Dinner

Today we had a typical Sunday roast dinner in a local pub. If there'’s one thing you can count on eating on a Sunday in most pubs and homes it'’s a Sunday roast dinner. Fish and chips aside, this is probably the most popular of all British meals. It consists of roasted meat (typically beef, pork, lamb, chicken, duck, turkey or ham), served with an assortment of boiled and roasted vegetables (roast potatoes, parsnips, peas, Brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli), Yorkshire pudding, gravy and relishes horseradish sauce or English mustard with beef, mint sauce or redcurrant jelly with lamb, apple sauce with pork, cranberry sauce with turkey). Sage and onion stuffing is also common. We had our Sunday roast at one of the many Weatherspoon pubs, a chain of pubs that have sprung up all over the country. The cost, including a pint of beer, was just £4.99 each. You can'’t beat that!

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in London is like grocery shopping in Florida just before a hurricane. There are TONS of people, regardless of the time of day you go. You can barely move around the store. Perhaps that’s why their “trollies” (shopping carts) have wheels that allow you to move in any direction, not just forward and backward, but sideways as well. Otherwise you’d never be able to maneuver the aisles.

In most grocery stores, you have to rent the trolley with a £1 coin that fits into a slot on the trolley handlebar, which is then attached via a key and chain to another trolley. The only way to unlock the key is to insert a coin. When you are finished shopping, you return your trolley to the “trolley park,” insert the key into another trolley, and out pops your coin.

At checkout time, you have to bag your own. Always. They certainly don’t hire people to bag groceries for you. And the cashiers get to sit down, unlike those in America who have to stand on their feet all day.

British grocery products are also quite different from American ones, but I’ll cover that another day.

Potatoes

Potatoes are by far the staple of the British diet. You normally get served potatoes (and green peas) with just about every meal you have, and I have been served several types of potatoes (boiled, roasted and mashed) on the same plate. The Brits certainly love their spuds.

What’s especially funny is that they call potatoes by different names than we do in America. For example, baked potatoes are called “jacket potatoes,” potato chips are called “crisps”, and fries are called “chips” (except for McDonald’s fries, which are still called fries).

The snack aisles in grocery stores are mostly full of a huge assortment of “crisps.” They have all sorts of flavors you don’t normally see in America, like prawn cocktail, cheese & onion, salt & vinegar, ready-salted, roasted chicken, tomato, barbecue, and spring onion. They do sell a few Kettle chips and other varieties of crisps, but for the most part British crisps are the thin-type potato chips.

Where I come from, baked potatoes are normally served with butter and sour cream and sometimes extras like chives, bacon bits or cheese. In England, jacket potatoes are served loaded with a strange assortment of fillings, from baked beans (another British staple that I’ll talk about later), to chili, tuna salad, prawn cocktail, just to name a few of the things. I have to special order a jacket potato with just butter and sour cream, and that’s assuming you can even find sour cream. It’s not commonly used here.

Hello, Good-bye

Even simple things like saying hello and good-bye are different here. The greetings of choice when seeing friends and colleagues seem to be “hi-ya” (hello) and “see-ya” (good-bye). The word “cheers” is also commonly used, but more so to mean “thanks.” If you help someone out in some way, or answer a question for them, they typically say “cheers” in return. People also tend to sign off emails with “cheers” (whereas in America people use the word “thanks.”) But in more formal emails or written letters, the signoff of choice here is “Regards or “Kind regards” as opposed to “Sincerely.”

The funniest difference of all is when saying good-bye on the telephone. Everyone here, whether man or woman, regardless of age, class or position, tends to raise the tone of their voice several octaves when saying “bye.” The last sentence of your conversation might be…”Okay, I’ll catch you later…bye!” That last word (“bye”) is unmistakably higher pitched than the rest of the sentence. It’s so common here that you easily find yourself picking up the habit, as I have now done. Otherwise, it just doesn’t seem like you’re saying good-bye properly unless you raise the pitch of your voice for that last word before hanging up. Strange.

Pie & Mash

Pie & Mash is one of my favorite British dishes. It’s an East London tradition that is (quite sadly) dying off little by little, thanks to the growth of other cheap, fast food establishments, like McDonalds and KFC. Pie & mash shops have been around since the 18th century and originally sprouted up to serve the London working class people. Ironically, most of the people you see frequenting these pie & mash shops are middle-aged and older. You rarely see young people going there. What a pity.

In any case, the specialty of pie & mash shops are meat pies (made of ground beef, and sometimes kidney or onion, in a rich beef gravy encased in a pastry crust), served with a side of mash (mashed potatoes) and green liquor (a green parsley sauce). It is quite tasty and very cheap. A small serving of 1 pie & mash typically costs around £3.00. To be really authentic, you should drench your plate in malt vinegar (the same vinegar that Brits use on fish & chips), although I just can’t quite acquire a taste for the stuff. Pie & mash shops often sell another London speciality – jellied eels. I have no intention of trying this.

There are a handful of pie & mash shops still left in East (and South) London. My personal favorite also happens to be within walking distance of my job (lucky for me!). It’s a place called Manze's in Chapel Market (in Islington). The décor is also very traditional for pie & mash shops – very Victorian with tiled walls, wooden benches and boothes, and marble table tops. It is an experience every visitor to London needs to try!

Taking the Piss

This is a classical British expression. There is nothing even remotely similar to it in America. This one phrase can have a lot of different meanings, depending on how it’s used. For example:

• If you keep promising to do something and never do it, you’d be taking the piss.
• If you order a Diet Coke to go with your 3 Big Macs, you’d be taking the piss (unless, like me, you PREFER a diet soda).
• If you say that British cuisine is the best in the world, you’d be taking the piss.
• If you say that George W. Bush is a great orator (or a great president, for that matter), you’d be taking the piss.

In simplistic terms, taking the piss means to be sarcastic, make fun of, take advantage of, or even say something totally untrue and ridiculous. You sometimes hear the expressions “taking the mickey” or “taking the mick” instead. (I guess these are used by people who don’t like saying the “piss” word).

Actually, the Brits use the word “piss” in a number of ways, most of them referring to drinking or being drunk. In America, being “pissed” means being angry; in the UK it means being drunk. (Although “pissed off” means the same thing in both countries). To the British, going “out on the piss” is to go out drinking, to have a “piss up” is to have a party, telling someone to “piss off” (or “bugger off”) is telling them to get lost. And finally, to “have a piss” is just that…to have a pee.

Yep, I’d have to say the Brits love taking the piss!

Working in the UK

Today I’m enjoying the first of my 16 days annual leave to use by the end of December. Over here, vacation days are referred to as annual leave or holidays. One of the many advantages of working in the UK is having plenty of TIME OFF. It’s also a big reason we decided to return to the UK. In America, 2 weeks vacation is the norm (and generally you have to work a whole year to get that). In the UK, you can count on getting at least 20 days holiday to start off with. I started my job in May with 27 days annual leave. Prorated for the year, that gives me 16 days holiday to use by the year end (not including the 8 public holidays per year, plus another 4 days off at Christmas)! Try and find that in a job in America!

An American in England

As an American living in England, I've decided it might be interesting to keep a written record of my experiences, observations and opinions of life here and how it compares to life in the US. Having lived here previously for 2.5 years (Nov 1996-May 1999), I recall how overwhelmed I was at the time at the vast differences in everyday life that you would never expect to see. So much of it I have become used to, but hopefully by sharing some of these experiences and observations, I can enlighten and entertain my fellow Americans (and perhaps a few Brits as well).