Category Archives: British

Stuff about being British

Got Green carded

Was a bit of a shock to find an approval notice for my greencard in the mail. Woohoo. Took Nikki out for a celebratory dinner at Trader Viks and then on to Uglys

British and their teeth

video-snapshot.jpeg

One things that really bugs me about America is their constant assumption that the British all have bad teeth. This was highlighted over lunch the other day when someone said “an English ascent and good teeth”. I almost take offense to the generalisation(sic). This question has been asked many times, take this example on Yahoo. It’s hard to deny that there are a large number of people in England who have bad teeth but lets look at America as a whole. There’s a lot of people in the southern states who have the most atrocious diet, as a result have terrible teeth…if any at all!

My belief is that this is a largely out dated misconception. Perhaps 5o years ago there were far more people in England with bad teeth but today most are aware that dental hygiene is important. Having experiences both dental schemes, the Americans clearly have the lead, but then again have to pay through the nose for it. My current dentist is amazing! I visited him yesterday for yet another filling (result of bad consultant by my childhood dentist) he’s a real pro. So to all the American readers, “most” British people don’t have bad teeth, there are some bad cases but that’s not the norm!

Another British pub

For the second time in one weekend I was in a British pub. This time back in more familiar surroundings of the Rose and Crown in Palo Alto. They show most Premiership football games and I’d been trying to watch a Liverpool game there for nearly a year. My luck hasn’t been in on this, either my parents told me the score, i accidentally heard it on the radio or I needed to go into work. Well this time everything fell into place. The only down side was the Liverpool lost. 🙁

Duke of Edinburgh

I finally went to the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Cupertino. Said to be one of the best British pubs in the bay area. They do server Fullers, so bonus points there. As for food, I ordered the cornish pasty which was in the traditional form but the meat just doesn’t taste the same.

After dinner Nikki and I headed back to Rudi’s house to watch the movie SuperBad. It lived up to all my childish humor expectations.

Computer Museum

Went to the computer museum this weekend. It’s actually good, and they got history correct. “The first stored program computer was developed at Manchester University, UK”. Go on my son!

Quick Trip to England

Nikki and I took a quick trip to England to attend the weddings of my friends, Matt and Sal, followed by that of my Sister and Simon.
p1020971.JPG
We were on English soil for a only 96 hours! The trip was originally booked just for Matt and Sal’s wedding but my Sister arranged hers the following day so everything got squished into the trip. Continue reading

Just enough vs. Too much

While sitting by the pool in Palm Springs it occurred to me that one of the critical differences between America and England is quantity. Here’s a few examples

  • The average restaurant serving
  • Choices of simple things like bread/cheese in a supermarket
  • The number of swimming pools at a holiday resort

It is of course the last one that cleared it up for me. The resort we are staying in has many pools. Not uncommon, you might think. Well, the main pool are has 3 large pools plus some hot-tubs. But there are other pools located close by as well as pools dotted around the via complex’s. While some of these pools are busy others are relatively quiet and peaceful. It’s this level of choice and quantity that seems to make things better over here. I’ve been on many a european holiday where the large campsite has one pool, or the hotel has one pool that everyone crowds around. Here there’s just so much choice that you can seek out the quite atmosphere.

Parents coming to visit

My parents are coming to visit this week, my mum today, and dad on Friday. It’s been over 6 months since I’ve seen them and this will be their first visit to my new home. Typically – the flight is running late!
picture-2.png
Data from Mac OS Dashboard widget.