AaaaLittle more to the right

No, I’m not talking about political views and opinions.  Even with the Republicans ramping up for a go at Obama next year.  I’m talking about the world map.  We Americans may have this perception that the dirt we live on is the center of the planet, mostly because of the big stick we have been swinging around for decades.  When you consider where the shift is going to and away from you have to wonder will China and India be able to really handle it all?  After living here in England for just over a year we’re finding out selves viewing our homeland differently mostly due to the BBC.  Two years ago we watched some of the Vancouver Winter Olympics from a different perspective.  It was much more open and not so focused on the American presence.  The BBC seemed to not really care specifically who was going to be the major stars from the UK but had facts about people from many other countries as well as the big stars.  American athletes were the main draw.  I’m starting to learn more about Football or what American’s call ‘soccer’ and the coverage of the World Cup from South Africa here was bigger than any MBA series back in the US.  Of course the BBC did have a lot to say about the English team, mostly how they sort of fell apart with their lack of goals and lazy performance, but they also had loads to say and coverage about many of the other countries competing.  Sports coverage here is very well done and very diverse.

We’re starting to move more towards British products at the market too.  Kevin was talking about making an apple pie only here you would use these big Brambly apples instead of the Granny Smiths, still having to add sugar.  We can buy Quaker Oats oatmeal but we’ve found that the Porridge Oats here are just as good, if not cheaper.  Maybe we’re just settling?   It’s strange to go into the Baking area at the market and only see Vanilla or Chocolate cake mix from Betty Crocker.  We know, from experience, that Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines has loads more flavors.  I can get the store brand Carrot Cake mix here and it’s fine.  Red Velvet cake mix is nowhere to be found on the shelves here.  You want to have some it’ll either be in a cup cake shop or you make it from scratch.  Trust me, make it from scratch.  They haven’t found the way to make it moist here…it crumbles.  We’ve found great dairy products here, cheeses are wonderful and imports from Europe aren’t very expensive.  Great coffee is easy to come by as well as bad coffee.  We tend to like our own brewed at home.  Starbucks is everywhere as well as some European chains but customer service is lacking or it doesn’t measure up to what we know from the States.  We’re accepting it and on those rare moments when the wait staff or the clerk behind the counter shows signs of ‘service’ we just smile and remember what it was like when the bag boy at Albertsons would bag your groceries for you and put it in your cart while you waited for the standing check-out clerk, they sit here, to total up your purchases.  Ah, the good old days.

Working on our 2^nd year here and we’re slowly moving closer to all British products.  I haven’t found a decent deodorant I like here so I stocked up heavily on what I do like when I was back in the states.  Toilet paper, well, we’ll never have that double roll of Charmin here, it won’t fit on the rollers!