Blood Atonement

Am I the only one who was surprised to learn that death by firing squad was still an option in states that allowed the death penalty? The story had made international news that Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death here in Utah this week and he chose this option. A few weeks ago in the Salt Lake Tribune there was a very long article that described the Mormon belief in blood atonement and connected this belief with why it is still an option here in Utah.


Check out this article for a succinct discussion of the issue.

A Disturbing Trend

Don't know if this is a Utah thing or an American thing but I've seen one too many fetal photo businesses in the area.  These pictures look totally creepy in my opinion.  It reminds me a lot of what it used to look like when as a kid I'd turn on the oven light and peer in to see if the cake was done yet.  Let's wait until the cake is done to break out the camera people!

I'm not even going to comment on the belly sculptures, LOL.

Monster Trucks All Around

I’m still not used to the size of American cars again. When coming into the Salt Lake City airport that night, even though I had rented an economy car, all they had was SUVs so I ended up with an Explorer. I hated driving it (except for the satellite radio) because it was so huge. Explorers used to be big vehicles but I realized how time has changed when I pulled up in front of this truck.

One of A’s first observations about SLC was how wide the roads are here. I read online somewhere that the roads in downtown SLC are particularly wide because Brigham Young wanted them wide enough for a covered wagon to turn around in (source an LDS website).  Another tourist website stated this same claim but added that he wanted this so that drivers wouldn't resort to profanity.

Elvis, Sweet Elvis

A few weeks ago I sent a box of See's Candies Peanut Brittle to our Sri Lankan landlord and his family in the UK with a thank you note.  I used to bring this peanut brittle back to the UK office whenever I had a trip to the States and it was always a big hit.  I got a thank you email from them yesterday saying that they really liked it and had never had it before but had heard that Elvis liked peanut brittle.  That made me smile.

Speaking of charismatic singers, when we were at Heathrow I picked up my final copy of Q magazine to read on the plane.  The cover boasted an article about the 100 greatest frontmen in rock.  As I'm going through the list I'm thinking yeah, absolutely not, what???  Then I get to the end.  The number one frontman of all time in rock....Liam Gallagher of Oasis.  Seriously?!  This article totally exemplifies the cultural divide between the U.S. and the UK.  Most Americans don't think the Gallaghers are rock gods and no we don't think everything Damon Albarn does is brilliant.  I've seen Liam in concert, yes a little after their height of fame, but what a wanker.  How can you have the likes of James Brown, Prince, Elvis on a list and then top it with Liam?  I thought about writing a letter to the editor, but once our flight got delayed in Denver and I was desperate for sleep, the moment passed.

The Cheese Toasty

There’s a gallery/tea room close to work that I’ve visited once before that I haven’t been to in awhile that I ended up having lunch at two days in a row during my last work week and it’s all because of the weather and the sandwich. They make a cheese toasty (think grilled cheese) with a secret cheese blend and sundried tomatoes and it is super fine. It’s also got a nice seating area outside and when the sun is out, there’s nowhere else you want to be. According to the owner’s website, there’s a ghost in the building. But that won’t keep you away, it’s the “service” of the proprietor might. I asked my friend B at work, “Hey, have you ever eaten at The Drawing Room?” She said no and I went on to tell her that in spite of the service it’s still a good place. That made her laugh and she went on to demonstrate the difference between American service and English service. In her opinion English service is much more (in an accusatory tone) “What do you want?!”

Is it April Fool's Day?

One of my colleagues said yesterday that every day this week when he's gone to the BBC website to read the headlines the lead story has made him wonder if it is April 1st.  I agree.  All flights are cancelled in the UK because of volcanic ash from Iceland???

I also couldn't believe that last night was the first televised debate between the candidates for Prime Minister.  The first?  When I shared my amazement with a colleague, he made it sound like the reason they haven't done that in the past was because they've seen the U.S. elections become a beauty contest because ot if.  I think I'll ask around and get a second opinion on that one.

Moving is Never Fun

This week was very stressful on the moving front. I’ve got a deadline at work next week so that coupled with the move makes my head hurt. Moving doesn’t bring out the best in a family, LOL. After H and I had a very tense lunchtime discussion early in the week I headed back to work and sat at my desk feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. I called my coffee buddy A and we walked down for a Starbucks before the afternoon kicked off. I probably didn’t need a stimulant at that moment but did need a friend. I unloaded about the move and everything else that’s been adding to the craziness. I told A that I felt like I was heading down a spiral of negativity. He perked up, stopped me in my tracks and said with both surprise and delight, “J! You are turning into an English person! Just in time before you leave the country, it’s happened!” We shared a Belgian chocolate cornflake treat, each had an Americano and headed back to the grind.


The next morning morning when I came into work there was a bottle of wine and a bon voyage card on my desk from the cleaning lady. I know it’s scary that I’m at work late often enough that I have a great relationship with the cleaning lady, but something about solving crimes together bonds people. I thought to myself bottle of wine as a gift from a casual acquaintance at work, you won’t get that in America!

Should You Be Shopping Here?

The village where I work is rough around the edges. A told me that her friends from school call the village “chav city” (check out urban dictionary for the meaning of chav). I’ve witnessed hooligans pulling lead off of a building for profit; I’ve seen teenagers standing in the vacant high street in the evenings drinking cheap wine out of a bottle. I’ve seen the occasional serious drunk asleep outside of the grocery store in broad daylight. Yet, some of the most expensive English countryside surrounds us. There are also elements of traditional country living on the high street, especially in the saddler where we shopped for A’s horse gear. I’ve spent more time in there in the last three months than I have the whole time I’ve lived here. I wish I could take some pictures inside because I think you would rarely see a store like this in the U.S. Upon entry your are enveloped in the smell of leather. A commented on it on Saturday when we stood in line for about 20 minutes to buy a whip. I told her enjoy the smell because it might help her ignore the fact that we were being treated like second class citizens. You could be a perfectly acceptable person walking down the chavtastic high street, but as soon as you walk in this store, you’re judged by a very different standard. We waited and waited and waited while an elderly couple with very posh accents were being fawned over as the husband tried on slippers. Were they right? Would they still fit if he were wearing two pairs of socks? What size shopping bag would they be given when they bought the slippers? It went on and on.

Upstairs is where all of the riding gear is located. But downstairs there’s luggage, expensive leather handbags, a gun room, and all kinds of English country clothes from Hunter boots to Barbour’s “country sport collection”. A was telling me when we were standing in line that her friend and her mother had come into this very shop to get some riding gear and had about £100 worth of stuff gathered when they picked out a helmet to buy from the window which was marked £50. When it was rung up, it cost £60. The mother questioned it since in the window it was advertised at a lower price. She was told that the price had increased. She asked for a manager who then told her the only allowance they were willing to make was to split the difference. They instead left the shop without buying anything. That’s the kind of place it is, customer service is not a guarantee.

When we finally made our £5 purchase I had to laugh at the way we were treated. As much as I hate to admit it I’d go back if A needs additional gear because it’s convenient and it is a local business and I do try and support them. Also the smell and the atmosphere are free!

Sports Talk

Last week I heard more sports talk in the U.S. than I believe I’ve probably heard in years. There was talk of college basketball , NFL football as well as a little rehashing of the Crimson Tide’s national championship win this year. When I got back to the UK I noticed that the program is still on our coffee table from the Arsenal Football match (?) that A went to in December and one thing that really caught my eye was the jerseys. There is a perception that everything in America is for sale, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that but there are a few things that seem to be sacred. Yes, change the stadium name to some corporate sponsor (U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago will always be Comiskey Park to me), but the front of a jersey is still off limits.

See the Arsenal jersey? How do you know this is an Arsenal player? I suppose it’s the color and that small patch in the corner. The real estate in the middle is advertising. I cannot believe that this sits well with the British public. I haven’t researched to find out how long it has been this way but if anyone knows and if there was a public outcry, please fill me in.  Sports fans, will this trend become popular eventually in the U.S.?

Oh 2010...

If January is any indication of the upcoming year, I think you're getting the better of me.

The night before I left we had a major catastrophe with our washer/dryer. Another downside to the retarded washer/dryer combo machine, if it stops working you have neither a washer nor a dryer!

While we love the space in this house, there is an electrical situation happening in the kitchen that is slowly driving us insane. We are on our second washer/dryer combo since moving in which now doesn't work. Repairman is coming on Monday and I am so grateful that H will be there to deal with it.  When this new one was delivered the installer wouldn't actually install it.  He told me that because it was still connected to the water, he was not allowed to touch it because you never know, he may disconnect it and the whole house could flood.  So when I asked well, can you tell me how to disconnect it and I will do it so you can complete your install he told me that it would be too tough for me to do.  H walked in the door after work that night and had the old one disconnected and the new one connected in about ten minutes.  They have a term for that installer here - jobsworth.

New Year's Day Style

You don’t see many people in snow boots here even if it’s snowing. Most of the time they are in their wellies and I imagine that’s because it doesn’t snow that often, but also having boots you can just rinse off come in handy. I’ve been wearing mine on my walks this break because from moment to moment you don’t know if you’re going to be walking in mud, ice, snow, or a combination of all three.


By the traffic on the trails today you can tell the Brits love a good New Year’s Day Walk. In the morning it was below freezing , but the sun was shining bright and it began to warm up. I had on my standby favourite red sweater pictured here which is as dressy as I’ve gotten since I’ve been on vacation. My wellies were caked with mud by the time I got home. I ventured out to a different trail and I was kicking myself for not having my camera because the land around me was truly beautiful.

Older women in England still dress in a formal style that you don’t see every day in the U.S. I’ve noticed them on the bus, with their rolling shopping bags in smart shoes, nylons, and proper tweed skirt. They look so refined with every hair in place and their handbags tucked into the crook of their arms even if the market is their only destination. As I was walking today I came across two of these handsomely dressed ladies on the trails. They each had on a wool overcoat with a Christmas corsage, a nice wool skirt, and nylons looking like they were headed to church. I glanced down at their feet and noticed they had on muddy hiking boots and knew that this was their annual New Year’s Day walk. They made me smile.

Coffee or Tea?

My UK work colleagues are amazed when I tell them that I only know one person in the U.S. who has an electric kettle and that coffeemakers are pretty prevalent in U.S. homes. More than one person has said to me, “Well then how do you make tea?”

American Exports

H had a friend in culinary school from Greece who was way into Harley Davidsons. When I met him at one of the school events he had on jeans and a black Harley Davidson t-shirt. He was making small talk with A about music and he asked her if he had ever seen the film Almost Famous. We all started laughing remembering the scene in the film where they think their plane is going to crash. Harley Davidsons and Almost Famous, who knew they could be so universal?


I was thinking about that this week when I was talking to a colleague in Spain. After we finished up the business conversation we got to talking about taking time off this time of year. He told me that their big holiday was the 6th of January where they celebrate Reyes. I asked if this was the same thing as Epiphany and he said yes but no one calls it Epiphany, that’s too posh, they call it reyes for the kings. “But because of the Americans we have kids now expecting gifts on Christmas Eve too”. I laughed because unless there’s some secret mission happening, we aren’t purposefully going out and asking people to celebrate the holidays we celebrate, especially when not all Americans celebrate Christmas. What’s funny is that my colleague is a huge fan of gangsta rap, also from the U.S. If I was going to be upset about an import it would be gangsta rap, not Santa Claus.

Christmas Party!

A went with me as my date for the Christmas party last night as H was working. A experienced her first Christmas cracker and was made to wear the hat that was tucked inside. Here’s the joke that was also inside:

What’s long and green and always points north?

A magnetic cucumber

Bonfire Night

I started this post the other night and didn't finish it...

It’s Guy Fawkes Night and as I’m sitting inside nursing a cold I can hear the fireworks outside and it made me remember those early months in the UK. During my first October here I was talking to some colleagues after work and they were telling me what Guy Fawkes Night was all about. Someone turned to me and with more fury than the conversation required began to tell me how because of the increasing popularity of Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night was becoming less popular. I didn’t understand what that was all about, but then I read this article and thought if I didn’t know better I would think my co-worker was quoted in it.

I Almost Start an International Incident

About a month ago A asked me if I could recommend an autobiography for her to read for school. I should have emailed one of my many librarian friends, but I felt like I needed to give her direction quickly because she was throwing out titles by popular celebrities. On a side note, I know this is also a common occurrence in the U.S. but it seems to be a requirement here. If you are on stage or screen you have a book deal. Every celebrity, no matter how minor, has published an autobiography. Even people who have been on reality television have books out! I haven’t looked into it but I suppose that none of them are written by the celebrity, so how they get classified as autobiographies I will never know. Anyway, to avoid her thinking that she could read one of those, I suggested Homer Hickam’s Rocket Boys. I haven’t read it myself but since he lives in Huntsville, I knew a lot about it. She was a bit annoyed with me because the book was longer than her friends’ selections.


So fast forward to my walking tour of East London where the tour guide spoke with contempt about Wernher von Braun and his V2 that destroyed a lot of East London. I was thinking to myself, having lived in Huntsville, Alabama where the von Braun Center is the biggest venue in town, obviously we have a different image of von Braun, who was instrumental in the U.S. rocket program.

A asked me to look over her notes. She had to deliver a speech on Rocket Boys. As I read her notes which described how Homer Hickam idolized von Braun I started getting nervous. If her teacher is clear on the facts of WWII, she may get angry at A’s speech. I told A that she needed to do some additional research and as I started to explain to her that von Braun had a controversial past, she started getting very nervous afraid she was going to get in trouble at school. We found some additional information, which actually was from a book my history professors at UAH had written, that explained von Braun’s past. At least now she was prepared. She hasn’t said anymore about it, so it must have gone well.

P.S. A had in her possession recently one of the books that a friend of hers selected as her autobiography.  It was Go Ask Alice by Anonymous.  I told A that it is rumoured that the book is not an actual diary but instead written as a message book about drug abuse.  I almost laughed since I remember reading that when I was about 13 and it scaring me.  It's still around scaring teenagers!

American Universities for British Students

One of A’s friend’s parents was asking me about applying to American universities for her son, which surprised me but reading this article it shouldn’t. When everything is usually more expensive here, the cost of a university education is the one place where there is savings. It figures that will probably be the time we are heading back to the U.S. That seems to be our financial luck!

Recently I was discussing American universities with a colleague and she said something like, well we don’t have those sororities like you do. I told her that not everyone that goes to university participates in Greek life, in fact I think of all my friends I only know two or three people that did. She was amazed by this and said that it just goes to show that you can’t believe everything that you see on tv!

Calming Baby - UK Style

My buddy K is about to embark on the greatest adventure of her life, parenthood! Wanting to send her something unique, I spotted Gripe Water at the pharmacy a few weeks ago, and hoped it would make her laugh as much as I did. The word gripe makes me think of an adult having a bitch session, not a baby with gastrointestinal distress. After I found it at the pharmacy, I went back to the office and asked one of my co-workers what connotations the word "gripe" conjured and they had the same feeling I did. They were just as baffled by gripe water as I was.

Want to know more about gripe water? Check out this link.

That Machine

I mentioned that the house that we just moved into has one machine in the kitchen that is a washer/dryer combo and just as I suspected, I hate it! The washing part is good but the drying part, well, it doesn’t really dry, it steams. Things come out not quite dry and smelling kinda funny. It’s also very small.

We do have a way to hang clothes out outside, so I do that as often as possible, but that relies on nice weather. About a month ago, it was sunny and I put some clothes out on a Sunday afternoon and then headed to the grocery store. When I got to the grocery store, I was walking towards the building when the wind kicked up and I looked at the sky and it looked like rain was inevitable. I felt like I was in the middle of a disaster movie because my first thought was, the clothes outside! Cue me running back to the car, driving like a maniac back to the house screaming the whole way, it’s gonna rain! Getting home to tear the laundry off of the line and take it inside to safety. Dramatic? Yes, and not the way I want to feel about laundry. I fought the urge of course, went in the store, and came home to clothes that were soaked and on the line in the rain.

As I type this, it’s Sunday morning, and I’m drinking my coffee looking at the weather forecast which is predicting 70% precipitation today. I’m missing my dryer.

Two Years On

It’s been two years since I made the move across the pond, and what have I learned? Hmm, lots of things. I’ve learned that living in the UK is expensive on every level. I’ve learned to appreciate what socialized medicine can do for a country. I’ve learned that Brits like to analyze and discuss what it is to be British and they also like to analyze us, or at least the media does.

This has been an interesting year. It’s been a year of ups and downs with A at school insisting that she hates THIS school when I think she’d probably feel that way about any school. It’s been a fattening year with H cooking some excellent meals as he worked through his culinary program. At work it’s been a year of working together with the Americans which has brought about some interesting conversations. I have largely not said much back but there have been days I have left work furious at the way they size us up. As I type this, a television series where chef Jamie Oliver is travelling the U.S. on a culinary mission is being broadcast. When I saw it advertised I wanted to yell at the screen, ya’ll hate us, so just leave us alone and quit analyzing us for your entertainment! Yes, that sounds totally irrational. Yes, I know it is ironic that I am calling for them to stop analyzing us when I have been doing just that for the last two years on this blog, but my analysis hasn’t been in an effort to make fun of a different culture. And that’s not what Mr. Oliver is doing either. He actually said in an article for one of the newspapers before the series began that he wanted to explore the UK’s love/hate relationship with the U.S. So true!

When we were on vacation, H spotted a book review in the London Times that summed up one of my constant comments about my conversations with people here. It was a review on a book about snark and the whole review is here. But the quote that stuck out in my mind was this:

And yet our conversation, day to day, oozes with the stuff. To bitch, to gossip, to backstab, to slag off, to unfairly lampoon — this is the essence of basic British chat. –Hugo Rifkind

Don’t get me wrong, I like a little snark, but it needs to be tempered with some positivity now and again.

When my buddy C from Australia was visiting at the beginning of the summer, we were discussing the use of the word “brilliant” by Brits. We were both saying in our cultures, we would use that term very sparingly because we considered it high praise, yet it’s used here so often. So it’s either someone is brilliant, the highest praise or their torn to shreds, with not a lot in-between. Or, as I am typing this, I am wondering is the use of the word brilliant just another example of snark in British conversation?

Year three here we come...