It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog entry, I apologise for this, as I was writing exams, moving, getting tattoos (plural) and learning how to relax and take care of myself (two straight months of studying also means two months of make shift meals and increased stress levels) . It’s been harder and harder to find the unique aspects about living in the UK as now I am starting to feel they are getting more and more common. I have finally trained myself to say “toilet” instead of "washroom” and “Plaster” instead of “Band-aid”. I still learn new things everyday such as “chemist” versus “pharmacy” however those are less and less common the more time I spend here.

 I am now living on the other side of Cardiff (Wales) where I have no school friends, no idea how to pay my heat or water and the only Internet I have is around the corner at my new favourite pub. It’s the first time that I have felt like I am living here instead of visiting. So far I have learned that drunk people are bold but friendly (Not a new concept anywhere I suppose but even more so here). Almost anyone is very happy coming up and talking to me about whatever interests them. The most common one that I have got so far is “what is so important that you need to bring a computer to the bar?” Fair question although the guy beside me brought his work here too so it’s not as uncommon as you think. 

I do truly appreciate everyone’s good nature and welcoming attitudes. Wales is small enough that you can feel a part of a community and yet big enough that you can go to the pub around the corner and sing your heart out at karaoke night and not know anyone in the audience (not saying that I have done that- just theoretical so far). Let’s just hope these new connections I make can help me find a job. Fingers crossed.

The challenges of packaging

While grocery shopping I often get a kick out of the information on food and clothing items. I am used to there being a few different translations of ingredients and instructions on packages (mainly French and English since I am from Canada) but not as many as there are over here. It makes perfect since because many of the countries over here speak different languages and are close enough to over lap in local food distributors but i never imagined that  there would be 18+ languages on the back of each product. If I ever need to learn another language I am going to start with a grocery store...

 

As you already know as common knowledge or if you have read my blog (because it comes up a lot in my other entries) that it rains a lot in the United Kingdom. From what I understand this is one of the rainiest years in a while too. So knowing all of this I found it rather entertaining the other day when I walked through the aisles at Tesco Extra (the store for everything possible that you could ever want) and found there to be an entire row dedicated to sunscreen, bronzer and after sun. The bronzer makes since because it’s a common trend in the UK to have a slight orange glow induced by spray tan or tanning creams but the sunscreen and after sun was a total surprise to me.  I understand that yes you can get UV radiation in cloudy whether too, but even in the hottest brightest summers in Canada you don’t usually see entire rows devoted to sun protection products and that is in a country that actually sees the sun more than 12 hours a week. It really confused me until I talked to my roommate about it and he said it was because people in the UK really like to go on vacation to warm places. TADA! Of course! That made sense to me. There are very few weeks that I don’t think at least once about how much I would prefer to be in a warm bright dry place. Even coming back to Canada to find snow on the ground and a brisk wind seemed like heaven because there was sun. I needed sunglasses! Back to the main point, I now understand the point of the mass quantities of sunscreen but I guess the traveler in me is curious as to how many bottles of sunscreen are abandoned at airport security because their owners forgot to pack them in their checked bags or maybe I’m the only one that buys things like that at the destination because I am not confident enough in my packing organization.

Free Cash!

I don't have any stories about cash machines, I just think it's funny that so many of them say "Free Cash" instead of "Free Cash Withdrawals."
I feel like that could get confusing.....

Everything that I have Learned about Leeks

In the fall I went to my first rugby game in Wales with my North American friend Sam (I swear she isn't my only friend here). Because it is the national sport of Wales we weren't sure what to expect but we knew whatever we saw would be awesome. We were like kids in a candy store. Thanks to the wonderful ticket lady, we had prime seating,beside the athletes tunnel to the field. We arrived in time to hear the anthem and see the welsh goat all dressed up and then saw Samoas Manu Siva Tau war dance. We didn't think it could get any better, but then out of the corner of our eyes we spotted them. Magical creatures. They had white heads with beards and a tall grassy hat. They looked like gnomes that just came out of hiding. I learn new things about Wales on a daily bases but this creature was beyond my understanding. I got the courage to ask the man beside me what these were. I swear to you I did not believe him when he told me his answer... "those are supposed to be leeks" what?!!? I didn't want to look like a newbie so I left my questions to that but I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that people dressed up as leeks in this country to support their rugby team. People do crazy things when they are in love with sports. The rest of the games events weren't important (Wales lost, Samoa did their chant again, we saw some British Olympians and we made new friends).

Naturally the first  thing I did when I got home was Google "leeks and Wales." It turns out not many people care to do research on leeks and all the information I got was from wikipedia  and a health food site but  the following is everything you need to know about leeks....

Leeks are from the same family as onions and garlic. Very little is known about their nutritional benefits but they are believed to be similar to that of garlic and onions (go figure). They may or may not have immune supportive properties as well and be an anti-inflammatory and have cardiovascular support (again who knows how accurate this all is). People like them because they are a fairly durable plant that can grow in Wales all year round. They eat the stalk which has a mild onion taste.

Still didn't answer my initial question about why there was a connection between leeks and Wales......

But then I found this.... Apparently there is a legend that King Cadwaladr, a British king, had ordered his soldiers to wear leeks on their helmets in battle to identify themselves against the Saxons. I'm not sure if you would have guessed this or not but the battle took place in a leek field. This was such a common legend that even the great Shakespeare wrote about wearing  leeks  on the head as an ancient tradition in Henry V.

Quote from Henry V:
"Your majesty says very true: if your majesties is
remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a
garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their
Monmouth caps; which, your majesty know, to this
hour is an honourable badge of the service; and I do
believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek
upon Saint Tavy's day."


Thought this could be your fun fact of the day.....

 




















To get a better view I got the help of: http://www.welshsuperstore.co.uk/