How Living in England Ruins Harry Potter

Saying this before I moved to England...I admit I would have felt like an idiot. Well, admittedly I still kind of do, but it's so true...living in England ruins Harry Potter! Let me explain...

In my previous blog you guys saw the train...

This is the real thing...this is the train we took from London.

Now this is the Harry Potter Version...

I know... eerily similar right?  This could be because parts of the movie were shot in London, but it's hard to tell which ones.

And on to the Trolleys...

Who would have thought that these things really exist?  I did not know what the word  Trolley even meant until I got to England.  I kind of just thought it was a Harry Potter version of the word cart.  

And the Harry Potter Version...

Okay, maybe I did not have a cool owl for my trolley, but you know what...same thing.  And there was not a platform 9 3/4.  However, let me note that a "real" platform 9 3/4 does exist at the London King's Cross Rail Station (not at the rail station we crossed through unfortunately).  A video of platform 9 3/4 is found here http://thehogshead.org/the-real-platform-9-34-856/  

Speaking of public transportation in England the buses are another entirely frightening and a very Harry Potter Esque experience.  Watch this short Harry Potter clip and I will explain...

Okay...I will give you a play by play of the similarities.  Similarity 1: (sorry it does not show this in this specific clip) The conductor introduces himself...very common on the trains...they always tell you what to expect, where you are going and if there are any delays.  Similarity 2:  Notice the bus is a double decker...yes we do have those, although I unfortunately have not had the privilege of riding on one yet.  Similarity 3:  The conductor usually also has an English accent...just kidding, I mean it is factual but a horrible similarity.  Look at the device the conductor is holding...this is a ticket dispensing machine...again more common on trains, but this is how they ticket you on the train if you lost your ticket or were trying to get away without paying.  You put your credit card in and a ticket pops out.  Similarity 4:  Take it away ernie!  It always seems to be that every time someone is driving the bus I swear they drive it like this crazy old guy.  It is crazy fast, quick around the corner, and nauseating, especially if you get a backwards seat.  Similarity 5:  You have to watch out for those buses as a pedestrian.  There was a lady Trevor and I almost watched get hit by a bus...the girl walked in front of it and disobeyed the pedestrian crosswalk symbol.  Crazy...the bus stopped just inches in front of her.  

Lets talk about the school uniforms...oh yah...the school kids wear them.  The "real ones" may actually look more theatrical then the Harry Potter uniforms.  

These are the uniforms worn by local school kids.  I love the girls outfits...they even have the skirt and tights to go with them.   It's totally normal on a daily basis to see these outfits walking down the street.  With these outfits and the English buildings surrounding me...it's pretty much impossible not to do a double take.

Here is the Harry Potter version of the uniform for good measure.

Miscellaneous Similarities:  To state the obvious, another similarity is that the sky is almost always grey and gloomy looking as it is in Harry Potter.  There are many cute little side shops also (like Vanders wand shop), we don't really have a big outlet store like wal-mart where you can go and in one stop get everything you need.  We also have a lot of cats here...some lurk the streets the others sit in the windows and observe you as you pass...it's hard not to think of Professor McGonagall or Mr. Filch's Cat.

I know I stated above that living in England ruins Harry Potter, and yes it does take a little of the magic out of it, however I take my statement back because now I feel like it's kind of like living the real thing.  Especially since they are now doing studio tours of the London set only hours from where I live!  I know right...exciting!  Here is the link for more info in case any of you people who plan to visit me will want to check it out... http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=harry+potter&utm_campaign=harry+potter

So, if you will excuse me...I am going to watch some Harry Potter...go to bed...wake up and live the real thing when I take a walk through the English streets to catch my train for school in the morning.  I still <3 Harry Potter!  

"UK-isms" in the Headlines

 Here is my version of J-leno's funny news clips, magazines etc. Except since J-leno is not funny (Conan is way better...Sorry Dad) this will actually be more humorous. Here is how the game is played...I will collect all the advertisements, news stories, and magazine columns that have "UK-isms" within them and once I have enough I will share them all with you so you can laugh at them with me.

In todays instance we will start with the photos that are mildly funny to "rolling on the ground laughing" funny for climatic purposes.

Okay now lets gets get started then...

Not really a UK-ism I know.  And it's really not all that funny,  but I could not help but laughing.  This is really not what I am thinking when I think Spice Girl...I think of the really bad girl band I listened to as a teenager.

How many of you were confused until you figured out the definition of "row"?  A row according to dictionary.com is a "noisy dispute or quarrel; commotion".  I know...I wouldn't have guessed it either.  How can you not appreciate this clip though...I mean the circumstances are sad, but what women can say she hasn't ever gotten fed up with football.  I have never stabbed anyone because of it and I am very lucky because my hubby does not like it, but oh dear god I hate football season.

In his WHAT?  His Boot?  I can not tell you how long I starred at his boot trying to figure out how he could have possibly fit a body in his shoe.  Until I read the title.  

See now...this makes much more sense.  It is a part of the car!  According to thefreedictionary.com the boot is a "(Chiefly British) An automobile trunk". 

Sorry guys...this is the last one today so savor it...and you should not have a problem doing so because it's Subway!

Tuck what?  Do they have a dress code or something?  (Trevor has personal experience with this one at the office) lol.  The freedictionary comes to the rescue again, to tuck-in is to eat "(Chiefly British) Food, especially sweets and pastry".  In that case...I love tucking.  I especially love tucking me some Subway! 

Guy Fawkes Night

"Remember remember the fifth of November

                              Gunpowder, treason and plot.

  I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

  Should ever be forgot..."

Here is a history lesson for those of you who are not familiar with Guy Fawkes Night.  Guy Fawkes Night came about on the 5th of November of 1605 when a man by the name of Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the House of Parliament guarding dozens of barrels of gun powder.  He was tried and convicted of being a traitor and plotting against the government.  For this crime of treason Guy was sentenced to being hung, drawn, and then quartered.  To some he was a villain or a terrorist for trying to blow up the parliament and the King.  Others also considered him a hero as his attempt to kill the King was to grant all religious freedom, as at the time Catholics were prosecuted for their beliefs and the King believed everyone should be Protestant.  Traditionally Guy Fawkes Night was celebrated as a reminder and a warning to all that treason will never be forgotten.  Today, however, it is celebrated with out as much of it's original meaning, and is more of a commemoration.  


Anyhow, that is enough of history for you...this is what Guy Fawkes Night was like for  us.

Nova came along on our little adventure, he hates being left at home due to his separation anxiety and he loves to be toted around and cuddled.  In the background you can see that their are quite the festivities going on at the Worcester Racecourse.  The have carnival rides, and games, and of course yummy food.  Even Nova was able to go on one of the ghost house rides with us.  

Trevor mad me play games to get into the festivities, which I did not mind.  You spent two pounds and hooked a bag with a stuffed animal in it to win.  So I played once and got a turtle with hot I think it was a Koopa Troopa, and Trevor hooked something that looked like Sonic the Hedgehog.  

Trevors' Winnings.

Holding the puppy as I did  most of the night.  My little 9 lb boy gets heavy after a while.  

Trevor being himself in front of the bonfire before it started.  This actually did not look like a bonfire seeing as it was like 20 times the size of any bonfire I have ever seen.  Apparently they burn effigies of Guy Fawkes on this fire, but we did not see any, but I know people and children where invited to bring their "Guys".   It's a bit of a morbid holiday.

Celebration food...yum.  I ordered a hot dog, which they put charred onions on and it was delicious.  I also ordered what I thought would be nachos because they called them "cheese and chips", turns out they were just fries with cheese on them....which I thought was dumb at first, but turned out to be awesome too.

The residents of Worcester beginning to rally around the fire that has just been lit.

The bonfire. 

Nova and his daddy cuddling while they watch the bonfire.  Nova loved it.

Trevor getting excited by how big the "bonfire" is getting.

Look at all these people!  The funny thing is these were probably only a quarter of the people there because we were right in front...so, there were even more people behind us.

Some of the very extravagant fireworks...in the finally there were smiley face fireworks!

Nova and I watching fireworks.  I know dogs aren't really supposed to be out when there are fireworks, but it would have been worse to leave him at home.  This is because of his separation anxiety and the fact we live so close to the racecourse it would not have made a difference and he would have still heard the fireworks and probably drove the neighbors insane.  However, he did great with the fireworks, there was some initial confusion as to what the noises were, but once he figured it out he just cuddled and relaxed.  

Trevor is sad because I made him carry all the winnings home.  lol.  It was a great night.  We even watched  the movie V for Vendetta before bed.

In conclusion, Guy Fawkes Night is my new favorite holiday!

Our Puppy Nova

Meet Nova

If you would like to send Nova a puppy shower gift here is the link to his wish list on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/1ZD3BAWUDCC9F

          This is it, our newest addition to the family Sir Nova Edmund Turington, Duke of Middle Street.   The name was inspired by science as all of our pet names are, and more specifically after an astronomical phenomena where a star collapses in upon itself in a large explosion called a Supernova.  We adopted this little boy September 30th, after only settling in for 5 days.  Adopting this little boy was not easy.  We were set on getting a dog from a rescue shelter because we wanted to give a dog that's had a hard life a new chance at a happy home.  So, once Trevor got internet at the office and since his professor gave him the first week off we looked up local kennels.  We called the Kennels to ask if they had any small dogs and it just broke Trevors heart when they told us a story of a Chihuahua and Jack Russel Terrier mix that has had a hard time.  This dog ended up in the kennel because in his previous home he was "tormented by children".  Trevor got the directions and we caught a bus and a taxi all just to get there to see this little dog.  And there was Nova, in the very first kennel, desperately begging for attention.  We asked if we could take him for a walk, the kennel obliged, and only a couple steps later Nova was rolled over onto his back looking up at us waiting to get his belly pet...right then I knew the deal was sealed because Trevor looked up at me with big sad eyes and I knew he had totally fallen in love.  We told the kennel that he was the one we wanted, they reserved him for us, however we had to go home empty handed.

          It is a requirement of the kennel that the dogs that are adopted out go to the best home possible.  They assure this by sending a dog warden out to check the property is a safe living space and has a closed in garden that can not be escaped from.  The dog warden made it out to the house by the next day, he took one look at the garden and at us, and told us to go get our dog.  This is usually not how quickly the process goes, I mean they like it when the dogs get out as quickly as possible, but the warden usually does not tell you directly their decision, they usually tell the kennel, and the kennel does or does not arrange a time for pick up.  But, the kennel and the warden knew how bad we wanted to get him home.  After the warden gave us the okay, we put our shoes on and ran towards the bus station...by the time we arrived at the kennel they had just been informed by the warden that the dog will be going to us so they were really shocked as to how quickly we got there.  We filled out all the forms, and bought him a ridiculous amount of treats and toys, along with the necessities like shampoo, and food bowls.  They helped us fit him with a harness and collar, which took them a while because at that time Nova was so scared of any touch around his neck that he would nip at you.  

          We called a taxi to come pick us up, and gathered our garbage bag full of Puppy treats and toys while the kennel employee was sneaking additional toys into our bag...it was very sweet.  The taxi took us all home, Nova thoroughly enjoyed the car ride, tongue out and all.  Once we got home we set him down in his new house and he ran and explored every single room.  He loves his new house!

          Lastly, we had to give him a bath to get the kennel smell off of him, even though the kennel advised us against it because they told us we would not be able to get his collar on again after we take it off for a bath.  The bath went well, and we had no problems putting his collar back on...he is adjusting very quickly.  Now when he sees the harness or collar he just can't stop wiggling in excitement because he knows its time for a walk.  He even let me dress him up as a devil for Halloween, he is a good boy most of the time, although we are still working with him extensively to make him comfortable and to train the instinct of nipping out of him, and to get him to stop barking.  It's a process.  The only thing that gives us some comfort and a much needed break from our little bundle of energy are puzzle toys.  I will bow to the genius that created those.  

          Here is our picture homage to Nova...enjoy!  

Bath Time

This is how he dries off after bath time!

A gift Nova left me that I found when I opened up my bag for class!  Silly boy.

He Loves to cuddle.

Nova taking a nap by his toys.

Happy Halloween!

<3  This blog is dedicated to the loving memory of Bailey one of the sweetest and most loving dogs I have had the pleasure of knowing  <3

Facing Our First Few Weeks

          There were some serious difficulties settling in. For example, not a lot of stores accept our money or check cards, because they use chip cards. When we arrived here our first priority was internet because I needed it to study from home, but when we go to the store to get our internet hooked up they tell us we need a bank account here first, so we said fine and we go to the bank to get an account, but they say we need more than a passport we need a letter from the school proving our address, so we go to the school to get the letter and we bring it back and apparently our zip code was wrong and in addition to that we need a letter from my school to prove I am studying and staying here as well. I guess proof of marriage is not enough! It was insane and makes absolutely no sense because I am his dependent, in other words most people don't go to school on a dependent visa (how would a wife that is just coming over here with her husband get one?). Anyway, finally Trevor was allowed to get a bank account, but I unfortunately have not yet as my University has just now officially enrolled me...yup, it took a total of 4 weeks and 4 trips for them to get coordinated. So things move a little slower here than we are used to. The first few weeks we had to be sure to keep cash on us, which I am still very slow at counting it out considering they have different coins and different values like 2 Pents. I admit I have been pretty close to tears a few times when I went to a store to pick up food and they would not accept our money.

          On our second day we went to purchase sheets and a comforter, and the store clerk actually had to “make our bed for us” and tell us everything we needed to buy for it because we just did not understand. The stuffing inside the blanket and the decorative cover are sold separately (called a duvet and a duvet cover), they have the sheet that ties tight to the bed but not a flat sheet. It was hard enough buying the stuff and even more confusing to put it on the bed...I am still not sure we have it right. I wish I would have had an English “Mum” to teach me.

          Anyway, back to the internet. That was an entirely insane process, once Trevor got his bank account here we went back to the internet provider, waited a week and they finally said that they would not be able to offer us internet as we failed our credit check...which was kind of like a “No Shit We Failed Our Credit Check” moment as we obviously have no credit here. Would have been great if one of the clerks saved our time and told us they do not give internet to people who haven't lived in the country for at least 3 years. We had to end up searching, and of course paying more for a provider that does not require a credit check, which as it turns out is what we should have done at the start, and now we had to wait an additional 3 weeks to get it installed. Not even kidding, 3 freaking weeks when we already have a phone line? I am pretty sure all they had to do was push a button on their end and we would have internet. So...we waited.

          Our home has been another thing, I don't think the previous tenant actually cleaned the place, and repairs clearly have not been made in a while. We found out our fridge was broken so had to go a whole week without it until they brought a new one, this time luckily it came with a freezer because I am not sure how anyone would live without one of those. The garden had to to be completely destructed it was full of weeds, spiders, and slugs. One of the hobs on the oven doesn't work and instead of fixing it they put a little sticker on it telling us it doesn't work, our stair railing has fallen off, the last tenants items were left in the cellar for us to deal with. The water does not come out of the shower right, there are cracks in the walls and stains on the carpets, and the painting is the sloppiest thing I have ever seen...they just painted without caring where it ended up, its on the floor, the light switches, everything. In America there is certainly a different level of respect and diligence in keeping up with home cleanliness and repairs.

          It sounds bad, but it isn't all that bad. There are upsides...for instance, Trevor gets the day off pretty much whenever he needs it...we have free health-care...and we never really have to see our landlords because they pretty much just leave you alone. I would rather fix it myself than have someone at our house fixing things all the time. When I think about it, it's kind of rare that I liked a landlord in the U.S. so I guess there hasn't been that much difference here.

          In summary our first few weeks were quite hard...we had no idea it would be this difficult to move to another Country. I kind of just assumed the hardest parts were over because we had gotten the visa, and somehow managed to get all our luggage over here, which was clearly not the case. Thankfully, things are getting to a point were they are beginning to run much more smoothly...we have our necessities taken care of, our home renovation projects are almost complete, and we can now officially say we have a dinning table to eat on. I know where to get groceries, as they have an Aldi's here!!! That makes us really happy, we love cheap food.  I am getting more familiar with the town and what stores to go to in order to find something, as they don't have anything like a Wal-mart superstore. It's all a learning experience, yes I get a little annoyed and emotional about all the challenges sometimes, but then I make my self step back and realize that this is why we are here, and the harder the challenge the more you realize you are growing and learning.  I can't help but think if I have struggled as much as I have moving to a culture fairly similar to my own, I cannot imagine how the other international students feel. I have so much respect for them, for example I met a girl from China who goes to my school, she had to look up words on her translator to communicate effectively with me, but somehow it was the most refreshing conversation I had in my first few weeks here. Why? Because I understood what it was like to work really hard to find the words that everyone here is familiar with, while trying to mask my accent to the best of my ability to make it as clear as possible. I remember being at UW River Falls with the international students, and some individuals who speak English as their first language would complain that the Foreign Exchange Students would form their own group and speak their own language because they are stuck up and/or were saying bad things about you. I disagree with this completely and finally have an answer as to why they did it. It's because the familiarity of what they have known for their entire lives comes back for a brief moment when they can speak to someone who shares the same words, accent, and dialect...it's a tremendous feeling of comfort like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. For example, there is an American Professor at Trevor's campus, and I could talk to that women all day because she gets it. She knows what I am saying if I say band-aids and she can help me translate it to the English version which is plasters, so she knows exactly what I am going through. It's not because I like Americans more than the English, it's because I want to have a conversation where I don't have to plan out what I am going to say and everything just naturally falls into place.

          These last few weeks have been our challenges and our successes. While we really did learn a lot, we are glad the first few weeks are over. We are now hoping to transition into a more stress free life.

Here are some of the pictures of the home projects that we have been working on.

This was the first project we took on because we really enjoy having a living space.  We did a lot of work to this room, we tiled around the fireplace, painted that wall as a Mocha colored accent, had the tv mounted, and bought that area rug to bring the room together.  We still have to buy some mini trunking to hide the tv cords, and re-upholster what turned out to be our ugly purple couches.

This is our new master bedroom, it still needs some work, but we painted that wall a nice teal/turquoise color, added a Chinese symbol that stands for Love, we bought new curtains but they have not arrived in the mail yet.  We still need to add some accent pillows and a couple decorations but it's looking a lot better than before.  And of course Nova wanted to be in the photo...he is such a goofball, my next blog is going to have to be about that little boy.

Our Journey Home

It's been quite a few weeks since Trevor and I have been in England so let us catch you up. While our flight left Sunday the 25th of August in the evening, we did not arrive until late Monday night. We were driven to the airport by Mary and Dave, then with all of our luggage in hand proceeded through security. Turns out when you pack everything you own to transport to another Country they are inclined to go through your luggage pretty thoroughly...especially since the bulk of what Trevor packed was electronics. That and neither of us had specific bags with our own things in them due to the weight restrictions...things were shoved where they fit, and every bag we had was exactly 50 pounds. 

We were hoping to catch a flight straight to the local airport, however because the trip was last minute and money is tight this did not happen, although we were lucky enough to get an insanely good deal of $290 per person.  The first flight we had to catch was to Chicago...thankfully with all this waiting a couple wise people told us to pack food...we did not really think they would let us through with it, but they did even with the food that was opened. I tend to get flight sick and never much enjoy what they serve on the plane so it was especially helpful to me. When we arrived in Chicago, we had to go through security again...same spiel...they totally emptied out our bags and it took us forever to put them back together and then we found our gate to London. Unfortunately, our flight to London was delayed an hour because the flight previous to ours had their plane struck by lightning, so they are obviously required by law to do an evaluation on the plan to make sure its ready to fly. But, not really what you want to hear when you are making an 8 hour journey over the Atlantic Ocean.

The plane ride to London was exhausting, there was no sleep, we had movies and games in front of our seats on our own tv, but that can only keep you busy for so long.  Despite this our flight did make it to it's destination only to find more waiting. We had to wait for an hour in a enormous line for the Border Agency to check us in. They looked at our Visas, and scanned our thumb and index finger on a little digital machine to make sure the visas were indeed ours. This was cool but a little frightening. The whole time we were waiting there Trevor was repeating to himself “please, I don't want to take the London underground”. The London Underground is pretty much a very cramped subway, you have to roll over peoples toes with our luggage. Instead we were able to take a quicker rail for a higher cost of course, but it was not cramped. At the second rail station we found out we would not be able to take a direct rail to Worcester as we had planned as it was Sunday, so the rails are slower, and if we wanted to get home within the day the next rail was leaving in 5 minutes....so all the luggage dragged as fast as we could to catch that rail, then a 10 minute run to catch the bus, and another 10 minute run to catch another rail. We would have been very lost and in trouble if we hadn't met two very nice people along the way. One was a middle aged lady who actually helped carry our luggage and made sure the bus would not leave without us, and she knew the lady that managed the rail and was able to make sure they waited for us. The other was a young guy who happened to also study at Trevor's University whom also helped us carry our luggage and make sure we got off at the right stop. Finally we had arrived to Foregate Rail Station, only a few blocks from our home.

The first thing we did when we arrived to the final rail station was to call Trevor's work colleagues, they came to pick us up and take us to our house since they also picked up the keys for us. Not that we had that much luggage, but they could not fit it all and the 4 of us in their English sized car. So, Trevor and his professor walked home while I rode with the luggage and the driver...absolutely horrifying. It was so very hard for me to get into what is supposed to be the drivers seat and the twists and turns of the street, the small width of the street, seriously scary...I will not drive here. By the time the car arrived to the house Trevor and his professor were already there...its much easier to be a pedestrian than a driver. This was so surreal...we had seen so many pictures of the property but it was so much different when we actually got here. The home is actually organized really oddly. Doors close off every room, there is a switch for every plug in, the rooms are smaller but there seems to be more of them. It's hard to explain, we will have to post pictures later on. When we got here our fridge and cupboards were filled with food and we had all of our necessities taken care of...this was so nice. The first thing I did was crash on the bed and sleep for many hours. Trevor stayed up cleaning and re-arranging the house.

   

Anyhow, for your enjoyment here are some pictures from the journey.

Last minute packing...making sure we have everything before we load it up in the car.

In the car cuddling the blanket...early mornings make me cold.  At least I was not hungry as we had a good breakfast of donuts that Auntie Virgina brought us over and demanded we needed.  We <3 her.

Mother in-law Mary already playing on her phone...it looks like she is bored.

All of our luggage out and ready to go.  I even stuffed my sweatshirt pocket with my things.

Mmm...beef jerky.  The food that kept us sane on our journey.  Don't ever go to the airport with food...I know for a fact you can get through security even with an open package of food like this.

The view over London.

Touching ground in London.

The insanely long line for immigration.

Taking our luggage off the spinning thing and trying to compact it so we can get to our train quickly.

Nice and compact...but it didn't work and the brown bags wheel died in the journey.

If we would have just looked 2 feet away we would of noticed they had trolley's.   

You can not tell me you are not thinking about Harry Potter right now.

My first train...notice the words "mind the gap" at the bottom.  lol

Trevor looking exhausted...this was our last train we had to take and we are only minutes from home.

I was so excited about the train it gave me a good adrenaline rush to get the luggage home.

Unfortunately I gave up on taking pictures at this point...I got too tired.  After this picture I slept for a very long time.


Monday I had to wake up and go to my induction at school a 4 hour train ride there and back, Trevor's professor gave him the week off so he went with me to help me navigate the rails which I still don't get by the way. That went well, my professor was really nice and really excited about having me on campus.  We got home at 9 pm and then I had to wake up and do it all over again Tuesday for my first day of class. There are only 13 other students in my program so its nice and small like I am used to, everyone is really nice and they were all very fascinated by my stories about deer, and bears being in my backyard back in Wisconsin. It was funny hearing my professor teach a class and use the phrase, “like a rabbit in the headlights”, blokes and lasses, etc. I had to do everything I could to hold back laughter. One of my professors, whom I am very glad is not teaching any of my classes, I could not understand a word he was saying. Then I had to do the train ride back, the rail system is so confusing and they use military time (which of course they don't call it that here), and their train schedules are impossible to read...I usually just ask the people at the information desk, then follow the towns I know back. Hopefully this is something I learn so I don't get so worked up.

We then followed all this craziness up with some more exhaustion by going to town and purchasing things that we needed for the house.  There was no rest for us the first week we arrived.  Stay tuned for more updates on how we are settling in.