7:4 ... at Least til I Think of More

Seven things I’ve learned in England

1. To treat collective nouns as plural. On a good day, I can tell practice from practise too.
2. To think in pounds. Calculating how much stuff here would cost in US$ is flat-out depressing. Conversely, considering American prices in £ is sterling!
3. The Window Tax. All those bricked up window-shaped non-openings on buildings, in exactly the spot you think there ought to be a window? That’s the Window Tax.
4. Americans are loud. Mostly. But we do have nice teeth. Again, mostly.
5. To like football. You know, the soccer kind. And, perhaps more impressively, cricket.
6. That it will take nearly half a day to wash one small load of laundry.
7. Being polite and being nice aren’t the same thing. Most people here are mostly polite most of the time, whether they like you or not. But when someone is nice, they always mean it.

But I still don’t get it…

1. Celsius. Nope. Can’t do it.
2. And, come to that, metrics in general. A kilo? I know how much that is, but how heavy is that?
3. Marmite. Eccles cake (pass. for obvious reasons). Meat-flavored crisps.
4. French wine. I don’t know nearly enough about French wine. Or Australian, Italian, or South African. Clearly, I was too steeped in California wines. Happily, this is one I am content to keep working on. Steadily.