In the midst of all of these really deep posts--which tend to be the majority of my writing--I felt I would take a moment to list the things that annoy me about Scotland. Granted not much does, and many of these things are just mere differences between American and British vernaculars. However, I think some of them are down right annoying.
1. Crisps--which are chips (e.g. Lay's or Dorritos) come in ridculous flavors: prawn (shrimp), chicken, pork and tarragon, chili, and many others which I can't remember. What happened to good old sour cream and onion, or BBQ?
2. Zucchini is known as a courgette here. Literally the first time since I've been here that I was embarassed to be an American. I was in the Tesco trying to check out at the self-serve checkout (which is exactly the same as at Shaw's or Hannaford). Yet when I tried to find zucchini in the menu of veggies, it was no where to be found. I then had to flag down an employee who told me with a slight snicker that they were courgettes. Who the hell call's it that?
3. The paper things you use to wipe your mouth at the dinner table are called serviettes. A napkin is a female hygiene item. Whoops. **Ironic how much the Brits use French words, despite how much animosity they claim to have towards them**
4. Soda comes in really small bottles. But I guess as a consolation, beer comes in really big cans.
5. They drive on the wrong side of the street.
Remarkably, that's all I can think of right now. So to balance it out, here are some of the more mundane things which are amazing about the UK.
1. Indian Food. My god, it's so good. Now I haven't been out to get it yet, a move which will probably boost my opinion too. But for right now I'm living off of jarred Indian sauces (Tikka, Korma, Bahgan Jash) they're all about 80p a jar and are absolutely delicious. If they don't have something comparable back at Shaw's I'm going to be really pissed.
2. Chips (French Fries) are really really good--in moderation of course.
3. Shreddies Cereal. It's like Wheat Chex on crack. And are addictive.
4. Scotch Pies. Yes, they have liver in them, but there's nothing yummier when you're at a football match.
It's obvious by how food-oriented this list has been that I don't eat as much as I should. Oh well, I'm waiting for Italy and Spain!
Black pudding = Awesome.
ReplyDeleteOne of those things that is not in the U.S. at all.