For those who aren't aware Krystle and I booked flights home for later this year. Details will be forwarded later in due course. While our thoughts have not really been of home while we've been here, the thought of a visit has made us a little nostalgic. As stated previously Krystle misses Dixie drumsticks which seem to arrive from home at erratic intervals. I of course miss Tim Tams, I do have some Milo still to ease the pain. After talking to Krystle's cousin Maxi earlier today I am now missing chocolate machines though. So it will be a good time for us to experience a little of the usual before we come back for some more time here.
That bring us to the comparison between the two countries. Of course the ones that spring to mind are their ineptness at sport ,while we are world champions at everything we put our mind too. The weather of course, permanent bleak is the general outlook, though the occasional spell of temporary soggy can disrupt this pattern. The sun in winter is almost never seen, mainly because even when it is out it doesn't rise much above the horizon of roofs. Of course these comparisons are stereotypical and definitely partisan so I thought I make some hopefully more telling observations.
London is an expensive place to live. For us its complicated by the fact that unless you rememeber to double the price of things, they often seem far cheaper then they are. A 10 pound trip to the shops seems cheap but when you consider you've spent the equivalent of 20 dollars, not such good value. Petrol here costs about 1.06 a litre, which by the simple conversion method puts it at over 2 dollars, and of course premium, which the mini likes, costs even more. So if your complaining about the high price of fuel at home, you can stop. Complaining is another particular British trait that they have mastered and taken to heights never believed possible. The art of complaining politely is a nonsense as well, as the British pretence at politeness should tell them their complaint isn't that big a deal, but they will complain to anyone that will listen without ever doing anything to solve or fix anything. All entertainment for those with a more relaxed attitude to life. The other oddity with fuel is it seems to have a fixed price. It can go weeks at a time without changing. They seemed to have never heard of the 'Price Cycle' and when I tell them that fuel is cheaper on Tuesdays and offer to pay them less, they laugh then throw me out of the servo. Oh, and they don't use words like servo.
Pubs here of course are great. I actually don't mind that they aren't just an excuse to have poker machines where people drink. It usually creates a better atmosphere then many pubs at home. That said the realigning of pubs in Australia as family entertainment outlets seems influenced by the British approach. Its also strange here that unlike at home where family areas are clearly designated, kids here are able to seemingly walk up to the bar and order whatever they want. And when it comes to drinking and driving they are woefully uneducated on the topic. They find words like 'Booze Bus' hilarious. Don't they know drink driving isn't a laughing matter. They have no idea generally how much they can drink before driving. There is generally a lack of advertising or policing in this area. Some people will not have anything to drink if they are driving, believing any imbuing will put them over, despite the limit being .08, while some will drive regardless of how much they have had. As long as they don't let the kids drive instead.
Driving over here is a strange experience. The roads around London are all seven hundred years old and only wide enough for very skinny horses. They have a congestion charge where you get to pay to use the most popular roads. The problem is of course that as soon as you start charging people for something then everyone else thinks it must be really good and doesn't want to miss out, so as a consequence the roads are more congested then ever. The motorways are quite good and seem to have a speed limit in excess of 150km/hr. Unfortunately our car doesn't go that fast so we tend to avoid these. They also have the most complicated collection of on and off ramps. Because all roads lead to everywhere, so technically you are never lost, it does led to a bizarre assortment of spaghetti connections and on/off ramps that you can quite easily get lost on. Makes the options of North on the Pacific Highway and South on the Princes Highway seem easy to remember. Roundabouts here tend to discard the normal convention of a crossroad approach and generally road planners have competed to jam as many entry/exit points into roundabouts as possible. This has led to situations where our Sat Nav has told us to take the 22nd exit off the roundabout and we've gone round 15 times cause we kept losing count. More helpful is the fact that the roundabouts don't seem to have lanes, so you are never in the 'wrong' lane. If, for example, you are way over on the left and need to turn right, you just do because there are no lane markings to discourage you.
Other differences include the checkout chicks at the supermarket, who get there own seat, don't have to pack the bags for you and are still the slowest moving profession you could ever see. And whats with Argos, where you order in one spot, pay in another and then collect from an area like your receiving mail from home in the safety of your war zone camp. Their supermarkets also work on the principle of selling everything they can think of, but still seem to have so many things they don't have that you actually want and need. The supermarkets also sell alcohol, so much more convenient as you only have to line up once. They don't generally have bottle shops, but off-licenses that sell booze, news and for when your bills are due. Our favourite local off-license is Eddie's and he pretty much sells everything you can possibly need from the stationery, alcohol, media, communication, sweet and chocolate, refreshments and household necessities like electricity departments.
Public transport is better then at home, but also very, very busy during peak times. To watch 'gentlemen' push women out of the way to make sure they don't have to wait the two minutes before the next tube train arrives is to make you wonder if urban consolidation is always best for society. You are also conscience of the ever present CCTV that observes every moment made in Britain acrosss every hour of every day of every individual. And the sight at Stansted of shoes being x-rayed because of one guy makes security in Asia look dangerously lax.
The British also have a contradictory attitude towards travelling distances. A three hour trip, like we used to do between Wollongong and Newcastle, would only be undertaken during the holidays and require a weeks rest after completion. Seriously though, the British always want to tell you how far or long somewhere took them, like they are so proud of venturing out of their bubble. They are impressed though if you tell them how you would routinely drive Sydney to Brisbane without stopping. They would only do that over a week at best. The puzzle is, and this also possibly supplies the answer, people happily spend 2-3 hours a day travelling to and from work. Maybe because the prospect of a 3 hour trip in a car could struggle to get you halfway across London, it barely seems worth the effort, so if the effort has been made it becomes news worthy story.
If reading this blog hasn't wasted enough of your time at work and you still have several hours until you can go home, yet your boss hasn't come back from their long lunch, here are some things to distract you:
Game to Play
http://www.stickcricket.com/
Music to listen to
Radiohead - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoLJJRIWCLU
And Krystle recommends these podcasts
http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/shows/thespoonman/podcasts/index.html
http://www.2dayfm.com.au/shows/hamishandandy/listen/podcasts
That bring us to the comparison between the two countries. Of course the ones that spring to mind are their ineptness at sport ,while we are world champions at everything we put our mind too. The weather of course, permanent bleak is the general outlook, though the occasional spell of temporary soggy can disrupt this pattern. The sun in winter is almost never seen, mainly because even when it is out it doesn't rise much above the horizon of roofs. Of course these comparisons are stereotypical and definitely partisan so I thought I make some hopefully more telling observations.
London is an expensive place to live. For us its complicated by the fact that unless you rememeber to double the price of things, they often seem far cheaper then they are. A 10 pound trip to the shops seems cheap but when you consider you've spent the equivalent of 20 dollars, not such good value. Petrol here costs about 1.06 a litre, which by the simple conversion method puts it at over 2 dollars, and of course premium, which the mini likes, costs even more. So if your complaining about the high price of fuel at home, you can stop. Complaining is another particular British trait that they have mastered and taken to heights never believed possible. The art of complaining politely is a nonsense as well, as the British pretence at politeness should tell them their complaint isn't that big a deal, but they will complain to anyone that will listen without ever doing anything to solve or fix anything. All entertainment for those with a more relaxed attitude to life. The other oddity with fuel is it seems to have a fixed price. It can go weeks at a time without changing. They seemed to have never heard of the 'Price Cycle' and when I tell them that fuel is cheaper on Tuesdays and offer to pay them less, they laugh then throw me out of the servo. Oh, and they don't use words like servo.
Pubs here of course are great. I actually don't mind that they aren't just an excuse to have poker machines where people drink. It usually creates a better atmosphere then many pubs at home. That said the realigning of pubs in Australia as family entertainment outlets seems influenced by the British approach. Its also strange here that unlike at home where family areas are clearly designated, kids here are able to seemingly walk up to the bar and order whatever they want. And when it comes to drinking and driving they are woefully uneducated on the topic. They find words like 'Booze Bus' hilarious. Don't they know drink driving isn't a laughing matter. They have no idea generally how much they can drink before driving. There is generally a lack of advertising or policing in this area. Some people will not have anything to drink if they are driving, believing any imbuing will put them over, despite the limit being .08, while some will drive regardless of how much they have had. As long as they don't let the kids drive instead.
Driving over here is a strange experience. The roads around London are all seven hundred years old and only wide enough for very skinny horses. They have a congestion charge where you get to pay to use the most popular roads. The problem is of course that as soon as you start charging people for something then everyone else thinks it must be really good and doesn't want to miss out, so as a consequence the roads are more congested then ever. The motorways are quite good and seem to have a speed limit in excess of 150km/hr. Unfortunately our car doesn't go that fast so we tend to avoid these. They also have the most complicated collection of on and off ramps. Because all roads lead to everywhere, so technically you are never lost, it does led to a bizarre assortment of spaghetti connections and on/off ramps that you can quite easily get lost on. Makes the options of North on the Pacific Highway and South on the Princes Highway seem easy to remember. Roundabouts here tend to discard the normal convention of a crossroad approach and generally road planners have competed to jam as many entry/exit points into roundabouts as possible. This has led to situations where our Sat Nav has told us to take the 22nd exit off the roundabout and we've gone round 15 times cause we kept losing count. More helpful is the fact that the roundabouts don't seem to have lanes, so you are never in the 'wrong' lane. If, for example, you are way over on the left and need to turn right, you just do because there are no lane markings to discourage you.
Other differences include the checkout chicks at the supermarket, who get there own seat, don't have to pack the bags for you and are still the slowest moving profession you could ever see. And whats with Argos, where you order in one spot, pay in another and then collect from an area like your receiving mail from home in the safety of your war zone camp. Their supermarkets also work on the principle of selling everything they can think of, but still seem to have so many things they don't have that you actually want and need. The supermarkets also sell alcohol, so much more convenient as you only have to line up once. They don't generally have bottle shops, but off-licenses that sell booze, news and for when your bills are due. Our favourite local off-license is Eddie's and he pretty much sells everything you can possibly need from the stationery, alcohol, media, communication, sweet and chocolate, refreshments and household necessities like electricity departments.
Public transport is better then at home, but also very, very busy during peak times. To watch 'gentlemen' push women out of the way to make sure they don't have to wait the two minutes before the next tube train arrives is to make you wonder if urban consolidation is always best for society. You are also conscience of the ever present CCTV that observes every moment made in Britain acrosss every hour of every day of every individual. And the sight at Stansted of shoes being x-rayed because of one guy makes security in Asia look dangerously lax.
The British also have a contradictory attitude towards travelling distances. A three hour trip, like we used to do between Wollongong and Newcastle, would only be undertaken during the holidays and require a weeks rest after completion. Seriously though, the British always want to tell you how far or long somewhere took them, like they are so proud of venturing out of their bubble. They are impressed though if you tell them how you would routinely drive Sydney to Brisbane without stopping. They would only do that over a week at best. The puzzle is, and this also possibly supplies the answer, people happily spend 2-3 hours a day travelling to and from work. Maybe because the prospect of a 3 hour trip in a car could struggle to get you halfway across London, it barely seems worth the effort, so if the effort has been made it becomes news worthy story.
If reading this blog hasn't wasted enough of your time at work and you still have several hours until you can go home, yet your boss hasn't come back from their long lunch, here are some things to distract you:
Game to Play
http://www.stickcricket.com/
Music to listen to
Radiohead - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoLJJRIWCLU
Bob Dylan (remix) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCeKkJlMJDQ
Ben Folds - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBT2wzpPI2kAnd Krystle recommends these podcasts
http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/shows/thespoonman/podcasts/index.html
http://www.2dayfm.com.au/shows/hamishandandy/listen/podcasts
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