The biggest obstacle is obviously location, and for a couple reasons. First of all, the North East is a largely industrial blue collar area so marketing jobs are hard to come by. Also, I have found that the job market here doesn’t work the same as it does in the US, although I think London and the South East are an exception because its a very cosmopolitan region and my chances down there would probably be much better.

I think the most notable difference between the job market here in the North East and the job market at home is that it is incredibly difficult to make a career change. Moving here I thought I could use my previous experience and education to start a new career, but thats just not how people build their careers here. Most people go to school with a specific career in mind. They acquire the necessary accreditation to pursue that specific career and that is basically what they stick with. People very rarely change their career path and even remain within a given industry. I first noticed this trend just from reading the descriptions of job vacancies which almost always list very specific requirements related to a potential candidate’s work experience.

An American company will often hire someone who comes with relevant experience from another industry. For example, even though my experience comes from the hospitality industry, in the US I could work in the marketing department of nearly any industry from education to automotive. Certainly it takes some training and time to become familiar with a new company and industry but the beauty of American business is that people can apply lessons learned from other sectors and bring a fresh perspective to their new role. Here in the North East of England, people are generally expected to stay in one industry. If you start your career in marketing for a manufacturing company it is expected that you will remain on a career path within the manufacturing industry. This has been my single greatest obstacle, I don’t have any experience that is relevant to any specific industry that exists in the North East.

A year and a half and countless boilerplate rejection letters later, I have found that most prospective employers aren’t even willing to look at my CV (curriculum vitae, similar to a résumé) once they see I have no experience in their industry. Its something I have spoken to recruiters and advisors about and they have done nothing to dispel my fears that this area is going to be hard for me to crack coming from the corporate environment I have worked in. The other problem I have is that I am just not from around here. I have managed to get a few prospective employers to see me, and each time I hear back the same thing that my experience and education are impressive and that my interview went great but I “lack local experience and knowledge”.

Another obstacle is the difference in the education systems. In the US most job seekers don’t include their high school GPA on their résumé, and you certainly wouldn’t publish your ACT/SAT scores. Here in the UK most job seekers post their entire school history and include their GCSE scores on their CVs. This is because unlike a high school diploma and GPA which is a comprehensive accreditation, GCSEs are achieved in specific course areas. Also, UK job seekers who go on to university will have to complete A-levels to gain admission to university, which again unlike comprehensive ACT/SAT scores are achieved in specific subject areas.

A UK job seeker’s GCSE and A-level scores paint a picture of what the candidate’s academic strengths are, something that American qualifications can’t quite demonstrate. When it comes down to it, most employers won’t understand your educational background as much as they would understand a British applicant’s qualifications. It is possible to acquire an official “translation” of what your credentials are equivalent to in the UK system. However, you have to provide all your transcripts and also pay about £45 to get a Statement of Comparability through UK NARIC. It is a requirement should you wish to pursue further education in the UK, but as a job seeker it is just a few more hoops to jump through to get this analysis, which after all the red tape you have to go through to apply for a visa and other processes you have to go through just to get to the UK, that extra step can be a bit daunting.

So certainly I can’t be doomed to perpetual unemployment, after a year and a half of fruitless searching I’ve considered my options. Firstly, as a spouse of a British citizen and a resident of the UK I could go back to school and pay domestic school tuition which is fixed for all universities in the UK at £3,290 for the 2010/2011 school year. I have looked into teaching courses as teachers are in high demand in my area and I would only need to go back to school for one year and then I could become a teacher.

I have also started volunteering at some local non-profit organizations. Its a way to get my foot in the door and also gain some “local experience and knowledge” and a great way to network in my area. Currently I am volunteering at the community radio station which has already led to some more opportunities to volunteer at a local community centre. I am hoping my volunteering will open some doors to gainful employment, or at the very least add a local element as I build my CV and references. I hope that as the UK economy recovers and I continue to build connections in my area that my long and arduous job search will finally come to an end and I will be able to start a new career here.

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Hartlepool was chosen to be the final port for the 2010 Tall Ships Races this summer from August 7-10. The town has been organizing the event for the past two years and now that we are finally in 2010, preparations have shifted into high gear.

From the Official Hartlepool Tall Ships 2010 Website:

The Tall Ships’ Races are an internationally acclaimed annual competition organised by Sail Training International and held every summer in European waters. Each year between 70 and 100 vessels from 15-20 countries, crewed by some 5-6,000 young people from over 30 countries worldwide take part in this unique event that combines four days of activities in each port with racing or cruising-in-company between ports. The main aim of the event is to provide an opportunity for young people to develop their personal skills in a challenging and memorable sail-training environment and hence at least 50% of a Tall Ship’s crew must be aged 15-25.

This is a coup for Hartlepool as traditionally the final port for the race is a higher profile coastal European city. It is a great honor for Hartlepool to be chosen to host final ceremonies for this event, for a town this size it is like getting the Olympics. The four day festival is set to be the largest event the town has ever staged and I am really excited as all the ships will parade right in front of my flat and I will have the best front row seat to see them all coming in. I will be sure to give a full report here on Anglotopia as the race unfolds this summer.

The festivities couldn’t come at a better time for Hartlepool which has been hit very hard by the recession and was identified as a “hot spot” for unemployment. Hartlepool is expected to have around a million visitors throughout the four-day festival. Every hotel in the town and surrounding area is booked solid and it should be a great economic boost for all of the local businesses. Hopefully the influx of visitors will pump some much needed cashflow into the local economy.

The event should also attract visitors from all over the UK and it will be a great chance for Hartlepool to demonstrate how much the town has changed in the past decade. The hub of activity will be at the Hartlepool Marina, which until quite recently was the location of the docks. The formerly industrial area underwent a £60 million renovation and now houses the town’s best restaurants, shops and luxury flats all surrounding the lovely marina with amazing views out to sea. My little village of Seaton Carew is connected to the Hartlepool Marina via a wide promenade that runs along the seaside, so it is an ideal place for a stroll along the sea and to watch the ships come in. In the past Hartlepool has had a reputation around the UK as being a bit scruffy, so it will be a great chance to show off how the town has developed and attract some domestic tourism and alter attitudes many other Brits have toward our town.

As the event approaches I will be sure to post more updates here on Anglotopia about festivities and entertainment that are being organized for this exciting event.

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The audition show was last week, and I thought it was quite dignified. It was just one show which was half auditions and half “boot camp” and they didn’t show many of the embarrassing bad auditions like they do on the X Factor/American Idol. For many viewers, seeing people embarrass themselves is the best part and they will tune into week after week of audition shows to see it, but I tend to skip those audition shows because I feel bad for the people who are humiliated on national television. For So You Think You Can Dance they showed mostly the auditions of people who got through to the choreography camp and only a handful of the embarrassing ones. I thought it was a very classy move and a good statement that this show is serious about dancing and isn’t just about making good TV. Although, they did show the audition of burlesque dancer Fabia Cerra who is no stranger to British reality shows as she was a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent. She fell off the front of the stage during her SYTYCD audition and it was just too good not to air.

So far it appears that the producers of the show are drawing on the same model for success as the US version. Even the theme song and the host are the same and they have done little to change the format of the show. For it’s first season, auditions were held in both London and Manchester. I think the judges were surprised they got more quality auditions in Manchester than they did in London. They expected that because many aspiring dancers move to London they would get the best auditions there, but the North sent out their best and blew away the judges and I was a proud Northerner when I watched the Manchester auditions and saw the wealth of talent up here.

The first night of live dancing was great, basically the same format as the American show but with British dancers. I think what will make or break this show are the choreographers. The guest choreographers on America’s SYTYCD really made the show what it is and have made a name for themselves outside the dance world through the show. Choreographers like Mia Michaels and Tabitha and Napoleon on the American show have been nominated for nearly a dozen Emmy awards for their routines for the show, so they have set the bar very high. The choreographers who worked on last night’s first show were great, but nothing really stood out to me or moved me like some of the memorable American performances. Still it is only the first week and I have high hopes to see some innovative routines as the show progresses. If the British version is going to have the success of its American predecesor, together the choreographers and dancers will need to put forward some really dynamic performances.

Here is a clip of two of my favorite dancers on the show this year- Mark & Lizzie- who happened to be partnered together:

So You Think You Can Dance airs Saturday nights on BBC1 (check the website for schedules)

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I prefer to fly out of a local airport called Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME) because its a small airport that is only about 30 minutes away from my home and has short lines. Most of the flights that operate out of this airport are small connection flights. There are some advantages to this, but I learned over the past weeks that there are some major downsides as well.

Most of my travel woes can be attributed to bad weather, but also I found that much of my distress and frustration was caused by the airline staff themselves. Particularly the staff of KLM Royal Dutch airlines. Here I will outline my major gripes about KLM, most which are related to communication with the passengers.

Durham Tees Valley Airport

• The problems started right away with my first flight from Durham Tees Valley to Amsterdam. The flight was delayed an hour and then when we finally landed the plane was on the ground at Amsterdam for a further 45 minutes. These problems were obviously unavoidable, but my frustration came from the lack of information we were given by the KLM flight attendants. On every single flight I have ever been on no matter how big or small, the captain has always let us know the local time and temperature when we reached the gate. When my flight landed in Amsterdam, no such announcement was made. I knew I was cutting it close so I didn’t want to waste any time getting my cell phone out and powering it up to see what the time was. As we were exiting the plane the flight attendants were reluctant to engage with any of the passengers, the majority of the passengers were cutting it close to a major connection and believed they had probably already missed their window to board their connecting flight. They would only tell us that ground staff inside the terminal at the gate would be able to give us answers, but when we entered the airport nobody was there but security checking passports. The important information they failed to share with me was a) what time it was and b) that my connecting flight was holding the plane for me so there was no need to panic. Instead as I sprinted through Schiphol I worked myself into a state of panic, having no idea what time it was, if I was going to the correct gate, or if there would be any plane waiting there when I arrived at the gate. I could have made my way to the gate quickly and calmly with only  little bit of information from the crew onboard that flight.
• My returning Delta flights from Chicago Midway to Detroit and then from Detroit to Amsterdam were fine. The only minor problem I had was that Delta airlines in Chicago charged me $50 for my second bag even though I was connecting to an international flight and I showed the desk staff my receipt from KLM which indicated that I was allowed two pieces of baggage. The woman working the desk at  Midway told me that it didn’t matter, that was KLM and this was Delta’s policy. It was my belief that Delta and KLM are under the same umbrella but Delta was unable to honor a receipt from KLM which I found very surprising. I still don’t know if this was a mess up at the Delta desk or what, but I have submitted a claim back to KLM to reimburse me for my second piece of luggage and I am awaiting a reply.
• The problems started again when I reached Amsterdam. I had a 4 1/2 hour layover there and as I sat in the lounge suddenly my flight number was simply removed from the board and the woman at the desk conveniently walked away leaving it empty. I proceeded to another nearby desk and asked the woman there what had happened. She just told me that it was cancelled and I was to sit down and wait for an announcement. So I did, and I and the other confused passengers sat there for nearly an hour before we were finally given the announcement.
• The displaced passengers from the KLM flight home to England were placed on two flights, I was lucky enough to get onto the one that left at 9:15 that evening instead of the one leaving the following morning. However, the catch was that instead of flying into Teesside I was going to fly into Humberside where I would then take a coach to Teesside. So it was a 50 minute flight to Humberside followed by a 2 1/2 hour coach ride.
• While waiting to board the plane to Humberside I witnessed several disturbing things, the most disturbing was that when I glanced over to the security checkpoint at the front of the gate the security staff were all goofing off. There was nobody in the line, but there was a lounge full of passengers watching them as they stood around looking like a gang of high school kids giggling, making faces and even at one point playing hide and seek behind the metal detectors. I was shocked at this behavior, especially considering that less than two weeks earlier the security staff at this very airport allowed a man with explosives sewed into his underwear onto a flight to Detroit. You would think considering the PR nightmare this has caused for the security team at this airport they would be under strict orders to keep up the appearance of focus and vigilance, and this was clearly not the case.
• The other disturbing thing I witnessed as I stood in line waiting to board my flight was that the member of staff who was supposed to be checking people in was 20 minutes late arriving to the gate. The passengers on the flight to Cardiff that left out of the gate before mine had a boarding time of 8:05 on their tickets but the woman didn’t arrive until 8:25, which was also 10 minutes after my flight to Humberside was scheduled to board. I felt like those of us on the small KLM Connection flights were placed in a remote lounge and forgotten and the gate staff arrived when it was convenient and their job was to scan boarding passes and that was it.
• When it came time to board my flight an airport caddy arrived with two minors and a woman in a wheelchair. I was standing at the front of the line and witnessed much discussion as to how they would get the woman in the wheelchair on the plane. In order to board the plane passengers are taken on a bus from the gate and then walk across the tarmac and up the stairs to board. I was really shocked that 15 minutes AFTER the plane was scheduled to start boarding, the staff still had not worked out with this poor elderly woman how they were going to get her on the plane, something that really should have been arranged before she even arrived at the airport.
• As we stood there, now 25 minutes later than the boarding time listed on our tickets, the staff simply made an announcement that they were having communication problems with the plane and that we should all sit down and it would be another 10 minutes. There was little explanation of what was causing the delay, although those of us at the front of the line could deduce that the problem was they hadn’t made the proper arrangements to assist a disabled passenger and were scrambling to find a solution.
• Since there was nobody at the gate who could help answer our questions about what would happen when we reached Humberside, once aboard the plane we asked the flight attendant if she could give us any indication of how long our journey from Humberside to Teesside would be. She just said she was aware that there were people on the flight who were from a cancelled flight into Teesside and she heard that a coach was supposed to take us to Teesside but she had no other information at all for us. It wasn’t until I landed in Humberside and boarded the coach that I was finally able to ascertain approximately what time I would arrive and made travel arrangements to get home.
• My final outrage came when we started pulling into the Teesside region. I was shocked to see that less than an inch of snow had fallen and all of the major roads were completely clear, that is until we actually pulled into the airport and that was another story altogether. It was clear that maintenance at the airport had been neglected, even though the airport has access to its own plow and gritters the entire area surrounding the airport (and I can only imagine the runway) were frozen solid from the dusting of snow that had fallen and then frozen on the ground because nobody had bothered to remove it. That’s right, what was supposed to be a 4 1/2 hour layover followed by an hour flight turned into a 9 hour layover, 50 minute flight and 2 1/2 hour bus ride all because the maintenance staff at Teesside couldn’t move less than an inch of snow.

I have always enjoyed the ease of flying from small local airports, and I have also always enjoyed my flights with KLM. However, it seems that the staff of Teesside Airport and KLM Royal Dutch airlines are only able to deliver in the best of circumstances. The next time I fly I will probably avoid KLM and especially if I am flying in the winter I will avoid flying out of Teesside in the future.

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There are many challenges when it comes to managing the holidays. First of all, if you are spending the holidays in the UK, how do you get gifts to family and make an effort to be a part of their celebration overseas? If you are going back to your home country for the holidays, when can you start your Christmas shopping? How much can you fit in your suitcase? It takes a lot of juggling and no matter where you are, there is always going to be a bittersweet feeling that you can’t be somewhere else.

Christmas Day in Hartlepool 2008

Last year my husband and I stayed here and celebrated the holidays with his family for this first time. It was great, I thought it was going to be really difficult but on Christmas Day I wasn’t missing my family as much as I had expected to. This year I am returning to my parents home in Metro Detroit for the first time in 17 months. Here are some of the ways I have dealt with the challenges.

Gifts

So what to do about gifts. There are tons of options, everyone does it differently but this is how I played it. Shipping internationally usually costs more than the value of the gift, so my first step was to order things online from American stores and have them shipped to my parents’ home. Most UK banks will do the currency exchange for you so if you have a credit or debit card you can order from many US sites and pay with your credit or debit card. I did a lot of this for this year’s gifts and just let my mom know to expect a box and not to open it. When I get home I will have a stack of boxes waiting to be opened and for gifts to be wrapped.

Last year I ordered from sites like Amazon that offer a wide range of products with gift wrapping so the gifts arrived at my parents’s house gift wrapped and ready for Christmas morning. There are gift wrapping options on many US stores so its easy to ship gifts directly to family and friends without spoiling the surprise.

But what fun would it be if I only gave them stuff they could get in the US? I have also bought certain special British items to take and share with my family. I bought a tin of Cadbury’s chocolate biscuits, a tin of Scottish shortbread, some After Eight chocolate mints and a tin of Earl Grey from  the Harrod’s Tea Counter. I tried to find things that are cleared for customs, which means they mostly need to be packaged and the ingredients should be identifiable. Also, lightweight so I don’t go over the weight requirement. Another thing to remember is that buying electronics and media in the UK and gifting it to family and friends in the US can be tricky. DVDs, video games and other media have region codings that won’t work in most US DVD players and game consoles. They are lightweight and small so they are easy to trasnport, but sadly when you get it there it probably won’t work on American media players.

Communication

I use Skype to keep in touch with my family throughout the year, we have a standing “date” every Sunday to make sure we stay in touch regularly. Also with my husband being deployed I have been able to use Skype to keep in touch with him as well. Our Christmas Day plan is to get on Skype at about 8-9 am EST and my husband and I will open our presents together. He has also sent my gifts ahead to my parents house and I shipped his gifts to him so we can open them “together” on Christmas morning. Its taken quite a bit of planning, but its totally worth it to have the closest possible thing to being together on Christmas and if all goes to plan we will still be able to see the looks on each other’s faces when we open our gifts.

Travel

I faced the full brunt of European weather delays Monday and I have one lesson learned. Be patient. As I stood in a line at the lost baggage desk there was a woman in front of me who had just flown in from New York. She was shaking with anger that her bags had been lost, little did she know that the entire line behind her had just disembarked from an 8 hour flight, many who had been travelling for well over 24 hours from destinations in Africa and Asia. Most of us handled it graciously and when I tearfully greeted my parents the last thing on my mind was that I had nothing but the clothes on my back and my laptop and cell phone in my carry on. Taking all the frustrations of the day in stride was the difference between enjoying my reunion with my family and seeing Detroit for the first time in 18 months and this irrate woman who was so distracted by her anger she couldn’t experience the satisfaction of knowing she would get to spend the holidays with her family. Holiday travel is infamously rife with complications. The key is to expect it so you won’t be angry and let down when it happens to you. Plan ahead for the worst case scenario and don’t leave your Christmas to the mercy of the airlines and you will find you can manage any travel frustrations with nothing more than a few deep breaths.

When this post goes live on Wednesday, I will already be in America reunited with my whole family and seeing most of them for the first time in 17 months. I can’t wait to finally be able to share all of my adventures and tales of my experiences with them in person.

I wish everyone who reads my column here a very Happy Holiday and I really want to take a moment to thank Jonathan for allowing me to write this column, its been a great way for me to share my experiences with people and to look at every new experience I have here a little closer. I think my eyes have been opened to a lot of things I might not have bothered to remember if I wasn’t thinking of a potential post. I am really excited for what will happen with Anglotopia in 2010 and I am looking forward to sharing lots of new experiences with you.

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I heard a report on the radio the other day that many bookies have stopped taking bets on the Christmas number one since every year since 2005 the winner of the X Factor shoots straight to the top with the song they release the week of the X Factor final. The X Factor producers have  intentionally scheduled the show to culminate less than two weeks before Christmas, just in time for the winner’s single to be downloaded and requested on the radio enough to reach the top. The final single is actually chosen about a month before the final to make sure all potential finalists can sing it, and its usually recorded by each of the top three finalists the week before and the alternate versions from the runners up are discarded never to be heard and the winner’s version goes public only hours after the result is announced.

This year the Christmas number one is slated to be X Factor winner Joe McElderry or “Geordie Joe” who is a good North Eastern boy from South Shields. I was thrilled this past weekend when he won as I voted for him every week and think he was definitely the most talented singer in this year’s competition. This year the X Factor single is “The Climb” which was released by Miley Cyrus quite recently for The Hannah Montana Movie. I thought it was an interesting choice to select a song that has been in the charts by another artist so recently, but its definitely an improvement over last year’s X Factor Single.

Last year was an interesting dynamic because the X Factor winner sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” which was also released by Jeff Buckley, and the winner actually did the Buckley version. Many music fans, especially fans of Cohen and Buckley, thought the song was inappropriate for the X Factor finalist and that the diva belter Alexandra Burke who won last year delivered a version that wasn’t true to the spirit of the song and completely ignored the fact that its not a celebratory and triumphant song. I personally was on the side of the critics, I don’t think it was an appropriate choice. Its one of my favorite songs and I love it for its haunting quality and Alexandra’s oversung version showed no connection to the lyrics of the song at all. Its not her fault, its the X Factor producers who made the mistake of choosing a song that didn’t suit her style or the style of the show for that matter. Anyway, as a result of this last year Alexandra Burke’s “Hallelujah” was the number one and Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” was number two, which meant the same song was being played all over the radio by two different artists and when the recognizable piano intro began you never knew whether you would hear Buckley’s lamenting version or Burke’s diabolical version.

This year a campaign called “Rage Against the X Factor” has been launched to make Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” the Christmas number one. I don’t think this is really aimed at the X Factor contestants, its definitely a shot at the producers and really at the idea that something is preordained and inevitable. It takes the fun out of the Christmas number one if you already know who its going to be. However, I think its really unfair and doesn’t hurt the producers at all, it only spoils the fun for the X Factor winner who, lets face it, is just an ordinary Joe (pun intended) and doesn’t deserve that type of malicious meddling. By attempting to fix the Christmas charts I don’t think the people following the “Rage Against the X Factor” campaign are really any better than the music producers they are raging against.

If you have seen Love Actually you may remember Billy Mack’s attempt to beat out boy band Blue for the top Christmas spot with his hilarious Christmas song. Last year a similar bit of comedic genius happened. Comedian Peter Kay did a parody reality show called Britain’s Got the Pop Factor …and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice where his character Geraldine McQueen “won” the fake reality show and released two singles. One was “The Winner Song” (co-written with Gary Barlow of Take That) and another single “Once Upon a Christmas Song” which were both loved by all and made it pretty far up the Christmas charts with “The Winner Song” peaking at number 2 and “Once Upon a Christmas Song” peaking at number 5.  ”Geraldine” also made appearances on all of the chat shows and appearred everywhere throughout the Christmas season. I love that the ridiculousness of The Christmas Number One has a fun side as well and also Peter Kay donated all of the proceeds from Geraldine’s singles to the NSPCC, a charity that helps abused and neglected children in Britain. I think Peter Kay did it the right way by trying to mix it up without being malicious and also being charitable, which is much more than be can said for the Rage Against crowd.

So who will it be this year? Will Joe McElderry keep the tradition alive and claim the top spot or will it go to quite possibly the least Christmasy song ever?

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I have made two “big moves” in my life, and the two moves were so completely different. I graduated from Michigan State University the day after my 22nd birthday and 6 days later I was in a hired U-Haul on my way to Chicago. I had decided before I started my Senior year at MSU that was where I was going. I arrived in Chicago with a goal, and a perfect plan for how I was going to achieve that goal. To make a long story short, my perfect plan had a major flaw. That major flaw was that the Chicago advertising industry didn’t want new graduates. I had to get two years agency experience, but the catch 22 was I couldn’t get a job to get the experience without the experience. Today I only know one person who was able to break into a Chicago ad agency and she did so through family connections (oh, and she hates her job). So I made a career change, got myself in at the ground floor and quickly proved myself and got what I didn’t even know was my dream job until I got it.

My first winter in Chicago

My career in Chicago was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, so its a testament to how meeting my husband changed me that I left that job and made the second big move of my life. This move to Britain in no way resembled my move to Chicago. I had no plan, I had no expectations, I had no dream. I had a visa and ten boxes which carried all of my earthly belongings. I came to Britain completely free of goals, open to possibilities. For me, this is completely unheard of. I sit here today, and after 15 months in Britain my dream is still forming itself. Its one of those hazy, foggy dreams. It in no way resembles my crisp, vivid and vibrant dreams, the dreams that ultimately carried me to places I didn’t know I wanted to go. The difference is, this is the dream I know will come true. Its the dream I am working the hardest on forming, and its the one that is coming out of what my life is and not what I want my life to be. Its more of a premonition than a story, which I guess is the reason it is so fuzzy.

This first year in Britain has shaped me in ways I didn’t know were possible in a year. I learned to keep in touch with the people who are important to me, I learned how to be a good friend. I learned that I am capable of handling pretty much anything and doing the right thing. I am confident in who I am, and it is this very alien experience that has made that happen for me. My dreams in the past have always taken me to a place I didn’t want to go, first to a career I didn’t know I wanted, and then to a country I didn’t know I wanted to live in. It is only a matter of time before my dreams catch up to my life, so what is my new British dream going to be?

I’ve been thinking lately about two things, the first being starting a family and the second what I want to do with my career. I have started looking into getting my teaching certificate, its only a year course and because of my degree I could teach up to the Sixth Form College level. Sometimes I step back from my life for a moment and look at it, and I don’t recognize what I see. If you had asked me 4 years ago if I wanted a family and if I would consider teaching as a career, I probably would have been insulted at even the suggestion. Now maybe its just plain growing up, but maybe it really is that Britain has changed me because teaching and having a family are things that just seem to fit for me here. I decided to look into teaching because living in this town I see kids who I think really need some inspiration and who could benefit from my experience. I would love to be that person who encourages a kid to enjoy reading, start writing or even to inspire a kid to go to university and get an education that will take them to new places.

I don’t attribute these changes in me to plain old growing up, I really do think they are direct results of my new environment. I finally have found a place where I can see missing pieces around me and these are spaces I want to fill. Instead of getting the feeling like I need to carve out a place for myself, in some ways it feels like maybe there was a place here for someone like me. Out of all the strangeness around me, at the end of it I find I that I fit in here more than I have ever fit in anywhere. Maybe I will be wrong again and this new dream of Britain will once again lead me somewhere I didn’t know I wanted to go, but I have a feeling this dream is going to be the one that sticks.

My first winter in England, atop the North Yorkshire Moors

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The Church of England is part of the Anglican Communion, which isn’t a denomination within itself but an umbrella which also includes the American and Scottish Episcopalian churches. They all use the Book of Common Prayer, which is also similar to many other Protestant liturgies, so if you visit a Church of England church while you are in England and you are a member or some Protestant denomination in America, chances are the liturgy will be either exactly the same or at the very least quite familiar.

I find the Church of England a bit fascinating, in the states people who don’t really care much about religion will probably tell you they aren’t religious. In England, even people who aren’t particularly religious seem to identify themselves as members of the Church of England. It is kind of the default setting if you aren’t raised Catholic or Muslim or decide you are vehemently atheist or agnostic. Possibly this has something to do with the Queen being the supreme head of the church, at one time all English subjects were considered members of the Church of England, and saying otherwise was heresy. Although today the people of England certainly have the choice to claim to be something else, most just don’t bother to. Now that isn’t to say that all people who identify themselves as CoE aren’t deeply dedicated to their faith, but it does make finding a church really difficult since the CoE has so many inactive members. When it comes to the Church of England, finding an active parish takes a lot of trial and error.

St. Hilda's Church at the Hartlepool Headland, built by the Bruce family in the 13th Century

I was raised Lutheran which shares a lot of the same doctrine as the Episcopal church, so here it almost leaves me with too many options. If I was Catholic or Baptist, it would be pretty easy to find a church here in my town because there are only a handful of them and all of them seem to be pretty active. When it comes to CoE churches, it is hard to figure out which ones have active parishes and which ones are basically museums that fill up for Easter and Christmas and a succession of christenings, weddings and funerals. They all look exactly the same, gorgeous centuries old stone buildings, evidence everywhere that at some point in its history the pews were filled, but for many of these churches they have become more of a monument while others are still very active. Its hard to tell the difference without visiting every single one of them on a Sunday morning. I have also noticed that because of this, often one clergy member will cover several different churches in one area because there aren’t enough members at just one church to support full time clergy.

Its a bit sad really that many of these churches are basically dead, its kind of a waste of such gorgeous buildings for them to sit mostly empty every Sunday morning.

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Nelson's Tomb, a must see for a Royal Navy wife

Here are the highlights:

London on the Cheap

My trip to London was a steal. I did the whole trip for under £200, including train and hotel. Here is a breakdown of my expenses, in case you don’t believe me:

I think probably the biggest money saver for me was food, I ate at McDonald’s the first night. I never have fast food and figured as long as I was in a place that has basically the same food as where I live but more expensive that I would stick with what I know is cheap and treat myself to a little bit of junk food. London isn’t exactly known for cheap good eats, so I stuck with really cheap food and saved my cash for indulgences like chocolates from the Harrods chocoalte counter. If you have the money to spend on fine dining there is definitely amazing food to be had in London, but if like me you are on a budget its best to ignore the food factor and not feel like you must have fish and chips or pasties while you are in London. Go to Subway or McDonald’s or some other cheap chain for a reliable refuel and save your pennies for the good things London has to offer.

The other big money saver was my hotel room, now I have to say this place isn’t for everyone. The room itself is the size of a double bed, and the bed is the size of the room and then there was a small modular bathroom attached with a toilet and shower, although your feet are in the shower when you are on the toilet. For me, staying one night with no luggage it was perfect. It was safe, clean and secure and the Kensington location was amazing, just down the street from the Crowne Plaza and several other luxury hotels. The only thing that was awkward was that there are no windows, so waking up in a pitch black room was a bit of a shock, but for the price I have no complaints.

My tiny but comfortable and safe London hotel room

Am I in London or Paris?

One thing I noticed was different from my last trips to London was that it felt very Parisian. I thought maybe I just hadn’t noticed before, but even Jonathan agreed with me that there were more coffee shops than pubs than the last time he was there. I even walked by one cafe on the way to Covent Garden and noticed that the chairs outside were all facing the street like a Parisian cafe. There were also bakeries and patisseries with fresh pastries and baked goods (and I don’t mean pasties and sausage rolls) and elaborate french-style tarts. I loved Paris, so this new cafe culture in London was really refreshing for me. I am really picky about coffee and I didn’t have even one bad cup of coffee while I was there.

Looking Beyond the Clutter

I found being familiar with the typical British high street stores and other “chain” type shops was really an eye opener for me. For example, when walking down Oxford Street I was able to walk past the Next and the New Look because I now know there is one of those on every high street in Britain. There was a lot less “noise” on the streets since I could easily spot what was special and ignore what was generic. I enjoyed shopping in London so much more this time around and was able to discover new stores that aren’t here in Hartlepool or nearby shopping centers.

Oxford Street

Avoiding the Tube

Okay, so riding the tube is part of the London experience, but at times I felt I walked more getting from one line to the next in a station than I would have if I had just stayed above ground and walked, and probably wouldn’t have had to climb so many stairs. The next day with Jonathan and Jackie we walked or took cabs everywhere, and it was so much more pleasant. Certainly the tube is cheaper than cabs, although not by much, but with three people sharing a cab it probably came out to roughly the same price but without all the walking and stair climbing. I think the next time I visit London I will try to study the bus routes first and maybe skip the tube altogether and try out the bus system, at least that way I can see more on my journey.

London Fashion

This is probably the most ridiculous reason to enjoy a city, but I could sit all day and watch London businessmen walking around because their clothing is so exquisite. I don’t know what it is, but British men just seem to have a better handle on fashion than American men and its especially evident in London. Their suits are perfectly cut and come in a wide spectrum of patterns and textures. They take a lot more risks with their fashion and it pays off, because they all look fabulous.

I left London on Thursday afternoon with terribly aching feet, but feeling both invigorated and content. I also left with a laundry list of things that I want to do the next time I go, things I would like to show my husband, things I would like to show my parents, things I would be perfectly content to enjoy alone. There are so many museums and other cultural things I really want to go back and explore now that I have had a little taste of what London has to offer in the way of cultural experiences. I really can’t wait until I have an excuse to go back.

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Tomorrow I have the privilege of traveling to London on the Grand Central line. They are very nice, comfortable and fast trains that are outfitted with comfy seats, tables and electrical outlets for plugging in things like laptops for a long journey. Also, the biggest benefit I get is that the Grand Central train goes direct to London with no need to switch trains. I think that is probably the one thing about train travel in Britain that can be a pain in the bum, if you can’t get a direct train to somewhere, often times the connecting train schedules don’t match up well and you end up waiting for 45 minutes at the station for the next leg of your trip. I am really fortunate that I don’t have to switch trains so I get directly from Hartlepool to London King’s Cross in about 3 1/2 hours. It is such a lovely way to travel, and unlike flying into London it drops me right off in the heart of everything. Its also very convenient for continental travel as I can take Grand Central to King’s Cross and then walk the short distance to the St. Pancras international terminal to catch the Eurostar. My husband and I did this for our honeymoon (and traveled first class on the Eurostar which was amazing) and it is one of the most pleasant international travel experiences I have ever had. No showing up 3 hours early for a flight, the security and customs lines were short and fast, and boarding on the Eurostar was simple and expertly organized. Its really the best way to travel to mainland Europe.

We also have small National Express trains up here, which are pretty much the complete opposite of the Grand Central trains. They are tiny two-car trains, very noisy, pretty cramped and uncomfortable and a bit rickety. However, the view riding along the North Sea coast from Hartlepool through Sunderland and up to Newcastle is truly amazing and the whole journey round trip is only £7. The train chugs along a rail that runs right along the cliffs of the coast and you see the most beautiful vistas out to sea and of the coastline on the way. Newcastle also has its own underground metro system which can get your where you need to go between Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland and also links up with Newcastle airport which is very convenient. For travellers wishing to see the North East without a car I think flying into Newcastle and taking advantage of all of the train links to York as well as up to Edinburgh via Newcastle Central Station is really an excellent and economical way to see this part of the country.

I am also lucky enough to have an HM Forces Rail Card which gives me discounts on rail tickets for being a military spouse. Sometimes I only get about a pound off, but for this trip the combination of the HM Forces Rail Card plus purchasing my tickets on thetrainline.com gave me almost 50% off the retail price of my train tickets down to London, which on the Grand Central line can be pretty expensive. Thetrainline.com is a great site for purchasing discounted rail tickets, including London tube passes and Eurostar tickets. I even used their online chat help feature to make sure I was purchasing the right fare and they were really helpful with assisting me in selecting the tickets I needed. Just to be clear, they didn’t pay me to write this, in fact they probably don’t know I exist. I really do love their site enough to write about it.

For more information about rail travel in Britain check out these sites:

Traveline A bit of a clunky site, but it is great for journey planning because all train and bus lines are linked together on this site

The Train Line The cheapest place to purchase your rail tickets, use the other listed sites to research and plan your journey, then buy your tickets here!

National Rail Route information and timetables as well as great guides to the stations so you can check out what type of facilities the stations have. If you want a station with parking, a passenger lounge, dining facilities, or a manned information desk you can find out here.

Grand Central For route information and other specifics about the Grand Central lines.

Eurostar Chunnel it to continental Europe!

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Today is Armistice Day. I didn’t realize until now that this is the one non-religious holiday that America and Britain share. In America, Veteran’s Day is also commemorated on the day of the Armistice. Having experienced both holidays in both countries I am sad to say that America’s observation pales in comparison to the honor which the British bestow upon their veterans on this day. If you asked the average American civilian what date Veteran’s Day is, if they aren’t looking at a November calendar chances are they couldn’t tell you. I am sure this morning when everyone turned the page on their day to day desk calendar, more than one office worker turned to a coworker and commented “Hey, did you know today is Veteran’s Day?” I find it sad that Americans need a small italicized reminder on their calendar or date book to remember such an important day in our history. By contrast, if you asked a British citizen what date Armistice or “Poppy Day” falls on they will quickly answer “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”.

For about a month leading up to Poppy Day, everyone wears a paper poppy on their lapel. The proceeds go to the British Legion and one of the most amazing things is that every single television personality makes the poppy a permanent part of their wardrobe for the month leading up to Armistice Day. Even the contestants on The X Factor (Britain’s version of American Idol) wear a poppy on their outfits on stage. I guess it could be compared to the American flag lapel pin, no Member of Parliament would be caught dead without one pinned to their suit.

I suppose here both World Wars quite literally hit closer to home. The British isles were heavily bombed by the Germans and there are still reminders everywhere of the death and destruction. Here in the North, one of the biggest reminders is the depressed economy.

Before the World Wars, Hartlepool was a major English port and a hub of industry with several dozen shipping companies calling the port of Hartlepool home, accounting for nearly 250 ships. Hartlepool’s position as a major British port made it a strategic target for the Germans. On the morning of December 16, 1914 Hartlepool became the first town in Britain to be bombed by the Germans. On this day over 1000 shells rained down on Hartlepool from German ships. Guns on the Heugh (pronounced “Yuff”) Gun Battery in Hartlepool fired back around 150 shells with more accuracy than the German ships and initiated the first and only land to sea attack from the British mainland and severely damaged the attacking ships. Despite this contribution, World War I and the following Depression crippled the once robust Hartlepool shipping industry only to be revived again during World War II. Yet again, this prosperity made Hartlepool a prime target for the Nazi forces and Hartlepool was raided from the air 43 times during the course of World War II. This once and for all cut off the Hartlepool shipping industry and it has never recovered since.

Hartlepool’s story is similar to many other British towns, which is maybe the reason that Armistice Day and honoring their veterans is such a hallowed tradition here. Particularly in the working class towns of the North where the economic effects of war are still relevant decades later, these stories still hit close to home and in many cases the people who lived through them are still around to remember.

I am sitting here in my front room, I live in an old Victorian home on the sea front that was converted to flats. I imagine that the residents of this house would have had a front row seat for that first bombing in 1914. As I sit here I can see the peninsula of the Headland much as it would have looked back then. Although it is a misty day I can see a few cargo ships out to sea, but I have seen naval ships out here as well and ships of war look much different from the merchant ships the residents of this house would have been used to seeing from their front windows. I can only imagine what it would have felt like for whoever who sat right here and watched the shells being launched from the German ships onto the Headland from this distance, far enough away that the falling shells probably didn’t make much sound to penetrate the quiet of that early December morning, but close enough to see the flashes and smoke. It must have been horrific to watch.

A plaque at the Headland War Memorial with the names of the men killed in the December 16th Bombardment of Hartlepool. A Remembrance Day service is held at this memorial every year on the Sunday before the Armistice.

If you had by chance forgotten that it is Veteran’s Day, please take a moment to reflect and to remember the veterans who fought for their countries and to protect their loved ones and families back home. I will leave you with the poem (written by a Canadian soldier in WWI) that was the inspiration for making the poppy the symbol for remembering those who give their lives for their country.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)

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I have a lot of catching up to do and the task of getting to know British politics is really challenging, and my lack of enthusiasm for politics in general doesn’t make it any easier. I first tried watching a session of Parliament. Although the well-crafted jabs at each other and rousing cheers and boos are entertaining, after watching bits and pieces here and there I never quite figured out what the parties actually stand for. British politicians in particular have an art for talking a lot without actually saying anything. I could guess based on the name of the party but other than that I am still pretty clueless.

I suppose the only real “political party” I can definitely rule out is the British National Party. But it was actually the BNP that finally introduced me to BBC’s Question Time, a window into party politics in Britain. I found that I learned a lot more about the parties by watching them answer difficult questions about hot issues, but also by hearing the questions and accusations from the audience. I jumped on the bandwagon after hearing all the hoopla over the controversial Question Time featuring Nick Griffin. I usually avoid politics but I watched the entire thing on YouTube. I learned more about British politics from watching this one show than from all of the newscasts and sessions of Parliament I have watched combined. I tuned in again last week to see them discuss the expenses scandal and bank bailouts. Watching this show has really helped me to see where I fit on the British political spectrum.

Sometimes you have to see “mainstream” political parties pitted against extremists to get an idea of what people really stand for. I think this show is worth a watch in its entirety. If you would like to check it out I have posted the link below and I have also embedded Part 1. Once you have watched Part 1, Parts 2-6 should be available over on the right hand side if you click the link above the video.

BNP Nick Griffin on BBC Question Time Part 1

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The Perfect Tour Guide

You would think the best person to show you around London would probably be a genuine British person, as it turns out in my case this didn’t really pan out. My husband was a terrible London tour guide, so when our Anglophile-in-Chief Jonathan Thomas wrote that he was going to London I jumped on the opportunity to be shown the sites by someone who has a passion for it. (No pressure, Jonathan.) I will be joining him and his wife for one of their days of sightseeing in London. I think we share a lot of the same interests when it comes to traveling, so I expect that I will get a lot out of tagging along with Jonathan and his better half. I haven’t seen an American in the flesh since March, so it should be nice to see some yanks.

Take London with a Grain of Salt

Possibly my first trips to London suffered from a case of high expectations. I think this time around I will have to try to look at the experience relative to my previous London trips as opposed to comparing it to American cities, or even other English cities. Knowing now that my trip to London could be rife with unpleasant moments, I will anticipate them and just consider them a necessary part of the experience.

As far as Londoners, as I said in my previous post, I do believe that underneath the Londoner facade these people do have some British hospitality buried down deep. I know myself how living in a city environment can change you, if even just for a few minutes out of every day. City life can create a kind of “eat or be eaten” situation. If you don’t do a bit of pushing and shoving to get on a train, you will never get on one. If you don’t hold your own walking down the street and do a bit of jostling yourself, you will never get where you are going. City people can often turn into completely different people in these types of situations. I don’t know what specific situations in London have created this hyper-aloof city dweller persona, but I have to believe that at least for the majority of Londoners their rude behavior is a product of their environment and not a reflection on them as people. I am certainly not excusing the behavior, I know from experience that it is possible to live in a city and switch that alter ego on and off with ease so I don’t know why Londoners carry it around with them everywhere they go. I’d like to believe that if I had met all of those ill-mannered train commuters in their local pub, even though they didn’t offer me their seat on the train they may very well have offered me their barstool.

Location, Location, Location

I think the main impediment to my enjoyment in my two previous trips to London was where I stayed. Staying in a disgusting apartment in Bermondsey was obviously a bad choice, as was staying in a hotel far from the city centre. So this time I am staying in a hotel in South Kensington. It promises to be the tiniest room I have ever stayed in, which to tell the truth I find exciting. I used to work in the hotel industry, so I find how hotels solve the problems of keeping rates low and also remaining in a desirable location absolutely fascinating. Bring on the broom cupboard with a bed in it!

The Key is Doing, not Seeing

London is a city best experienced from the inside, the first few times I saw London I tried to experience it in the way I have experienced other cities I have enjoyed, and that is by “taking in the sights”. London just isn’t laid out for this type of sightseeing, its too confusing and just not all that visually appealling from the outside, its not even very good for people-watching because the people of London really don’t want to be watched. All of my best memories of London were made INSIDE, like walking through Harrod’s, seeing a show in the West End and having a few pints in a pub. Most of my favorite memories of other cities are the exact opposite, my favorite memory of Chicago is driving down Lake Shore Drive in my friend’s convertible and seeing the twinkling lights of the skyscrapers from the lake front. My favorite memory of Paris is sitting at a cafe and sipping espresso with Notre Dame across the river and some of the best people-watching ever. London just doesn’t lend itself to as many of these types of experiences as other cities do.

You may think I am getting down on London when I say this, but really being a person who loves things like museums and cathedrals and palaces, London is the perfect city for me to visit. Going back to my reference of Chicago, although there are skydecks in the John Hancock and the Sears Tower, most of the recognizable buildings of the skyline in Chicago are full of nothing but offices. In London on the other hand, most of what you see on the outside gets even better on the inside. Buckingham Palace is pretty spectacular on the outside, but I can only imagine what it is like on the inside. I just haven’t had the chance yet to “do” London, I have seen it, I just haven’t “done” it.

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

You will be hard-pressed to find a person who loves Christmas decorations more than I do. I am probably the only person on the planet who isn’t complaining about Christmas decorations appearing in stores in October. As Jonathan reported last month, London’s Christmas decorations this year are going to be very special because of the release of Disney’s A Christmas Carol. Above all, this is what I am looking forward to the most. I think when I get into London on that Wednesday night I will take time just to enjoy the decorations. There couldn’t be a better time for me to go to London.

When You’re Alone and Life is Making You Lonely…

you can always go, DOWNTOWN! I am alone at the moment and life is making me a bit lonely, so I think this is going to be a much needed break from what has become a bit of a mundane life. The last time I was in a big city was a little over a year ago when I went to Paris, and before that I was living in one, so right now I am really ready to get away to a city. When I was living in Chicago I had access to amazing restaurants and entertainment right around the corner, and that isn’t quite the case anymore. I do love the pace of life in Hartlepool, but I think this time around visiting London will give me a much needed dose of city life that I haven’t had in awhile and had become accustomed to. I think going from town life to city life is going to feel like more of a holiday  and I will probably appreciate the city amenities more than before.

I am really looking forward to this trip, I will be sure to give everyone an update when I return!

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My First Trip to London- August 2006

Me and the man I eventually married, in the quintessential London photo

The first time I visited London I stayed with a family friend of my then-boyfriend (now husband) in his absolutely disgusting flat in Bermondsey, just yards away from the Millwall football ground. Now really, there isn’t much more I should need to say about why my first impression of London wasn’t very good. I don’t know how to say this gently without offending people, but I would liken it to someone visiting Chicago for the first time on vacation and staying in the projects of South Side Chicago. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the South Side, or with Bermondsey for that matter, but its an undeniable fact that its not the place you want to show someone to welcome them to your beloved city with so much to offer. Further to that, the flat I was staying in could have easily made it into an episode of “How Clean Is Your House?” so nothing about the experience was very pleasant.

I did enjoy seeing the sites of London, but we didn’t actually go into anything. We walked around and took the tube places, but we were on such a tight budget that we just didn’t get the chance to actually do anything. Also, its taken me some time to get my husband used to my style of traveling, at the time he still traveled like a single British teenager. To him, traveling meant to go somewhere like Spain or Bulgaria with “the lads” to a resort full of British people and pubs and drink until they fell over. My style of traveling is a bit more sophisticated, I go to a city with a lot of history and culture and spend most of my time in cathedrals, museums and restaurants. I don’t think he knew what to do, especially since London isn’t his city and so far from the type of place he was used to holidaying in. The one thing we did that I really loved was we took a London cab to Harrod’s. We only took the cab there because my dear husband and his friend, bless them, didn’t actually know where Harrod’s was. Imagine!

So that was it, the highlight of the whole trip was just going into Harrod’s and also it was the first time I had a proper donner kebab.

These experiences in themselves weren’t bad, just nothing “wow” and nothing really memorable. However, there was one bad moment that kind of soured me to London. We were at a crowded corner on Oxford street when I was suddenly felt up by an invisible person. They touched my hip, my rear, my waist, and my chest so fast I nearly didn’t notice, nearly being the operative word there because I most definitely DID notice although I never actually saw the offender. It was my first and only experience with a pick-pocket. Luckily my husband had all of my money tucked away in his front pocket, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was violated. They didn’t get anything, but I instantly felt unsafe in that city. I grew up between two of the most dangerous cities in America, Detroit and Flint, Michigan and I lived in Chicago for 3 years and never once felt unsafe or threatened. In that moment on a street lined with high end shops I instantly felt something I had never felt before and that was fear for my personal safety. I think its going to be really hard for London to gain back my trust after that experience.

My Second Trip to London- April 2007

Me and my close friend and traveling buddy Christine, at the Canning Town tube station near our hotel

My second trip to London was in some ways much better and in other ways, further contributed to my disdain. This time we stayed in a hotel (thank GOD!) although because we were again on a budget it was a hotel in Canning Town. I actually really enjoyed the hotel, it was spartan but very clean and the staff were really friendly as were the other guests. The only negative was that it was about an hour ride into the city and the DLR didn’t run quite as often as the regular tube lines run.

Here is the other major hitch, on Valentine’s day 2007 I slid on some ice in an alley near my apartment in Chicago and broke my leg. I got my cast off only a week before my trip to England so I was traveling around London with a cane and an air cast and I moved very slowly. Walking around London with a cane is not fun, and it really slowed us down so we didn’t get to see a whole lot.

Beyond the complications of getting around, the people of London really showed me their true colors and I was really disappointed in the way I was treated. One incident that is really vivid in my mind is when we got onto the tube one afternoon. The train wasn’t crowded by any means, there were just a couple people standing but all the seats were taken. I entered the train, struggling with my cane and unable to put a lot of weight on my right leg. I was regarded by most of the seated passengers, including some very able bodied young business men and they quickly glanced at me and returned to their papers and books and ignored me competely leaving me to attempt to stand on the tube and stay up without shifting my weight to my healing leg. I am not saying that I was entitled to their seats, but it does say a lot about the type of people you often find in London. In dramatic contrast my first day back in Chicago I boarded an overflowing bus to work, there were people completely stuffed in the aisle and it was full all the way up to the front next to the driver, but the moment I walked onto the bus with my cane three people offered me their seats. Its just a vast difference in kindness and hospitality and I am more used to the Midwest style of things where you help people out. I would always get up to offer my seat to the elderly, the disabled, pregnant women, children and anyone else less able than me and it just would have been nice to have had the same courtesy extended to me in London.

It wasn’t all bad on this trip though, I did get to see Wicked on the West End and it was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and I think the London shows are really top notch and wish I could afford to go see them all the time. Also, the major highlight was that this is the trip where my husband proposed to me. I knew he was going to propose because we had an engagement party planned for later that week but he still found a way to surprise me and it is one of the few good memories I have of London.

I feel really let down by the people of London, they certainly didn’t show me the type of hospitality I am accustomed to. You can’t say “Well, that is city life” because I lived in a very big city where the people are generally lovely. You also can’t say “That’s just Britain” because the British people everywhere but London are probably the most hospitable people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and living among. There is simply no excuse, London! I come away from my two trips to London feeling that the sites and the city itself are world-class, but the people are some of the worst I have encountered and really need an attitude adjustment.

Now Londoners, before you go grab your torches and pitchforks please wait until next week. In my post next week I will explain why I still firmly believe that London could be a city I could really love and appreciate and why I believe that underneath the rude and haughty Londoner exterior, there are still kind and hospitable British people lurking underneath just waiting to prove me wrong.

In next week’s Dispatches from the North… I will wipe the slate clean, forgive past transgressions and let you in on my plans to visit London for a third time determined to fall in love with it.

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Read the Newspaper

Newspapers are such an important part of British life, I feel like in the US the TV news, the radio news and the newspapers all occupy their own realms. Their audiences don’t overlap considerably, and to be honest a person who relies exclusively on one medium of news will probably end up with a vastly different picture of what is going on in the world. In Britain the various news mediums are deeply intertwined, and the newspaper isn’t just for bankers and businessmen to keep tucked in their briefcases, people from all walks of life read the newspaper and even if they don’t the headlines and top stories from all the major papers are discussed on the TV news. I am not even saying you need to go out of your way to get British newspapers, I think just the act of making an effort to get a daily newspaper and to compare what you read in it to what you hear on the radio or see on TV is a great way to make your day to day life a bit more British. If you really want to make the experience authentic, subscribe to an RSS feed or other daily subscription to your favorite British major daily.

Eat Like A Brit

I can think of so many ways this could be done, but I did manage to narrow it down to a few essentials.

• Introduce the Sunday Dinner- Yes, if you want to have a truly authentic British experience, start cooking a Sunday dinner. It might be hard to get your family together every Sunday, especially if you have never done it in the past. Shoot for one Sunday a month and then maybe increase the frequency from there. Even if you aren’t a great cook, making a traditional Sunday dinner is still doable. There are a few main elements to the Sunday dinner, first is a big piece of roasted meat. Beef, pork, lamb or chicken will do the trick. Next are a few different types of potatoes, you can never just have one type. I usually have mashed potatoes and potato wedges or “roasties” but any kind of potatoes will do as long as there is more than one kind or you mix it up every once in awhile. Then you need a few different kinds of simply steamed or roasted vegetables usually carrots, sprouts, cabbage, parsnips and possibly seasonal vegetables like green beans and some mashed turnip as well. Then of course you must have brown gravy to drizzle over the top, and if you are really clever in the kitchen you should whip up some Yorkshire puddings. When I make a Sunday dinner I follow Jamie Oliver’s recipes from his Ministry of Food book (called Jamie’s Food Revolution in the US version) and they are really delicious traditional recipes. If you aren’t a cook you could always get one of those cooked rotisserie chickens they sell at the supermarket and some frozen vegetables and potatoes and easily cut all the corners and still manage a good Sunday dinner.
• Add a bit of gravy- For Americans gravy is pretty much just for Thanksgiving and Christmas and other special holiday meals. On a British dinner table its a makes a much more regular appearance, especially up here in the north. Instead of putting salt or ketchup or some other type of savory sauce on your meals, maybe try integrating in a bit of gravy. I am sure cardiologists all over the country are letting out a resounding “NOOOOOOO” but if it is a bit of British life you want, you need to add a bit more gravy to your diet.
• Substitute custard for ice cream- I don’t mean permanently, Hagen Daaz and Ben & Jerry’s do very well over here, I am talking about anything served “a la mode”. If you want the British experience your baked goods need to be smothered in warm, creamy custard. This is something that instantly makes any dessert British, even something as American as apple pie transforms into something homey and altogether different if you skip the ice cream and go for a liberal drizzling of custard.

Put The Kettle On

Probably the most difficult thing to get the hang of here is putting the kettle on. I certainly offer my guests a choice of cold or hot beverages when I have visitors, but there is something about the British method of doing this that makes it difficult for me to pick it up and that is the preemptiveness. As soon as your guest has announced they are on their way, start boiling the kettle for the tea or brewing the coffee. It should be ready when they get there, and you should offer it to them almost as soon as they walk in the door. Even if its just a short visit, I think the good thing about sharing a cuppa is that it requires you to sit down and take a little bit of time. It doesn’t take long to finish a cup of tea, but its just a long enough time that you do get to actually visit with your guest. Also keep your cookie jar full so you can serve your guests a few little nibbles with their tea or coffee.

Wear A Poppy in November

Its not just Britons who should celebrate the Armistice, and it would be totally appropriate for Americans to observe the day of remembrance and to wear a paper poppy during the month of November. If you can’t find one, you can easily make your own with a simple cutout of red paper and a black pin.

Don A Paper Crown at Christmas

I know its possible to find traditional British Christmas crackers at some specialty shops, but even if you can’t find them they are incredibly easy to make and one of my favorite things about celebrating Christmas in Britain. The rest of the day is pretty much the same, this is the one thing that I feel really makes it different. So this year with your family try something a little different and bring along some Christmas crackers, or just fashion your own paper hats and allow yourself a bit of whimsy. I did some googling to see if I could find a great reference for making your own Christmas crackers and paper crowns, and there are so many I couldn’t narrow it down. So do some googling and find the one that suits you best, they range from really simple (toilet paper tube, wrapping paper, two pieces of string) to the complicated versions that actually involve buying the “snap” bit from the internet and making your own crackers that actually crack. Either way you go, they are easy and fun to make, especially as a project for kids.

Enjoying Christmas dinner while wearing my paper crown

Place a bet on the Grand National

Mark you calendar and make sure to place your bet for the British Grand National on April 10th 2010. Before placing your bets be sure to peruse all of the betting guides, but most importantly go with your gut and if you want to be truly British do absolutely no research at all and put your money on the horse with the silliest name. Even for Brits that don’t regularly follow horse racing, the Grand National is a huge national event that almost everyone watches and most people also place a bet. You don’t have to be in Britain to place a bet, you can place bets online through both American and UK betting sites.

Cheer On England in the World Cup

August 2010 might seem like a far way off, but people are already talking about it. Keep up with the latest news and stats by checking the Sky Sports News website often. The great thing about the World Cup is that it is widely televised in the US. England has already qualified, so they are definitely going to South Africa for their first shot at glory since 1966. I think one thing about the World Cup in America is people support all different teams and they aren’t afraid to show it. This may be the one time that you can show up at a pub with a cross of St. George painted on your face (or belly if that is your style) and everyone else will look equally as ridiculous as you.

During the last World Cup I fondly remember sitting in The Globe Pub in Chicago (which by the way is THE PLACE to watch football in Chicago, and also serves delicious traditional English food as it is owned and operated by two Brits) and there were fans from all nationalities crammed into the bar at 7am all bedecked in patriotic colors of the nation of their choice and it was really fun for everyone, even me and I am not a football fan by and means.

Visit Anglotopia Often

So this is obvious, but whenever you need to live vicariously through expat experiences, visit Anglotopia and check out the columns and the other great content here, before you know it you will feel like you are in Blighty.

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Over the past 4 weeks the BBC has been airing a special featuring Stephen Fry in which he revisits the journey of his good friend and author, the late Douglas Adams (best known for his book Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). In 1985 Douglas Adams and zoologist and wildlife photographer Mark Cawardine were commissioned by The Observer Colour Magazine to travel to Madagascar in search of a nearly extinct lemur, the Aye Aye. While on this trip, Adams and Cawardine cooked up an idea to travel the world seeking endangered species. According to Mark Cawardine, the journey began in a bit of a haphazard way; “We put a big map of the world on a wall, Douglas stuck a pin in everywhere he fancied going, I stuck a pin in where all the endangered animals were, and we made a journey out of every place that had two pins.” This journey turned into a BBC Radio series, followed in the early 90s by a Last Chance to See book.

Now two decades later, Stephen Fry has joined forces with Mark Cawardine to retrace the steps of the original Last Chance to See and check on the impact conservation efforts have had on the populations of these endangered species. Its a fascinating TV series, and because its from the BBC you know its going to be good. This series started out deep in the remote reaches of the Amazon and will end in two weeks in search of the blue whale. Stephen Fry and Mark Cawardine make a great duo, with Mark bringing his vast knowledge and passion for animals to the table and Stephen bringing his curiosity and unparalleled way with words.

So far I have loved the series, beyond just trying to find these rare animals, they are really exploring the people and the organizations working hard to protect them, as well as exposing the reasons why these animals are still under grave threat, and the threats don’t always come from the places you would expect. You can read more about this series on Stephen Fry’s website and also check out the official BBC site.

The first four episodes can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer, and the two forthcoming episodes will become available after they have aired the next two Sundays at 8pm on BBC 2.

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Parmo is a term that has been shortened over time, the original name was Parmesan Escalope and now it is just called a Parmesan or colloquially, Parmo. It is kind of like the delinquent nephew of veal or chicken Paragiana in Italian cuisine. It is a piece of chicken or pork beat down until it is as thin as possible and about the size of a small dinner plate. It is then breaded, fried and covered in béchamel sauce and melted cheese and served with chips and a bit of salad on the side. Here in Teesside we like to put garlic sauce on everything, its kind of a cross between garlic mayonnaise and ranch dressing, so its usually served with a side of garlic sauce (because two layers of fatty topping just aren’t enough). Funny enough, although its called a Parmesan, there isn’t actually even a gram of Parmesan cheese in a Parmo, leave it up to Teessiders.

Photo from Wikipedia by Karl Bomersbach

When I first moved here I thought that Parmo was an English thing, but I just recently discovered that its actually a very local thing that can pretty much only be found in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough and the adjacent towns. There is really nothing like it anywhere else and its totally unique to this area.

The thing I find the most unique about this dish is that it hasn’t taken the same path as most of your local fast food favorites. Most of these unique local foods usually start out in a greasy spoon or roadside stand and now we are seeing these types of foods showing up on fine dining menus with a gourmet twist. Its all the rage these days to take something like macaroni and cheese with gourmet ingredients, add a little bit of luxury with some lobster tail or filet mignon and put it on a plate next to some kind of foam or puree and charge $40 for it. Parmo is the exact opposite though, it is an adaptation that took a fine dining dish off the fancy plate and transformed it into an inexpensive, fast food dish served in a pizza box and best consumed after a night of drinking. It is kind of a rare thing for a dish to actually regress from fine dining to pizza shops and burger stands.

I am sure you are probably not jumping out of your seat to come visit Teesside and sample a Parmo, after all you can always go to an Italian restaurant and order a chicken or veal Parmigiana and get something that is similar and probably better quality. However, Parmo is set to make its national debut and soon it could be available outside of our little corner of this island. Earlier this year, Asda (part of the Wal-Mart conglomerate) began selling Parmos in their Teesside supermarkets. It has been so successful that they are considering rolling out the product in other areas of the country. Still, even with the convenience Asda version available in supermarkets, nothing will ever be as authentic as a greasy, saucy and cheesy parmo from a Teesside shop. Maybe some day Parmo will come to respresent British street food the way chip butties and bacon sarnies do, but for now it remains Teesside’s shining beacon of culinary innovation (sort of).

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Today is the Great North Run!

The Great North Run is the world’s largest road running half marathon. Hard to believe that with so many high profile running events all over the world, this event in this rather far-flung part of Europe draws more half-marathon runners than any other in the world. The run starts in Newcastle and ends in South Shields.

Every year the run is started by a British celebrity and this year it was kicked off by none other than Sting!

This year 54,000 registered to run (although several thousand won’t show so the final numbers will probably be closer to 45,000).

Here is the official page of the Great North Run: http://www.greatrun.org

Here is the BBC Sport coverage of the race: BBC Tyne

Good luck to all the runners, especially my friend Kev from Hartlepool!

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This year I didn’t watch the whole thing since the time slot interfered with The X Factor auditions. I did however get to watch a bit of “Rule, Britannia!” and it if there is nothing else of the Last Night of the Proms that you watch, you must see this. I think the video really sums up what the Last Night of the Proms is all about and what a treasured event it is for the British people. Although, I have to say that I am not sure why the mezzo-soprano is dressed as Lord Nelson.

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When I first visited England and was riding around the country listening to the radio there were certain artists and songs that were new to me and these sounds have now encapsulated my Anglophile experience. These are artists you just can’t hear anywhere else if you turn on the radio and they have become the sounds of the English summer to me. I kind of love that about living here, its like I am in on a secret but not in that smug music snob way.

This list was incredibly hard to narrow down but here is my list of the top ten artists that are huge in the UK but you may not have heard of. This is by no means a list of underground, undiscovered or up-and-coming acts, all of these artist have had a at least one top ten hit within the past year and have seen huge commercial success on this side of the pond.

10. The Script

The Script are an Irish pop rock band hailing from Dublin. Their sound reminds me a lot of The Police with a driving rhythm, a slightly hard edge and fantastic lead vocals. The Script had a top ten UK hit in 2008 with their single “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” that put them on the map. This single is probably the most poppy song among a collection of mostly rock tunes on their self titled debut album. I bought their album on iTunes on a whim one day and its gone into permanent rotation on my playlists. My favorite songs from the album are “Breakeven” and “Rusty Halo“.

Check them out if you like: Coldplay, The Police, Maroon 5

9. The Kooks

I am not an indie rock fan, but the reason The Kooks made it onto my top ten list is because there is something so British about them. I love when I can listen to a band or an artist and it just oozes Britishness and The Kooks embody this. As far as indie rock goes, I think The Kooks are Britain’s best kept secret. When I talked earlier about some of these artists being the soundtrack to the English summer for me, The Kooks come to mind particularly. When I was visiting England for the first time their single “She Moves In Her Own Way” was at the top of the charts and to this day when I hear this song it reminds me of the first summer.

Check them out if you like: The Strokes, The White Stripes, Violent Femmes

8. David Guetta

David Guetta is a French DJ who has made a name for himself among the English DJ scene and has been a regular at Ibiza. He wasn’t well known on the UK pop charts until 2006 when he re-released a track “Love Don’t Let Me Go” from his 2002 album as a mash up with “Walking Away” by The Egg. I bought this single on iTunes in 2006 and its still a favorite of mine. He has had lots of success this year, first with his track “When Love Takes Over” featuring vocals from Kelly Rowland (oh yeah, she has a successful solo career here) and most recently with a brand new single “Sexy Chick” featuring Akon. His latest album is packed with guest vocals from top artists like The Black Eyed Peas and Ne-Yo.

Check him out if you like: Daft Punk, Paul Oakenfold

7. Estelle

You probably have heard of Estelle, she had a hit US single “American Boy” with Kanye West last year, but she was big in the UK before her collaboration with Kanye and she continues to make hits. She has a great urban R&B feel, soulful but with a distinctive hip hop edge. Her music is like a sublime mix of Diana Ross and Mary J Blige and she delivers her performances in the most elegant and sophisticated way while still managing to stay relevant. Her music and her talent really speak for themselves. She is currently working on her third studio album and is rumored to be working with artists like Missy Elliott, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga.

Check her out if you like: Mary J Blige, Beyonce

6. Mika

Mika is a Lebanese-born artist whose style is impossible to describe. He is a classically trained singer with a mindblowing vocal range and music so strange you have no choice but to be entertained. He has had some success in the US, but he was kind of a one hit wonder in the states with “Grace Kelly” but here his songs burn up the charts on a regular basis and he has had several top ten hits in the UK since 2006. The first single “We Are Golden” from his new album is performing well in the charts, although this could be due to the fact that he has promised his fans a nude video blog if they can get his single into the top 3 on the UK charts. After this announcement over Twitter, reports came in that some London record stores were sold out of the single.

Check him out if you like: Prince

5. Gabriella Cilmi

Gabriella Cilmi is an Australian artist who had a big hit in 2008 with “Sweet About Me” which I felt never stopped playing on the radio last summer but I never got sick of it. She hasn’t had many hits in the UK, but “Sweet About Me” made her a household name and I believe every girl who auditioned for The X Factor last year used it as their audition song. She has a distinctive raspy voice which will make any forthcoming singles of hers instantly recognizable. She just has one of those voices you can’t forget.

Check her out if you like: Amy Winehouse, Janice Joplin

4. Will Young

Will Young was the world’s first “Idol” and won Britain’s Pop Idol reality show (the show American Idol was modeled after) in early 2002. He has since enjoyed a very successful UK career and released 5 albums. He has a very grown-up style and hasn’t changed his genre much in the past 7 years and that is what I like about him. Some of the winners of these idol shows are so afraid of falling off the map they keep morphing their style but still manage to put out the same song over and over again. Will Young has stuck to his pop/adult contemporary roots and the formula has worked and he has become a well respected British artist.

Check him out if you like: Michael Buble, Justin Timberlake

3. Girls Aloud

British music would be nothing without groups. Girls Aloud was actually formed on national television as part of a reality show called Popstars: The Rivals where a group of 10 men and 10 women competed to become the members of two “rival” groups. Yes, they are a girl pop band, but what I like about them is that they can all sing (rare to find in any group these days) and they like to combine a lot of different musical styles. They bring an air of sophistication most girl bands lack and draw in an audience that spans all generations. Their most famous member is Cheryl Cole (married to Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole) who is a judge on The X Factor, a fashion icon and is about to put out a solo album featuring a second collaboration with will.i.am.

Check them out if you like: Spice Girls

2. Take That

Yes, I do mean the Take That who had a huge single in the 90s with “Back For Good” and you are probably wondering why I would put a boy band on this list. Well, in 2005 Take That got back together and made a new album (without Robbie Williams). Take That were even bigger in the UK back in the 90s than they were in the US, and their comeback was huge but what made it unique was that they came back as serious musicians. All of the remaining members of Take That have instrumenal and/or songwriting talents that make their music more than just run of the mill boyband stuff. When boy bands come back its usually a gimmick and an attempt to recapture some of the teen sensation magic but Take That went another direction and actually made really good music. Their 2006 comeback single “Patience” quickly hit number one and they have been continuously pumping out hits since then.

Check them out if you like: Take That circa 1996, Michael Buble

1. James Morrison

James Morrison isn’t at the top of my list by chance, he is by far my favorite British artist. I love listening to his music because it is mellow and soulful, but at the same time contemporary and upbeat. His latest album Songs For You, Truths For Me is definitely at the top of my most played list on iTunes. He is an incredibly talented songwriter with a distinctive voice and a knack for writing poignant lyrics. The biggest single from his latest album is “Broken Strings“, a duet with Nelly Furtado, and is his most successful single to date.

Check him out if you like: Jason Mraz, David Gray

Even if these acts aren’t your cup of tea, next time you are bored with whatever you have on your iPod and you are looking for some new music, try checking out the UK top 40 charts. Its a treasure trove of new current music. Although its often full of American stars like Beyonce, Kanye West and Pink you will find between all of these familiar tunes some artists you may have never heard of and they are worth a listen. The great thing about music these days is that all you need to do is visit an artist’s home page (links provided above) and their latest single will usually immediately start pumping out of your computer speakers for you to sample.

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