Too Bad America is Only Capable of Exporting their Crap to Other Countries

16 December 2011

I woke up (again) to Lauren saying “Get up! We're late!” but this time she told me to look out the window. The view from her window is rural English Countryside-- Except its covered in snow!! I jumped up, threw on some clothes, and we went downstairs for a quick breakfast. Fun fact: you can purchase naan bread in England! So, we heated up some Naan bread and I threw some cheese on it. I'm having a lot of fun with the English cheese-- as Lauren puts it, “Americans think any cheese with holes is Swiss Cheese!” This cheese did have holes and did taste like swiss, but it was stronger. We braved the traffic in the snow and she threw me off at the corner to catch the train into Manchester while she went to work.

I ran up to purchase ingoing and return tickets at the gate and grabbed a coffee. I have learned that not only do the English hate putting cream in their drip coffee, but they also dislike drip coffee. I ordered a Latte (Mocha at no extra charge!) for less than what you'd pay in America, including the conversion rate.

I arrived in Manchester and started exploring. Relatively a low-key time. I stopped into a dollar store just to compare the things you'd find in the US to those you'd find in the UK. About the same. I went on down and stopped into an ALDI-- which some of you know I'm quite the fan of in the US. Far, far more selection and better quality food here! I got about halfway through when I discovered it opened up into a mall. I knew I didn't have any cash for purchases, so I decided to just window shop and peruse the options. I discovered the differences between some of the stores that we have and that the US has exported some of its worse stores, like Hollister, for instance.

I wandered through to the southern part of Manchester and didn't find anything outside of the stores. Many people quickly hurrying to make Christmas purchases. I stopped into my new favorite bistro-- Pret a Manger. I stopped for a bit and stole some WiFi.

I decided to move a little more and go find the Paperchase- a stationary store in England. I had no luck, so I stopped into a Starbucks to steal some more WiFi. This time, I sweet talked the barista into giving me some cream! Hurrah!

I finally made my way down to the Paperchase-- Three stories of beautiful stationary and writing supplies! (If you know me well enough, you know I'm a pen/pencil addict- my hobby is collecting Japanese erasers!) I bought a couple Christmas gifts and went back to the train station towards Macclesfield. Oh, and I found a Krispy Kreme in Manchester! Who woulda thunk it!

Lauren grabbed me at the train station as she got off of work. We came home and started some mulled wine! Lauren normally makes it from scratch, but she had a mulling cider and a bottle of wine that we threw into a pot. She also had decided that it was necessary to start eating the giant wheel of brie that was in her kitchen as well so we searched for a couple recipes and decided on baking the brie. We thawed out a puff pastry shell and grabbed strawberry jam, brown sugar and walnuts to make a most delicious (and messy) baked brie. Topped off with pears and it was a delicious dinner.

After dinner we went to walk around Bollington, the borough that she lives in. For her, this was a walk around her childhood town and a walk that she makes quite frequently. I took it more as a learning experience and bombarded her with questions. For instance, very few of the cars that you'd buy in Europe are cars you can get in the states. Also, you see very few older cars since their inspection requirements are so rigorous. We passed her childhood school, which is an affiliate of the Church of England. We watched several cars pass by on the one-laned roads and stopped to talk to other people walking along the way. She showed me “downtown” Bollington that had several corner pubs. I learned that pubs were mostly populated by people above 30 and it was usually a place to grab local brews and play chess. I peeked in-- and she was right. Not a very hopping establishment. We compared the different types of drinking from Europe to the US and the different establishments you can go in. It is perfectly acceptable and common for people above thirty to still be social drinkers without being alcoholics- which is not the case in the states. I then dragged Lauren into the local grocery store to compare and contrast some of the brands and things that the English had and we didn't. For instance-- they don't refrigerate their eggs! Also, I learned the small difference between a biscuit and a cookie. I also discovered, since I am a bartender, Stella Artois, a beer that is highly regarded in the states, is known as a terrible and very common beer in England!

We headed back towards home, watched some English TV (which I made Lauren translate for me again) and headed to an early bed in preparation for Leeds in the morning.