British Adventures

Apparently I'm not the only Aussie in the UK. I even happen to know some of the people over here.  Haylee moved over here almost a year ago. We know each other from our years dancing together, which included two holidays to America. Here we are at LEGOLAND in California in 2009.  Back when I'd only been living over here for a few weeks we caught up in an Aussie cafe in London called Beany Green.  My meal was quite delicious, but a little too large. Of course, having paid for it, I ate most of it.  Haylee imparted lots of UK living wisdom, which has served me well over the past few months.  Catrin came to the UK for a holiday back in July. I know Catrin from our time starring in Jesus Christ Superstar with Blue Mountains Musical Society earlier this year. This is us at the cast dinner.  I met up with Catrin and her sister Rhian at a restaurant I don't recall.  What I do remember is the weird looks when we asked for aoili to accompany our sweet potato fr...

Samantha and I spent a free (aside from travel), action packed day in London all thanks to my Magic Pass from my work.  Shrek's Adventure   Our first stop was Shrek's Adventure where we journeyed to a town called Far, Far Away.  We were swamped with our hostess' favourite word - "Shrektacular". Forced to repeat it several times before our adventure could begin.  The experience was a little like an onion. The many layers of an onion, like the many rooms you'll enter and characters you greet along the way.  Don't be green with envy that we got to meet the big ogre himself. The whole experience lasted a couple of hours, including the terribly lit photo op with Dreamworks statues.  Stripes will be blowing up runways this season.  London Eye Our next attraction was the London Eye.  It offered bird's eye views of the city.   And the opportunity to capture photos from an interesting perspective.  Here's the obligatory selfie to prove we were hi...

I spent years learning English in school, but none of these terms or phrases came up in those lessons.  It turns out nobody uses the greeting "'Ello governor". Nobody even says, "Hi, how are you?" Nope, it's, "You right?"  I've been here for three months and it still catches me off guard. I generally respond with a hesitant, "Yeah," because for the first 28 years of my life if someone asked whether I was alright meant I didn't seem alright. Maybe one day I'll casually reply, "Yeah. You right?" like I'm a true local. But for now I'll wonder if they're referring to my lack of make-up, my hair being a constant mess or using my umbrella in even the lightest spray of rain.  They've got a new word over here that I'd never heard. It first appeared when I got my job and people started talking about the rota. It means the schedule. But what are the origins of this word? Is it slang for roster or maybe rota...