Still figuring it out

August 12, 2008

Sometimes I think I got it, sometimes I know I don’t. I’m still trying to figure out how to live in the UK…specifically Middlesbrough. I guess I need to give it more time; after all, I’ve only been here 2 weeks. I will share some of the things I’ve had to get used to:

Electric showers: Isn’t there a warning label on electrical equipment to keep chords and equipment away from water? Then why are there electric showers in the UK? I was hesitant and cautious to use the shower initially but eventually warmed to the idea of flipping a switch to turn the shower on and then adjusting the temperature as one would adjust the temperature of a stove element. That is, until this morning. I turned on the shower, got in, and was just finishing up when the shower box made a strange noise causing me to spring into action which involves falling out of a tub which is three feet off the ground, hitting the radiator, and getting water over everything. After regaining my composure, I explored the shower box and could not discover the cause of the noise. Nevertheless, I will brave the electric shower tomorrow in my effort to be clean!

Food: My roommates, a girl who lives above us, and me decided to cook dinner once a week together. They want me to cook “American” but when I suggested tacos, no one knew what those were. So, I went to the grocery store only to find that taco supplies comprise a small section of the aisle and are listed under “world foods”.

Food…again: One of my roommates and me decided to make dinner last night. We decided to have stroganoff. I grew up with a certain way of making beef stroganoff…so did she. At the grocery store, we ran into a huge conflict realizing that our concepts of the meal were completely different…she uses cube steak, I use hamburger, she uses onions and peppers, I use mushrooms, she doesn’t put it on noodles, I do. We ended up making the stroganoff “her way” but I will make mine some other time!

Accents, accents, and more accents!: In a country that could fit in the state of Washington, how can there be so many accents? Each morning I use the time walking over to the hospital with one of my roommates to reacclimatize my ears to hearing an English accent and my brain to understanding it. However, once in clinic and seeing patients, I will inevitably have a patient who speaks in such a way that they may as well have been from another planet if not from another country for all I can understand them! There is the Scotch accent, the Northern Irish, the Irish Republic, the Northeast English, the Southern English, the Northwest English, the Midlands, the Middlesbrough, the Newcastle, the upper class, the working class, the middle class accents. And then there is terminology which varies among regions….needless to say, by the end of the day my ears and brain are exhausted from listening.

Vocabulary of the day:
Trolley: a shopping cart
Dummies: a baby’s pacifier
Mobile: a cell phone
Take away: food to go (ex. Lets go to McDonald’s and get take away)
Smoggies: people who live in Middlesbrough
Geordies: people who live in Newcastle and speak with a distinct accent
Chips: French fries
Crisps: potato chips
Mate: used in place of “friend” ex: my mate Michelle just got married.



~Nancy