British-isms That Breed Confusion and Hilarity

Since I’ve moved here, I’ve come across more than my fair share of words and phrases that cause a great number of misunderstandings between myself, my British friends and even strangers on the streets. These are a few of my personal faves:

‘Pants’ means undies over here. What we call ‘pants’, they call ‘trousers’.

“It’s too cold for her not to be wearing pants today”.
“How can you tell?”
“Just look at her. She’s not wearing any pants”.
“!?”

Coping With Homesickness While Living Abroad

In July, I'll have been in England for a year; however, that doesn't make being away from home any easier. Every so often, I get a twinge of homesickness which turns into a fit of tears. It's not just missing home; it's  also feeling alone and unwanted (what a wuss, right?). I thought I'd get over it eventually, but homesickness never really seems to go away - at least, in my case. However, I'm not discouraging anyone from moving abroad; it just might be a bit difficult at times, and I want to share a few things I have discovered help when it comes to coping with homesickness.

Tea Time: Drinking My Body Weight in Steeped Leaves

I’ve consumed more tea in 10 months than I have in the previous 24 years of my life. I thought Brits just swapped tea for coffee in the morning, but they swap it for every other drink at any other time of day. When you think of tea, I’m sure you think of a couple of delicate old women sitting huddled around around teapot on a doily-laden table. But, that’s not the case. Most people drink tea at any time of day, regardless of what activity they are engaging in or how hot it is outside.

Tales of a PubFly: My First Impression of English Pub Culture

 Since I’ve moved to England, I would have to say that I have spent about equal parts of my time in my bedroom, at Sean’s house and in various pubs. I live in a small town and there is pretty much one pub to every person here. There are no restaurants, so if I don’t feel like cooking, I have two options: buy a ready-meal from Tesco (roast chicken soaked in red wine and loneliness reduction) or go to a pub and eat some underwhelming but affordable grub. 

British Summer: A Week of Sun

When I arrived in the UK last year in July, I was under the impression that I had come at just the right time to have some fun summer adventures. I couldn’t have been more wrong, as I was a few months late for British Summer, the rare few weeks when the weather is consistently beautiful. 

Last week, we had British Summer (the equivalent of Daylight Savings’ “Spring Ahead”). It was as though the collective process of the country setting its clocks back created some shift in the weather systems to bring on the rarity of sunlight and heat.

Culture Shock: Being Black in England

I’ve never defined myself by my skin colour. I came from a place where I never had to. Toronto is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, and race never seemed to be a big issue. Everyone managed to blend into the mosaic without compromising their own identities, and I feel like I may have taken this for granted. When I moved to England, I expected things to be similar, since I was under the impression that it was an equally-multicultural country – but that has not been my experience.
I live in a small town called Long Eaton, about a half hour away from the Nottingham city centre. On occasion, I see one or two people of colour, but I’m basically the only Black person around. When I go out in public, I’ve never been made to feel so out of place. People passing me in the street stare me straight in the face, silently interrogating me, trying to figure me out. When I try to start a friendly conversation or ask for help in a store, I am dismissed immediately. A woman clutched her purse as I walked past the other day.