Sauce

Condiments. Some people love them. Some people hate them. (I think fewer hate them, but that makes me happy to think that there is more love than hate in the world...even if the emotions are directed toward food accouterments). I fall into the first category and I hasten to add that I have increased my level of appreciation of Ketchup since moving to England. Ketchup... not just to mask the terrible texture of scrambled eggs any more!

A delicious lunchtime (or anytime, really) TREAT is fried eggs on a big soft bap/barm/bread roll/bin lid. This is one of the menu items you may find at almost any English cafe. usually the menu looks as follows:

Sandwiches:
egg and sausage
egg and bacon
egg, bacon and sausage
sausage
bacon
tomato and cheese
egg

Sometimes I have to ask for a bacon and egg sandwich, hold the bacon, but it usually works out. :)

But let's get to the real meat alternative of the cultural encounter i had the other day in a little deli near where I work. I ordered my egg sandwich and the TRUELY adorable little ol lady behind the counter started asking the other one if they had eggs, went to check if they had eggs, confirmed with me that there was eggs, turned on the griddle, waited for the griddle to heat up, cracked the eggs on the griddle, checked to see if the griddle was on because the eggs were still raw after some time, it wasn't, turned it on, made herself a cup of tea, checked to see if she had collected her milk to take home, took my money, warmed up the bread, (at this point I actually went to the post office a few shops down to pick up something for my co-worker), sold some cookies, used the bathroom, put my eggs on the bread asked if I wanted any sauce?

yes please! May I have some ketchup? :)

Then she looked at me kind of blankly and asked: red or brown sauce?
me: Ketchup
Lady: Red or brown?
me: Red please.


Then I laughed and thought about how strange communication can be sometimes. (although despite or lapses in understanding I still managed to receive a darn good sandwich!) On the walk back to work, I thought about the idea that it seems to me that the English language of England has inculcated the grammatical rule of 'parallel structure'!! You can probably glean what the meaning of the rule is based on the title, but let me back myself up with a reference to a REALLY GREAT writing resource: Purdue Online Writing Lab. The OWL website defines Parallel Structure as follows:

Parallel structure means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level. The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions such as "and" or "or."

It is one of my favorites, even if I don't always remember to use it. (rules are made to be broken??) I think the key there is 'the same level of importance'. For those of you who have not enjoyed the condiments of England, you may or may not be aware of a little treat called HP Brown Sauce... or more affectionately known as... Brown Sauce. So if they woman would have asked if I wanted Brown Sauce or Ketchup then this blog entry wouldn't exist (at least not until a later date). it seems to be a phenomenon in cafes to ask after one's preference for red or brown sauce... most of my friends would say Ketchup so it is not a ubiquitous usage... but it is normal! I would say in the states we are more branded and ask for "Heinz" or "A-1".... just a thought.

But no matter how you request it, we love our saucy additions. As the great philosophical thinkers of our time, G. Love and Special Sauce, mused:

My baby got sauce
Your baby ain't sweet like mine
She got sauce
Your baby ain't sweet like mine
She got sauce...
She ain't just sweet.

When is your birthday?

Differences in American and English phrasal choices creep up in surprising places. One such incident happened the other day whilst at work with the boys group in Blacon. The presenter from an organisation asked for me to gather the first and last names as well as the birthdays of the students involved in the project. Sounds simple enough. When I went around the group and asked the first boy, we'll call him James, the exchange went something like this:

Me: When is your birthday?
James: '13th of the 2nd'.
Me: 'huh? What's your birthday?'
James: '13th of the 2nd'.
Me: 'Right, so February 13th, what year?'

Now here is where he may have responded with the fact that his birthday is every year, but he was nicer or not as quick and said his actual year of birth but not before saying:

James: 'huh?'
Me: 'In what year were you born?'
James: '1996'
Me: 'thanks.'

Very strange to compute verbal input in a format one is not accustomed. If I asked someone when his/her birthday is in the states, you often hear it formatted as such: 'February 26th' and then maybe 1982, if you asked the year. I knew that it is normal to do the whole day/month/year thing here. To be honest, I think it makes more sense, but it was STILL even after a year and a half a little difficult to compute. I think it was the 'of the 2nd' that really threw me off. I usually say, '26, 2, 1982' when asked my birthday here. I wonder if that throws other people off as well??

I like picking up these little tid bits. This one will fall into the same category as omitting the first person pronoun and leaving the direct object off the end of a sentence. It just seems to make one more easily understood round here. '(I) can do (that)'. We will see how many of these practices surreptitiously crept into my vernacular over the past few months. Ta.

Birthday Biking Adventures in the Peak District :)

For my birthday Tim was a real trooper and took me on another fantastic surprise weekend! This time we went to the Peak District, a place where I had never been and very much wanted to visit. To make the weekend even better he made plans for us to go cycling (something I love and he is trying out (hopefully will like a lot!)) It was a crisp February weekend in Hartington, UK and the town and the place we stayed was beautiful!!

I can't believe how lovely this place was. It is a through the YHA and I think it is possible that Tim is a borderline genius when it comes to finding the coolest places to stay.

Snowbells on the front lawn of our hostel, it really was such perfect crisp weather!

The very cool front door to our weekend home, what a great colour green! They think of everything.

Some magical hot air balloons floating over the skyline. :)

A picture of us taking a break from a long bike ride. Will be the same distance back! So I loaded up on hot chocolate and treats!

Finished! and wow... check out that outfit... I know... pretty hot. Yes, those are wool socks over shiny black cycling tights. Function over fashion, it is the American way

Time is so precious and it seems so easy to forget to make times for the ones that we love. Was an incredibly thoughtful gift. A weekend filled with happy memories to carry me into my 28th year. :)