Food, glorious food!

Anyone who has known Caleb and I for any length of time knows we like food. Anyone who has traveled with us knows we like to try any kind of food from haggis to Icelandic hot dogs (which are A-MAZING, by the way) to cuy (cooked Guinea pig). Moving to England, you might think that there wouldn't be a big difference, if any, in the food, and you'd be partially right. The food isn't as strange as cooking a household pet, but haggis actually comes from Scotland, which is less than 400 miles away. (I LOVE haggis, by the way. 😃) But there are some differences so let's begin.

England has their traditional hearty breakfast, or "full breakfast" as they like to call it, just like the US. The difference is in what they offer. There's toast (normal), eggs (normal), sausage (pretty normal but not the type of breakfast sausage that the US has), streaky bacon (pretty normal - think similar to Canadian bacon), tomatoes and mushrooms (now we're getting weird), baked beans (getting more weird, especially because the beans are typically served on the toast), and black pudding. (One of the most deceiving names for a food ever! It's nothing close to pudding but actually a blood sausage made with pork blood, fat (either pork or beef suet) and a cereal like oatmeal or oat groats.) The beans on toast sounds weird but it oddly works. I can't eat it very often, though. I think it's just a mental block that beans are meant for lunch or dinner, not breakfast.

Another trick name for something here is a "flapjack". Here is is NOT a pancake but a cereal bar made of oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. They are one of my favorite go-to breakfasts or snacks, especially if it has chocolate chips! They're VERY filling but still relatively healthy. Definitely a must-try for anyone who hops the pond.

Now, I think everyone knows about the difference between US "chips" and UK "chips". They do still have "fries" here, though. "Chips" are the thick-cut potatoes, like steak fries back home, but "fries" are the shoestring type. Caleb and I both have adapted to calling each the correct type, especially Caleb with him being around food all day at the pub, but if I slip up when we're out and I say, "fries", I'll still get some good old-fashioned fried potatoes. Now if you're wanting US chips, then you have to ask for "crisps". Now, luckily, they do have Dorito's, albeit in some weird flavors, but they do have cool ranch; it's just called "cool original". 😆 And they have Pringles, which are my personal favorite, so all is not totally lost where food is concerned.

"What about 'cookies' and 'biscuits'?" you may ask. What we call "cookies" back home the Brits call "biscuits". There are some larger, softer cookies that are actually called "cookies", but when you have tea, you're going to have British biscuits with it. Now, what we call "biscuits", they just call "bread". That may not seem too strange, and it really isn't, but it's just another example of how we're technically speaking the same language but not at the same time.

So Caleb and I haven't really changed our diet any since moving here, although there are a couple of dishes that we love, like bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and treacle sponge pudding (a super delicious dessert that STILL isn't a pudding but a steamed cake with a special syrup - the treacle - on top and all served with custard). And there are MANY things that we miss that we can't find or have decided to make ourselves because the British version isn't the same, like salsa. They have Dorito's and Old El Paso brands, as well as British brands, but when it says "hot" it is NOT. Also, macaroni and cheese is one that I personally miss. They don't have KRAFT mac and cheese and the brand that I tried was just weird. They do have it in a can, which surprisingly isn't too bad, but I miss the old school powder in a box kind.

All in all, while there has been some adjusting to the local and national cuisine, it isn't nearly as difficult as if we went somewhere like France or Germany or even Iceland. Thank goodness for that.

Trying

With the beginning of a new year and a new decade, I've decided to try once again to do a little extracurricular writing. I've had it suggested to me by a few people (one of which may or may not have been my mom) that I should write down/journal/blog about my experiences through this move to the UK. So this is me trying. I'm not going to make any kind of commitment as to how often I'll post; that's a lot of pressure. But I will commit to trying.

Which is where I want to start with this whole experience. If you know me even a little, then you know how much I have loved Scotland since my first visit back in college. It was then, over 25 years ago, that I decided that I wanted to live there. Now I know what you're thinking: "But you're not in Scotland. You're in England." And that is true, but it's a start and I'm closer now than I was 6 months ago. And I'll still try to get there.

We all have dreams, goals, ideas that we think we would love to achieve but we can't or won't for whatever reason: finances, relationships, self-esteem issues, etc. And believe me, I still have those same issues. It's really expensive to live here; the pay is ridiculously low and rent is ridiculously high. Relationships are hard to cultivate sometimes because everyone lives so far apart. And living in another country, being a foreigner, definitely messes with my self-esteem. However, with all of that said, I wouldn't go back and change my decision to make one dream come true.

It's all a matter trying. Two years ago I had breakfast with two good friends where we talked about our hopes and dreams and promised to encourage each other with achieving them. It's been a long two years to get here, and I know it may seem like it all happened in a blink of an eye, but there was a lot of work that went into making this decision to move and to start all over in another country. I tried for two years to love where I was working but even with amazing coworkers and some amazing students along the way, the obstacles and frustrations were too large and I decided to leave after 12 years of teaching in that school. I tried to make it work, but there were other paths for me to take. So then I tried to get a job here, which was easier than I thought it would be. The difficulty came in the visa process, but I continued to fight and try to get it all straightened out.

Trying doesn't mean that everything turns out okay. Trying means that you try. You TRY to do something that you're interested in and that you've never done before. You TRY to talk to that person that you've always wanted to but were too nervous or intimidated to. You TRY to make one dream or goal become a reality no matter what the obstacles. You TRY to live the life that you've always wanted without listening to the negative voices around you. Life isn't easy, as we all know, but at least if you try to do those things in life that will make it better for you, then you've made the effort to improve it. What have you got to lose? Just try it.