Everybody's Working for the Weekend...

Ah...Saturday. The day where you really don’t have to worry about waking up early and you can lounge in your pyjamas for the whole day if you want to (especially out of the B&B)...right? Nope! Well, I could wake up whatever time I wanted to, I guess. I still woke up by 8:00. We had to make sure to be home for the last of the furniture delivery which was supposed to be between the hours of 9 and 12. So, we all waited (though why some of us didn’t leave to run errands, I don’t know...I just know I couldn’t because I had to direct the placement of my wardrobe and my bedside table). Our items didn’t arrive until 2:30...that is, all except for the TV which would then be delivered by 5pm (there was a glitch at the store...they thought we took the TV the day we bought it – when it turned out to still be on display). So, the other two went to go shopping while I stayed home and assembled the dining room chairs (and I have a lovely blister to prove it). I was completing the last couple of chairs when the girls got back, and they tried to assemble the table. They got most of it (though the last leg posed a bit of an issue), and I headed out to do some grocery shopping with Krista.

Tonight we had our first visitor to come since all the furniture was in place. Melanie is another Canadian teacher who came over and is teaching at our school but through a different agency (we don’t hold that against her. In fact, her agency did much more to help her settle in then ours did). We sat in the “lounge” (i.e. living room) on our new two-seater sofa, our matching armchair (the combination of both is called a “suite”), and one of the chairs I had painstakingly put together earlier that afternoon. After a lot conversation and laughs, the girls left to go pub hopping. Me, sadly enough, I have hit my tired stage and decided to stay home (not a shock for people who know me, I know...after all, I HAVE hit the 10pm mark here in the UK and it has the same effect as it does back in T.O.). Oh well, maybe next time...okay, so no crawl, but maybe a night at a single pub.

Before I go to bed, of course I will add the interesting facts that I know you all are waiting for.

Interesting Facts:

1) Electrical outlets in homes usually come in pairs, like it does in Canada, but there is a difference: they have a switch beside them so you can use it to turn plugs on and off. It’s odd, but kind of neat. However, you need to remember this, especially when plugging in a new appliance (like a TV) to see if it works. Krista forgot this and was upset that the TV that worked at the second-hand shop we bought it in no longer worked...until she was reminded of this fact.

2) Pop cans are smaller here, but the beer cans are bigger (is this a surprise?)

3) Everyone drinks here, which is of no surprise (especially when you look at point 2), except that – like the U.S. – you can buy your beer at your local convenience store. However, some interesting facts about this are: you can see people drinking their beer as they are walking down the street or place it in their pocket as they walk by. The most amazing feet I heard of this evening was that Melanie saw a young guy on a bicycle with a fag (cigarette for you Canucks) in one hand and a beer in the other while riding. Talent...no?

4) Apparently, pubs require women to be “dressed” in barely anything or “to the nines” depending on where you go (okay, so that does sound a lot like T.O.)

5) “Crisps” are potato chips, and “chips” are fries...but most of you are aware of that, I’m sure.

6) I also got interrupted in this during this entry to find out that our front door cannot be unlocked from the outside if it was previously locked from within.

Tune in tomorrow of the facts on toilets and conversation about “Poundland”. (Got your attention now, don’t I?)