I've been back for 36 hours now and a few things have struck me that I thought worth sharing.
Firstly, it rains a lot in the UK. I knew that before, but I think you only truly understand th extent of this after a long stint away. It's the drawn-out drizzly type, as opposed to the shorter, more powerful bursts that drench you on the way to the office (remember, Lorian?), but it's truly depressing stuff.
Also, food prices are more expensive here in the UK, with two noticeable exceptions: lamb and olive oil. I picked up 500ml of olive oil in my evening run around the local Sainsbury's for £1.49. It wasn't the stuff of extra virgins, but it'll do me fine, especially as it was to be used to re-seal the marble top in the bathroom.
Which leads me to my next point: olive oil seems to work wonders on damaged marble. I was horrified with how the tenants had left the surface, but olive oil seems to have done the trick.
Next: rice takes around half the time to cook in the UK than it does in the US. Ten minues here; 20 minutes State-side. Not sure why, but it does.
The British are way worse at punctuation than our friends over in the US. I've already seen a missing apostrophe (can you see a missing apostrophe?) and I saw the word collectables today, which apparently is a variant of collectibles, but I would have thought that the latter would win for a marketing campaign; it seems not.
Nothing's really changed that much in our absence. Sainsbury's Clapham has had a make-over, including the building of a two-storey car-park. As I say, nothing much has changed.
