A Cultural Report From Snowy Kingston...

Hello! You found the compass!


     I apologize for not posting anything last night. I was hoping that perhaps today would be a clearer day and I could do a bit of exploring around Kingston's markets and do an entry about them. However, it is cold out, massive snowflakes are plopping onto people's heads, and I'd rather stay indoors! It has been snowing or raining just about all weekend, which made the past few days fairly uneventful. So rather than telling a story about some grand adventure of mine, I will share a few pub stories and then move on to translating British English into American and reviewing some British customs (just in case any readers feel like visiting).

     Friday night, I decided to meet some of my friends at a pub in Surbiton. It was one I had been told to go to, as it supposedly had a good atmosphere and yummy fish and chips. Located right across from Surbiton Station, here is The Coronation Hall:

Photo from Google.

     The Coronation Hall is owned by the same company as The King's Tun (the pub where they had the international student night), J D Wetherspoon. From what I gather, all of the Wetherspoon pubs have the same menu and drinks. I, personally, think that The Coronation Hall is much nicer than The King's Tun, so I will likely frequent this pub. The drinks are cheap; 3.15 pounds for a double Amaretto and Coke, as I happily discovered. It is interesting to see which drinks they have and don't have. I don't know if it's all pubs here or just the Wetherspoon ones, but the bars did not stock sour mix or grenadine. If your favorite drink includes either of those, be prepared to think up another enjoyable concoction for your evening. I ordered myself a non-alcoholic drink at The King's Tun that I will definitely be ordering more often: cranberry juice and ginger ale. Not only does it taste good, but they serve it in an interesting way. The bartender gave me a glass with ice and cranberry juice, and then a separate small bottle of ginger ale. The ginger ale they gave me tasted like no other ginger ale I've tried; it had a spicy kick to it and was great by itself, but excellent when mixed with the cranberry juice.

      As for the food: it's typical pub food, so don't expect anything mind-blowing. I haven't tried the fish and chips at The Coronation Hall, but I have gotten them at The King's Tun. They're decent, but certainly not the best. What I did try at The Coronation Hall was the plate of nachos. Again, it was decent, but nothing special and certainly not 1,437 calories worth of special! That's the other thing for visitors to keep in mind: if you're on a diet, pub food generally won't be diet-friendly. Let yourself go for a night.

     A helpful note for visitors: at most of the pubs I have been to, you do not order your food from a waiter. Instead, you go up to the bar and order your food and drinks all at once and pay right after ordering. (You need to know your table number so the waiter can bring the food to you.) I quite like this system, as it completely avoids the problem of waiting for the waiter to come by and drop of the bill or take your money. When ordering food or drink, the bar is usually crowded (with people sitting at it or other people ordering). Fear not! Just walk up to anywhere at the bar and wait; the bartenders are very good and will attend to you, and they are even able to keep track of who queued first at the busiest of hours. 

    Another little tidbit: People are very social at pubs. Usually you can go to a pub alone and end up talking to someone during your time there without a problem. I haven't ever gone alone, but I have twice wound up in conversations (one was one-sided) with people while waiting for drinks. Both of those times happened this past weekend. The first was at The Coronation Hall. I was waiting to order my drink, and an older man next to me was nursing a pint. He had clearly had several beforehand, as he appeared quite intoxicated. He looked at me and smiled, so I smiled and nodded at him before turning my attention back to the bar. He stammered, "young lady..." I turned to look at him, but he didn't continue his sentence at first; he just sat there, smiling and red-faced. He managed to continue with what I think was a "you look nice tonight" (the pub was loud and he was mumbling and stammering, so understanding this man was not easy). I said "thank you" and again turned my attention to waiting for the bartender. The man kept trying to communicate but found it impossible to form full sentences, or even full words. By the time I got my drink he simply said "young lady" before making a series of slow, shaky hand gestures that I couldn't even begin to interpret. I said my goodbye and headed to my table. I doubt he'll remember the exchange. 

     The second exchange took place the following night at The King's Tun. Lauren and I were waiting for a few of our friends to show up when a man at the table next to us struck up conversation. His name was Aaron. He asked us all about where we were from, how long we'd be here. Though very red-faced and quite tipsy, at least we could understand this man! Poor fellow had a bad memory from the drinking, though. He asked Lauren how long she'd been in England roughly four times before his friend told him to shut up. Then another man arrived and Aaron introduced him as "my mate Monty, he's a good man." Monty laughed and told us not to listen to a word Aaron had been saying, because "he is the biggest liar in England." Aaron pointed at us and said, "Got American girls here, Monty. Americans!" So we related our stories of where we were from and why we were in England to Monty before our friends showed up. It made for an amusing start to our Saturday night.The pub atmosphere is one I will miss when I return to America.

     Now, on to discussing a few British customs I've noted (then we'll get on to the British to American dictionary). The first thing I noticed about England was how well everyone dressed. It is rare to see somebody casually wearing sneakers out and about. No, sneakers are for exercise and sport only. It's the same thing with sweatshirts: it is rare to see someone walking around with even a zippered sweatshirt, let alone the pull-over kind. Everyone dresses quite nicely. 

     One thing that threw me for a loop was the greeting that shopkeepers and others will give. Rather than saying "Need help finding anything?" or "How are you?" they will greet you with "You doin' alright?" or "You alright, there?" The first time I heard this, I didn't know what the proper response was and stammered out a "Er, yes, yes I am alright...are YOU alright?" I have since gotten used to it. I don't know if there is a "proper" response, but a simple "Doin' alright, yeah. Yourself?" seems to suffice. When in doubt, just listen to how the other shoppers respond.

     Now, for a small lesson about words. Below are British words translated into American. I hope it gives some help to anyone who wants to visit England in the future. (There are many more examples. These are just the ones I've run into so far...)

     Hob =  Burner (on a stove)

     Biscuit = Cookie (but cookie does not equal biscuit. Brits don't have a term that I've found for what we think of as cookies, besides "American Cookies". I also have yet to figure out what American Biscuits are called here, if anything. Here's an article about it: http://rangspeakyourmind.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/cookie-vs-biscuit-the-american-british-divide/ )

     Chips = French Fries

     Crisps = Chips

     Tube = Subway

      Pavement = Sidewalk

     Bangers and Mash = Sausages and Mashed Potatoes

     Jacket Potato = Baked Potato

     Trainers = Sneakers

    

        

     Well, that's it for this entry! Short and sweet. I'll have more to report this weekend after my trip to the Globe Theater and Parliament! Until then...Cheers!