Week One--and Some Additional Random Thoughts

This morning we woke up and decided that we couldn't eat another hotel English breakfast. We were craving some sort of "American" food. So we did what any typical American would do, and headed off to the nearest McDonalds. To be perfectly honest, this was about our only option since it was 8am and nothing else opens until after 9:30am (more on this later), so we headed on in, ordered an Egg McMuffin and a Big Breakfast and were in pure bliss! A few tips though, in case you ever find yourself in this situation: 1) In England, the Egg McMuffin doesn't include meat--it's only egg and cheese--you must specify that you want sausage or bacon (which is like country ham in America) and 2) the Big Breakfast does not include pancakes--you have to order them separately. And the biscuit, of course is not a buttermilk biscuit but rather an English Muffin. Which makes sense since we're in England, right?

Now the other topic--opening times of local restaurants and shops. Kevin and I observed this morning that even though the opening times of these places is stated as 9am, they really don't get "opened up" until 9:30am at the earliest--usually it's closer to 10am. The difference? In America, if you work at a shop or a restaurant that opens at 9am, it's expected that by 9am everything's ready to go---the shelves are stocked, food is cooked, tables set up, etc. In the UK, however, it's a bit different. A 9am opening time means that is the time that employees are expected to show up to work. Then they commence getting everything prepped and ready for customers. If you happen to show up during this prep time, you will eventually get helped. But be prepared to wait, especially if you want food, since it's usually not ready yet.