Reasons I Love Living in England

Hello friends, this is a long post about some (not all) of the reasons I am enjoying living in England. Feel free to continue reading or skimming if you are interested. Remember, you can click on the photos to make them bigger. 

Reasons:

The accents. Whether it's Norfolk or Yorkshire, Birmingham, West Country, Welsh, Scottish, or Scouse, I never get tired of listening to people's accents here. I feel like I'm in a movie every day! I don't mind being called love and darlin'. Somehow it doesn't sound offensive with a British accent—not like when Americans call you hon, dear, or sweetie. It still amazes me that there can be such variation between places that are pretty close together. An interesting website to explore if you want to hear various accents from the United Kingdom (and all over the world) is IDEA, the International Dialects of English Archive.

People are so witty here, I sometimes feel like I'm at the mad tea party. There's almost always a sarcastic retort and they do love puns. Oh, and seeing proper spelling everywhere! One thing I still can't get used to is being greeted with: 'Are you all right?' (or sometimes just 'all right'). I always think I must look like I'm about to fall to pieces or collapse or something. 

Some favourite words I've actually heard people use: 
twee—meaning sentimental
faff—meaning ineffectual activity
whiffy—meaning pungent
whilst—yes, it's still used

pinny—apron
ropey—meaning feeling ill
pardon—for 'what did you say?'
poorly—meaning feeling ill or not well

numpty—an insult (I'm not actually sure how rude this is)
Oh my days—for 'Oh my goodness.' I've heard this expression most often in Birmingham! 
stroke—as in, stroke the cat

reckon—as in, I reckon it'll take an hour (this is not at all annoying when said with a British accent).

Getting to use these!

Yes, thank you, Mr Darcy

Mad tea party

Norfolk Dialect

How to speak 'Nottingham'

Tea. So many places to get good tea has turned me into a binge drinker. I can never have enough tea, all the time, any time of day! (For more details, refer to my earlier post about tea.) It might be because it's easier to get hot water anywhere here than anything decently cold (also, cream teas!). It's like choosing a book to read at meal times: you have your breakfast, lunch, afternoon, and dinner teas. A tea for every occasion. It's so satisfying to get a nice pairing with each meal. Sometimes bookshops will even bring you tea while you browse! This is, I think, as amazing as those bookshops that also sell yarn (in Sweden).

It's always teatime

So true!

Cold leaf liquid

Tea at Norfolk Children's Book Centre

My favourite tea set (at the British Museum tearooms)

My new tea set

Every day is tea-rific

Knitting. Even if wool is no longer as big of an industry as it was in England in the past, sheep farming and raising sheep for wool is bigger here than in the part of the US I come from. I've not seen as many physical yarn shops as I expected, but knitting culture is still very much alive. The best magazine for knitting, The Knitter, is based in Bristol. Almost every charity shop has a file of knitting patterns, particularly of baby and kids' clothes (which, as noted before, I've filled two binders with already). I regularly see people wearing fashionable knitted pieces like jumpers, cardigans, pullovers, scarves, and hats in aran, fair isle, guernsey, and intarsia patterns. The knitted pullover is still a staple of school uniforms. Knit and natter groups are popular at public libraries and cafés (at the Library of Birmingham, this is called Crafty Cats). I think I'm going to turn into a crazy knitting lady.

Hardwick sheep

Beautiful Lake District paths take you through the sheep field

Knitting is exercise

Aran baby cardi

Simple wrap

Child's cabled jumper

Beret

Fingerless gloves

Child's dress

Cabled sweater

Construction of the Apple Scruffs pullover

The finished product!

Cabled baby cardi

Bramble Beret

Norfolk Yarn, Norwich

At the East Anglian Yarn Festival

The Oxford Yarn Store (there's also The Woolhound in the Covered Market)

Wool in Bath

Coolcrafting in Kendal

Which row is this?

Knitting advice from Donovan

Reading culture. Not surprisingly, people are really interested in poetry and literature here. Sometimes in a snobbish way, but not necessarily. There are literature and poetry groups at many public libraries, and not only the typical monthly book clubs or shared reading groups either. I was part of a reading round group in Norwich led by the poet Heidi Williamson. It was supported by the Royal Literary Fund, an organisation that pays poets and writers to run literature groups all across England. We met each week (with tea and biscuits!) to discuss a short story and a poem. I also joined a poetry circle while in Norwich that was advertised at the local book shop. That group has actually been running in some form or another since the 1980s, but with members gradually changing in and out. Now in Birmingham I'm part of a new poetry circle with a couple of people I met at the library's Book Chat. 

As you probably know, there are so many literary landmarks in England and around the UK! I've visited Dove Cottage, Hill Top Farm, Haworth Parsonage, Christ Church Meadow, Jane Austen's House in Bath, Elizabeth Gaskell's House, Anne Brontë's grave, Moseley Bog, Samuel Johnson's Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Writers' Museum and many other literary sites. I still would like to get in a visit to Ashdown Forest, though! 

Always check the events at the library

Queue at the British Library

The American Library in Norwich

The Secret Garden at the Library of Birmingham

National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh

Central Library, Edinburgh (right across the street)

Quiet please at the Bodleian, Oxford

Central Library, Liverpool

Central Library, Nottingham

Manchester Poetry Library

Is there a better place to read than Reading?

The core concept

Hill Top Farm, Near Sawrey

Dove Cottage, Grasmere

Haworth Parsonage, Haworth

Alice's Shop, Oxford

Jane Austen's house near Sydney Gardens in Bath

Elizabeth Gaskell's house, Manchester

Anne Brontë's grave, Scarborough

Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh

Trains. As much as people complain about the trains, I still think it's amazing that they run so frequently and on time. You can get compensation if they're more than fifteen minutes late! Imagine! Many places are so well connected to the train system that you don't need a car unless you're going way out into the country. One downside is the expense of a ticket, especially since I can no longer get a rail pass for discounted tickets—otherwise, I'd be riding on trains all the time. I feel safe travelling on my own in the UK. Most people are very respectful of privacy and generally mind their own business. It's usually quiet. On public transportation it's possible not to speak to anyone. When you do have a conversation, people don't ask for your contact information or anything. You can talk about where you're going, places you've visited, your family, your childhood, what you're studying, and it's not like they'd be able to trace you. Plus, the train station is so much less stressful than an airport. You can pack your own food, tea, scissors, and electronic devices and not have to repack it all at the gate. The food selection when travelling is better than in the US, but it's still not great, so it's best if you are able to pack your own (much cosier and more zero waste, too). Plus plus, trains mean that I haven't had to drive since I've been here. Plus plus plus, you can get to a lot of places in under five hours. There are still so many places to go!

It was 9:29...

The One After 909

"No way to slow down"

Don't forget to adjust your dress

Norwich train station

Gravelly Hill, Birmingham

Walking culture. Walking can be a solitary activity, a time for reflecting or working out a poem or listening to podcasts (I like to listen to the Plodcast while I walk)—or, you can find a group to walk with. There's more than one organisation in England that coordinates group walks. I joined the Ramblers, which hosts regular walks in all areas of the country and is managed by local volunteers. They accommodate short, middle, and long distance walks. Membership tends to be older people, not so many people my age, but it's great to see so many people in their 70s regularly walking ten to twelve miles or more. What's beneficial about a group walk is that you can travel to places farther away from the city and not worry about getting lost or stranded. Some of the starting points for walks are hard to get to by public transport, but with a group there is the option to carpool. People are serious about Right to Roam here. They petition for keeping a public right of way through all privately owned land so that non-landowners can still access country walks. They also keep up all the trails across the nation. One of the best walks I've been on was to Binsey near Penrith. Everyone teased me about not wearing trousers, but then at the end they all said how clean my legs were! I gave up on trying to see a red squirrel, but I'd still like to see a wild hedgehog. This is as close as I've come: Plodcast Sound Escape 239. I love hearing blackbird, robin, and skylark song. And speaking of group activities, people get together for other activities as well, like dancing. Many places around the country have a local Royal Scottish Country Dancing Society group (which I have tried!) and an English Country Dancing Society or ceilidh events.

What are men compared to rocks and mountains?
(image from Pride and Prejudice)

View from Binsey

Binsey

Comma butterfly

Poppy

Snail in the brambles

Snowdrops

Happy bees

Nettle harvest

from The Caterpillar, Issue 38

My picnic with the cows at Sutton Park

The Irish Sea from Whitehaven

Red admiral butterflies

Food. The food is a little bit safer here because of rules against GMO crops (also flour is all unbleached and there's real sugar, not corn syrup). So they don't use Roundup, but there may still be some other commercial pesticides on non-organic produce. At grocery stores and convenience stores there are usually healthier options available even for ready-made food. Animals are more humanely raised for meat and there's nothing close to the scale of factory farming in the US. Most food still comes wrapped in plastic (though that supposedly gets recycled?), unless you can get to a zero waste or bulk foods shop. I miss my bunches of kale from Downtown Grocery! I did notice on a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon that much of their waste is sent to an incinerator in Coventry, which is similar to what environmentally-conscious Sweden does with non-compostable rubbish. As a side note, I am slightly amused by the different names for candy (sweets) here. Smarties are chocolates, like M&Ms, Jelly Babies are actually shaped like babies (!), and Sweet Tarts are Love Hearts? (There is a chain called the American Candy Store, but it's really a front for money laundering.) 

People might know that I'm not very adventurous with food. It's not what I travel for. I've lived off barley and kale soup and oatcakes while travelling to save money. I do occasionally eat out, however, and a pizza chain I really like is called Franco Manca's. Their sour dough pizza is great (and freaky fast—it's like the Jimmy Johns of pizza—or that could just be because I'm always there so early before everyone else has dinner) and they also have really good salad dressing. They once even gave me a heart-shaped pizza. Very sweet. The only problem is that their cups are so small! I always have to ask for two cups of ice. Would it be weird to bring my own cup?

A delicious Franco Manca's pizza

A tasty Italian risotto

A proper Sunday roast

Fancy London health food

Pancake day is celebrated!

Thrifting. There are so many charity shops! In general, the quality of the items is better than in US thrift stores. Clothing is better cared for and not worn to rags before donating. British people know how to dress! In the US, thrift stores are usually run by a local church or a chain like Goodwill. Here, there's every imaginable save the cats/dogs/horses/hedgehogs, medical research for cancer/heart disease/Alzheimer's, support for old people/children/homeless/end-world-poverty organisation with a shop. Most of the time they are very well-organised—the hangers all have sizes and the racks are not so packed that you can't shift the items. The best shop for second-hand books is Oxfam. Actually, I got to volunteer at the Oxfam books and music shop in Norwich. One thing I especially enjoyed about it, of course, was talking with other volunteers and customers about books. It wasn't quite the same as a library because we were charging for the items and you'd never know what exactly you'd have available from day to day, but I felt better about working there than at any other bookshop. I don't have many photos of charity shops, but most of my wardrobe and much of my book collection comes from there!

Oxfam Books and Music Shop, Norwich

My book shelf (many came from thrifting—note my
fat knitting pattern binders on top!)

Pound Sterling. Using pounds instead of dollars makes everything look cheaper! (but it's really not, haha.) It's a little embarrassing to have to inspect each coin before I know how much it is. I really don't use cash frequently enough. 

One moment, please

Proximity to Sweden. Flights to Sweden from the UK aren't too expensive and only take a couple of hours. Within England, there are a lot of Swedish cultural activities in London, especially at Svenska Kyrkan, which is a hub for Swedish cultural events. Another cultural centre is Gustav Adolfs Kyrka in Liverpool. People are really interested in why I study Swedish. I assumed more people would be aware of Swedish culture because Sweden is not that far away, but actually many people think it's a strange, difficult language to learn. I may live in Sweden one day, but for now I'm enjoying the visits.

Every time I visit

These trees!

Wonderful Stockholm

At Lilla Hyttnäs (photo by Mira Wickman)

Rambling Couple in Historic Landscape by Carl Larsson

British TV. There are three main channels to choose from that you can access for free: BBC, ITV, and Channel 5. Technically, you need a TV licence to watch the BBC, but you don't have to show proof unless an officer comes to your door. What? Yes, they actually send threatening letters in the mail, too. (But at least there are no pledge drives.) It may seem like not so many channels, but what do you really need so many channels for? TV shows—the ones I watch, anyway—come out first here. Some recent shows I've enjoyed are All Creatures Great and Small, Cilla, Ludwig, and Miss Austen. Most often, I rewatch Jane Austen adaptations, Endeavour, or episodes of The Royal. (All the Doctor Who episodes are available on the BBC, too!) Plus, commercials aren't as annoying (no drug ads). I suffer withdrawal from British drama whenever I visit Sweden. 

Glad I can watch all the British drama I need!

(I won't bombard you with a bunch of Doctor Who memes)

Long Summer Days. I love the long summer days here. Sunrise is before 5 a.m. and sunset after 9:30 p.m. at the height of summer. Blackberry season lasts into October. Holly trees stay green all year. I do sometimes miss the intensity of thunder storms. There really hasn't been a good one since I've been here— but it could happen, right? Sometimes in the summer it can feel incredibly humid, too. It's like Nebraska without air conditioning! Usch! The buildings aren't well-insulated to either hold in the heat or keep it out (it goes along with the Victorian era plumbing, I guess). Yet, the weather here isn't actually that bad, except for some reason in January every year the chill gets to me. I can deal with much colder temperatures, so why should I feel so cold when it hovers around freezing? Also there's an odd kind of rain mist that gets you soaking wet. It's hardly raining, right? Wrong! Don't trust it. 

I understand now, Justin

A meadow in Norfolk

Blackberry season

Getting throughly drenched in Yorkshire

The first tree in the greenwood

Tea and rice bags will see me through

British Music. I saved this one for last, although it's not the least important! Probably everyone who knows me will know that all my favourite bands are British. Why are they so good?? I get a thrill from listening to this music in England (even though it was mostly in the 60s and 70s that it happened, somehow it doesn't feel as long ago as that). And so many lyrics from songs make more sense to me now! I think the Kinks are actually the most British band (also the Beatles, but the Beatles have much more universal appeal). Look up the lyrics to Autumn Almanac or Holiday in Waikiki or Shangri-La or The Village Green Preservation Society (... I could go on) and you might understand what I mean. While in England, I've been to see the Bootleg Beatles and Jethro Tull in concert. I also saw the rerelease of Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii in the cinema (Yes, there were some other people there—no, they weren't all rocking in their seats). You can listen to the remastered recordings on Spotify. I've been to visit Liverpool a couple of times, which you can read about here and here. Just this weekend I went to see Paul McCartney's photos at the Gagosian in Mayfair (there's a nice overview of the exhibition here for anyone interested: Rearview Mirror). Right now I'm living close to Erdington in Birmingham, where the music club Mothers was located in the late 1960s (pretty much Erdington's only redeeming quality). I realise that a lot of these groups really enjoyed American music, particularly from the South—which I definitely don't! But it's funny when British people try to imitate it. Funny and then it makes me like it. British people really love to sing. If only I had a tuppence for every time I heard someone singing along to the musak in a shop! Yes, grooving to the musak from a speaker in the shoe rack (from "Cat Food" by King Crimson) is a real thing.

I enjoy some folk music as well and I look out for groups performing now that I might actually like. I was able to go to a Bookshop Band concert at Heffers in Cambridge. I actually didn't even know they were touring, but just happened to be at the bookshop that day! If Naomi Randall and Tom Gaskell ever did a concert, I would probably go to that.

Penny Lane in Liverpool

Abbey Road Studios, London

The Bootleg Beatles

Grantchester Meadows

Mothers in Erdington (currently a grocery store)

Heffers in Cambridge (where I saw The Bookshop Band)

I think the people I meet here probably don't realise how unpatriotic I am. They assume that I must want to go back to the US. Sometimes people even apologise to me for not liking American politics (don't worry, I don't like it either). It's a little awkward when I have to be a spokesperson. I'm glad when people think I'm Canadian. And then there are the students I've met, who think it would be so cool to live in America. They want to know how many states I've visited. They wonder if I've met any celebrities (or gang members ???) and whether I prefer the US or the UK. Multiple people have asked if I've ever seen a bear. One friend from Norwich said he pictured my home as being a lot like the little house on the prairie. It's sometimes difficult for me to explain what it's actually like in Wisconsin!

I understand that not everyone feels welcome in England, but my experience is that there is an extremely homey feel to it. It's a feeling I don't get visiting or living in other places even in the US besides my own hometown. Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of me and praying for me since I've been living here. I have faith that this is where I should be for now. I give thanks to God for guiding me and protecting me on this wonderful journey!

From the beginning

Thank you for reading.

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