I'm currently sitting the Green Bay airport, waiting for my flight to Chicago, where I'll meet my friend Pip and we'll wait for our flight to London. My suitcase ended up being 44 pounds, which I'm quite proud of. I did have to sacrifice a pair of brown boots and a few other things, but I can live with that. I actually ended up having to switch suitcases after I had packed everything the first time because the pull-up handle wouldn't work. That was a tad frustrating, but I'm now using a bright purple suitcase, which is kind of fun...
My backpack is full to bursting, and I have a second bag that I'm taking on with my camera and a few other things in it, as well as my coat, which I wasn't going to even try to pack. Besides, it's apparently going to be quite chilly and windy in London when we arrive, so I might end up actually using it.
I have a five and a half hour layover in Chicago...blech...but Pip is planning to keep me company, which is very nice of him. When I told him he didn't need to bother he replied with "I once had a 9 hour layover in Detroit. I'm coming to keep you company." And I'm not going to argue, of course. We'll likely spend the time running lines and kicking up mischief. Our flight leaves at 8:00pm our time, and lands at 10:00am London time.We are, I think, the first group to get in, excepting two of our classmates who are landing at 6:00am because that's when the cheapest flights are. Poor things :\ Two of our friends land 10 minutes after we do, so we're planning to meet them somewhere in the baggage claim/customs area.
Anyway, we board in twenty minutes, so I'm off! More updates will come :)
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES #1
I've not even left the states and I'm already seeing some very interesting cultural differences. I have a lovely cookbook given to me by some family friends upon their return from the UK, and it is full of traditional teatime recipies. BUT. There are some oddstuffs happening in that cookbook.
1) The British are apparently extremely fond of baking their pastries etc. for a LOOOOONG TIME. I think at least five recipies have cook times from 1 to 2 hours, and one even has 2 1/2! Holy cow. I thought "perhaps they cook on very low heat?" NOPE. 350 or higher, excepting one recipe, which cooks at 325.
British people, apparently, have far more patience when it come to their biscuit recipies than I do.
2) Speaking of temperatures...after every degree given (in Farenheights...this is after all a book meant for tourists) they have written a "Mark". For example: "Bake at 350 degrees or Mark 6..." This is very interesting to me, especially as both 450 and 425 areMark 8. It sounds a bit impresise, but what do I know about British food? It will be interesting to see what the oven in our flat says.
3) British recipes often use the following : caster suger, self-rising flour, mixed/candied peel, and curd. Caster sugar, as explained by Mom, can be made by chuffing regular sugar into a small blender and giving it what-for. Self-rising flour apparently means the baking soda is mixed in, and curd means straight up cheese curd. This confuses me a bit, as I don't think any old cheese curd would do...can you imagine sharp chedder cheese curds as part of a sweet pastry recipie? Blech. Mom (who I swear know everything) suggests that it would be more like ricotta cheese. And apparently mixed and candied peel each can be bought at any time of the year, though I've only seen them around Christmas time here. They also seem to LOVE grated lemon rind, in everything. I mean, just love it. Fortunately I do too, so that works out nicely :)
4) There is also a plethora of odd devices in which to bake these recipies. They all have equivilants to commonly used tins etc here with the exception of a "sandwich tin", which I have never once heard of, and won't try to guess at.
5) One of the most intriguing types of recipes is Parkin, which comes in Leeds, Sticky and others. Parkin is put into a tin, like a Spam tin, apparently, and left to sit for awhile, which just sounds interesting and odd.
6) Words: golden syrup is corn syrup, treacle is molasses (which you should all know from Harry Potter), biscuit is cookie, and pudding means dessert (also seen in Harry Potter).
7) and of course there's the bit where they weigh everything, as opposed to using measuring cups and spoons.
Cooking my office treats tonight (see previous post) will be an adventure, I'm sure. Pictures might follow, if I take any.
UPDATE: According to Google images, this is a sandwich tin. WHY it's called a sandwich tin, I have no clue. I'm not sure where the sandwich part comes from. I think I'll stick with "springform pan".
1) The British are apparently extremely fond of baking their pastries etc. for a LOOOOONG TIME. I think at least five recipies have cook times from 1 to 2 hours, and one even has 2 1/2! Holy cow. I thought "perhaps they cook on very low heat?" NOPE. 350 or higher, excepting one recipe, which cooks at 325.
British people, apparently, have far more patience when it come to their biscuit recipies than I do.
2) Speaking of temperatures...after every degree given (in Farenheights...this is after all a book meant for tourists) they have written a "Mark". For example: "Bake at 350 degrees or Mark 6..." This is very interesting to me, especially as both 450 and 425 areMark 8. It sounds a bit impresise, but what do I know about British food? It will be interesting to see what the oven in our flat says.
3) British recipes often use the following : caster suger, self-rising flour, mixed/candied peel, and curd. Caster sugar, as explained by Mom, can be made by chuffing regular sugar into a small blender and giving it what-for. Self-rising flour apparently means the baking soda is mixed in, and curd means straight up cheese curd. This confuses me a bit, as I don't think any old cheese curd would do...can you imagine sharp chedder cheese curds as part of a sweet pastry recipie? Blech. Mom (who I swear know everything) suggests that it would be more like ricotta cheese. And apparently mixed and candied peel each can be bought at any time of the year, though I've only seen them around Christmas time here. They also seem to LOVE grated lemon rind, in everything. I mean, just love it. Fortunately I do too, so that works out nicely :)
4) There is also a plethora of odd devices in which to bake these recipies. They all have equivilants to commonly used tins etc here with the exception of a "sandwich tin", which I have never once heard of, and won't try to guess at.
5) One of the most intriguing types of recipes is Parkin, which comes in Leeds, Sticky and others. Parkin is put into a tin, like a Spam tin, apparently, and left to sit for awhile, which just sounds interesting and odd.
6) Words: golden syrup is corn syrup, treacle is molasses (which you should all know from Harry Potter), biscuit is cookie, and pudding means dessert (also seen in Harry Potter).
7) and of course there's the bit where they weigh everything, as opposed to using measuring cups and spoons.
Cooking my office treats tonight (see previous post) will be an adventure, I'm sure. Pictures might follow, if I take any.
UPDATE: According to Google images, this is a sandwich tin. WHY it's called a sandwich tin, I have no clue. I'm not sure where the sandwich part comes from. I think I'll stick with "springform pan".
The beginning of the end!
Tomorrow is my last day at work! At 5:00pm tomorrow, my attention will totally and completely shift to preparing for London! Ahh!
I'm bringing in farewell/thank you treats for the office, which I'm excited for. I've opted to prepare some dishes that come straight from Britain. They will be Treacle Tart, Jam Tarts (in mini muffin size), and possibly millionare shortbread, which Mom suggested, and which I hadn't heard of until she did. I'm hoping they all go over well, but I've neither eaten nor prepared any of the above foodstuffs. There are more fancy and delicious sounding thing I might have decided to make, but they all insist on cooking for 1 to 2 hours, which is so not happening...
I'm bringing in farewell/thank you treats for the office, which I'm excited for. I've opted to prepare some dishes that come straight from Britain. They will be Treacle Tart, Jam Tarts (in mini muffin size), and possibly millionare shortbread, which Mom suggested, and which I hadn't heard of until she did. I'm hoping they all go over well, but I've neither eaten nor prepared any of the above foodstuffs. There are more fancy and delicious sounding thing I might have decided to make, but they all insist on cooking for 1 to 2 hours, which is so not happening...
Monday, August 20, 2012
THIS IS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!! dumdumdumdum
COUNTDOWN TO DAY OF DEPARTURE: TODAY IS THE DAY! I'M ON MY WAY!!
COUNTDOWN TO DAY OF ARRIVAL: WE LAND TOMORROW AT 10:00! WAHOOOO!
MY PERSONAL LEVEL OF FREAKING OUT: I'm just beyond words now. I'm generally exhibiting stupid grins and dancing in place! I'm so excited!
COUNTDOWN TO DAY OF ARRIVAL: WE LAND TOMORROW AT 10:00! WAHOOOO!
MY PERSONAL LEVEL OF FREAKING OUT: I'm just beyond words now. I'm generally exhibiting stupid grins and dancing in place! I'm so excited!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Introduction and COUNTDOWN TO DEPARTURE!
I told my mom I'd keep a blog while overseas so...
Welcome to my blog! For those who don't know me, my name is Lydia, and I'm a third year Theatre major/Music minor from the United States. I'm heading over to London, England for three and half months on August 31st, 2012 to study theatre with the rest of my class (SO EXCITED!)
This is where I will post at least (I hope) once a week about what sorts of silly things those British oddballs do, and what sort of adventures studying theatre in the UK brings.
My blog is mainly for family members and such types who want updates more detailed than the occasional Facebook status will provide, but all are very welcome to read/comment/whatever. As such, my blog will pertain mostly to, well, me. For more general updates, the professor who is in charge of the program in London also has a blog, which will discuss the sorts of things we all do. Check out Gary's (the prof's) blog for more all-around adventures! And probably more regular posts.... http://smumn-london.blogspot.com/
Note: between now and the 31st, posts will be sparse. The good stuff will come!
COUNTDOWN TO DEPARTURE: 14 DAYS
Welcome to my blog! For those who don't know me, my name is Lydia, and I'm a third year Theatre major/Music minor from the United States. I'm heading over to London, England for three and half months on August 31st, 2012 to study theatre with the rest of my class (SO EXCITED!)
This is where I will post at least (I hope) once a week about what sorts of silly things those British oddballs do, and what sort of adventures studying theatre in the UK brings.
My blog is mainly for family members and such types who want updates more detailed than the occasional Facebook status will provide, but all are very welcome to read/comment/whatever. As such, my blog will pertain mostly to, well, me. For more general updates, the professor who is in charge of the program in London also has a blog, which will discuss the sorts of things we all do. Check out Gary's (the prof's) blog for more all-around adventures! And probably more regular posts.... http://smumn-london.blogspot.com/
Note: between now and the 31st, posts will be sparse. The good stuff will come!
COUNTDOWN TO DEPARTURE: 14 DAYS
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