I hate banks

So this morning, I decided I would go shopping. "I've put it off long enough," I said, "The time has come!"

Right before I left the house, I got an email from our bank saying that they had frozen our account due to "suspicious activity." That would be Jim and me running from ATM to ATM attempting to withdraw enough money to pay the rent for our flat and then, last night, running from ATM to ATM so that we could get enough cash to pay for cough syrup and lozenges for poor sick Jim. (The place wouldn't take either of our credit cards, because they don't have chips in them).

To call the bank in the States from my mobile (that's what they call cell phones here. It's pronounced Mo-BILE...long I) it costs about $5 a minute. So, I can't do anything about it until Jim gets home with his phone, which we don't pay for. "Not to worry, " I said to myself, "I will use my CREDIT CARD!!!"

Happy with my decision to continue my plan to go shopping, I went to the post office, where I mailed a package and a letter and then tried to pay with my credit card, which was promptly rejected--they don't take American Express. So, I scrounged up enough cash to pay for it and then, spirit crushed, decided that maybe shopping wasn't such a good idea after all, and came home to the comfort of laundry to be done and my computer.

Fortunately, this day is not completely a wash, because I plan to go out tonight, damnit, and by then, hopefully, we'll have the bank situation resolved. Please note that all of this drama could be avoided were we able to open a bank account here in the UK...but that requires a permanent address, which due to other completely avoidable restrictions, which I am not allowed to discuss in this blog, we don't have yet. I promise my next blog will be written when I am in a better mood!

Culture Shock Continues--Adventures in Asda

Well, today, despite my better judgement and my desire just to stay put and in my pajamas, I decided to explore Britain's version of Wal-Mart: Asda (it actually is owned by Wal-Mart. Now I have confessed that I have been to Starbucks and Wal-Mart in just a little over a week of living here. How embarassing). I should have stayed home. I should have listened to my gut. The famous London weather has settled in: drizzly rain all day long, grey and dreary. I was comfortable with my computer, applying for volunteer jobs, drinking tea (and, no, I'm not some poser who started drinking tea because she's now living in London! I have always been drinking tea. At least since 2001, when I mostly quit drinking coffee...). And then I decided that I need to do something with myself, so I got out of my pajamas and into my only clean pair of pants and headed out to see what this Asda was all about.

The first thing that happened when I got to Asda is that I couldn't figure out how to get the "trolley" out. They were all chained together and I could see that people were chaining them back left and right, but when I tried to pull one out, I couldn't figure out how to UN-chain them. Finally a little old lady enlightened me and I understood that I had to insert a pound into a slot in the trolley, at which point, the trolley would easily come out. When I was done with the trolley, I should re-hook it to the rest and the pound would come out again. But I didn't have a pound...at least not a coin version like I needed. So she let me pay her in many penses and I took her cart.

Inside, it really didn't remind me that much of Wal-Mart. It wasn't big enough, first of all, and things here are just different than at home. The packaging of food is different, the food itself is different, the names of the foods are different, and I found myself feeling completely overwhelmed and unable to cope. On my list were a few things: wrapping paper, tape, scissors, milk, cookies, a loofah. Wrapping paper, tape, and scissors were incredibly easy. Loofahs apparently don't exist in this country. At least, I haven't been able to find one yet. Washcloths are also few and far between. Milk is easy, but the cookies completely stumped me. They don't have cookies like we have in the states...and here they are called biscuits. There are no giant chocolate chip cookies with nuts and oatmeal and all that stuff. There are no oreos either. That was actually my goal: I wanted to get Jim something like oreos. Instead I got ginger nut biscuits (which, much to my relief, are ginger snaps) and custard cremes...which I haven't opened yet, so I don't know what they are.

I guess the thing that was so hard for me today is that I have spent a lifetime learning American brands and the American way of saying things. When I go out into public here, it takes me 10 times longer than a normal person to count out a pound in change or to figure out if the product I'm looking at is the one that does what I need (like, "washing up liquid" is for washing the dishes and not for washing clothes or washing yourself).

To top off my culture shock experience in Asda, I got mud all over my only clean pair of pants and then, despite seeing it coming and pressing back against a wall, I got splashed by a passing bus, while trying to cross the street. I am currently washing my other pants, which should be dry in about three days.

Final Kew Blog

The really wonderful thing about the Kew and also about the London Zoo is that they are very focused on protecting endangered species. The Kew houses the Royal Botanical Society and they are studying all the uses of plants in medicine, daily products, etc. Of course, I ran out of time so I didn't get to really see all of that today. Kate, the scientist, can help me learn when she quits her job and comes to see me.

In this picture, I was recovering from a near altercation with a squirrel. The squirrel jumped from one tree to the next, barely making it to a low-hanging branch, which could hardly support it's weight, thus swinging it in the direction of my face as I passed beneath the low-hanging branch. We stared at each other for a minute and then he scrambled off and proceeded to chew me out, like it was my fault. I was so relieved that I didn't have a squirrel attached to my face, that I decided to take a celebratory picture!
"I'm squirrel free at Kew!!!"
And another picture perfect lake....
I'm sure this place is even more incredible when it's springtime and all the flowers are blooming. The next time I visit, I'll make it to Kew Castle and check out the UK's largest compost pile! 

Kew Gardens Blog #3 (I promise there aren't many more)

The Temperate House is the greenhouse that houses those plants that live in a temperate climate. It is the oldest surviving greenhouse from the Victorian ages and the largest greenhouse at Kew Gardens. And, inside this incredibly old and interesting looking greenhouse is the largest plant in the gardens, which I didn't manage to see, despite the fact that I walked through the greenhouse. By the time I figured it out, I didn't have time to go back. Today they were setting up an ice skating rink outside of the Temperate House. We will definitely be going back to ice skate at Kew Gardens. Those pictures should be pretty interesting...there will be a lot of us splayed out in various positions on the ice.
I took a picture of this royal coy, relative of Mom's giant coy, Moby Dick, who met his death in a pond filter. Maybe he is reincarnated as a royal coy?
Another view of the temperate house.....
 

Kew Garden Blog #2

Next I walked over to King William's Temple, pictured below. It has some commemerative plaques inside of it, but I can't remember what they were commemerating. Actually, it wasn't that interesting. But it was old! Here's the view from the inside out--a little more interesting because you can see the beautiful trees through the door.
And some wellies that someone left behind outside of the temple....
 

The Kew Gardens--blog 1

To describe everything that I saw at the Kew Gardens today is going to take several blogs. So, here we go! I left this morning, not realizing how long it takes to take the tube from Greenwich to the Kew Garden stop...so I spent nearly two hours getting there. It turns out that I could have gotten there faster, had I read the tube map correctly. My trip back was still long, but not that long! Anyway, when I got out of the tube station, this is what I saw: Very cute little street with cafes and bookstores and...STARBUCKS??!!!! Yes, they are everywhere here, too. Not as much as at home, but they are pretty much taking over. In fact, I went to one recently, for which I am very ashamed...but I digress.

The weather was looking pretty questionable so I was prepared to be disappointed after making the long trek out. I figured I would walk in the greenhouses and not be able to see most of the gardens. And there were a lot of gardens that I couldn't see, but it's not because it rained. It's because I ran out of time (see previous blog about how it gets dark here at 4:00!!!)

So, this was the first thing I saw when I walked into the Kew. Colors everywhere, menacing clouds, stately buildings, and...ugh...seagulls. Despite the seagulls, the gardens are spectacular.
The Palm House is a large greenhouse filled with...you guessed it! PALMS! My camera got fogged up from the humidity--I felt like I was back in New Orleans again--so the pictures are a little ethereal looking. This is a spiral staircase leading up to the top of the greenhouse, where I was able to walk around at the top of the palms. This is the tallest palm in the Palm House. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is gigantic, with leaves that are each about 2 stories long. And it isn't the biggest plant in the Kew greenhouses. I somehow didn't notice that plant, so I'll have to take a picture of it the next time I go. Next Blog..... 

A few more pictures

A combine, rolling through London, and representing the farmers of Great Britain in the Lord Mayor's Parade! Farmer's FIIIIGHT (AH HAH HAH AH HAH...just kidding, Jim...and all you other Aggies out there...I just have to take every opportunity to mock). Seriously, we took this picture because it made us think of my Dad and because we have great respect for all the hardworking farmers, worldwide. The previously mentioned flourescent, rollerblading, rat person. I have no idea what he was representing, but he and his fellow rats were pretty skilled on the rollerblades and were having a blast yukking it up for the crowds.
Channelling Shakespeare--Jim get's his Hamlet on in front of the Globe Theatre:

Oh dear...that was only the first pint, too: