- Still no phone/internet service at home - why? you may ask. Well for starters, they only work M-F 9-5pm here, no more no less. This means that stores and banks also stick to these hours (except, we noticed that a lot of stores are open later on Thurs. Not sure why yet). We have to walk EVERYWHERE which takes much longer (damn, our legs are tired!). And well, Chris doesn't really "exist" in the country (not the right paperwork as far as most places are concerned) and even though I do, I have to have a letter from my school (which is a 20 min. walk one way). Sigh....we're both quite frustrated that we have to walk to this place called Fact (a cinema, media place) any time we want to go online.
- We have bank accounts - hurrah! One step closer to "existing". However, Chris is still trying to figure out if the bank account he currently has is the best one for him.
- We have a gym membership! WHOO!! And the gym is right across the street from us - a HUGE convenience. We certainly don't want to have to trek across town to go work out. Plus, they have these super advanced machines that can track our progress by entering a unique pin number. Maybe this will help us stay motivated!
- These following "myths" are in reality - TRUE: 1) It is DAMN gloomy here. Just like Seattle. In fact, it's been overcast every day that we've been here except for today. Today, we are blessed with mostly blue sky and actual SUN! 2) The food (as everyone warned us) does not rate very well in diversity, taste, or vegetarian options. There are a TON of burgers, fish and chips, sandwich shops, and um...well, more burgers. And for vegetarian options, it's pretty much salad without the meat, or maybe some pasta. There are only 2 Mexican places in the whole city (as far as we can tell anyway) and the Japanese/Teppanyaki place that we tried didn't have the correct flavoring. Sad! So Chris and I are going to cook A LOT! 3) Liverpudlians are SUPER friendly and very polite. This is a relief since we've had to ask a lot of questions, directions, etc. and they are always obliged to help. To our surprise, it appears that we are "cool" since we're Americans coming from Seattle. :)
- The city is BEAUTIFUL in various ways. There are a lot of very old (like centuries old) buildings mixed with new buildings - possibly because it is the city that was chosen for Europe's 2008 Capital of Culture Award which celebrates art, music, life, diversity, etc. Thankfully, there are a lot of new shops such as H&M, French Connection, Diesel, and several others which brands I don't recognize. There are also a lot of dilapidated, abandoned buildings cluttered around the city. My guess is that they just haven't renovated them yet, but nonetheless, they are still beautiful and a part of the city's history. It's refreshing to see a mix of things rather than condo after condo. There are also ENORMOUS cathedrals and other government buildings.
- The accent is quite thick - sometimes we'll pass by a few conversations and have absolutely no idea what it was about or if it was even English! We're starting to pick up on things better though. Oh, and instead of "For here, or to go?" We get "For here, or take away?" More sayings later...
- The English drink A LOT!!!! Like seriously, a drink with lunch and dinner at least. The few times that we've sat down and ordered food, we were asked if we'd like something to drink (we said water), and we were given strange looks and they said, "No, I mean, do you want something to drink." We looked around and everyone had some sort of alcoholic beverage in hand. Whoops...
- Finally, the last thing that I can think of is that we have absolutely no idea on what the tipping custom is. We notice that in coffee shops, there is a tip jar like normal, but in the few restaurants we've been in, we haven't known what to do. We noticed something was a little different when we tipped a few people and their eyes got big and they gave us a big "THANK YOU! Cheers mate!" like it doesn't happen or maybe just not in our custom of 15-20%. We'll find out what's "normal" soon enough.
Alrighty then...more to report shortly. Chris is updating the blog with our pictures as I type! YAAAAAY!!!!
Much love,
Nicole
PS. Happy Labor Day! Although it is an average working day over here, we still remembered!
6 comments:
Tipping in Europe is strange...don't bother with it. If you leave a tip it means the waitstaff did an AMAZING job...which is probably not likely. Save your coins for the coffee shop tip jar.
Dude, why do you need to work out when you walk EVERYwhere?
Yes, when we were in Greece, we didn't tip unless it was absolutely amazing....even Helen said it's just not done too much over there.
The gym sounds so exciting!! :) And the shopping! Omg!! You have some serious willpower...i would have lost control if i saw an H&M or Diesel...Anyway, Liverpool looks lovely...I can't wait to bum it on your guy's couch! :) Don't mind me... hahaha! love you and miss you tons!!
Ha! Well, I appreciate both you're advice about tipping. Guess we'll save our money. To comment on what Susan said - well, we want to be toned and healthy...of course, it will help walking EVERY WHERE!!! But they also have fun classes like yoga and kick boxing! Whoo! And Jenny, I went to this store called Primark to pick up some more towels and it's HUUUUGE - like a Target on steroids. And I noticed bras there were only 4 pound, meaning $8!! Crazy huh? So when you come to visit, we are totally going CRAZY!! :D Chris always seems like he's in a hurry when we're shopping. poo.
I think the gratuity is already included in the bill in most of Europe.
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