Strike

Late tonight I read this tiny slip of paper that Ruby brought home from school today. It said: Reminder - because of the teacher's strike, school will be closed tomorrow. It was the first I'd heard of it. I think I would remember something like that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15947818

Robbers

Some guys tried to break into the house next to ours last night. Ugh. So many robbers and muggers!

Chinese Food

After years of ordering Chinese and Thai delivery a few times a week, I've now been Asian food deprived for 3 1/2 months. We tried Thai once in Clapham, but it was pretty bad. I ordered an egg roll from a Chinese place in Balham, but it was all doughy and tasteless. Tonight we decided to pick up Chinese from a place down the street. We didn't have a menu, but I told Simon 4 different options he could order for me. They didn't have any of them... "Moo shu what? A pancake!?" Simon ordered brown rice for me. The guy at the counter asked if he meant rice with soy sauce mixed in. Simon said he meant unrefined whole grain rice. The guy again insisted that if he put soy sauce on the white rice it would become brown rice.

Thanksgiving

As you know, there is no Thanksgiving here. Simon works tomorrow. Ruby has school. When her teacher tried to tell the class what Thanksgiving was she said it was "a Christmas dinner". I've invited all the Americans with kids in the area to come to my house to make those Turkey hand prints. Not many people are coming because most have gone to America.

Here are some things they don't have here in Tooting (or if they do you have to hunt for them): Turkey (except for Christmas). Frozen pie crust in an aluminum pie tin (they have no idea what I'm talking about). Canned pumpkin. Chex mix. Marshmallows that are soft and aren't pink.

Would this taste ok if it were pink?

A 20 minute bus ride away, I found a butcher that sold me a raw Turkey breast. It came wrapped in bacon (huh?!) and cost 31 dollars. 

Cookies

They call some cookies "digestive biscuits" or just "digestives". ewwww.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_biscuit 

But on a brighter note, after years of searching, I found my favorite candy. I hadn't seen it for over a decade. Toffifee! It turned up on the shelf of a 99 pence store. I bought every box they had even though I had to wait in a ridiculously long "queue" at the "till".

Dark

By 3pm it is pretty dark outside. At 7am, it's still dark. By 8 it is starting to look like morning.

Thieves

London is full of petty criminals. When I went to the library yesterday, 2 thieves had just stolen a woman's purse while she was in the restroom. I guess they walked in and grabbed it. No one stopped them and they walked out of the library with her screaming that they had taken her purse. No security at the libraries, unlike Brooklyn.

The "riots" when we first arrived were just people breaking into stores and taking whatever they could grab. There are all these thieves here that steal ATM pins and set up devices to steal your debt card number. Simon's friend who moved here the same time we did has had his house broken into and the tires stolen off his bike.

I think London could use some style Giuliani police action.

Monkey Nuts

Peanuts are called "Monkey Nuts". I saw it on a package in the grocery store and did a double-take. No one gives kids PB&J here. I guess "Monkey Nut Butter & Conserve" doesn't have the same ring to it.

This Canadian dude thought it was pretty funny too.

http://canuckistani.com/blog.php?id=12

By the way, they also sell "Faggots" in the farmer's market. Simon and I haven't tried a faggot yet but Simon is thinking about it.