How British People are Secret Evangelists

Marmite....really, England? REALLY?

Staying with our new English friends Martin and Becky was a bloody rockin' good time.

We learned about tea cozies, digestive biscuits, milky tea and lots of it, tried Marmite, and acquired an entirely new vocabulary of words like "bloody", "bollocks",  and "bloke". We learned that "rain boots" are actually "wellies" and rain coats are "anoraks" and that a "minger" is defined as a "right-proper slappy tart", which in the end didn't really clear up matters at all.

Teatime!

We watched The X-Factor, the British American Idol, which, by the way, Simon Cowell is actually nice on, leading me to conclude that it isn't that he hates mediocre singers, he actually hates mediocre American singers.

We stopped for tea several times a day, and we learned that boy bands are still a cool thing in England. We learned the difference between Essex girls and East London girls, and we learned that up north french fries are served with a side of mushy peas.

In short, we experienced some pretty serious cultural immersion last week, and you're lucky that we are still American and aren't wearing Union Jacks and throwing down bangers and mash.

One thing though distinctly non-British:

the food.



Did I mention that Becky and Martin are fabulous cooks? If I did not, let me remedy that: Becky and Martin are fabulous cooks. They used to own a restaurant, and so the whole "British people have terrible food" thing was not part of our experience.  Moroccan-style vegetables and couscous, cinnamon-y risotto, homemade pear and vanilla jam on homemade toast, and lentil soup that was warm and inviting as the crackles of the logs on the ever-present fire.

Warm loaves of fresh bread

Salad straight from the garden

Overall, it was the best possible kind of cultural interchange.  We Yankee-fied them a tad and they U.K.-ed all over us, and nobody threw anyone's tea in Boston harbor and nobody claimed anyone else's land as their own and no one got tarred and feathered.

A right proper success, I'd say.


P.S. Last day to get your entry in to win a free copy of Bittersweet.  I'll be announcing the winner tomorrow!