Pancake Day

Today is Pancake Day!

An English pancake is a thin, flat cake, made of batter and fried in a pan. Traditionally, sugar is sprinkled over the top and a dash of fresh lemon juice added. The pancake is then rolled. Some people add golden syrup or jam. This is way different than what we are used to. They are denser, not sweet at all, a bit oily, and quite bland. I bought a mix from the store two weekends ago and was so excited to make pancakes. I didn't know that they were so different, and didn't really enjoy them. I know Heather is saying right now "that's what you get for buying a mix!" hha! They turned out perfect (English-style), it's just at the time I thought they were going to be "American". I should have known better, because at Tesco (a local supermarket) a week after we moved here , they had a huge basket of "American pancakes" shrink wrapped as you walk in the door. The kind of huge basket that WalMart throws DVDs in for a dollar. And golden syrup is completely different than maple. Maple syrup is hard to find, but when I have found it, its at least £7 for a small bottle. So, either we need to convert or smuggle Aunt Jemima back or a big jug of Maple syrup from Amish country:) Anyhow...Pancake Day is "Shrove Tuesday", before the start of Lent. I was only aware of Fat Tuesday until now!

I taught my second zumba class this morning, my number of participants doubled from last week, so that's a good sign!

Another difference: Mother's Day (Mothering Sunday) is on March 14th. I thought it was odd that they had Mother's Day cards were out already. I hope our moms don't mind being called "mums" on a random Sunday in March:)

We're going out to a Turkish restaurant tonight with some friends...its really delicious! We've been there one time before and I am excited to go back!

We're really starting to feel more at home here. Our flat is coming together nicely, having furniture makes a great difference!

Once B figures out our camera/battery/adaptor situation, I will post more pictures.

Until then...Happy Fat Shrove Pancake Day Tuesday.

Weekend

We had a lovely weekend of shopping and building furniture. Our 3 month wedding anniversary was Saturday and valentine's day on Sunday, so I made a nice steak dinner and we cuddled and watched movies! It was probably the most relaxing night we've had so far! Saturday, we received an amazing housewarming/wedding gift in the mail from our friends Brian and Jen--white wine and chocolate truffles!! So fun!
I am at the library planning excursions for our trip to Malta in April...the place looks so intriguing!
More pictures soon...

funny stuff/random observations part II (B speaking)

More things our blog followers should know...(that we didn't):

*the native Newcastle folks are known as Geordies (jor-dees) and they are famous for having an absolutely impenetrable accent even to other Brits. It's a result of northern England having a Viking/Roman/Anglo-Saxon heritage from centuries ago. It may be worse than trying to understand a thick Scottish burr. Newcastle United Football Club is known as Toon Army, and Toon is how Geordies pronounce "town," if that gives you an idea. Although I suppose it's not that different from the Pittsburgh yinzer accent. Sometimes I understand it, but it's on a slow and distorted five second delay, like they are speaking from the bottom of a swimming pool.

* Geordies are famous for being extremely friendly (very true in our experience) and absolutely rabid about Newcastle football club (extremely true based on the game that a colleague took us to right after we got here). I'd love to tell you what they were calling the ref, but my mom reads this blog.... The game was FANTASTIC though, and I think much more intense than US sports, to be quite honest.

* Similarly, it was great watching the Super Bowl (although I stayed up until 3am to do so, and it's been wrecking me all week), but again I must say that it came on the heels of me watching England-Wales in the Six Nations rugby tournament. Honestly, that's a freakin' sport. No pads, no timeouts or coaching from the sidelines, and just brutal. Made me appreciate the speed of NFL a bit more, but still....

* More funny terminology....:

"rocket"= arugula (still haven't figured that one out).

"kippers" are a small oily fish, kind of like sardines I presume, that sometimes are offered with meals. Can't say I've had the pleasure.

"pasties" = sort of like a Hot Pocket sandwich in kind of a turnover form. Not associated with strippers. And not to be confused with a stotty, which is a special Newcastle sandwich on an enormous bread loaf. Haven't sampled one of those either.

* One of my colleagues told M that they would have guessed she was Italian before they heard her accent. She didn't know where that came from, but pretty cool....

* people keep laughing at me when I refer to our "cell phone"--it is a "mobile" over here.

Furniture and some funny stuff

Yesterday morning, we received part of our furniture. I built (this is M), our bistro table, TV stand, and stools! We tried to put together the bed frame last night, but it has drawers and it got too complicated, so we're still sleeping on the mattress on the floor. Its slowly coming together!
Part of the bed frame was my fault, I went to an amazing Ashtanga yoga class (probably not as awesome at Nadia's:)! , but by amazing, I mean that I couldn't lift my arms above my head because they were so sore so I wasn't much help. I was the deejay and wine-pourer, though.

Our camera is running out of life, and we have to get an adaptor for the plug so we can recharge, so pictures may be a bit scarce for a while.
Until then, here are some funny differences between here and the U.S..

The biggest is us...during the Super Bowl, it was on live here at midnight-ish. The national anthem came on and I cried and then looked at B and said "I'm going to be one of the old ladies crying "I miss the old country, aren't I?" hha! That was enough to dry the tears, but it really was emotional, knowing that we'd inevitably be watching it with family and friends instead of in sleeping bags on the floor.

People ask: "Are you okay?" instead of "Hi, How are you?" Of course, the first time someone asked me, I stunbled and said "Um, yeah, why? Is something wrong?" It just seems to be such an odd greeting, but now I say "Yes, are you?" No one's corrected me yet.

Hamburger buns are called baps, shrimp are prawns, Digestives are little (often chocolate-covered) biscuits/cookie things. If they changed the name, I'd be more inclined to try them. Jacket potato is a baked potato, wholemeal is wholewheat. White coffee is coffee with cream. Pouring cream is half and half (even thicker I think). Soy milk is soya. Salad means lettuce and tomato on your sandwich.
You have to pay a TV Licence for watching TV at all, and they send threatening notes that they will come put you in jail if you don't pay. This is in addition to the cable bill. But, we found out that it goes to support the BBC, which we really enjoy.
B is working, working!! His lectures are going great, he's attending department functions and getting a better sense of what this place is about!
I taught my first zumba class at the university on Tuesday and it went really well! Everyone seemed to be laughing and enjoying. They've asked me teach more classes throughout the year, so thats a good sign!
More later!

Ben hard at work at the coffee shop, pictures of a heavenly latte, a theatre downtown, and the Grainger Market (farmers market)...and of course, the ol' take the picture of yourself picture:)

Gosforth Central Park

Here are a few pictures of our flat...