9/8/15
Today was the last day of the conference. The conference went well, and I made some good contacts, and it seemed people liked my poster. After the conference we headed down to the harbor and just had some wine as we watched the boats go in and out. England, like Europe lets you have open containers on the street, which is nice. You see lots of couples strolling around, in the parks, or by the water sharing cheese and bottles of wine.
After the wine social I headed back to my place to shop. It had been something I was nervous to do b/c I was fearing how expensive it would be. Shopping for cooking in foreign countries can be kind of stressful because usually they don't have all the things you're familiar with and often quite expensive. While traveling through S. America, it was kind of stressful to cook for myself b/c things were actually kind of expensive in Argentina and Chile and it's hard when you're just moving from hostel to hostel so you can't stock up. And shopping was quite the experience in Kenya. After I moved off of the research station and moved in with Helen and Stef, we had to do all our own cooking. Kenya was super expensive in the super markets and had a lot of unfamiliar things. You could make it cheaper by shopping at the local markets, but that would just take forever and they would still rip off the mzungus (gringos). So I was dreading it hear, especially since the British Pound is so strong. Well, it turned out to be a most excellent experience! The prices were cheaper than the food in Florida and even Idaho for the most part (save for the avocados and mangos at winco and bananas at trader joes). They had all the things that I wanted and they also had things I didn't hope for them to have. They have lots of easy single-person no prep meals. Not unhealthy microwave stuff. Things you put in the oven or on the stove that are already made. I got fish, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, all for very cheap! I did a big shop that I would have expected might be $100 but it was only 34 pounds (=$50).
A funny interaction in the store: I soon realized I was going to need a cart. I asked the security guy where I could find a cart. He didn't understand what I was saying. So I said, "a push cart" and did the hand motion. And he said, "oh post card". We kept going back and forth like this until I saw someone with one and pointed it to him. "Oh he said, you need a trolley!" He then asked me what language that was, and I said "American". He didn't believe me and had to google it. There are some subtle language differences between the brits and us that can be quite funny. I had another funny one when I was preparing to come here. I should have known better b/c I did know this translation, but I had a lot going on that week. But I asked Kath what the dress code is at their lab. I told her that I don't like wearing pants and don't hardly ever wear pants, so wondering if that would be ok at her lab. Well of course in british english pants = underwear. She probably got a good kick out of that.
Something cool about England is they don't have so many chains like the US has. I went to a grocery store b/c I'm not quite familiar with all of my neighborhood yet, but Elizabeth says that you can get everything you need by going to the butcher, baker, green grocer, etc.
After my shopping experience I headed back to the pubs because it was Gavin's birthday and we wanted to celebrate. I had met Gavin (from Scotland) in Kenya as he also was working with Kath.
9/9/15
Today was my first day of real work at the University of Bristol, but it wasn't too long b/c Kath was feeling knackered from organizing the conference. I got a tour of the Life Sciences building which is brand new and so extremely fancy. It's very modern and a cool space. Every place you go requires key card entry. They have automatic tea dispensers which is cool. During the tour Kath kept saying "when you need a tea, just pop out and grab someone for a tea and a chat" or something similar. I love that about the Brits, they are constantly making excuses to get tea. I remember working at a biotech company in Cambridge when I worked for Sapidyne and every 1.5 hours, we'd head out to the break room to get tea. I figured they were just doing that b/c I was a guest, but nope, the whole place would be in there grabbing tea. When I told her UF bio has no communal place for tea she was absolutely shocked.
In the afternoon I went out looking for a used bike (still no luck). I went to several shops selling used bikes but they were either too expensive for a used bike in my opinion ($150) or not my size. But I got to explore some cool areas including a very bohemian type neighborhood that has lots of graffiti art from a very famous graffiti artists.
This evening I had some fish that I made and that chatted with Elizabeth. She works at the tobacco factory theatre and often hosts actors/actresses here. She has posters up in her hall from the plays that all of the actors who have stayed here have been in. And they're all signed. I'll have to give her a printout of my poster and hang it up there.
Today was the last day of the conference. The conference went well, and I made some good contacts, and it seemed people liked my poster. After the conference we headed down to the harbor and just had some wine as we watched the boats go in and out. England, like Europe lets you have open containers on the street, which is nice. You see lots of couples strolling around, in the parks, or by the water sharing cheese and bottles of wine.
After the wine social I headed back to my place to shop. It had been something I was nervous to do b/c I was fearing how expensive it would be. Shopping for cooking in foreign countries can be kind of stressful because usually they don't have all the things you're familiar with and often quite expensive. While traveling through S. America, it was kind of stressful to cook for myself b/c things were actually kind of expensive in Argentina and Chile and it's hard when you're just moving from hostel to hostel so you can't stock up. And shopping was quite the experience in Kenya. After I moved off of the research station and moved in with Helen and Stef, we had to do all our own cooking. Kenya was super expensive in the super markets and had a lot of unfamiliar things. You could make it cheaper by shopping at the local markets, but that would just take forever and they would still rip off the mzungus (gringos). So I was dreading it hear, especially since the British Pound is so strong. Well, it turned out to be a most excellent experience! The prices were cheaper than the food in Florida and even Idaho for the most part (save for the avocados and mangos at winco and bananas at trader joes). They had all the things that I wanted and they also had things I didn't hope for them to have. They have lots of easy single-person no prep meals. Not unhealthy microwave stuff. Things you put in the oven or on the stove that are already made. I got fish, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, all for very cheap! I did a big shop that I would have expected might be $100 but it was only 34 pounds (=$50).
A funny interaction in the store: I soon realized I was going to need a cart. I asked the security guy where I could find a cart. He didn't understand what I was saying. So I said, "a push cart" and did the hand motion. And he said, "oh post card". We kept going back and forth like this until I saw someone with one and pointed it to him. "Oh he said, you need a trolley!" He then asked me what language that was, and I said "American". He didn't believe me and had to google it. There are some subtle language differences between the brits and us that can be quite funny. I had another funny one when I was preparing to come here. I should have known better b/c I did know this translation, but I had a lot going on that week. But I asked Kath what the dress code is at their lab. I told her that I don't like wearing pants and don't hardly ever wear pants, so wondering if that would be ok at her lab. Well of course in british english pants = underwear. She probably got a good kick out of that.
Something cool about England is they don't have so many chains like the US has. I went to a grocery store b/c I'm not quite familiar with all of my neighborhood yet, but Elizabeth says that you can get everything you need by going to the butcher, baker, green grocer, etc.
After my shopping experience I headed back to the pubs because it was Gavin's birthday and we wanted to celebrate. I had met Gavin (from Scotland) in Kenya as he also was working with Kath.
9/9/15
Today was my first day of real work at the University of Bristol, but it wasn't too long b/c Kath was feeling knackered from organizing the conference. I got a tour of the Life Sciences building which is brand new and so extremely fancy. It's very modern and a cool space. Every place you go requires key card entry. They have automatic tea dispensers which is cool. During the tour Kath kept saying "when you need a tea, just pop out and grab someone for a tea and a chat" or something similar. I love that about the Brits, they are constantly making excuses to get tea. I remember working at a biotech company in Cambridge when I worked for Sapidyne and every 1.5 hours, we'd head out to the break room to get tea. I figured they were just doing that b/c I was a guest, but nope, the whole place would be in there grabbing tea. When I told her UF bio has no communal place for tea she was absolutely shocked.
In the afternoon I went out looking for a used bike (still no luck). I went to several shops selling used bikes but they were either too expensive for a used bike in my opinion ($150) or not my size. But I got to explore some cool areas including a very bohemian type neighborhood that has lots of graffiti art from a very famous graffiti artists.
This evening I had some fish that I made and that chatted with Elizabeth. She works at the tobacco factory theatre and often hosts actors/actresses here. She has posters up in her hall from the plays that all of the actors who have stayed here have been in. And they're all signed. I'll have to give her a printout of my poster and hang it up there.
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| Kath and me with my poster |
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| I walk by this on my commute home |
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| and I walk by a bunch of old ships too |
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| shopping success |
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| pollinator at the pollinator conference |
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| where Elizabeth works. Tobacco factory theatre |
3 comments:
You better wear pants to the office;)
England is a liberal place. No need to wear pants!
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