Week 2, Post 2: Cheers!

In the U.S. people say cheers if they are about to take a shot or drink together, but here it’s different. I was walking down the hall at my internship today and after holding the door open for a guy he said “cheers.” This wasn’t the first time I had heard it and although I had a pretty good idea of what it meant, I asked him what he meant by it. He told me it’s almost like saying “thanks!” I thought it was interesting because you never hear that in the U.S. Then I asked if it would be weird if I started to say it too, like if people would be offended if I said it in an American accent. He didn’t think people would seem to mind, even if they knew I wasn’t from England. Then he backed up and said “well I guess it depends how you say it” and laughed. If I did want to say it, I would probably add the English accent to it so that it would sound correct. Although now, I don’t want to say it because I might pronounce it wrong or something, but I doubt it would be a big deal. There is also a second meaning, that would be more like “best wishes.” I had noticed this when I was reading an email from a CAPA staff member, she ended with “Cheers,” then her name, where in the U.S. we would end with a “Sincerely.” Being here and hearing the word cheers tossed around every once in a while, makes me want to start using it. Maybe when I get back to the states I will start using it as a way of saying thanks. Add a little fun to the English language.

A second thing I seemed to notice very quickly was the use of “toilet” instead of “bathroom” or “restroom.” A friend of mine at my internship asked a fellow co-worker where the restroom was, and the co-worker pointed her in the direction of the “Staff Tea Room.” Later, I had asked a man where the restroom was and he thought for a minute then pointed me in the direction of the nearest restroom. Before I headed to the restroom I asked him what they would generally call it and he said just “toilet.” I still refrain from saying toilet because in the U.S. it’s a little informal to say “toilet,” instead we use bathroom and restroom, although I don’t know why Also, I noticed that many of the signs directed toward the restroom’s say “toilet” or “WC” for Water Closet. Now that I think about it, it is a little odd to say “bathroom” because it’s not really a room in which you bathe. Either way, I believe the best way to get the point across that you have to use the restroom is to use the term “toilet,” not too difficult to remember right?

Cheers!

Week 2, Post 1: Bath

The day we all took a trip to the Roman Baths I had a great meal at the Roman Bath Kitchen. It was full service, as in we had a server. I noticed that when a server brought us our drinks, they all had ice in the water, but the other people eating around me didn’t have ice in their water. It was interesting because I hadn’t asked for ice in my water; she just kind of gave it to us possibly because of our accent. I like ice in my water, so I’m not complaining. I just thought it was interesting that she tried to adjust to what we are accustom to. So of course I got the most American thing on the menu, chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes. Then I also asked them to take off the mushroom sauce it originally comes with, I’d rather be safe than sorry. When the food came out it looked amazing, it was half of a roasted chicken lying on a bed of mashed potatoes with green beans wrapped in bacon. The first thing I tried were the mashed potatoes, they were very good. Compared to the U.S. the mashed potatoes were a little more mashed rather than a little more solid. They were very good though. The next thing I tried was the chicken, and it must have been the way it was prepared but it almost looked like there was a hint of pink throughout the whole chicken, not like a white meat chicken. It was still attached to the bone, so I had to peal it away from the bone to eat the chicken, but after working to peal it all off the bone, the taste was totally worth it. It tasted a lot like something I would get in America, but it was also a little different. The chicken pealed right off the bone, which was good. By this time I had noticed that my water was getting a little low, but I kept eating. Next was the green beans wrapped in bacon. I’m generally not a big bacon fan, but I went ahead and tried it. The green beans tasted completely different from what I am used to, they weren’t cut or seasoned much. It was almost like they were baked in with the bacon. When I took my first bite it the texture was normal but it seemed like they were rubbery and very chewy. I took another bite, then tried to eat some of the bacon, but all I could see was a lot of fat in the bacon. I just didn’t want to be digesting fat into my body so I put the bacon wrapped green beans down and drank the last of my water. I was surprised to see that the server had not refilled any of our glasses. Although they were all close to being empty, the server still didn’t fill them up. I was probably the only one to notice because I’ve been a server and a main task is to always make sure the guests have a full glass to drink from. I didn’t ask for more water, but it still makes me wonder, maybe they only gave one glass to drink…

Week 1, Post 2: This week's reading

While reading Thinking Food/Thinking Gender, I realized that in America we tend to associate the kitchen with mostly females. I mean, I have noticed that all of my life, but some guys will put off cooking because it is the “woman’s job” when really, it can be anybody’s position. I also understand that the idea of women being in the kitchen came from many years ago when men would go work on the farm and the women would be inside taking care of the children. I see how we set ourselves up for failure here too, because now, many guys don’t like to cook therefore they don’t and the women are stuck cooking. Now, I know there is a fair share of guys that actually do cook, but most of the time everyone relies on the woman to cook. I found this reading also interesting because I never really thought about how the magazines for food are directed more toward women than they are men. But now that I think about it, I totally understand! The women are more likely the ones to be grocery shopping or looking for recipes, so it stands to reason that many people would advertise cooking directed towards women.

The reading also made me think about how food has evolved from the past. People in the U.S. used to grow their crops then prepare them, where everything was fresh. Now we have a lot of “fast, easy, convenient” foods that aren’t as healthy for us. I feel like we are only hurting ourselves by what we eat, due to all the preservatives that are put in foods these days. Frozen foods have got to go!
When I was in Honduras, all we had was fresh food, and by fresh I mean grown or caught. Everything we ate made my body feel better, because for that week my body was almost completely free of all the preservatives and harsh chemicals we process our food with. It was almost like a body detox, but then of course the second I got back into the states, it was back to Wendy’s and Pizza Hut! I feel like if healthier foods were more accessible in the U.S. we would find that people might actually watch what they eat, and try to control their daily intake of fatty foods.

I would love to have a healthy, fast, easy, and convenient meal, but I mean, you can only eat an apple so many times a day. Have you ever heard of a fast food restaurant that only serves healthy food? That’s what we need to be making drive thru’s for! I mean, taste does have a pretty big impact on if people would by the food or not, but if it is seasoned right and cooked right, people would buy it! I feel like most people are like me, I want to eat healthy, but I’m a little lazy to hunt down all the things I need to be healthy. I like convenience.

Week 1, Post 1: Views on London

I believe that many different countries have different cultures, and a big part of the culture is food. Before coming to London I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to food. The city is so diverse that it makes it difficult to know what you are getting yourself into, whereas if I were going to China, I would expect Chinese food and if I were going to Italy, I would expect Italian food. It kinda hit me about three days before the trip when my dad said "What are you going to eat over there?" "....I dunno.." So when I arrived, I was relieved to see the Subway sign directly in front of the tube station. Oddly enough, I haven't had Subway the whole time I have been in London. The first food I had in London was at a pub, it was Garlic Bread with Cheese. I mean you can't go wrong, right? It was very good, but the cheese was nothing like in the United States, it's almost like the cheese had a more distinct taste. It was like, extra cheesy tasting, stronger. Also a little more oily than in the United States, oily as in the cheese was having a hard time staying on the bread, whereas I'm used to it "becoming one with the bread."
My next cheese experience was at the Sainsbury's Starbucks, I picked up a Ham and Cheddar Cheese Croissant. The cheese was almost just like the cheese I had had at the pub a couple nights before, good but still not what I'm used to. I’m used to sharp cheddar cheese, the yellow-orangish colored cheese, so when I think Cheddar I think of that. There is a major difference however, and the only things that I can think of to cause the difference is either a different source used to get the cheese, or possibly processing that is done to the cheese. I'm starting to think it's the different source, because when I was in Mexico this past summer, I watched some people make cheese from their cows milk. But almost all of the cheese in Mexico tasted the same, very thick and chewy, but not as strong as the U.S. cheese.
Today, I had some what of a cheese experience when we were at a pub for the Global Foods class. I ordered the grilled mac and cheese, it wasn't much like the mac and cheese you would have in the U.S. but it also wasn't like any other cheese I have had here in London. It had almost the taste of what mustard smells like. Honestly, I've never tried mustard, the thought of it just isn't appetizing to me. So I'm really not sure if I had a little mustard mixed in with my mac and cheese or what, but I could taste a little kick.

I'm really excited to go to Subway and try out their cheese, because I know exactly what their cheese tastes like in the U.S. and since it seems to be world wide, I bet they get their cheese all from the same source, but who knows? I'll have to try it and let you know!