well, here goes.  i'm gonna try writing a blog on a public website for all to see...

it's not really the "public" part that causes me anxiety, but rather the knowledge that i am a perpetual editor and that from today forward i'm going to be fighting the urge to come back into this blog and revise something i've written or fix a typo i missed. 

later on today, tomorrow or next month i'll be scanning my old blogs and will decide a certain sentence would sound better another way, or that i wasn't totally clear on a point i was trying to make and i'll want to do a re-write.  this is my nature and i have a hard time fighting my perpetual editor syndrome (P.E.S. for short).  but, despite my P.E.S., i've decided to use an automated blog formatting system so i can't screw around with the dates and times of when i wrote what.  therefore, taking a stab at this blog is a whole new, anxiety-riddled adventure for me. 

Geronimo!

it's raining today.  i'm in London, where i live now, so the rain really isn't a surprise.  in fact, it wasn't even a remote disappointment for me because in England the weather forecasts are amazingly accurate.  unlike the States -- where you have as much chance of predicting the weather with your own pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey weather map as you do from listening to the news -- you can actually plan your holiday weekend based on what you see in a BBC weather forecast the Thursday prior.  this is almost unparalleled (unless, of course, you live in Los Angeles, California, where the forecast is pretty much "clear and sunny in the high 70s" every day of the year).

what i wanted to mention (before i forgot) was something i noticed in my new local grocery store, here in the Hammersmith area of London.  my local grocery store (and by "local" i mean the one i can walk to fastest) is called Sainsbury's.  Sainsbury's is your average grocery store, nothing too fancy, but a solid average.  kinda like a more urban version of Ralphs, for you Californians out there.  anyway, i was in the potato chip section of the store (not to buy potato chips -- which the English call "crisps" -- but to get some salted cashews), when i saw something rather...  umm... unusual.

in the British potato chip (or "crisp") market there appears to be a market leader called Walker's.  now, i must say i have already eaten Walker's chips on two international flights out of Heathrow (and once more by choice) and wish to note that they are positively scrumptious -- they get my vote for the best chip in town.  what freaked me out about them in Sainsbury's was the variety of FLAVORS (which the British spell "flavours") that Walker's offers.  right beside the usual Salted and Sour Cream and Onion flavors were  "Marmite," "Roast Chicken," and "Prawn Cocktail" chips.  i kinda threw up in my mouth a little bit when i saw this -- certainly no one has the desire to taste shrimp cocktail when they bite into a potato chip?

i don't know.  i'm new here.

and while i'm talking about food, i'd like to call everyone's attention to something else that thoroughly grossed me out.  apparently in British McDonald's restaurants they sell a fish sandwich -- with BACON on it. 

holy cow.

or pig, as the case may be.

going back to the grocery store for a moment i'd like to mention that yellow squash does not appear to exist in England (or at least not in Sainsbury's in May).  i also can't find those tiny, skinny bean sprouts used on sandwiches and salads.  i'm not sure what other name i should be using for them -- the internet seems to suggest "cress sprouts" but either way, i can't find them.

i'm sure this is not the end of my food culture shock.  it's definitely only the beginning.  but if any British people out there can help me find some good veggie dip, Ranch salad dressing, Brown Sugar Splenda and Smart Balance spread, please let me know.

NK
5/26/2008 10:40:28 pm

I have enjoyed your maiden voyage. The language page is a hoot (is that a bad word there?) Your experience is one not many people get and thanks for sharing it.

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