Random thoughts and observations

-It’s really weird to be living with all the people I work with. When I get up in the morning to go get a cup of tea, or a bowl for some cereal, right away there is one of my bosses getting the kitchen in order for the day. I’m constantly around the same group of people all the time. It’s weird because I don’t find it that wearing though. Even though we all spend a significant amount of time together, we really don’t get to talk that much. When we’re working we don’t have a chance just to sit around and pass the time. There’s always something to do.
-People here, and by here I mean my coworkers and the general population, are really laid back. First of all, there doesn’t seem to be any aversion to swearing, anywhere. People will come up to the bar, ask for a drink and when we don’t have it respond, “F****** hell. What the f*** do you have.” Not angry in any way, just swearing. Same thing with the people behind the bar, to ourselves and to the people we’re serving. It’s a bit of a culture shock really.
-Americans are so obvious everywhere we go. I don’t know what exactly it is, but I can pretty easily now pick them out walking down the street or walking into the pub. I don’t know if its just something about the way we carry ourselves or what, but we stick out like sore thumbs over here.
-Americans also pretty much exemplify every stereotype that there are about us. I hate to say it but almost all the American tourists act exactly like the clueless people you see in movies or on TV. They’re the people who don’t know how to use the money wherever they are. They walk around with big bum bags or a very obvious passport pouch, which to me seems to defeat the purpose of having either on to begin with. Once someone sees you with one of those, they will immediately know you are tourist and you become a target because if it.
-Continental tourists aren’t much better though, if that’s some consolation. Some of my favorite lines are when someone will come up to the bar and ask for a beer. I don’t know if that’s supposed to mean something where they’re from, but walking into a pub just asking that is, for me, akin to walking into a grocery store and asking for food. I know you’re in the right place and all, but really? They also just expect them to conform to their way of doing things. At least most Americans will have the decency to ask, but the Continentals just sort of do it.
-British people are so ridiculously polite. When I’m serving them and ask if they want ice, almost without a fault their response will be followed by a please and/or a thank you. If I screw up an order, whether through fault of my own or theirs, they try to bend over backwards to make it alright. It just amazes me. One day in fact I was working the bar by myself and I did something wrong with someone’s drink, I think there was too much head on it for his liking. He gave me this rather terse response and told me to fix it. Here, he was just joking around, back in the States that sort of thing would have been a much bigger issue.
That’s it for now. I’ll keep a running list going if I think of anything else.