Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Hard to believe, but next week marks my 6 month anniversary of arriving here in jolly ol' England.  As Fall sets in and the country plunges into 5 months of spirit-crushing darkness, I find myself reflecting on all the things I am missing out on back home:

 

Pumpkin Flavored Treats.  It's around this time every year that Starbucks rolls out their Pumpkin Latte and companion Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin.  Despite the 127% increased risk of diabetes, nothing rewards me for getting out of bed before sun-up quite like these two delicious little pieces of heaven.

 

American Football.  In America, weekends in the Fall mean two things: College football on Saturday, and NFL on Sunday.  I've never been a die-hard, but the allure of the big game and upset is hard to resist.  In fact I almost missed my best friend's wedding reception because of a USC-Notre Dame game once.  We actually have found a pub here that shows American football on Sundays, but unless my team is playing at 1:00pm it's near impossible to watch because of the 5 hour time change.  And Monday night football is out of the question; I'd have better luck catching the tail end of the game when I wake up on Tuesday.

Automotive Freedom.  I never realized how much I used my car until I no longer drove one.  My commute is 50 minutes on a good day, assuming nobody has decided to disrupt the tube by jumping on the tracks.  Even just going a mile to the grocery store is a pain, not so much on the way there, but on the way back with a week's worth of food.

To be fair, there are some things I quite enjoy about living here:

 

Proper football. When I got here in April, the season was still going. It ended a month or so later, and before I lnew it, was already back in full swing.  The off-season is short, and there's multiple leagues going on at once.  Almost every night I can catch some of the world's best players, which is not possible without expensive sports packages in the states.  Of course this assumes a) I'm at a pub, or b) it's on one of the 5 free channels.

 

Cream Tea.  I used to think tea and milk went together about as well as sandpaper and bare ass, but now I thank the heavens for whichever man or woman decided to unite these otherwise unassuming beverages.

 

Jacket Potatoes.  Think baked potato, covered in deliciousness and then topped with awesome and finished off with booya.

Travel.  When work is not taking 10 years off my life, the convenience of traveling is fantastic.  We're three hours or less from anywhere in Europe.

I suppose it's a trade off.  And if I wanted an American way of life, I probably should not have moved to England.  Outside of work the experience is great (and I suppose I could even find some bright spots about the job...if I pulled out my magnifying glass and stared for a really long time).  But enough reflecting...go out and enjoy a Pumpkin Latte and think of me.