After being here for two weeks I've been starting to notice some differences about the way things are in Ontario and the way things are in England (what I've seen of it so far). Obviously the accent and driving on the other side of the car & road, those are a given, but just other characteristics.
-the yellow light at the stop light actually means "Go" instead of "Slow down" or "Wait"
-you can wear anything you want out, mostly this is about different types of patterns put together, and they sell this in the store as well (example, a stripe and cheetah print dress)
-no tax! unless it's paid for in other ways but if you go to a store and something is 10pounds, it's 10pounds!
-if you give someone a tip they find it weird. Got ice cream today and told them to keep the change and they gave me a weird look so I said "It's a canadian thing, a little treat for you." The girl then laughed and said Thank You
-everything is mailed to you. Got a bank account, had to wait for my debit card to come in the mail and now that I have the card I have to wait for the next letter to get my PIN number
-there are no screens on any windows! They just open and you can fall out if it's big enough
-it's much easier to cross the road, only have to look one way (most of the time)
-a lot of round a bouts! which are a good thing, some of the time
There will be more added when I can think of more but so far those are the things that really stick out to me.
Saturday 31 August 2013
Monday 26 August 2013
First Weekend - London Bus Tour
Hello everyone! Busy weekend for me that's for sure. I took the Big Bus Tour around London this weekend and saw the sights and took lots of pictures :)
Sunday started out with me taking the tube into London, having to transfer to the bus system half way because of rail construction and then back to the tube. It took about 2hrs on Sunday to get there because the bus driver kept making random stops he wasn't suppose to, at each random stop there were pretty girls so I'm guessing that's why. Anyway I got into London around 11:45am and got on the Red Bus tour, apart of the Big Bug tours. With the Red Bus tour you get live commentary which was great! The tour guide pointed out everything and anything and gave you fun facts. On the Blue Bus Tour you had to listen through earphones, which stinked because if the bus got stuck in traffic (which it did when I was on it) you were behind on the stops and if you didn't know what you were looking for you were lost.
As apart of the tour you got free walking tours so at 1pm I took the Harry Potter walking tour which took you around to the places in Downtown London where they filmed part of the last two movies. It was really cool! The tour guide for that use to live right around the corner from Rupert Grint and had known him since a baby (Rupert moved after the movie got successful however). We got to walk down Diagon Alley and even go into a Sweets Shop that sold Harry Potter candies.
The rest of the day was spent on the bus and I stopped off at Buckingham Palace for a up close view of the place. It's HUGE!
Today I went to Platform 9 & 3/4 and got my picture taken there as well. I then travelled back to the Big Bus Tours stop and got on and did the tour over again to take videos this time for my family. I also did a River Cruise and got to see the Eye, Queen's Tower, the different Bridge's over the Thames and Tower Bridge as well at a great perspective.
I do want to apologize for not a lot of detail but I figured that the video of pictures would explain everything better than I can.
The video is about 8mins long but there's music with it and it has all of my best pictures from the weekend so enjoy :) Also sorry for the sideways photos, they'd be really small if they were the right way up.
Sunday started out with me taking the tube into London, having to transfer to the bus system half way because of rail construction and then back to the tube. It took about 2hrs on Sunday to get there because the bus driver kept making random stops he wasn't suppose to, at each random stop there were pretty girls so I'm guessing that's why. Anyway I got into London around 11:45am and got on the Red Bus tour, apart of the Big Bug tours. With the Red Bus tour you get live commentary which was great! The tour guide pointed out everything and anything and gave you fun facts. On the Blue Bus Tour you had to listen through earphones, which stinked because if the bus got stuck in traffic (which it did when I was on it) you were behind on the stops and if you didn't know what you were looking for you were lost.
As apart of the tour you got free walking tours so at 1pm I took the Harry Potter walking tour which took you around to the places in Downtown London where they filmed part of the last two movies. It was really cool! The tour guide for that use to live right around the corner from Rupert Grint and had known him since a baby (Rupert moved after the movie got successful however). We got to walk down Diagon Alley and even go into a Sweets Shop that sold Harry Potter candies.
The rest of the day was spent on the bus and I stopped off at Buckingham Palace for a up close view of the place. It's HUGE!
Today I went to Platform 9 & 3/4 and got my picture taken there as well. I then travelled back to the Big Bus Tours stop and got on and did the tour over again to take videos this time for my family. I also did a River Cruise and got to see the Eye, Queen's Tower, the different Bridge's over the Thames and Tower Bridge as well at a great perspective.
I do want to apologize for not a lot of detail but I figured that the video of pictures would explain everything better than I can.
If this does not work copy and paste this link into a new tab: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LktprcNxu_0
Wednesday 21 August 2013
And so it begins!
I AM HERE!!!! It's so exciting to finally say that! Arrived on Saturday August 17th and the mom and youngest daughter picked me up at the airport. The flight wasn't to bad, only 6hrs and 12minutes. We watched two movies while on it and I got served dinner and breakfast, which weren't that bad actually. Took a Timmies muffin with me just in case I got more hungry on the plane.
After having a busy weekend with the family, they are currently getting renovations done on their house (I will be getting a brand new room :) it use to be the garage but they had to changed to a bedroom, that should be done by this weekend or next) and I went around with them to the shops to help pick out tiles and supplies, which was actually kind of fun believe it or not. "Your first trip out in England and it's to a toilette shop" the mom said that to me on Saturday, I thought it was funny :)
Monday I started work, because the girls are on their summer holidays until the end of next week there's no school. So far I have been to the cemetery by their house for a walk, on a bus and a double decker bus into town to go to the library and to the grocery store with them and the family. The girls are very energetic and very independent as well, they fight as sisters do but they are a lovely group of girls :)
And yes I have done a little bit of shopping (nothing big just a couple of little things), the shops around here close at 6pm and depending on the day I work until then so I've only been up once by myself though.
I am having a fantastic time so far and cannot wait to explore more of London in the coming weekends.
After having a busy weekend with the family, they are currently getting renovations done on their house (I will be getting a brand new room :) it use to be the garage but they had to changed to a bedroom, that should be done by this weekend or next) and I went around with them to the shops to help pick out tiles and supplies, which was actually kind of fun believe it or not. "Your first trip out in England and it's to a toilette shop" the mom said that to me on Saturday, I thought it was funny :)
Monday I started work, because the girls are on their summer holidays until the end of next week there's no school. So far I have been to the cemetery by their house for a walk, on a bus and a double decker bus into town to go to the library and to the grocery store with them and the family. The girls are very energetic and very independent as well, they fight as sisters do but they are a lovely group of girls :)
And yes I have done a little bit of shopping (nothing big just a couple of little things), the shops around here close at 6pm and depending on the day I work until then so I've only been up once by myself though.
I am having a fantastic time so far and cannot wait to explore more of London in the coming weekends.
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| Mr. Moose at the Toronto Airport |
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| The Tim Hortons of England |
Monday 12 August 2013
Four Days Now!
Only four days now! This is craziness!
First off I want to thank everyone who could make it out to my going away party on the weekend. I had a blast and made many memories to cherish for a lifetime. Thank you also for the gifts I received to take with me on my travels, may need another luggage container for everything now. Above is a picture of the Build-a-Bear I received from two of my very good friends, Allison and Melissa. His name is Rocky Maples and his little mounty outfit and cowboy boots are adorable! Thank you girls once again!
First off I want to thank everyone who could make it out to my going away party on the weekend. I had a blast and made many memories to cherish for a lifetime. Thank you also for the gifts I received to take with me on my travels, may need another luggage container for everything now. Above is a picture of the Build-a-Bear I received from two of my very good friends, Allison and Melissa. His name is Rocky Maples and his little mounty outfit and cowboy boots are adorable! Thank you girls once again!
So I leave on Friday at 8:45pm and I'm suppose to arrive at 8:45am (3:45am here). I've been told that it'll take some time to get use to the time change but I hope to trick my head on the plane and get into the mind set of it being five hours ahead, now only to see if my body follows. I finally have everything ready that I need to take with me, just have to pack it all up now. The fun stuff for the last couple of days before I go, I'm so smart :P
I hope to post at least once a week and once I figure out which day is better to post I will post it in my next blog post.
Good day everyone :)
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