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Here I am, in another country, and there isn't really that much to report about living in another country. The differences are... not minimal, but hardly noteworthy. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ankae asked, exasperated with my rambling discussions of the virtues of Gene Wolfe, if there was nothing I could tell her (and the two and a half other people reading this journal) about how it is to live in England, if there weren't any strange people, strange customs, or other things you'd expect in a report from another country. Well, I don't know if it's testament to my *will* to just see the similarities, or if in this age of TV and globalisation the differences really are disappearing, but there really haven't been any occurrences here so far that would highlight that I'm abroad. Except from the fact that the houses look different, the cars drive on the 'wrong' side, and people speak English. The university is a bit nicer than the one at home - not to mention better organised; public transport is less reliable. The supermarkets are pretty much the same, though (except for the lack of edible bread and tea filters), and so are the multiplexes and shopping centres. Maybe there are more shopping centres here than in an average German city - the Americanisation of Britain is more complete than that of Germany.
You want strange people? Okay... well, the average Brit isn't that much stranger than the average German, but they have some strange ways of dressing and reacting (or *not* reacting) to the weather here. In the same five minutes you can encounter people wearing shorts or miniskirts and sandals, and people wearing scarves and gloves and long coats in the streets. So, the weather seems to be strangely relative here, depending on your personal preference of dress. I was on a night out yesterday with the Birmingham University Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, and in the city centre we saw girls wearing *very* skimpy dresses and no jacket or anything at all that might provide some warmth (presumably that would have interfered with the desired effect of sexiness). At night. In mid-October. In England. I was freezing even under my many layers of warm clothes. They were freezing, too, visibly.
Also, there's apparently an Eighties revival. Miniskirts and these strange, ugly, calf-length boots . Very ugly indeed, the whole ensemble. Of course, most followers of fashion would say the same of my usual outfit. ;-)
Then, there's also the custom of wearing trousers hanging so low on the hips that the ass (pardon my French) is quite literally hanging out. I'm not talking about the lower part of the back here. I'm talkig the behind. Two buttocks, fold in between. All nicely visible.
I guess writing that exposes me for what I am: terribly old at heart sometimes. I just don't understand fashion. Never really did, and the inability to understand it only increases with age. Give me nondescript t-shirts, sweaters and jeans any day.
ankae asked, exasperated with my rambling discussions of the virtues of Gene Wolfe, if there was nothing I could tell her (and the two and a half other people reading this journal) about how it is to live in England, if there weren't any strange people, strange customs, or other things you'd expect in a report from another country. Well, I don't know if it's testament to my *will* to just see the similarities, or if in this age of TV and globalisation the differences really are disappearing, but there really haven't been any occurrences here so far that would highlight that I'm abroad. Except from the fact that the houses look different, the cars drive on the 'wrong' side, and people speak English. The university is a bit nicer than the one at home - not to mention better organised; public transport is less reliable. The supermarkets are pretty much the same, though (except for the lack of edible bread and tea filters), and so are the multiplexes and shopping centres. Maybe there are more shopping centres here than in an average German city - the Americanisation of Britain is more complete than that of Germany. You want strange people? Okay... well, the average Brit isn't that much stranger than the average German, but they have some strange ways of dressing and reacting (or *not* reacting) to the weather here. In the same five minutes you can encounter people wearing shorts or miniskirts and sandals, and people wearing scarves and gloves and long coats in the streets. So, the weather seems to be strangely relative here, depending on your personal preference of dress. I was on a night out yesterday with the Birmingham University Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, and in the city centre we saw girls wearing *very* skimpy dresses and no jacket or anything at all that might provide some warmth (presumably that would have interfered with the desired effect of sexiness). At night. In mid-October. In England. I was freezing even under my many layers of warm clothes. They were freezing, too, visibly.
Also, there's apparently an Eighties revival. Miniskirts and these strange, ugly, calf-length boots . Very ugly indeed, the whole ensemble. Of course, most followers of fashion would say the same of my usual outfit. ;-)
Then, there's also the custom of wearing trousers hanging so low on the hips that the ass (pardon my French) is quite literally hanging out. I'm not talking about the lower part of the back here. I'm talkig the behind. Two buttocks, fold in between. All nicely visible.
I guess writing that exposes me for what I am: terribly old at heart sometimes. I just don't understand fashion. Never really did, and the inability to understand it only increases with age. Give me nondescript t-shirts, sweaters and jeans any day.
