Brum's Rain, Groceries, and Dancing

I lived here almost three weeks before even considering holding an umbrella. The mild weather was a fluke, and no one warned me. But for the past week I've taken my umbrella everywhere, and 

I've had to purchase a heavier casual coat. I'll make it, everyone assures me. 

Other than the lousy weather, I've had a wonderful time and I feel almost fully settled in with the culture. I may have been cheating a bit, though. Yesterday a friend introduced me to the American shelves of the Tesco supermarket. I fell prey to pop tarts and a payday, and if I wasn't home sick before, I might be now. Speaking of foods, the conservatoire Cafe Bar introduced me to flapjacks. Seriously delicious rolled oats and butter and something I have no idea. It's probably filled with controlled substances, making them both pleasurable and highly addictive. 

I've been doing some cooking, so I spend a good bit of time wandering around the Morrison's supermarket at Five Ways. I thought I'd share some odd quirks of grocery shopping in this country: 

Eggs aren't refridgerated (and yet I get home and immediately put them in the fridge) 

Bacon is a vague term for ham of many sorts, our beloved bacon strips are called "rashers"

When checking an expiration date, it's written day/month. No, not all of the mozzarella is expired. 

Lemonade isn't lemonade. It's sort of sprite. 

There's only one option of canned refried beans, and it's £1.79

There's only one option of canned Black Beans, it's in the organic aisle, and it's £1.39

Digestives are....I still don't know what digestives are. 

The largest aisle display is the booze aisle 

Cokes aren't made with high fructose corn syrup 

Shortbread is delicious

In other, Academic news, I've been having fun. I went to my british folk music lecture this morning and we talked about all of the dances...and then we danced. We have a shortage of men, so my partner was my dashing friend Beky. We were pretty awesome, and Beky promises to take me out barn dancing. 

Louise and I have been trying to plan rep for my junior recital in February, and I have another lesson tomorrow. The whole viola studio is amazing, and we're all scrambling to get prepared for the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition, coming to the conservatoire at the end of November. I'm excited! Also coming at the end of Novemeber is Thanksgiving. I'll be making Thanksgiving dinner. 

Cheers,

Roselyn xx