Cards for everything

When you spend in England enough time how to be part of the society you will begin to get a lot of greeting cards and you will realise about the importance of them.

In England you always will find a section in every supermarket, in every single store, you will also find some specialized stores fully selling greeting cards. You can find several categories such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthday Cards, Friendship, Thank You, Love, Sorry, Get Well, Party Invitations, Anniversary, Congratulations... even you can find cards to say you are angry-upset or delicate matters such as religion, sex or Gay-Lesbian, you will always find the right card for the feeling you are looking for. At the beginning this was really strange for me, as well as a friend who was travelling around Spain told me he didn't understand why he hadn't found any card shop there.

To be honest when I was a child I remember sending-receiving Christmas cards between family, it was always nice to get some of them but nowadays are just an article in disuse, now everybody gets a lot of e-cards or emails with impersonal messages, we have lost the illusion to buy a card, an envelope and write a nice phrase.

At this point I think, why English people is still using this amazing way to communicate feelings but then they just write a few words ("happy birthday", "I am sorry", "thank you", "Merry ") ??? If you ask them, surely their answer would be:

If I have to write hundreds of cards, won't expect that I will be funny and original...

Train

England is more or less well connected by rail, at least Derbyshire, the area that I know. You have to be careful with the ticket price because sometimes you can get a really good discount or a really expensive price, everywhere things work like that but the only thing I see different (It’s well known for everybody expensive prices) is why most of stations don't have a machine to check tickets to avoid evasion.

Below you can find a chat between a ticket inspector and a passenger.

Ticket inspector: Tickets please

Passenger: I have no ticket, please can I buy one?
Passenger thinking: Shit, he catches me.

Ticket inspector: Gentleman, why didn't you buy one before get on the train?
Ticket inspector thinking: I catch you and you know what that mean but I have to be polite.

Passenger: I am really sorry but it was raining.
Passenger thinking: because I didn't want, I never thought I would be caught.

Ticket inspector: but the machine is under cover.
Ticket inspector thinking: another smartass, you know that to use the train you have to pay one.

Passenger: I told you, it was raining and I thought I could buy a ticket inside the train.
Passenger thinking: I didn't buy the ticket because I have been using enough time the same train how to know never tickets are checked, probability, you know??

Ticket inspector: I am sorry but your story is not valid, you will have to pay a fine
Ticket inspector thinking: I know you are playing with probability, but we are doing the same so if I would sell a ticket now you would only pay tickets when you were catch.

Passenger: I am not agree, I want to buy a ticket now.
Passenger thinking: I have to insist, I might get him tired so he sells me a ticket, and everybody knows you can get a ticket inside the train.

Ticket inspector: I am sorry but I cannot sell you a ticket now, if you don't want to pay the fine you have to get off in the stop and follow me.
Ticket inspector thinking: I catch one evader and the rest of travellers will realise they could be catch too. This is the reason because I am having a walk trough the train.

Passenger: OK
Passenger thinking: Shit, shit, shit.

I mean, I don't understand why ticket inspectors spend the whole day, day after day, repeating the same speech, ticket inspectors check tickets on many trains and staff carry out undercover operations to detect persistent fare evaders. If fare evasion is rife and costs around £50 million annually it would be easier and cheaper if you had a way to control that everybody has a ticket.

Conclusion's passenger: ticket price is too expensive how to try don't be catch.
Conclusion’s ticket inspector: if my company prefer to pay evasion costs around £50m plus salaries ticket inspectors instead installing machines to control it, how much are they earning with fines??

My first Christmas card

Are we getting mad or what?? I got my first Christmas card yesterday 7.12.2010!!!. Ok, I can survive looking at how since October supermarkets are trying to make a profit with Christmas decoration, how you need to book a table for Christmas dinner in Summer, how people try to get good discounts to buy Christmas presents along the year, even I can see how happy a family is putting up the Christmas tree in November... but starting now giving Christmas card is too much for someone who his Christmas dates are from 24th December to 3rd January only.

Of course, I asked to this lovely old woman why she was giving me the card so early and she told me because she feel sorry for me because I am abroad and I am going to spend these happy days alone... whaaaaat??? I had to wait until she had gone to start laughing... Ohh dear, she has a good heart but a bad head!!!

Now I want to explain that when you are abroad is almost always because you have chosen to be abroad so you are not going to miss your family, you always can travel to spend these days with them as well as they can visit you, you don't always have to spend Christmas dates around the family, friends, partner, whoever.. will be there for you.. however if I couldn't have any of these choices and I had to spend these days in my own I would say: Thank you for remembering me so early how sad my life is and what poor boy I am... lol.

WHO TO KISS, WHO NOT TO KISS??

It doesn't matter how long I have been here or how long I have known someone, I will always have the same problem, I don't know how to say hello.

Spanish people usually shake hands between men, two cheek kisses between women, two cheek kisses between man and woman (except when you are at work, in this case both will try to keep the distance) and when you really know someone a hug is fine.

However in England is completely different people usually just say Hello, shake their hands each other, just one kiss and the variation of cheek kissing and then go in for the one arm hug or a two arm hug.

when you are a foreign in Spain the rules are easier but when you are the foreign in England you never know what to do, if you try to shake your hands and other person want to kiss you will seem rude, if you try to kiss someone may they think you are going too far and the last one, when someone knows you are foreign and they try to copy the way you are and you don't know how many kisses one or two.

Oh my god, even say hello can be extremely uncomfortable.

English Pub vs Spanish Bar

One of the most interesting things that I found when I arrived in England were the Pubs. A Pub is a place where you can meet people to socialise, eat, drink. Even you can find people who prefer to be there because is warmer than their home and could be cheaper have a few drinks than switching on the central heating. Some English Pubs organise a "quiz nights" where the winner gets a gallon of beer.
English Pub almost always have the same kind of food such as steak, burger, pie, fish & chips, gammon & egg, curry and all of them served with chips, besides you always can choose the soup of the day.

Spanish bars always are busy, people having breakfast, lunch, drinking after work until midnight, Spanish cuisine consists of a variety of dishes, which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate. Foods include: seafood, mediterranean salad, paella, cocido, fabada, tortilla, pan con tomate y jamon, gazpacho etc...

In both of them you can socialise but I think in England is easier (at least in the North) you don't need to know anybody to talk to someone, however in Spain the concept of party or happiness is much better.
About decoration or furniture in Spain bars is simpler than English where you can find a fireplace, candles or carpet to get cosier. Spanish bars you can smoke inside but in this case I can't say if this is an advantage because depends on if you are or not smoker.

However with no doubts the main difference between them are TAPAS, where in almost all bars you are going to get a piece of food for every drink, They may be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or warm (such as chopitos, which are battered, fried baby squid) even sometimes sophisticated cuisine. 

In conclusion, both of them are really great places, if I wanted to enjoy the environment with a beer I would choose England but if wanted to enjoy a beer with a great food I would choose Spain

This is England - The contrast

Few days ago I watched again the amazing movie called "This is England", after a while living in here I think I have enough info to compare England from inside and outside view.

Long gone are those days when the public image of England was Ben Sherman shirts and Dr Marten boots, however still nowadays you can find in every single football stadium people drinking and fighting, even The Royal Academy define the word hooligan as "British supporter with violent and aggressive behaviour".

Leaving in second place the fact about "English drinking culture" and anti-social behaviour as a "normal" part of life, it has nothing to do with the feelings that you will perceive once you have been here.

Every English represents the nation, from a distant point of view England is still a small town. I don't mean the way English are, but the original way they interpret the human life. English would never allow to nobody invade their private life or freedom. English still have the pride of small town built in a great society a great nation. It’s incredible how a cold country can become so warm, It’s the best example about how an individualist people can work together to be stronger.

It's a shame that sometimes the behaviour of people abroad or public image (including all countries) doesn't seem the same that you can find when you are here.

We still have a lot to learn.