Ol' English

Coming to the UK from the US, you would figure a lot of the logistical aspects of another English speaking country would be somewhat similar. Well let me tell you, there is little to no fluidity between the transition from the "United" States to the "United" Kingdom. The banking system is a nightmare to set up, transit system is completely lopsided, rent system misguided, and Customs (FEDEX) severely unorganized. Even the British English is almost a whole different dialect than what a typical American would expect.

"Proper" Words

Three weeks into being in Bournemouth, some of the words that I "fancy" include: "proper", "fancy", "supper", "pissed", "wet behind the ears", "mate" and of course "cheers". "Cheers" is literally used as "Thank you", "Please", "Hello", "Goodbye" and of course the way it should be... for Cheers-ing pint after pint of Carlsberg. These are only a few of the terms off the top of my head that have struck me as silly, yet they are extremely common and used in everyday language in Ol' English. I am sure that the pronunciation of verbage will slowly become more understandable, but so far it has been a great struggle.

Besides all of the negative, the location of Bournemouth has to be the best in England. It has been and will continue to be rainy, but with several sunny spots throughout. There is some decent surf, great people, and a Downtown Square that knows how to party "properly"! Stay tuned for more...