15 things I learned as an expat in UK

Today marks the day I arrived as an expat in UK with a tired hubby from an almost 2,000 mile drive, our tired dog and a fully loaded car. It happened 4 years ago. I had no idea how my life would be like and it was the first time I’ve step foot on British soil.

During this years I learned a few things by living as an expat in UK:

1. Even if the rest of the world thinks in UK rains all the time, it doesn’t rain that often. I still had to water the garden.

2. Depending on the topic, 100 or 200 years old is not that old…

3. I like history. I didn’t like it in school, but with Henry and his 6 wives, lots of stately homes and interesting stories regarding aristocracy I changed my mind about it.

4. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or it’s fog or it’s Easter, most likely there is someone on the same path with us, going on a hike.

5. Cheddar is delicious and during the winter holidays there are plenty more flavours to choose from, with apricots and cranberries.

6. It’s never too early to think about Christmas. Christmas pudding, fruit cake and mince pies are delicious.

7. If you arrive at 10.30 am at a National Trust property you have to park in the overflow car park.

8. Mr. Whippy ice cream van is at any event in summer and also in winter. I usually have to queue to get one.

9. An old mine, a tunnel connecting two towns, a couple of hundred years old tunnels and many other similar locations are tourist attractions and they are fascinating (and crowded).

10. “Maybe it’s not the best x I ever had” can mean that is awful. I would thought is more like “is good, but not the best”. Can be a funny misunderstanding.

11. One can start a conversation with a stranger on the street about the weather. It just happens.

12. The 24 hours shops are open for 24 hours only during the weekdays and not in the weekend. It took me an year to get used to that, as in Romania a 24 hours shop is open 7 days also.

13. Women will stop their cars so they can tell me that my Rottweiler is gorgeous.

14. There are 7 types of cream: single cream, double cream, whipping cream, soured cream, clotted cream, crème fraîche, and extra thick double cream. I was used to only 2 types, the same applies to flour. Now I use them all and I can’t imagine how my life was before with only 2 types.

15. Indian is a common cuisine, there are lots of Indian ingredients in the supermarkets. I wasn’t expecting that.

I know that most of them are related to food… but it’s me, I’m thinking a lot about food.