It's Like Academic Challenge, Except With Alcohol

Our holidays were good. Erica and I woke up Christmas morning and opened a handful of presents (Her's including the complete works of the Bronte sisters and some silver earrings. My including an antique pocket watch). We then bundled into a car with a married couple we know to spend Christmas with family, albeit, not our family. The day was memorable. About 18 people and crazier than the Scott family according to Erica. We ate so much food that it should be a post in and of itself. Erica's sister Allie and Allie's husband Evan arrived New Years Eve with presents from the states, coincidently the same day that our Christmas package from my parents showed up. We got home from the airport and had Christmas morning all over again. Both sets of parents heard our laments about the lack of quality Mexican food over here. We ended up with three packages of real corn tortillas, beans, salsa (which is much better than its British counterpart that tasted suspiciously like bruschetta), enchilada sauce, and Mexican hot chocolate. Last night we had Erica's school buddy Lorna over and ate fish tacos. We stopped by our nearby fish and chips place and got a big piece of cod for the fish. Erica said they looked at her pretty oddly when she, a single girl, ordered a huge piece of fish and no chips. The tacos turned out real well.
Tonight we're headed over to the pub I used to work at for a quiz night. Quiz nights are pretty popular over here. You get a team together and try to answer trivial questions about a variety of subjects. The pubs put them on because it gets people in the door, and usually gets people laughing and drinking. It costs £1 for each person on the team and the winning team gets the kitty. Not expecting to show particularly well considering we know next to nothing about British pop-culture. I'll be happy if we do not finish last.
Inga should be showing up towards the end of the month/start of February and we're going to be taking some day trips with her as well as Allie and Evan. We'll keep you updated with pictures and such.
We love you all and miss you. Come visit!

The George Inn

When Erica and I first decided to move to the UK, I immediately began thinking of a job that I might acquire. I decided that one of two criteria should be met for the job to be considered desirable. The first criterion was that the job would be one in which I had been trained for in my education (e.g. youth worker, associate pastor, working in the schools). The other criterion was that the job should be something distinctly British (e.g. chimney sweep or working at a castle). Well, as of now half of my jobs are distinctly British. There are two pubs in our little village, the one is just two doors down, and features a bar in the middle, a slot machine in the corner, and nothing else; pretty much a typical American bar. I am working in the other pub exactly a half-mile down the road from us. The George Inn, has been around for a good 350 some-odd years, and is still thriving. It is a pub, and more alcohol is served than food, but most of our customers are not in looking to drown their sorrows in pints of oranjeboom, but rather sharing a pint with friends on the way home from work, or on the weekend. I work behind the bar, but so far always with an experience member of staff. I make myself more useful serving food and clearing tables, until I get a little better at the art of bartending (n.b. a Gin & Tonic requires the use of actual tonic water, not soda water). The staff are all very nice, and my latest hobby is answering questions about where my accent comes from. Most people guess Canadian. I figure either they think they are being nice by not guessing Usonian, or they are accentually acute enough to pick-up the fact that I'm from a part of the country that is near to Canada. I actually had one guy insuate that that's what he thought. The guessing the accent game is the closest I have come to any real conversations with customers, but I am hoping to have more once I get to know the regulars a bit better.
The fact that I'm making a little bit more than minimum wage (plus tips), can walk to and from work, can chat with real British people, and can maybe have cricket finally explained to me all add up to a positive experience. And less anyone be concerned, I have not sampled any of the wares at the pub since I started working.

yet...