The British are Coming!

Hey everyone! I had a real treat last weekend. My old friend from SMU, Stacia came into town for a few days with her wonderful fiancé Dean. They were driving cross country on their way to LA and paid us a visit. It was wonderful catching up with her, as I haven’t seen her too much in several years because she’s been living in London. Seems to be a trend for my friends. To top it off, Dean is English so I got to satisfy my curiosity about all things British. I am very appreciative of most things British (books and movies and Churchill and Blair, in particular), so this was quite exciting for me. Here are a few things I learned from him and Stacia:

• The British really do like football (soccer). The World Cup was on while they were here and Dean watched bits and pieces. He was very caught up in the spectacle and was rooting for England, Australia and the USA in that order.

• Stacia said the English do deserve their “reserved” label. They have a stiff upper lip about almost everything but football. That’s where they let out all of their emotions. After a tough game, there sometimes won’t be a dry eye in the pub.
• The English do not tend to get involved with people outside their inner circle – those they’ve known forever. And it’s still a classist society. The likelihood of Cinderella stories is not good.
• English people consider curry their national dish. And they like it spicy. At Rhumba Dean ordered his killer hot. I guess this is never done, because the chef came out to check on him. Dean wasn’t fazed though and said he’s had hotter.
• English people are more eloquent than Americans (no surprise there).
• The English don't like imposing on others in any way, shape or form. Dean's comparison of an American drowning and asking for help and an Englishman was particularly hilarious. Basically 3 words versus a treatise.
• English people are very suspicious of anything that's supposed to be on sale. So that's why they never have sales in their stores and tend to avoid Ebay.
  
• English people prefer to be called English rather than British, as it’s more specific. This has always confused me – I’ll blame it on my lack of a geography class. I have actually been to London twice and Brighton once, so I can’t imagine why I didn’t get this down then, but for all those in a similar state, here’s a summary:
• People in the UK are called British although they have different nationalities
• Great Britain is comprised of England, Scotland and Wales
• The UK's full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• Countries in the UK are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• The British Isles are made up of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and a whole bunch of other small islands
• Some English people (at least 1) prefer coffee over tea. This was a nice surprise as almost everyone I know refuses to share a cup with me

I’m sure I picked up many more particulars, but they escape me at the moment. We did our best to show them around the area. This included taking the top off the Jeep and driving up to Estes Park to check out the Stanley Hotel. I’ve driven past it several times but never gone in. it reminded me a bit of Hotel Colorado. I would definitely like to spend the night there one night. Though signs warned against it, we snuck upstairs to find room 237. The scary room from The Shining. But get this……it didn’t exist! Pretty creepy, eh? The only other weird thing was empty room after empty room set up with long tables covered with white cloth. In front of each table was one chair placed just so. Stacia speculated that some sort of Scientology experiment was in progress. Before we got converted, w left to have a snack on the front porch of the hotel and enjoy the view. It was a gorgeous day. We then drove the Peak to Peak highway back through Gold Hill. Thomas took advantage of this opportunity and we somehow ended careening up on dirt roads alongside huge drop-offs with no guardrails. Around Gold Hill there were a couple of forest fires and we saw one helicopter pouring water onto a fire. We ended the night on Pearl Street, eating at Rhumba and being entertained by the Boulder hippies and buskers.

Stacia and Dean are in LA now. They are both writers. Stacia of novels and screenplays (she has one of a giant squid that has adapted to exist in a lake in KS where it terrifies the locals that sounds like it’s going to be awesome) and Dean of screenplays (I won’t give away his ideas here. No spoilers to be found). So good luck to Stacia and Dean. I hope you both make it big in the city where dreams come true and invite me to your premieres.

Boulder Bumpersticker of the Day: Bring Back Capitalism.

-sunday