It's a Love/Hate Relationship...

... actually, it's more like a love/I'll-learn-to-live-with-it relationship. Like, I love Cheetos, but I live with the orange fingers they give me. Anyway, here are the top-five things that are a little "different" about living here:

1. Hot dogs come in a can. We've since learned that they also come the regular way. Don't try the ones in a can...
2. Macaroni & cheese comes in a can. Anyone have a good recipe for homemade mac & cheese?
3. Daddy had to pay 20p (pence for you out-of-towners) just so I could go to the bathroom in the London Victoria station. There are unsympathetic turnstiles in front of the bathroom. And since Daddy didn't have change, he had to pay ₤1 to buy some crisps (that's "chips" for you out-of-towners) to get some change. By the time I went, he was out ₤1.20, the equivalent of about $2.50. (In case you're wondering how you get change by paying ₤1 for chips: you give them a ₤10 bill and get back a ₤5 bill and 4 ₤1 coins. Then you put a ₤1 coin in a change machine that gives you 5 20p coins.)
4. You need a license just to watch TV, and it costs ₤135. That's separate from what you pay for cable, satellite, or whatever. If they know no one has a TV license at your address, they come to your house to make sure you don't have a TV. You pay less if you use a black and white TV and you don't have to pay at all if you only use your TV to watch DVDs. Luckily, that's all I do anyway.
5. The water tastes funny.

Here are the top five things I love about it:

1. Trains & double-decker buses.
2. You can get pretty much anywhere without a car.
3. Heated towel racks. Try putting your pyjamas on them before you take a bath. Ahhh.
4. Grocery shopping online is pretty cool. I just tell Mama I want something and she puts it in her online shopping cart for the next time she submits an order.
5. Daddy doesn't have to get on an airplane so much. He's home every night.