Time to carpe vacay! Timmy and I are headed to the Big Island this weekend! The amazing guy he is, he surprised me with plane tickets on my first night. We’re pretty darn excited!

For me, travel rewards some of my most amazing life experiences. I’m a firm believer that travel is good for the soul.

Or 25, in my case … or any mature age, in my opinion …

 

I’m so excited that today is my and Tim’s “Friday.” I’m also really excited that today is the day I introduce you all to my Blogger Big!

When the Big and Littles signup came around in, I decided to give it another go. It didn’t really work for me the first time but I’m all for second chances (most times). I was lucky enough to be paired with a blogger whose blog I’d actually already been following and whose posts I enjoyed reading. We also share a bit in common, from being Gamma Phis to our love of Nutella and travel. Today, we’ve swapped guests posts.

Readers, meet my blog big, Amanda from Rhymes and Ribbons, an American girl living in England!! And head on over to her blog to read my post about a favorite trip of mine to China.

Enjoy!

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Hi guys! My name is Amanda and I blog over at Rhyme & Ribbons! Jackie and I were matched in the Bigs/Littles programs which is brilliant, because, as you her readers know, she is fantastic! (Plus we were both Gamma Phis and that’s always exciting as well!) I grew up in New Mexico, went to university in Georgia and have been living in England for the past 3 years.

I want to talk a bit about English stereotypes today. Any traveler or expat is usually at least aware of them. It’s normal to have expectations of another culture.  And some people say that is stereotypes there are grains of truth.  Now, I’m not so sure about that.  But there are some fabulously absurd ones!

1. English people have bad teeth.  In fact, in some parts of Mexico bad teeth are called “dientes ingles” English people in general do not have bad teeth. Some Brits do, some don’t.  Just like in America.  However, there is (completely reasonably) less importance placed on the “Hollywood smile”. So millions of preteens that have slight overbites probably won’t be getting braces in the UK.

(Thank you The Simpsons)

2. The English are cold (in personality not temperature). Again, obviously false.  In my opinion this stereotype comes from the fact that people just aren’t as loud boisterous in England in public as in America.  The first time I took the tube I was like, “why is everyone so quiet? wtf?”  I know that when I’m upset everyone around me knows because I am that obnoxious, whereas most of my English friends would wait to express upset in private.  I must embarrass them all the time. 

3. All English people smoke. Again, this is obviously not true.  But I have found that it’s much more  looked down on in America than it is in England.  Come on, everyone in America has been that girl that when a smoker has walked past them and accidentally blown a cloud of smoke in their face they exaggerate their coughing.  (Or maybe that’s just me?) But that’s much less likely to happen in England. I think there are actually a lot more smokers per capita in the US than in the UK but American non-smokers tend to be more judgmental than British non-smokers.

(Not cool Harry Potter, not cool.)

4.  Everyone drinks tea. Well not everyone, but tea consummation in England is miles higher than in the US.  The UK is the 3rd largest tea consumer (after Turkey and India). It’s the equivalent of saying all Americans drink coffee.

5. Food is terrible in England. This is just patently false.  Of course there are traditional English dishes that I find disgusting (any meat in a pasty, meat pies, scotch eggs, etc) but you find gross things in any country (frito pie, anyone?). I could give you 100s of restaurant recommendations in the UK.

I absolutely adore being an expat in England! Please come by if you want to read more about my adventures in the UK.