1. Walking and texting/watching tv on your phone/Facebooking/Instagramming/any kind of phone usage that requires you to look down at your phone should be illegal. It's hard enough for me to figure out which side of the sidewalk to walk on, and then to figure out which way to move in order to get out of the phone-using-dimwit's way is just plain difficult and confusing.
2. Anything with a "shire" at the end is pronounced "sure." Hertfordshire sounds like HertfordSURE. Yorkshire sounds like YorkSURE. I don't get it.
3. It takes forever and a day to get anywhere in London. And no one ever seems to be in a hurry to get anywhere. I used to be the slowest human being in America, and now I feel like the fastest in England.
4. It's not considered appropriate to talk on the tube, or at least I've noticed it's weirdly quiet during rush hour. The quietness makes me nervous so I tend to talk. And then I get the evil eye{s}. I know, I'm an amateur.
5. Scooters are popular amongst the children here. Matching scooters between mother + child, father + child, or entire family seems common. You know what else seems common? These scooters running into me {or me running into them!}.
6. UK Mother's Day is Sunday, March 15.
7. UK Daylight Saving Time, appropriately called British Summer Time, is at the end of March {March 29 to be exact}.
8. Grocery delivery like Ocado or Whole Foods is the best thing ever invented. Makes my life so much easier and cooking so much more fun {You know you're lazy, when...}.
9. After first my experience subbing in a wonderful classroom, I realized how much I truly miss teaching. But I miss real, working-with-kids + all-my-attention-is-on-the-kids kind of teaching. Not the bogged-down-by-emails-and-paperwork-and-data-and-meetings, stressful teaching. Sadly, I've come to find teaching isn't about just the kids anymore but subbing allows me to just focus on what I truly enjoy about teaching: the kids. It's a lovely change of pace. Is it possible to be a professional substitute teacher?
9.5. While subbing, I also learned that kids are kids, no matter what country you're in. On the other hand, not all schools are created equal {well, I guess we know that as teachers, but it's definitely different in another country}. I will save that for another post.
10. {I've been saving the best for last} Being a gainfully employed person {albeit part-time + freelancing} makes me feel like a real human again! Yep, you heard it, folks. I. Have. A. Job!!!!!!