Acclimation...

This is a fascinating wikipedia entry on the differences between British and American English.  It's strange, I read so many British books as a kid, that I use some British grammatical rules without realizing it.  Sadly, I think spell-checking programs are solidifying the differences between British and American spelling, especially when doubling consonants in front of a suffix with a vowel.  For example, I still write travelling, but most spellchecking programs tell me that traveling is the correct spelling, which looks totally wrong to me.  (Wikipedia also has an interesting article on the different spelling conventions of the two countries.)

Mostly, it gets difficult to remember which conventions to use where, especially when writing for a British audience, as I am when I work over here.  When I bring some of these conventions and colloquialisms back to the US, people think I'm being smarmy or hoity-toity, which is usually not the case at all.  Saying 'cheers' becomes second-nature here, as does asking where the 'loo' or 'toilet' is.  If you're looking for zucchini, you'd better look for a corgette instead, or you probably will go home empty-handed.  And if you want something 'to go,' you'd better ask for 'take away.'  I could go on and on about the subtle changes between American and British English.  It takes a me a few weeks to acclimate myself once I'm over here.  

Of Hats and Harrod's

After yesterday's trip to the British Museum, I went to the Victoria and Albert museum to see a few of their galleries. I ended up spending most of my time in the Fashion and Asian galleries, which were organized beautifully. 

Early in the evening, I met with K. and her husband M. to grab a cup of coffee. Coffee soon turned into a picnic at Hyde Park, which required food! On our way to Hyde Park, we stopped at Hotel Chocolat and grabbed a few types of chocolate to try (mainly salted-almond truffles and a mini fruit-and-nut bar.) Along with our sandwich from Paul's, we had the perfect early dinner. 

We watched people in their paddle boats and made snarky comments about a few people in row boats who couldn't figure out how to row them in a straight line. 

Then we made our way to Harrod's, which was a blast. I was amazed at the millinery section. One day, I will totally wear a head-piece like this to a wedding. Just watch me.  We had a blast looking at the housewares section, the food-halls, and the amazing clothes.

We ended our evening at Ladurée, which has a small cafe tucked away inside of Harrod's. I tried their bergamot macaron, as well as my favorite, the pistachio, along with some rose tea.  

It was a wonderful day -- I had such a good time with H. and M. They live in New Jersey, and their hospitality may be what gets me to finally visit New York!

Sunny Day...

It's positively balmy here in London today.  I walked down to the British Museum to see thier recently-renovated medieval gallery.  It was very nice, but there were far too many screaming children and hordes of Italian toursits for me to get more than a cursory glance at most of the exhibits.  

There was also a tiny exhibit on Javanese Gamelan, which was cool.  The British Museum is going to have an accompanying concert coming up, so I might attend if I have a spare moment.  

This afternoon I'm taking the tube down to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which inexplicably has an exhibit on hats.  There are also a couple fashion exhibits that look interesting.  After, I'm meeting a friend who lived in the dorms with me during my first go-round at the B.L.  She's recently gotten married, so I get to meet her husband as well.  If I can manage the tube on a hot London day (trust me, it's nasty), it should be fun!

She Lands...

I have arrived safely in London. Although the 777 was a little threadbare, there was free booze, good movies (I saw Frost/Nixon and The Reader), and I managed to sleep for a few hours. For the first time in a long while, I got plane-sick on the landing. I'm not sure who I should blame--it was like the plane equivalent of someone pumping the brakes (except with altitude). That with the 45 minute tube ride and I just want to be around open spaces for a few hours...days...whatever.

My tiny room is tinier than I remember, but I have a room overlooking Thanet Street, inclusive breakfasts, and wireless, so I'm a happy camper. More updates later!

...And we're back...

Well, I leave for London tonight.  I'll be working for the B.L. again for a month on the Online Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts.  At the end of my trip, I'll be giving a talk at the two-day conference that that was organized in honor of cataloguing all of the Harley Collection.

It will be strange to be back in London, but quite honestly, it feels like I'm going home, in a manner of speaking.  I will, as always, be updating this blog during the month I'm in London!