One would think, if English is the official language in both the United States and England there would be no communication gaps.   Not so!   Sometime engaging in dialogue with the British could be confusing.   Many words and phrases used in England do not have the same meaning as those used in the United States.

           For instance when I asked for water at a restaurant the waiter asked “Gas or No Gas”.   With a puzzled look on my face, my  friend stated “No Gas.”   Now, water With Gas is somewhere on the lines of mineral/sparkling water and is carbonated.  No thank you, just plain water for me….

           While in England……..

                 The British eat with gobbling rods (eating utensils)

                 On certain days of the week the dust cart (garbage truck) picks up the rubbish

                 The Bobbies ( policemen)  do not carry guns.

                 Multi-story buildings have lifts ( elevators)

                 Hotels do not provide visitors with flannels (wash cloths)

                 We put our groceries in the trolley (cart, buggy)

                  The traffic sign read : Kill Your Speed, ( slow down.)

                 Our group leader told us to Push On ( move on)

                  Many people in downtown London live in flats (apartments)

                 Motor vehicles run on petro (gasoline)

                 Are you slimming? (losing weight)

                 Don’t forget to mind the gap, mind your step, or mind your head (watch)

                It only took a few days for us to catch on to these words and phrases, but I must say when I first heard them I thought them to be strange. 

                I am glad to be back in Louisiana with our own Cajun version of the English language.

      I arrived back home at 2am on Tuesday, July 28^th   having left London on Monday, July 27^th at 1:05 pm.   Thirteen hours of traveling is not easy.    With 319 movies to choose from, the nine hour flight from London to Houston was not as bad as one would think.  However, the seven hour wait in Houston for the flight back to New Orleans was extremely tiring.   When you realize how close you are to home, the waiting becomes almost unbearable.  Much effort was put into finding an earlier flight once we got to Houston, but there was no guarantee that our luggage would arrive with the earlier flight. 

We gave thought to renting a car and driving back to New Orleans, but no one wanted to volunteer for the task of driving.   Our bodies began to give us signs of being awake for almost twenty-four hours.   Backaches, neck aches, headaches, dizziness and fatigue began to set in.    Talking, laughing and joking became non- existence.    We just wanted to GET HOME. 

     I have been home for two days now and have yet to leave my house.   My body is still on London time and I awoke at 4:30AM on Wednesday and 5:30AM on Thursday.

Keep in mind London is six hours ahead of us.   Today, I will try to unpack my suitcases instead of walking around them on the living room floor.   Maybe if I leave the house the “suitcase fairy” will sneak in and unpack for me.   Just for the record, I left for England with one suitcase and I have returned with two.  I am now the proud owner of a large brown and pink rolling duffel bag.    I guess I could always use it to carry papers to and from school.    Ugh……..I mentioned the “S” word.   I only have three days to get ready, because our faculty has a retreat on Monday, August 3^rd.  

     I will be posting at least three more blogs to fill you in on some of the different customs I experienced while “living in England’ for seventeen days.   So…..keeping checking the website.

A visit to London would not be complete without viewing the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, the official home of the Queen of England.    The ceremony, known for its pomp and circumstance, is the process of replacing a guard at the end of his duty with a new guard. 

    One must get an early start if you intend to be close to the gate for this ceremony.  We arrived an hour and a half before the actually ceremony, which takes place each day at 11:30am.   We managed to find a spot right along the gate of the palace.  Looking at the crowd that gathered afterwards we had made the right decision to go early.  What had started as a few hundred people quickly turned into a few thousand.

      The guards are very recognizable with their red tunic tops and their tall bearskin hats.   These men are not just ceremonial guards upholding the tradition of England’s’ heritage, they are professional soldiers serving their country.   There are five regiments that guard the palace, and other locations.  They include the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards and Welch Guards.   Each regiment has a recognizable difference in their uniform and this sets them apart.       

      From a distance one can hear music as the Regimental Band and Corp of Drums leads the new regiment up the street, through the gates and onto the forecourt of the palace.      The process of replacing a guard is very formal and takes forty-five minutes to complete the change.  Four guards watch the palace if the Queen is in residence, only two guards if she is not.   On this particular day two sentries were guarding the palace.   Typically a guard has to stand still, however he is not expected to stand still for more than ten minutes at a time. He is allowed to walk the path in front of his sentry box.  He is on duty for two hours at a time and off for four.

       Upon completion of the ceremony some of the new guards are left at Buckingham Palace, while others march on to St. James Place where they will relieve those guards who have completed their twenty four hour duty. Altogether the regiment consist of three officers and thirty six soldiers. 

There I stood with one foot in the Eastern hemisphere and one foot in the Western hemisphere. It was easy--I was straddling the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England.

   As most of you already know, the Prime Meridian is the 0 degrees longitude line. It is the line that separates the Eastern and Western hemispheres. But how did it come to be?

   As English sailors traveled the seas north and south, they used the equator and lines of latitude to gauge their ships' positions. However, there was no established method to measure the distance traveled east to west.

   King Charles II appointed John Flamsteed as his Astronomer Royal. He was instructed to study the stars and positions of the planets to develop a much-needed system to chart east-west travel. This was needed in order to allow sailors to perfect the art of navigation. An observatory was built on the highest point in Greenwich. It is at this site where Flamsteed and his successors charted the heavens.

   Each Astronomer Royal shifted the 0 degrees meridian as improved telescopes and equipment became available. 

   Another task for the royal scientists was to develop a way to measure universal time. Sailors needed to be able to tell time as they traveled the seas and moved from one longitude to the next. The scientists knew that the earth rotated 360 degrees in 24 hours (one day), which meant that the earth rotated one degree every four minutes.  Using this information, navigators could chart their positions according to latitude and longitude. By measuring longitude, they could calculate distance traveled (east or west) in time.

   Set high on the top of the Royal Observatory roof is a large red ball on a huge red spike. Every day at 1 p.m., the ball was raised to the top of the spike and then dropped.

   This would allow all the townspeople and sailers at sea nearby to set their clocks by the drop of the red ball. On each ship a sailor was assigned the task of keeping the ship's clock accurate. It was his duty to "keep his eye on the ball." If he succeeded in seeing the ball drop, he was said to be "on the ball." If he failed at his task or got distracted, he was said to have "dropped the ball."

   It remains customary in some countries to drop the ball on New Year's Day to note the start of the new year. 

   Knowing this information, it may now be easier for you to understand there two quotes. So, always "stay on the ball.