Fun British Facts

Today we went to my cousin's birthday party. I met a lot of people who are related to my cousins out here but on their dad's side while I'm related to them on their mom's side. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but teenagers out here are extremely independent and grown up. They're very free to do what they like and come and go as they please. So today I met my cousin who's 14 and I honestly thought she was about 19 or 20 until people kept saying how big she was and asking what form she was in school. I also met her cousin who is 13. Aside from them it was all older people my cousins' age so I ended up talking to them most of the night. I should explain here that the person I refer to as my 'aunt' who I'm staying with is actually my mom's cousin and she's older than my mom, then she has kids who are 15 and 20. The cousin's birthday party I went to was actually a second cousin who turned 48. The cousin who was 14 was the 48-year-old's daughter. Confusing. I may just refer to everyone as a cousin from now on. And it was nothing like talking to two young teens at home and I picked up some fun British facts! I don't remember them all, but I'll share what I remember with you:

-British teens start having serious relations with one another at around 11 or 12.

-British people greet each other and say goodbye with either one kiss or two kisses, one on each cheek. I'm not sure if they're interchangeable of if one is appropriate only in certain situations. All I know is that I've accidentally nearly kissed several people on the lips when they went for two kisses and I stopped with one.

-The man who plays Snape in Harry Potter lives just down the road apparently and is my cousin's godfather!!!! Crazy, no?? I love him! He's also in Love Actually which is one of my all time favourite movies.

-American Apparel is quite popular here.

-Topshop is not that cheap. I always thought it was super affordable.

-When a Big Brother season is on tv, there is a channel that actually allows you to tune into the Big Brother house at any time to see what's happening. The edited shows air everyday I think or twice a week or something, but you can tune in anytime and watch people sleep or whatever. I don't actually like Big Brother but that aspect certainly makes it more interesting.


-Idris Elba is not popular here, even though he's British. Or at least not with the 13 and 14 year olds. I was sad they couldn't give me a tip on where I might go to "accidentally" bump into him so that we can fall in love and get married.

-Pop music is huge here. Even their rap music is quite poppy.

-Police officers are not well liked here. I guess that kind of goes for everywhere, but here if you're a police officer it's not something you would share with people. Or if your dad is a police officer you wouldn't want people to know. Like it's something to be ashamed of. I don't like that at all.Clearly.

-Everyone goes away for "uni" or university here. No one stays in London because there are only two universities and they're quite specialised.

-Most words that we would put a 'z' in use an 's' over here. Ex. organise, prioritise, specialise.

-There is rumour over here that Beyonce, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg all worship the devil and apparently that Snoop actually died and then was brought back to life by the devil and it's the devil who's made them all famous....ya...I'll just give you a sec to let that one sink in.....ya. Very intense, I have no idea who could have possibly started that rumour or who could believe it!

That's it for the Fun Facts for now. More to come later.

I still can't get over that Snape is my cousin's godfather and I might meet him at a dinner party here. I would die inside, while keeping a very cool exterior. Very cool indeed.