Cones on Statues

So, in Glasgow in front of the Gallery of Modern Art, there is a statue of the Duke of Wellington... and he always has a traffic cone on his head.

Don't really know what to say about this one, but I thought it was a joke (probably a n.e.d., Google it, which is how it started), here is a clip from wikipedia;

Outside the Gallery stands an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington which permanently has a traffic cone on its head. For many years the authorities regularly removed cones, only for them to be replaced (often the following night) by someone climbing the nearly 20 foot statue. The jauntily placed cone has come to represent, particularly in tourist guidebooks, the city's light-hearted attitude to authority, and the city authorities no longer remove Wellington's cone hat. One exception was on the occasion of Glasgow hosting the 2002 UEFA Champions League final, when the cone was replaced by a football-patterned hat bearing the logo of one of the tournament sponsors, Amstel.

Stupid Jocks

In the states, a 'jock' refers to someone who plays sports. It is usually derogatory, insinuating the person is not very smart, similar to 'meat head.'

In Scotland, 'jock' is slang for a Scot, but as the caption from this Scotish dictionary points out, it is offensive.

Who Knew (thanks for the heads up Simon)!

The Trouser Press

The first hotel I have stayed at since I got to Scotland was a place called the Patio hotel in Aberdeen. It was an alright place, I was only there one night and it got the job done. In the room, it had a trouser press hanging on the wall, but at that time I had no idea what it was (I actually pulled it off the wall when I was investigating) and there were no directions (as the one in the pictures do), so I left it alone. Then I had to go down to London for a day and this trouser press was in my closet. I doubt every household has one of these, but it seems like a great idea. I picked up a brochure for one at marks and spencers, basically they work like an iron (heat to get out the wrinkles), but somehow they also have a stretching mechanism in them to help get out the wrinkles (vs. potentially just making them worse). Next time I am in a hotel I will have to give it a try!

'Push to Exit'

There are so many things in the UK that you would never expect to be any different than the US, take doors as an example. Any security door that is locked from the outside, has these 'push to exit' buttons on the inside. In the states, you would just expect a bar halfway up the door that you would push while opening the door (requiring little, to no thought). In the UK, the problem is you have to look for these buttons (as most are not labeled like the one I have pictured above) as they come in many shapes in sizes and could easily be mistaken for light switches or doorbells. Inevitably you will not see a button or two and run into a locked door and then start looking around for the stupid button.

Laundry

As I have been in Scotland over a week, inevitably it was time to do laundry. I was worried about doing such (for good reason), as the washer/ dryer combo unit is not common in the states. Well, I read through the directions manual (as the controls on the unit are only letters, and do not indicate meaning), I gave it a shot. After 2 hours, I was wondering what the status of my clothes were, so I stopped the dryer to check - they were still wet. It took at least another hour before they were reasonably dry. The problem was, everything was wrinkled! Most things didn't matter, and I could get the wrinkles out, but my dress shirts were a different story. As you can see in the picture, they looked like they were in a tight ball and left like that do dry. These wrinkles were so bad, that I could not iron them out, so I had to start the process over again for a few shirts. The shirts are now ironed and in the closet, but this was a 6+ hour process and they still are not sharp as I would like.

My second load of laundry ended with a better result (mainly because I didn't fill the drum as full), but overall these washers/ dryers are ridiculous. There are two basic problems; 1. The drum size (too small) 2. Drying Technology (the heat does not vent, so air flow and heat are minimal).

Bottom Line - Now I understand why you see many people around the UK hanging up there clothes (inside or outside) to dry.

'Left of Way'

Most people know that in the UK, people drive on the left side of the road (vs. in the states where we drive on the right), but it doesn't stop there! Everyone patterns their walking on the left (as seen in the picture) and escalators also follow suit.

When I started thinking about this, I thought about the expression 'right of way' (i.e. at a 4-way stop sign, you are supposed to yield to the car on your right) and how it shouldn't apply - but I couldn't remember ever hearing a 'left of way' saying. So I began to visualize a intersection over here (usually a roundabout), a driver would actually be yielding to the 'right of way' as they circle clockwise. So the expression is universal

As everything is online, I found some good stuff on wikipedia (including the roundabout pic) if you want to read more, here is the link;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic

Electricity

In the States, when you want electricity, it's there (unless you didnt pay your bill or there is a rolling blackout...). In Scotland, anything that requires electricity also has a switch. Dont get me wrong, you get used to it, but at first you do things like plug your phone or laptop in, thinking its charging, when its not. The stranger aspect of this whole situation is how it applies to appliances. In the picture, the switch on the left is for the stove top 'cooker' in my kitchen.

From what I can gather, these switches save electricity as trace amounts of electricity are lost when things are plugged in (and maybe even when nothing is plugged in).

Pounds Sterling

So, in the US, the treasury (controlled by the gov't) is the only entity allowed to print dollars - this is a good thing! In the UK, individual banks print money, normally one wouldn't think about something like this, but I have been warned that some places in England will not accept cash from a Scottish bank! This is the same feeling when you go to pay anywhere with a travelers check, you never know if they will accept it or not.

Picture: 3 10 pound notes, printed by the following; 1. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 2. Bank of England 3. Cydesdale Bank

Goodbye (United States) Hello (Scotland)

Well, I made it safely to Scotland. As most of you know, I am temporarily staying in Glasgow even though I will be working in Edinburgh b/c of the festival. Many pics and interesting thinks about the UK will follow (hopefully)