Snake Bite: That's a Wrap
It's been a couple of weeks, I know, and I'm sorry, but please understand that it's not that I haven't thought about my poor, neglected travel blog every day, it's not that I haven't felt a sort of guilt for cheating myself out of a well documented life in a foreign country, and it's not that new, different and interesting experiences haven't been occuring, it's just that I haven't been inspired.
Why? Well, I'm not sure, really. Perhaps it's the mostly gray days that start late and end early, the constant drizzle with no pretty light show or soothing thunder, or the lack of friends, family and individual socalization .... or maybe I just miss the palm trees. In any case, inspiration has slept through the dreary days while I have just longed to.
The Christmas season here is just as commercialized and early springing as it is in the US. On the other hand, it is a lot more concentrated, in your face, talked about constantly by every radio station and TV program in the country and more heavily celebrated here in the UK than I ever recall it being in the US. There also seems to be much less celebration of religious holidays outside of the Christan Christmas (I actually do not recall seeing any celebration symbols or hearing anything on the television/radio about any other religious celebrations at all, not even in ethnic areas I've been in, but I may have just not been paying attention).
It is a traditional, expected practice to go out on Christmas Eve around 4:00pm or so, get very drunk, be somewhat hung over the next morning, and then drink yourself silly with friends and family for the rest of the day on Christmas.
The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day, and is celebrated in much the same way except with Christmas Day's left overs and fewer/different friends and family present.
For the week between Christmas and New Year, almost everything goes into a sort of shut down mode where small shops simply don't open, large stores go onto special, considerably shorter hours, and most people seem to either not be working or working much less.
On New Year's Eve in the UK, as is the tradition in many countries, people old and young alike drink until their vision is blurred, their speech is slurred, and they can barely stand up; WKD Blue, Fat Frogs and Snake Bites along with beer and shots of random liquors all across England hoist the youth onto a platform of invincibility and then drive them into the ground, leaving them to suffer in their uncertainty and pain. Less daring mixtures of alcohol leave the not as young wallowing in their pain with a slightly clearer memory.
The following day is simply New Year's day and not exactly celebrated, although many, many people are not required to work.
I somehow managed to drink gin and tonic and then Fosters from about 6:30pm till 1:30am and not get so much as a buzz. I'm not sure if it's because I only had about seven drinks for the duration of the night, because I alternated/accompanied every alcoholic beverage with water, or if it was a combination of the two, but in any case I was not envious of the individuals bounding about in a drunken stupor, nor was I disappointed when I recieved the surprise reaction from the people I came across the following day of, "My, you look fresh!"
The holiday season is over now, and the radio and television stations have switched from constant Christmas talk to constant New Year's Resolution chatter. I have a lot to say about the radio and television stations over here, but I'll save that for another post.
Why? Well, I'm not sure, really. Perhaps it's the mostly gray days that start late and end early, the constant drizzle with no pretty light show or soothing thunder, or the lack of friends, family and individual socalization .... or maybe I just miss the palm trees. In any case, inspiration has slept through the dreary days while I have just longed to.
The Christmas season here is just as commercialized and early springing as it is in the US. On the other hand, it is a lot more concentrated, in your face, talked about constantly by every radio station and TV program in the country and more heavily celebrated here in the UK than I ever recall it being in the US. There also seems to be much less celebration of religious holidays outside of the Christan Christmas (I actually do not recall seeing any celebration symbols or hearing anything on the television/radio about any other religious celebrations at all, not even in ethnic areas I've been in, but I may have just not been paying attention).
It is a traditional, expected practice to go out on Christmas Eve around 4:00pm or so, get very drunk, be somewhat hung over the next morning, and then drink yourself silly with friends and family for the rest of the day on Christmas.
The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day, and is celebrated in much the same way except with Christmas Day's left overs and fewer/different friends and family present.
For the week between Christmas and New Year, almost everything goes into a sort of shut down mode where small shops simply don't open, large stores go onto special, considerably shorter hours, and most people seem to either not be working or working much less.
On New Year's Eve in the UK, as is the tradition in many countries, people old and young alike drink until their vision is blurred, their speech is slurred, and they can barely stand up; WKD Blue, Fat Frogs and Snake Bites along with beer and shots of random liquors all across England hoist the youth onto a platform of invincibility and then drive them into the ground, leaving them to suffer in their uncertainty and pain. Less daring mixtures of alcohol leave the not as young wallowing in their pain with a slightly clearer memory.
The following day is simply New Year's day and not exactly celebrated, although many, many people are not required to work.
I somehow managed to drink gin and tonic and then Fosters from about 6:30pm till 1:30am and not get so much as a buzz. I'm not sure if it's because I only had about seven drinks for the duration of the night, because I alternated/accompanied every alcoholic beverage with water, or if it was a combination of the two, but in any case I was not envious of the individuals bounding about in a drunken stupor, nor was I disappointed when I recieved the surprise reaction from the people I came across the following day of, "My, you look fresh!"
The holiday season is over now, and the radio and television stations have switched from constant Christmas talk to constant New Year's Resolution chatter. I have a lot to say about the radio and television stations over here, but I'll save that for another post.
posted by joey at 1:23 PM
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