Things I Didnt Know I Didnt Know

There are things that you know you didnt know...

Then there are things that you didnt know, you didnt know...

Here are some things that I didnt know I didnt know, but now I know...


1. English is the official language of Nigeria

Im not quite sure what I thought the official language of Nigeria was (probably some tribal dialect or some such) but there you have it. It is English. My Nigerian flatmate Tony recalls how offended he was when Durham asked him to take the English exam before being accepted. Of course he also speaks six different local dialects as well as the half-English pidgin version of all of those.

2. Crabs dont always die quickly

My very sweet Chinese room mate brought me back a huge live crab from the Sunderland market yesterday as a surprise gift. She opened the freezer, where she had placed it after buy it, and it was still hobbling around, though barely. She hands him to me and his poor little legs are moving stiffly about. Sort of upset and not sure what to do with it, I put it back in the freezer hoping he will fall into a dreamy, icy sleep before death. When I opened the freezer later last night, there he was: on his back, foam dribbling out of his mouth, pincers to his chest and frozen solid. RIP little guy.

3. The Brits have a two pence (penny) coin

I dont know, its just weird to me. You hardly use the one pence as it is.


4. The Brits love their queue

And I love it too. The Brits queue (line up) for nearly everything here. Today at the grocer I had people queuing behind me to look at what I was looking at on the shelf. They queue to ask questions, to pay, to look at things. Its lovely.


5. The Brits can get a bit worried about you

Buying sleeping pills today at the Boots pharmacy was quite difficult. First, they keep them behind the counter so you have to ask someone to get them for you. Second, before handing them to you the pharmacist wants to know exactly why, when, how you plan to take them and for how long (sort of like an mini-therapy session). Furthermore, they offered excellent tips on the best time of day to take them, the best thing to drink them down with, ideal temperate and ventilation of the room to incur the proper amount of sleep while taking the pills.

Three New Best Friends

Durham is full of interesting people and lucky for me I have met and befriended them:

Tony - My Nigerian flatmate working on MA in Finance. He routinely tells me, in the most friendly manner possible, that as a woman I should be submissive because I came from his rib. This weekend I am going to cook him french toast for breakfast and he is very excited. We are also headed on an expedition to London soon to find a mythical Nigerian market with cheap fish.

Joe - The local fishmonger who has consented to get me a fresh slab of raw salmon every Wednesday to satiate my sashimi cravings. Today he gave me a free bag of winkles to try! He tells me to come back early next week and he will bring his 'The Hangover' DVD for me to borrow because I "absolutely MUST see it."

Giovanni - The owner of the Italian shop in the Durham Indoor Market. Today I bought fresh pasta, tomato sauce, olive oil, the works. Next week it is Strega, Limoncello and bottles of red wine. He seems genuinely happy to have another semi-Italian person in Durham and speaks to me in Italian even though I only get about 40% of what he is saying. No matter what he always says goodbye with a, "Ciao, Angelina!"

Durham

A whole new world in Durham. Some things are so complicated, involved and mystifying that they defy explanation. My move to Durham falls into that category, so I will not even attempt to put the experience into a few sentences. Suffice it to say: things are different.

Flying just out of London, the fog was so thick planes instantly disappeared from view upon take-off. As the sun went down the clouds turned into a sea of inviting fluffed pillows. Difficult to not pull the plane's emergency slide and go frolicking.

Later, coming into Northeast England and flying low over towns and villages covered with a spotty fog. The glow beneath the mist is amber, purple, pink and makes it look like you are flying over a bubbling witches cauldron. Every so often the fog breaks and you see the sparkle of city lights which look more like some sort of Lord of the Rings CGI shot.

Walking in Durham right now involves a constant rhythm. Crunch, scrape, crunch, scrape. Yes, it is cold, rainy, and snow-covered, but in a good way. There are times when it is so cold you almost feel hot. Today was one of those days. The dirty, beige-hued snow on the ground looked and moved just like fine beach sand. Cold-heat and sand-snow, I could be on some tropical island.