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.