Food! Wine!

I have been roused from my blogging slumber by the arrival of my favourite time of year in Orlando: autumn. This is my favourite time of year for several reasons:

1. The temperature finally starts to slide downwards - albeit very, very slowly - after nearly six months of cooking for the outside in, meaning I can cautiously start wiping the dust off my sparkly wooly hats and leather boots.

2. Flight prices dip to acceptable levels meaning people might actually come to see me. Evidence: my mother is currently here, and her departure is immediately followed by the arrival of my best friend a week later, and one of my other best friends a few weeks after that.

3. All the special events start at the theme parks. Most notably, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal, and - the best one of all - 6 glorious weeks of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

Food and Wine is a food-lovers paradise. In the World Showcase, there are normally 11 country "pavilions" promoting their country's heritage, exports, and food. During F&W, that number almost doubles, with temporary food stalls from several additional countries popping up in-between the permanent pavilions. So as well as the United Kingdom, you also have Ireland. As well as Mexico, there is also Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and South Africa. Each stall sells taster-size plates of a few national dishes as well as a selection of locally sourced wines, beers and specialty drinks.

I'm going to assume it is becoming clear why this is up my alley.

This weekend was my first visit of the year to F&W and I took my unsuspecting mummy along for the ride. A "perfect storm" of theme park factors - it being a Saturday, a food and wine day, and the perfect temperature for wandering around a park - meant that tens of thousands of other people had the same idea...but it was soooooo worth it. Highlights included:

- The cheddar cheese soup from Canada, made with Moosehead beer and bacon as well as cheese.
- The frozen caipirinha from Brazil. Delicious and very effective, although I was very disappointed at the end of they day when I discovered I'd missed out on a coconut rock mojito at the Caribbean stand. Next time.<br>
- Lamb slider with tomato chutney from New Zealand. Oh how I miss lamb. However as a leg of lamb from Publix costs almost $50, it is a rare treat.

Unfortunately it didn't occur to me to take any pictures of my yummy food, but my lightbulb moment of blogging about only happened about an hour ago. Again, next time. For now I will leave you with a photo of a foodie, winey Epcot sunset :)

Whoops

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last wrote anything. It's been a very eventful month at that.

First things first - we moved. It's fabulous. Our pictures are starting to go onto the walls, our paint colours are on the same walls, I can sit and have a beer on my own sofa. Which I am doing right now. Ohhhhhh yes.

However, as Bridget Jones says: it is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life finally starts to come together, another falls spectacularly apart. The item leading the charge on the falling apart section was Chrissie, the hubby's ten-year-old long-suffering Chrysler Sebring. On Saturday morning, the start of what was supposed to be a nice relaxing weekend off after 12 days in a row busting my ass at both my employers, I got a call from my boy saying he had a flat tyre on the side of I-4.

At which point I thought, "I am so glad I paid for a AAA membership."

About 90 minutes later, I got another call from my boy. Saying the reason the tyre was flat was because the rear brake calipers had seized partially shut. No, I don't know what a caliper is either, but essentially it meant the boy had been driving with his brakes partially on for several weeks.

At which point I thought, and said, "fuck".

For the uninitiated, ten-year-old Chryslers with 160000 miles on them aren't worth very much. Chrissie's prognosis was grim, and when we were given the estimate - only $50 less than the car was worth - her death warrant was signed and sealed.

Whilst this is no doubt bad news, you may be wondering how this falls into the 'life falling spectacularly apart' category. If you are, you have never tried to live in Orlando, Florida without a car. One between two, when you have opposite schedules and different days off, isn't enough.

And you have certainly never tried to buy one when supporting two people on half the money you used to make. This was around the time I reached for the emergency gin.

Plan B was to try and get finance to buy a used car that would actually last longer than five seconds. This plan lasted 24 hours before being shot down by my lack of credit history and a total arsehole in Central Florida Toyota, who wouldn't even show us any cars until we'd agreed to the terms of the seven-year, 16% APR loan he was offering us. Don't go to Central Florida Toyota if you want anything even vaguely resembling customer service. I couldn't face the humiliation of being told the same thing anywhere else.

More emergency gin.

There have been several days of emergency gin, and tears. It is times like this that home seems impossibly far away and this place seems as alien and as unwelcoming as if I was on Mars. And for the first time since I got here, I said, without any caveats or mitigation, "I want to go home". Oh how I miss home.

My lovely Mr. Jess, fortunately, came up with a Plan P. P for Pepe.

In case you didn't know, all scooters must be called Pepe.

It's not ideal, but has some serious advantages. Like less tax, $120 less a month on insurance, and it gets - wait for it - 120mpg!!!! Plus we got one new for less than a bumper on the car we almost bought. Plus I get to wear a pink helmet. We don't have a choice right now, so we might as well have a giggle.

Life is certainly taking twists and turns that I can't keep up with at the moment. But I always kind of wanted a scooter.

All change.

This week is going to be a big week, for a couple of reasons. Jason's daughter is going home to Ohio, and tomorrow I start a new job.

I'm going to be a management trainee for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Not my dream career, but it's going to open doors and it's going to get me leadership experience in the US on my CV - nobody seems to give a toss about anything I achieved in my two years at BT over here, but Enterprise did, and that's good enough for me. I'm very excited about new adventures and challenges, but was very sad leaving the Universal crowd yesterday, who really are a fabulous bunch of people. It's not forever though - I've stayed seasonal, so I will be back there for the peak times and the fun times :)

The summer with the mini-Jason here has gone surprisingly quickly. Overall I would give myself a B-, being generous. It turns out that the keeping-the-small-person-alive is actually relatively easy. Even Trying to form some sort of bond, or relationship, has proved the trickiest bit. We've had our moments of good fun, and there haven't been any arguments, but feeling anything has been problematic, and if I was judging myself on that part alone I'd probably give myself a D at best. It does not feel like a good omen for - God forbid! - any of my own kids I may have.

In more positive news, it's less than two weeks til the big move and my inner domesticated wife could not be more excited. My outer non-domesticated wife is also extremely excited! We've got quite a lot of stuff in boxes, paint colours have been selected, and we have a very long list at Ikea that will burn a very large hole in my credit card, but one that I am happy to burn!!

So there are lots of changes right now, but most of them are good. I am hoping it's going to breathe new life into me after a difficult few months of adjustment. I feel that good things are around the corner :)

Random things I like about America.

I am getting precariously close to posting 'Random things I don't understand about America - Part Deux'. But in the interest of balance I felt it was only fair to list some of the things that are, actually, pretty sweet about this enormous country. I don't mean to sound so surprised, of course. But as a shipwrecked Brit, some days the sunshine is harder to find than others.

But anyway, we are being positive today!! So here it goes...

1. CHEAP BEER. Although this relates to one of my pet peeves, the demonisation of alcohol, it is an inexplicable side effect that I am happy to accept. My job does not pay very well, so yes, I will gratefully partake of a $1, slightly tasteless but very refreshing, beer. Or maybe a few.

The demise of the hospitality tent at Sea World and Busch Gardens is still a national tragedy, though.

2. Oreo Fudge Creams. Nobody quite knows why, but they're JUST SO BLOODY GOOD.

3. 24-hour everything; helpful when you work shifts.

4. Being able to use my debit card to buy something that's 50 cents and not getting dirty looks.

5. BAGELS. Nom.

6. The choice. No matter what you need, there will be at least 10 different variations to meet your exact requirement. This is especially true of non-prescription medication and toiletries. For example, there is not just shampoo for coloured hair; there is shampoo for fine coloured hair, thick coloured hair, damaged coloured hair, shampoo to make your coloured hair voluminous or shiny (this is all the same brand, by the way).

This is an amazing feat, but you can have too much of a good thing. Before now, I have gone into Target to pick up one thing and ended up wandering round in a daze for an hour because I was so overwhelmed by all the different varieties.

This does, however, bring me to number 7...

7. Target. I love me some Target. Part-supermarket, part-department store, it is SO much nicer than Wal-Mart, and the people working there don't look at you like they'd like to kill you when you ask them a question. Plus they sell some nice clothes. And some nice handbags. And toys. And patio furniture. And, most importantly, BOOTS COSMETICS.

So you see, although I miss my homeland very much, it's not all bad news. I will add to the list as I go along, but for now, furniture painting is calling. Moving out is only 3 weeks and 1 day away...

I have to get this off my chest...

Before I start I feel I need to apologise in advance. I have been trying desperately to avoid writing this, in the hope that as the days passed the hysteria would fade, because I really don't want to get into a debate, but if I don't get it out I'm going to go stark staring bonkers...

...I have to have a rant about Casey bloody Anthony.

Two disclaimers. One, I don't wish to negate the fact it is a tragic and very disturbing story, because ultimately a child lost their life. Two, I do not pretend to know every last detail, for reasons that will become clear below.

I was going to say that, if you are in the US, you will have heard about this story unless you lived under a rock. But to be honest, if that rock is in Orlando, Florida, you still won't have been able to escape the relentless, torturous, continuous media histrionics surrounding this tragic and disturbing story. If you are British, you probably still know, but let me fill you in on the basics.

About 3 years ago, a toddler named Caylee Anthony vanished from an Orlando home, causing a huge search to be launched. Her body was found 6 months later in nearby woods. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance were sketchy at best, as was the behaviour of her mother, Casey. Casey was, indeed, eventually arrested for Caylee's murder.

However, before this had even happened, a media storm was brewing. A CNN "journalist" (and I use the term loosely, because I feel the expression "hack" or perhaps "harbinger of all evil" would be more appropriate) called Nancy Grace got wind of the story. The mystery surrounding Caylee going missing, and Casey's dubious behaviour, peaked her interest. She decided Casey was guilty, before she had even been arrested, and went on national television with a message that was essentially this: get her. Resulting in a lynch mob outside the Anthony's house for 2 weeks. Casey Anthony was indeed arrested and charged, but in the eyes of the media she had already been tried.

That was 3 years ago. About 6 weeks ago, Casey Anthony's actual trial - you know, in a courtroom, with lawyers - began. Last week, it ended. Casey Anthony was found Not Guilty on all charges except lying to law enforcement, which was frankly blatantly obvious even to the unititiated.

I don't want to have a debate on whether or not she did it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion - but it is just that. Opinion. Ultimately only one person really knows whether or not she did, and I doubt she's going to do an OJ Simpson any time soon.

However, the media circus surrounding the whole debacle makes me feel physically sick. There was coverage of the trial 24/7 on all our local stations, plus several of the national 24-hour news channels too.  It was even available On Demand, so you could rewatch the prosecution showing photos of decomposed remains and discuss with psychologists whether or not Caylee was abused. The same as you can watch How I Met Your Mother or America's Got Talent on demand. I fail to see how that is acceptable in a civilised society.

I literally tried to hide from it, and didn't watch my own TV for 6 weeks in desperation to avoid it - but on other TVs in my house it was on from dawn until dusk. When the trial wasn't live, there was always reruns or endless analysis to watch. People queued up outside the Orange County Courthouse for tickets to the day's 'action', with one woman who was interviewed by local TV saying she was, "so excited!! It's the ultimate reality show!!"

...I'll let that one sink in for a bit.

Nancy Grace, for her part, went on CNN the night after the verdict, announcing, "the devil is dancing tonight". TV analysts pronounced her guilty before the verdict had been read (one pundit said they were "hoping for manslaughter". Hoping?) Local businesses have put signs up saying the jurors are not welcome.

I'm sorry, but the jury found her Not Guilty. You don't have to agree, but you do have to respect it. The right to a trial by jury is part of the Constitution that this country I now live in is founded on - something many people, in the hysteria, seem to have forgotten. Which alarms me greatly.

Meanwhile, there have been numerous other hideous and tragic child murders across America. How many do you think got any national media coverage?

The slim chance of even finding out what really happened to Caylee Anthony was obliterated by media histrionics that were so over-the-top that 75% of the covering stations would have been sued for slander if this was the UK (where definitively calling a person 'guilty' in the media before a verdict has been reached is almost certain to land you in court yourself). The whole thing has just made me nauseous.

And the worrying thing is, I highly doubt any lessons will be learned.

End of rant. I promise a less serious subject next time.

Respect the Flag

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Albeit a little late...

This holiday weekend, I went to an Independence Day party at my good friend's house. It's the first time in five years I have been in the States for America's birthday, and my memory of the overflowing amount of red, white and blue appear to have been overblown somewhat. But then, I don't work for Disney any more, I work for the competition, so maybe it's just been less in my face this year.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable time - lots of friends I haven't seen in a long time in the same place, including two of my very good friends who are here from the UK, so there was some friendly colonial banter going on as well. I wore my Union Jack headboppers (of Royal Wedding fame) and brought my flag to wave as a bit of a joke - after all, we English don't really have a particular day when we celebrate being English. It exists, but we get more excited about Ireland's national day than our own. I am intending to change this by having a St. George's Day party next year, even though ironically I completely forgot about it this year....

While we are talking about flags, I had a bit of a disagreement with my hubby's daughter right at the end of the night. She was holding my Union Jack flag like one might hold a shoe that has dog poo on it and trying to get me to take it off her hands. She thought she was being funny, and of course didn't mean any offense,  but I was not impressed. Yes I was a bit tired and emotional, but the fact of the matter is this. In the United States, the flag is everything - this is one thing I really like about America. I might not be a big monarchist but I still have to sing God Save The Queen at the football. In the States, you may not like the current president or disagree with this amendment or that, but your allegiance isn't to one person - it's to the flag and the country that flag represents. There's all these different rules about how you store your flag, how you fold it, how you hang it.

The flag is everything. So when this nine-year-old now in my charge, who has been brought up to respect the flag, failed to respect mine, I felt a little bit of despair. The one thing I felt I have going for me as a - I hate this word - stepmother, was being able to impart some knowledge and respect for other cultures. Clearly so far, I have not done a good job, and need to try harder.

Needless to say, if I was at home I doubt I would have cared. But expatriation makes you care about things you never realised mattered before - so that's why the St. George's Day party is going to be on next year.

I also tried to pick up some bargain basement fireworks on the way home to stockpile for Bonfire Night (November 5th, AKA Guy Fawkes Night, and the pinnacle of the UK's fireworks-selling calendar) - but the gentleman in his tent clearly felt that 15 minutes left of Independence Day was enough time for him to not need to negotiate on price for the huge pile of pyrotechnics he still had left over. Never mind - next year I'll be prepared!

Happy birthday, new home. I miss you, home home.

Random things I don't understand about America

I've been thinking about writing this list for a while, just to see if anyone else is confused as me. It is also a bit tongue-in-cheek - for while I could easily write a list of things that I don't understand and also make me very cross, it would be a bit pointless - before any of my American friends get all upset...

Just a few for starters, and sure to be added to over time!

1. The word "winningest". Is that even a word? I'm pretty sure the Oxford English Dictionary would be a bit upset about it - but as you have to pay to look at it online, I'm only guessing. Either way, it just doesn't sound right.

2. Road directions. My phone's satnav tells me to go North on a certain road. That's fine, except when you have no idea which direction north is. Yes, I could look at the sun, but I thought technology had advanced a bit...

3. Why can't you include the sales tax/VAT in the price in the first place?

4. How the appropriate response to "thank you"is, in a lot of places, no longer "you're welcome" or similar, but the noise "uh huh". Sometimes it comes across genuine, other times I think the cashier secretly wants to kill me.

To be continued...!

Responsibility has landed.

My posts are getting fewer and farther between, but I am not defeated yet. Lots of stuff going on at this end.

The main reason I have not posted for a while is that, like my title says, responsibility has landed, in the shape of my husband's nine-year-old daughter, who is here for the summer.

For those of you that don't know (and most of you do), I have not spent a huge amount of time around kids, and my general feeling has always been that they are VERY cute, provided you can give them back to their owners when they start to get annoying. So I always knew this was going to be a challenge.

The good news is, it has been just over a week, and so far I have managed to:

• not kill her
• not maim her
• say no (several times: it turns out that kids actually want all of that tourist tat they sell in the theme parks; fortunately, being in guest services, I say no on a daily basis to people a lot scarier than the mini-Jason)
• bust out the 'parent voice' ("for the last time, NO RUNNING BY THE POOL!!!")
• field the continuous barrage of questions and talking without losing my temper

So far, so good, right? I think so. But, I guess, I was kind of expecting some kind of internal switch to flick and I'd suddenly have all of these maternal feelings and it would turn out I'm a natural born mother. Not so - not yet, anyway. I appear to be able to cope, but I also appear to have precious little patience, which is fairly crucial when your small charge's favourite word after 'want' is 'why?'. So I haven't really had the epiphany I was hoping for.

The other big news is that we are finally moving out!!! I've been itching to move out for months, but the issue was kind of forced, and we were lucky enough to find a lovely little one-bedroom apartment in Kirkman South. There are two key things to realise about this:

1. My commute will be reduced from 45 minutes to 5. Oh the glory (and the money saved on petrol!)

2. It is walking distance from a supermarket and a bar. My cup overfloweth. (Being walking distance from anything in Orlando is nothing short of a miracle)

Our application was approved 2 days ago, and we move in on August 12th. The time cannot go fast enough. I have become addicted to surfing the Ikea and Pier One Imports websites and have started dreaming about paint colours (one big perk I have found about renting in the US over the UK: most of the time, you can paint, so long as you go back to white before you move out). Our married life has been on hold waiting for this moment, and for the last three months that life has been extremely difficult. Hopefully this will be the break we have been waiting for.

And the first thing I am going to do on our first day in our new pad: kick back on the sofa with an enormous beer. And a pizza. Don't underestimate what an important moment that will be.

(And I pledge to start writing more frequently...)

Flying Solo

I just realised it's been three weeks since my last blog. How very remiss of me.

My main excuse is that for the past three weeks I have been training to be a coordinator of the guest services ilk. I have been working for just over a month now, and today was my first day out of training. There sure is a lot to learn.

My first week of training involved being sat in a room for 8 hours of the day going through the standard operating procedures, which needless to say was not my wildest week ever. Week 2 was computer systems training, so physically learning how to do all the bits and bobs I need to know how to do. That was a lot of information to take in in one go, but brought back a lot of memories of 5 years ago when I was a "vacation planner" (read: ticket salesperson) for the Mouse. When and when not to void, rules for upgrading a ticket, and why you should never ever mistender a voucher. Beheadings will follow.

Week 3 - last week - we were put on the frontline with actual guests, putting into practice what we had learned and trying to interact with somewhat stressed out tourists AT THE SAME TIME!! With a practical and written final at the end of the week (really! I had to do an exam!). I needed to get 95% to pass, so the pressure was on a bit. I was slightly concerned about how I would handle going back to a customer service position, but as it turned out it was like I never left. With the exception of a couple of difficult situations, I really enjoyed it.

I still miss my old job. My friend Ed, who is still there, thinks I'm bonkers, but when you take a 60% pay cut and have to wear polyester to work every day in 35-degree heat (95F for the American-minded), your nice little office job with no clocking in or out, Diet Coke Corner and the ability to choose what to wear every day seems very appealing indeed.

But it's not like I didn't appreciate my job. I did moan about it occasionally, but I knew full well what I had. And although I knew what I was giving up, I don't think I realised it would be quite this hard.

Anyway, final was passed (98.5%, thanks very much!) and today was my first day by myself. A bit nervewracking, but I survived, and made it a whole 7 hours without anyone screaming at me. Needed a bit of help here and there, but everyone at work is very nice and will give you a hand if you're stuck. Just trying to apply what I've learned over the past two years and be better at my job because of it. I did get in a bit of a stress on Friday when I made a few mistakes, but sucked it up and pulled it together.

Now it's just time to see how good an impression I can make!

A Very British Affair...only with more vicars

So there was a wedding back home on Friday. I don't know whether you heard about it, as it was a small, quiet affair.

After months of resisting Royal Wedding fever, when it came to the day, I realised I would regret it if I wasn't a part of it. So when 5am came about...I got up, brewed a cup of Yorkshire Tea in my Yorkshire mug (which my roommate got for me as a leaving present - it says 'You can take the lass out of Yorkshire, but you can't take the Yorkshire out of the lass'), and donned the standard 'eccentric English person' headgear.

As for the wedding itself...I really enjoyed it, and I realised something as I watched it. I was never anti-wedding, it was just the American coverage that really got on my nerves - it felt like the American media were gatecrashing a party that had nothing to do with them (apologies to my American friends - but I never said it was rational!). But when I watched on the TV (BBC America, of course, so I could watch the same program I would have got chez moi - if I'd had to listen to a Diana comparison every 10 seconds [as opposed to the BBC's every 10 minutes - sigh], I would have shot myself) I felt extremely proud of my country and all the pomp and circumstance and ridiculousness that we can put on, dating back centuries and barely changing at all.

Personal highlights for me were as follows:

• Prince Harry, who was clearly about to piss himself laughing at a number of points through the ceremony. I really wish I could have heard that best man speech.
• When Rowan Williams (the Archbishop of Canterbury, or 'Him with the Beard') pronounced William & Kate man and wife and you could hear the crowd roar its approval outside - and Kate grinned.
• Rowan Williams himself, who surely has the best wedding voice ever.
• The horse that fell over and then ran around without a rider for ten minutes.
• The Queen deciding to attend the wedding dressed as Big Bird.
• Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, who clearly decided to get dressed in the dark.
• Elton John blatantly not knowing the words to any of the hymns.
• The seriously miserable looking flower girl, especially on the balcony. Priceless.
• And of course, the kiss. Not the first one, but the second one. They just looked really happy, and let's face it, that's what you want at a wedding!

All in all it was what we do best - a load of ceremonial tosh, but very enjoyable and colourful tosh. I do have a question though - how many vicars does it take to do one wedding? I'm sure there were at least 4 at various points in the ceremony. Still, when you're the future Queen and King of the United Kingdom, I guess you get whatever you want.

Unfortunately, the happy event did have the rather unhappy side effect of making me cripplingly homesick. In a world where it costs me 40% of my paycheck to fill up my car and my prescriptions are starting to cost me hundreds of dollars each, reminders of the best bits of home caused some big emotions to well up.

But overall, I think Newsweek said it best: "In a world gone to hell...thank God, a wedding." It was just really nice, despite my earlier moans, to have the world united in happiness about something for a change. More of the same please!

The Challenges of Real Life - Staying Awake

It's been a while since my last blog, because I started working, and my body didn't know what had hit it.

Not only have I not worked for the best part of 6 months, but my previous job was in an office and I was sitting all day. Now I have returned to being on my feet all day, and in particular at the moment I am lifting heavy boxes and running around managing a Lost & Found by myself.

So I have basically been working or sleeping.

I actually went to see the doctor about the constant tiredness - which has been plaguing me even before I started work - and was told the only thing wrong with me is 'emotional exhausting' and that it was 'all in my mind and I need to become more stable'. Well gee mate, thanks. You try emigrating and living in your in-laws place for 6 months and see how stable you are!!

Anyway, back to good things. For the first time in a long time, I got paid last Friday!! As I'd only done 18 hours, it wasn't a very big paycheck, but I took it as the first sign of good things still to come. Plus, I am working 45 hours this week, having picked up a couple of extra shifts, so hopefully the money will start rolling in from hereon out :)

So far all is good. I've only been screamed at by a few people (a certain wizard-based attraction reaching capacity within 2 hours of opening tends to make people a wee bit cranky). And it's actually really nice to be back to a job where I know that (on most days) I can make at least one person happy. I rang someone on Tuesday night to let them know we'd found his wallet - you'd think I'd told him he'd won the lottery. You don't tend to always get that kind of instant gratification in an office.

Next week I start training on the more complex aspects of my job which will probably take about 2 weeks. I'm nervous - definitely a higher chance of screaming here - but excited to get to use my brain and meet some more people in my area. Just as I thought, it is really nice to have a purpose in life and a reason to get out of the house again, despite the 60% pay cut.

Even if it does mean I will be sleeping constantly until I get used to it.

More blogging soon, promise!

It's Magic time! 5..4..3..2..1..

Last Sunday I ticked another activity off the 'experiencing Americana' list, by going to see a basketball game.

Central Florida is quite well-stocked with professional sports teams, but only one of them is in Orlando. Tampa Bay has the Buccaneers in the NFL and the Lightning in the NHL - and Orlando has the Magic in the NBA. Even better, they are actually a decent team, making it to the semi-finals of the playoffs in 2009 and into the playoffs again this year. This definitely makes a change from your local side being Middlesbrough.

Anyway, Jason's dad won 2 tickets to see the Magic play the Chicago Bulls, and I was the lucky girl who got to go with him - even if I knew absolutely nothing about basketball before we went. Literally, in the car on the way, I was looking at the NBA's "Hoopipedia", trying to figure out such unfamiliar terms as technical fouls and free throws.

It was a fantastic experience. Loud, brash, and spectacularly over the top.

The first thing I noticed was the Amway Center, the Magic's home arena. It is less than a year old and is about as technologically advanced and shiny as it is possible to get.

From our seats in the Amway

It is an entirely pillarless structure, so even from our second-from-the-back seats, it was obvious that there isn't a bad view in the house. Not for vertigo sufferers though - those stairs, and the 3 escalators we had to take to get to our seats, were steep.

I don't even know how to describe the game itself except that the atmosphere was unbelievable. People from all walks of life were there - families, couples, guy groups, girl groups, school groups, and yes, the occasional (loud) Bulls fan - and the acoustics of the arena amplified the chants of "DEFENCE!!" and "GOOOOOOOOOOOO MAGIC!!" into an ear-splitting roar. It helped that it was a great game - with Jameer Nelson scoring an amazing "buzzer beater" (meaning he got the shot off before the buzzer went for the end of the quarter) from the half-court line at halftime, sending the home crowd completely wild. He did the same thing at full time, to tie the game, but unfortunately it was disallowed because the ball did not leave his hands before the buzzer. And the Magic therefore lost. But still, it was great to celebrate with the crowd in that 30 seconds where we thought we'd pulled it out of the bag.

Much to my hubby's distress - he's not a sports fan, least of all basketball - I think I could definitely get into live basketball, and I intend on going again. It's playoffs season now, so might actually get to see a game that counts next time.

I also started my new job this week, hence the tardiness of my latest blog post. I can't really go into much detail, as my new employer has strict rules about blogging (if you're friends with me on Facebook you know who I'm working for!) and until I understand them better I'd rather not risk getting fired when I've only done 4 days. So for now all I will say, is that I have met some great people so far, and I'm looking forward to getting more into it and seeing what I can do to make myself shine and just get on and be successful. On-the-job training starts next Wednesday...

This freedom must be earned.

After 5 months of unemployment, I finally have a job.


Further to last week's blog: it is not the job I'm dreaming of, but I didn't realise until I went for the second interview and knocked it out of the park exactly how important it was for my mental well-being to have just any job. I came out of the tiny little meeting room, where myself and 4 middle-aged men were sat opposite 3 hiring managers for a group-setting series of questions and scenarios, thinking 'I really hope I get this'.


In fairness, I let my ego have its day and my actual thought was 'if they don't hire me they're idiots'. But if I do say so myself, I was that good.


I went in today and had my fingerprints done (again!) and finally got to flash the all-important green card as proof of work eligibility. That was a definite improvement on the reams of paper I had to produce for absolutely anything when I was on a non-immigrant work visa in the past. Then paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork, the all-important ID photograph (I hope I didn't squint) and that was it. Orientation is on Monday, so this week could go very slowly while I'm waiting to get started.


But anyway, back to my mental well-being. I had a rough week last week of wondering whether I would ever be good enough for any job, whether I'd committed career suicide, and whether I was going to be stuck in a room in my in-laws house forever and ever. However, over the weekend (and with numerous telling-offs from my husband) I came to a few conclusions, namely:

1. A job is a job is a job. I just need to get in to the American workforce. 
2. My desire to have a purpose in my life, use my brain, and move out, all supercede the possibility of just waiting for the 'right' job to come along.

So although it might not be my dream job, it is my ticket to freedom, and actually beginning 'proper' married life with my new hubby. I can't wait to get started.

The fact that one of my company perks is a free turkey at Christmas and Thanksgiving doesn't hurt either.

Britain, value your holiday!

I have been remiss and have failed to blog in the 7 days since I got back from home. But in my defence, I was floored by a combination of a nasty cold and particularly bad jetlag, so I've spent most of the last week either asleep or coughing up a lung. Anyway, as a result this is a long post, so I apologise in advance.


My ten days at home were awesome, although everything felt kind of like suspended reality. It's not like it didn't feel like home any more - when I walked past a pile of sick on my way to Passport Control in Heathrow, I knew I was back in England. I'm not sure it's that I felt I didn't belong there, either. It just didn't quite feel like it was really happening - and yet my new life in Orlando just felt like a dream as well. I felt a bit suspended between the two.

With my best friend Nic in the world's best chicken restaurant - Nandos!

Needless to say I basically ate and drank my way through the country. There was Nandos (and lots of it), there was curry, there was Pizza Express, there was roast lamb, and with it being St. Patricks Day while I was home, there was Guinness a-plenty. Free Guinness, actually - me and my best mate led the charge on collecting as many 'print this voucher, get a free Guinness at Pitcher & Piano' codes as possible and managed to get a 5-person round of the black stuff for nothing. 

Our free Guinness!

We would have got a second one too (we were literally setting up email addresses to get more codes), except we ran the Guinness taps dry!


I feel like I really made the most of my precious, precious ten days - shopping, eating, but most of all laughing hysterically with my family and friends. I could have stayed for another week had I had the funds.


Just when I thought I was going to experience an entire trip without travel drama, I had not reckoned with the supreme stupidity of American Airlines. It's not the fact that I had an allergic reaction to their in-flight food I have a problem with - hey, it happens - it's that, rather than offering me any assistance whatsoever, the cabin crew instead bollocked me for not ordering a special diet meal and then left me alone at 37,000ft to take an adrenaline shot and suffer a serious medical emergency. I was fine, but only after 4 hours of being unable to swallow, shakes, heart palpitations, stomach cramps and vomiting. Luckily the guy next to me was an understanding chap - and had been in the same nightclub as me the night before. Small world. And I'm fine now. It was just a bit bloody scary.


Since I got back to the States, I've had 3 job interviews and a major reality check. All the jobs are very low-paid, close to minimum wage, and yet for 2 of them I require multi-stage interviews - and for one, THREE interviews, including a panel with 3 directors. This is, by the way, for a job that involves standing in a hallway giving people directions. And they say the economy is recovering...


The biggest shock I have had is on benefits. The three-stage interview job has NO paid holiday at all for the first year - and then you earn one week. 


I would imagine most Americans reading this will probably be thinking, "Er, yeah, that's normal. So what?" I would also imagine that most Brits reading this are probably thinking, "What the [insert expletive here]?! That's completely insane!!" Which were exactly the words that came out of my mouth when I was out of the interview. Plus a few more that I can't really repeat.


I'm sure many people this side of the pond feel we're spoilt rotten, which in comparison we are. The statutory paid annual leave entitlement in the UK - that is, the amount of time off we are entitled to by law - is 28 days a year, so 5.6 weeks. A lot of people get more - civil servants get 6 weeks. Yes, we pay more tax, but believe me - right now I would happily pay 20% income tax to get those 28 days off. Whoever says Americans are lazy clearly doesn't know about vacation entitlements. And the reason there's a weight problem is probably cos everyone is so stressed out by working without a break that they either have no time to exercise or comfort eat. I've had a huge slap in the face from reality.


It may not seem like a big deal - but when your entire family lives in another country, it's a huge deal. Unless I get in to one of the major companies at a management level, I will not get a single day off outside of weekends for the next 12 months. No visiting my people. And days off take so to accrue that the adventures me and Jason were planning for the future may never happen. That hurts my heart, a lot. I knew I was going to get less - I just wasn't expecting none.


So the job hunt continues - cos a job with no holiday is still better than no job at all. I'm just feeling a lot less optimistic than I used to.

Tell the world.

Tomorrow I am going back to the UK for the first time in nearly 5 months.

In amongst the excitement and the warmth I feel in my heart at the prospect of setting foot on home soil (even if it is chuffing freezing on said soil), I'm actually quite nervous, and I've been trying to figure out why.

I think I got it narrowed down to the emotions I felt when I first left. I am happy here, and I love my husband very much, but I could be the happiest person on the planet and it still wouldn't change the fact that leaving my friends and family behind was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I actively avoid thinking about it, but soon I will have to do it again.

But I won't let the nerves get to me, and I just have to trust that I will be OK and that I am going to make the most of the time I will have with my favourite people (although, unfortunately the hubby will not be coming with me this time, but there is always next time...)

This is me out for 10 days. See you when I get back, assuming my blood hasn't assumed full Floridian consistency causing me to freeze to death...

My, my...manatees!

So on Wednesday it was Jason and I's 'dating' anniversary, celebrating 3 years since we started going out. By 'started going out', I mean I snogged him in my local bar and he didn't really have a choice in the matter, but he didn't seem to object either...

Anyway, as part of a rather marvellous weekend we had lined up - including lunch at a fancy restaurant and comp tickets to Cirque du Soleil - we drove up to Crystal River, about 90 minutes north of our house, to visit the manatee wildlife reserve.

(This was courtesy of Groupon, whose daily deal about 3 weeks ago was 50% off a manatee snorkel tour and equipment hire, saving us over 50 bucks...)

We donned some very fetching wetsuits at the dive shop and set out in a little boat into the reserve. First stop was a sanctuary area near the spring source, where you can't go in to swim with the manatees but can watch them from very nearby in the incredibly clear water.

There were lots of mums and babies in the water who were extremely adorable. I've never seen manatees in the wild before and I made two observations - firstly, they have lots of algae-type stuff growing on them (which you definitely don't see at Sea World!). Secondly, if they aren't interested in you, they can swim considerably faster than I can, despite their reputation for generally being slow-moving souls.

Our guide said that often, if they're feeling well-fed, the manatees will come up to you of their own volition and want to play. As it had been very cold and then very warm recently, our sea cow friends were more interested in sleeping and eating than getting to know us. Very warm, by the way, is all relative if you ask me - the water was pretty chilly and with a northerly wind blowing, J and I had the full-on shakes while we were sat on the boat!

We did, however, meet a girl manatee who, although not particularly interested in playing, didn't seem to mind having her back scratched while she was searching for breakfast.

For those who are wondering - it was like stroking an algae-covered rock. But still a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime thing.

I did feel a bit concerned afterwards that we had been 'chasing' our manatee friend for an encounter, which I didn't want to do. But we watched the DVD of our adventure afterwards which showed her happily foraging in the silt for food while we scratched her - she couldn't care less, so long as we didn't get in the way of her food, so that made me feel better.

It was a wonderful, albeit a bit chilly, day, seeing a rare and amazing animal in its natural habitat. A perfect way to celebrate 3 years together :)

Have Your Say

I am attempting to register as an overseas voter. I get an overseas vote for the next 15 years or until I register to vote in the UK again, whichever comes sooner.

Anyway, I have to fill out this form and get a witness. This witness has to be another British Citizen, who is also living abroad, and who is not a parent, sibling, spouse, child, stepchild or grandchild.

Even in Orlando, known for having a decent (but not necessarily large) ex-pat population,  it's not like I can just nip next door to find one of these, is it?

Just a mini-rant there. My next post will be much chirpier, as I'll be telling you all about going swimming in a natural spring with some manatees. A demain.

History.

Discovery disappearing into space, from the Indian River estuary

I don't really have a bucket list as such - just things that I know are on it. On Thursday I got to tick one of those off, and in the nick of time.

Shuttle Discovery was originally supposed to go up before I even arrived in the States, but was delayed until about a week after I got here. I decided that, come hell or high water, I wanted to see a shuttle launch up close before the program is tragically cancelled later this year. Started the journey to the Space Coast 4 times in November, and it was scrubbed 4 times - fortunately I was within minutes of the house - and the suffered a whopping 3 month delay.

But this week, all the stars aligned - Discovery was cleared for launch, the weather forecast was fabulous, and best of all it was scheduled for Jason's day off! So I had a good feeling.

We went to Titusville - which I prefer to call Titsville, for obvious reasons - which, at 15 miles from Kennedy Space Centre across clear water, is one of the closest public areas you can watch the launch from. So did a lot of other people. LOTS.

Anyway, we stuck out the 7-hour wait for the big moment, and waded out into the Indian River to make sure we had an unobstructed view. I was a bit tentative - the crab that crawled over my feet didn't help - but when the countdown started, the view was worth it:

...apologies for the wobbly video, I was getting a bit excited, plus I really didn't want to watch possibly the only shuttle launch I will ever witness through a viewfinder!

Even from 15 miles away, Discovery made a truly awesome sight. The plumes of smoke billowing out sideways from the launchpad that you can't see anywhere except from very close up, suddenly giving way to a ball of flame roaring skyward at 4.1 miles per second, leaving a perfect white cloud trail behind. Within 2 minutes, it was over - that ball of flame became a star shining brightly in the blue sky. 90 seconds later, Discovery was in space, leaving everyone cheering back in Florida.

The shuttle may have been going 4.1 miles per second, but 90 minutes later me and Jason were struggling to hit 4.1 miles per hour. Launch traffic is notoriously bad along the two-lane 528 back to Orlando. As the days tick down to the end of the program it is getting worse, and 4 accidents along the expressway didn't help. It took us over an hour to get 3 miles out of Titusville, and only after 3 different route attempts did we finally find a road that wasn't gridlocked - after another 5+ miles at a crawl. We got home after midnight, 5 hours after we got in the car. The trip out took 90 minutes.

However, it was still worth it. Just to view that 2 minutes of history.

All the fun of the fair

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted so I have clearly been slacking, but believe it or not I have been uber-busy.

The reason is that last Friday, while I was being poked and prodded by my new GP, I got the magic text message I have been waiting for - my work permit has been approved.

And in a spectacular change of form for USCIS, they sent it to me on Thursday and I got it yesterday! In fairness, they cost about $400 to replace, so they really should be able to cough up the $5 it costs to send it priority. It looks a bit like a credit card, but with a lot more holograms. And the obligatory government-issue horrible photograph. (Still, it's better than my travel permit photo, where I have an errant bit of hair sticking up in the air!)

The last day I worked was October 8th 2010. So needless to say, confirmation that my work permit had been approved was like the start gun at a race - job applications can now commence. Since last Friday I have applied for approximately 15 jobs, and I'm exhausted. Companies should look at the number of applications completed and just hire people on persistence alone. You battle against truly awful HR computer systems and continual repetition of the same information; constant rewriting of resumes and cover letters. All in the hope you just get an interview, which given the number of 'prescreening questionnaires' I've filled out (that essentially allow a computer to make a decision about you before a human ever reads your CV), is harder than ever. Consistently applying for jobs today shows persistence, problem-solving, an ability to work under pressure, and a positive attitude in the face of diversity. Who wouldn't want me?!

Anyway, I actually didn't want to write about that, but rather about the slice of Americana I experienced last weekend with my friend Sarah and her roommate - the Osceola County Fair.

From my experience last week, the American fair is very similar to the fairs we have at home - except quite a lot larger (standard) and run by rednecks instead of gypsies. Example:

A boat with wheels - literally - that I saw on my way to the fair. Onboard motor on the back, no roof, covered in seaweed and driven by two ladies in giant cowboy hats. Only in America.

Rather than looking for fortune tellers and romany caravans, you are on the lookout for large cowboy hats and diamanté belt buckles in the shape of the state. The mullets are the same though.

And like at home, everyone goes to the fair for one of 3 things: the freak show, the rides, and/or the fried food. From a freak show perspective the best we got was a petting zoo where we met a fairly terrifying alpaca and a very hairy miniature cow:

Look at those teeth!!

Awwwwwwwwww

The cows and alpacas were kept company by baboons, camels, zebras and a surprising number of goats. So yes, freak show (albeit not that freaky, maybe more exotic) off the list. Rides are not my thing. I love rollercoasters, safe in the knowledge they have 30ft plus of concrete foundations. You are never going to get me on anything that can throw me 80ft upside down in the air, but then can be packed up on the back of a lorry the next day.

But now we get to the main event - the fried food. And in the land of all things fried, this was always going to be good. There was fried everything - from your standard chips, fish, sausages and nachos, to the more unusual:

These, my friends, are fried Oreos. I was brave and had a taste - it was surprisingly yummy, but one bite was enough. I think I would have been sick if I'd eaten a whole one.

But hey, I'm still alive and kicking despite my fair experience, so the food couldn't have been that bad.

Would you pay $9 million for 2 minutes on the TV?

Unless you've been living under a soundproofed rock for the past month, most people will know that Sunday was the highlight of the American Football calendar - the SuperBowl. Sporting nirvana for football fans, whilst everyone else can enjoy the fried food and movie-production-level adverts which, at $3 million for a 30 second slot, are an event all by themselves. The last 2 years I have had to endure excessive analysis by BBC Sport to fill the time all the ad breaks, so this year I thought I'd highlight some of my personal marketing highlights from "The Big Game".


The Expensive One

The eponymous ad of my title - Fox giving Chrysler a wee discount on their 2 minutes in the spotlight, charging the carmaker a measly $9 million. And that's before they paid for Eminem.


The ad was supposedly for the new Chrysler 200, a car with which the firm is hoping to make a new mark in the luxury sector. But it isn't really about the car, it's about the American automotive industry rising from the ashes. It certainly packed some punch, and the tagline "Imported from Detroit" will certainly have ignited some American patriotism.


The Simple But Effective One


This just really tickled me, but I have a weakness for Anheuser-Busch's advertising.

Such a simple premise but I was howling with laughter. Bud Light's other ad, the self-deprecating product placement ad, is also worth a look:

My Personal Favourite...

I have always been a huge fan of VW's advertising back home, because it is says a lot without really saying anything at all. Plus they are always hilarious. This one is a belter, because it does what all good VW advertising does - no need to go into every last detail about why our cars are awesome, because the brand says it already. It just stick in your memory. Plus, it's absolutely priceless.

The ads were good, but the company was better. I had a great evening of beer, wings, good friends, good football, and my lovely husband :)

News in Brief

Trying a new style today, because I feel like poo and my attention span is short:

• Went to Centra Care, an 'urgent care' walk-in down the road, because it was nearer than my GP and I thought it was the same price (wrong!). Spent $50 in a place I hate being treated like crap by the admin staff (doctor and nurses were lovely), to be told I might have viral conjunctivitis and might have a viral throat infection, but not sure. Given prescriptions for antibiotics, just in case it's bacterial.
• Made my third entirely financially-based medical decision in an hour at Wal-Mart. Whether the UK and US systems are good or bad is a different discussion, but I don't think I will ever get used to paying out of pocket for my medical care. It completely changes the way I approach my health, and not in a good way if you ask me.
• The office in Missouri which is processing my green card, work card and travel authorisation has been closed since Tuesday. Some pathetic excuse like 25" of snow, guh. Optimism that they are doing something, even when I hear nothing, is better than knowing they're doing nothing. Warmer weather please!
• My hubby weighed in at under 200lbs today and I am SO bleeding proud of him.
• Went to a job fair last week - to make some contacts. Made one good one, but was overall a scary experience. Thousands of people out there without jobs - the market is brutal.
• My British TV stream is broken. Suffering Shameless withdrawals. But the American one is still pretty bloody good.
• Yorkshire Tea is the answer to sore throats, especially when it's 4am and you are cleaning the kitchen because you can't sleep.

That's it for now. Time to put compresses back on my eyes and hope I look less like I've been punched in the morning...

Janet Jackson has a lot to answer for

I haven't written anything for a while because I couldn't decide what I wanted to write about first - my adventures in ska at a Reel Big Fish concert, surviving riding a tandem bike with my hubby, or TV. (Hopefully I'll get on to Reel Big Fish later)


I chose TV, because there are 3 major UK-to-US remakes doing the rounds at the moment, and oh boy, what a lot of drama there is.


In particular, the American version of Skins has been causing a wave of controversy after it first aired on MTV a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it is about teenagers, and yes, there is a lot of sex, drugs and rock n roll, but it is on at 10pm on a cable channel in the upper 200s. Why the fuss?


This is where Janet Jackson comes into this. Remember nipplegate at the SuperBowl? (If you don't, type 'nipplegate' into Google - brilliantly, a variety of relevant websites come up) Many Americans would argue that Jackson's wardrobe malfunction was the start of a new wave of excessive censorship in American TV. In reality, the Parents Television Council has been in existence since 1995, but Nipplegate brought what was considered 'indecent' firmly into the spotlight.


And this is where I can't help but be frustrated by the double standards of it all. This is a country which has a burgeoning porn industry, strip clubs next to churches, and shows the uncut version of Saving Private Ryan at 8am. Blood and guts before breakfast is fine, but an unblurred shot of side boob after bedtime is outrageous.


I live here now, so I have been making major efforts to understand the American way in many things. The grass is greener syndrome really isn't going to help me survive out here. But this is one that just drives me to distraction. Failing to treat adult viewers as grown-ups by giving them a choice over what they watch - and making sex and the human body taboo for younger viewers by throwing histrionics every time there is a kiss with too much tongue - is an insult to the intelligence of most adults and takes responsibility away from parents. A ten-year-old should not be watching television at 11 at night, so why censor television to a ten-year-old's level at 11 at night?


Interestingly, the American version of Shameless, which started a few weeks ago, has caused little stir (and is, by the way, excellent) - despite the first episode showing the oldest daughter, Fiona, getting a shag on the kitchen floor and high school age Lip getting sexual favours of the oral variety in return for maths tutoring. But Shameless is on Showtime, which is a premium cable channel that you have to pay extra to receive. There is also a reason why some of the biggest American exports of recent years - Sex And The City, The Sopranos, etc. - have come from the HBO stable, which is also a premium channel. Both these networks do not rely on advertising, and can therefore be riskier in their programming - even though the UK versions and exports of their programming will readily be found on the BBC or ITV back home. After the 9pm watershed, of course.


I am not saying that I want all TV to be sexed up or that excessive nudity is necessarily correct. But mainstream American TV would have you believe, a lot of the time, that life is as innocent and saccharine as a trip down the road to Disney World. For now, though, I will be paying for HBO/Showtime, and for the privilege of being treated like a grown-up.

Work? Study? Other?

I'm having a major duvet day today, because it is absolutely foul outside. The local news stations are breathless with excitement, because there are tornado watches out. "Severe weather" is central Florida TV station crack - people, it's just raining quite hard, and anyway, your weather forecasts are rubbish!


In the absence of any outdoor activities to do I am watching a marathon of The Tudors on BBC America (starting to get quite hard going, given they have cut out all the good bits - in fact, I'm surprised there is anything left to show at all) and trying to figure out what to do with my life. That bit is quite hard going too.


I always knew I would have at least 4 months where I would be unemployed and chose to look at this as an opportunity to decide what to do with my life. I will have been here 3 months this Wednesday and I still haven't figured it out - not even close!


The American job market is very much a different animal to me.  Given the level of unemployment in the US (and especially Florida), it is an employer's market - entry level management positions are demanding 5+ years of experience and a related degree. With 2 years at management level under my belt, I am in employment limbo - I am over-qualified for non-management positions and under-qualified for management positions. Couple all this with the fact my degree is not strictly 'related' to any position, and that a Bachelor's degree is nowhere near as valued here as in the UK, and I have my work cut out for me.


On top of the, I-need-any-job-just-to-pay-the-bills situation, I am also trying to figure out my calling in life. I've considered teaching, nursing, project management, personal banking, and public relations - I think this tells you if nothing else that I still have no idea. Oh to be one of those people with a true vocation - fewer decisions to be made! But maybe it's OK I don't have an exact path to follow. My main goals are: be regarded as a leader in my area, have a job that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning, and be successful enough to not struggle. But I still have to figure out what that is.


On the side I've been looking at ways to combat the annoying bachelors-is-the-new-high-school-diploma situation. A Masters is almost considered standard in the US now and I've been considering the possibility of going back to school - part-time, of course, given the cost of such things. Online MBAs are easy to find - I could even do my MBA at Warwick Business School all the way from Orlando if I so chose! - but the main problem is once again money. $25,000 minimum - would such an investment, though, lead me to earn over $25,000 more over time?


Many decisions to be made, that I am failing to make. Sigh. And still at least 30 days until I get my work card. Still, one can't be serious all the time, so the rest of the time I have been dreaming about me and Jason getting our own place, and puppies. I want one of these:

All I need is a good job so I can get a big enough apartment to put a Golden Retriever in....simple, non? :)

New Year's Day is College Game Day

I spent the first day of 2011 in a bar in Lake Buena Vista, nursing what I felt was a somewhat unreasonable hangover and being educated in the finer points on college (American) football.


Those of us who have been educated in the British university system will have a hard time understand exactly how huge college sport is in the United States. For my friends who went to the University of Warwick, a school of about 20,000 students - imagine the Warwick vs. Coventry varsity rugby game (the pinnacle of the Warwick sports calendar) being broadcast on Sky Sports 1. And taking place in a sold out stadium the size of Old Trafford.


The National College Athletics Association is the monolith that administrates university sport in America - but especially American Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball. All have large followings, but college football is the really big one. Many people I have spoken to, both my friends here and random people I have met along the way, argue that college football is becoming more popular than the NFL due to the NFL becoming so singularly driven by money.


Most NFL fans also have a college team that they support. I sat in the bar on Saturday afternoon with 2 of my good friends - one of whom is a Penn State fan, and the other a Gators (the University of Florida's sport teams) fan. And here we come across another unique facet of college sports here - neither of my friends actually went to the university they are supporting, and this is far from uncommon. Those who went to schools with large and well-known teams follow those teams; others simply choose a college to follow based on their performance, playing style or because they like their coach. It is absolutely accepted to follow a university that you didn't go to and/or isn't local. This extends into the professional leagues as well - after ten years of getting stick for being a Manchester United fan who wasn't from Manchester, I am getting some fairly strange reactions for supporting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, my local NFL team, because they're shit. Sometimes you just can't win!


Anyway, back to college football. Saturday was a big day in the college football calendar with a large number of bowl games going on. The bowl games mark the end of the college football season, but there's about 20 of them, none of them producing a clear college champion. It's ridiculously confusing, so I am going to direct you to Wikipedia to see if you can make any more sense of it than me. The sheer volume is driven by the sponsorship opportunities available (who says that college football is less money driven than the NFL?!) - but people go wild for them. Saturday's big game was the Outback Bowl, Penn State vs. Florida.


Despite all my ramblings above about the madness, I actually really enjoyed it. College football fans can be totally bonkers, but that simply makes for some great Saturday afternoon banter. What I am realising about American sport is that if you are into it, you are really into it. No half-hearted efforts here. And that's what makes it fun to get into on a Saturday afternoon - even if it has taken me 5 years to truly understand what the hell is going on in college football or NFL.


Oh, and I've decided to adopt the Gators as my university side. As someone who didn't go to uni here, I think I have the privilege of choice!