I like British bath fixtures. There is a knob for temperature and a separate knob for turning the water on and off. Therefore, you only have to set the temperature once and never touch that knob again, instead of trying to find the perfect temp every time you turn the shower on.
Television stations are different. There are a few BBC channels which I assume are run by the government; other standard channels are known only by their channel number–no call letters. There are billboards around town advertising the “Joey” sitcom (how unfortunate that this is the US show they’ve chosen to run). On the billboards, the channel is simply listed as Five. In the US, 5 is a different channel in every city you go to; in the UK, 5 is 5 regardless of where you are.
As I was getting ready for work this morning I had the tv on, and there was a commercial for a new CD–a collection of Elvis songs. I’m not even particularly an Elvis fan, but I appreciated the commercial because it was a little piece of home.
Last night I decided to brave the public transportation system. I found a Metro stop near the hotel (the Metro is like an above-ground subway) and took it to what turned out to be a sort of Chinatown section of Manchester. Ate at a Cantonese restaurant, and it was good. It is always interesting seeing people of different ethnic backgrounds speaking with a British accent. It was like looking at Jackie Chan and hearing James Bond.
The TV is pretty much similar to here in the States. It all depends on who the cable or satellite provider is. The general rule of thumb in the UK is choose SKY Digital. They have everything and are comparable to Direct TV. They show all the US Channels including FOX, HBO, CBS, CNN, etc, etc. There are about 400-500 channels in total. The neat thing about them is that when you watch a sporting event, you can use your remote to choose which angle you see the action from.
Then you have Time Warner cable. Who in my time in the States have sucked all kinds of (#$$&^%#). Bad service, bad choice…as Michael Jackson would say ‘It’s BAD’.
Then you have hotel TV, which is the worst of the worst. Which I am afraid is what you are experiencing right now Tom. However, do not fear…when you go to Krakow, you will experience much worse. I found only one channel that spoke English and that was a news channel which was on a 2 hour loop.
Well, at least I have something to look forward to…