2/11/2005 04:14:00 AM|||Tom|||

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.

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