Here are some things I learned which might perplex Canadians when in Britain.

• When ordering food or drinks, they say "to stay or takeaway" instead of "for here or to go."

  I bought a drink the other day, and it look me a long time to actually understand what the server was asking-- and the accent doesn't help.

• "Are you alright?" is the British equivalent to "How's it going?"

  The former phrase when used in Canada is commonly used only when a person has a problem, so it definitely feels kind of odd.

• Fries are 'chips', chips are 'crisps', elevators are 'lifts', guys are 'blokes' or 'chaps', paper money are 'notes', lines are 'queues', highways are 'motorways'.

  These ones are obvious.

• Divided highways are 'dual carriageways', a cafeteria is 'refectory', sodas are 'fizzies'.

  These are less obvious.

• On your keyboard, the '@' sign is where the double-quotes are, the '#' sign is a completely new key to the left of the return key, the return key is smaller on that row.

  Typing really pisses me off. For more, see check out Wiki.

My brain is too tired for any real written update, so instead, enjoy some pictures.

All of us posing at Christ Church.

Shawn and Tiff enjoying pasties at Cornmarket Street-- Oxford's pedestrian shopping district. A pasty, after being corrected many times, are pronounced "past-y." Pasties are glorified pizza pockets.

Shawn, moi, and Julius at Warwick Castle. So nice.

Moi, Martina, and Tiff with the BBC duck in Stratford. Apparently it was Shakespeare's birthday that day, so it was sort of busy.

I have time to kill before the flight, so I leave you with Peter Wentz, bassist for Fall Out Boy.

[The image has been eliminated because too many people are linking to it.]

Sure I'm not as cool as Peter Wentz to be able pull of his hair, but whatever. Call be retarded, a groupie, a dork, I don't care. I think I secretly like him. Haha.

So yeah, I will grow my hair. It's perfect timing, now that I'm gonna be in Oxford, and I could refrain from haircutting.

I swear, I hate packing. I hate packing so much that at this point, I could seriously reconsider going on to Oxford.

I think I've had this talk before, but it seems like my four months is up and I'm in the packing routine yet again. What is the worse part about packing is how I can never remember where the hell anything is.

Seriously what's weird is that I have become so comfortable finally being settled back in Toronto and vegetating after work that I seriously can't handle all this hussle and bustle. For that reason, I don't feel like leaving yet. Besides, I'll miss HK Tea and associated snacks and dim sum too much to just see it drastically missing-- for 5 weeks.

Well, underneath it all, it's probably because I feel like I have so much more I want to do, or regret not doing, before I go.

Also, it's probably because I'm initial travel butterflies-- the paranoia. The paranoia that I have forgotten something important like identification or something, and having my trip come go a grinding halt.

Ah.

Let me stop rambling about my stupid ranting.

For those who don't know, I will be taking 5 weeks off to go on a study exchange to Oxford. It’s a half-credit course administered by the UW School of Planning, where we can get a perspective about the planning process and design concepts as it relates to the UK. Of course, besides studying, we have an opportunity to travel on our own. My school friends and I have chosen to head to Paris, Madrid and Barcelona after the 3-week of planned UK activities.

I'm really looking forward to going to Paris, and I pretty much have our sightseeing covered. As for the other places, I simply have no idea-- guess we'll wait and see. It's also good to have Shawn as a travel buddy, since he's pretty much the Euro-man.

My last day of work is today (Wednesday), which leaves me this evening and the daytime tomorrow to get everything covered, before heading out of the house at 4:00.

Ah!

This is probably my last entry before heading out, so here's a few Do's and Don'ts to pay attention to when I'm away.

• Do watch American Idol


• Do vote for Elliott Yamin-- he rocks


• Do watch Amazing Race


• Do continue to email me


• Do enjoy the sun


• Do take the TTC whenever possible


• Do watch that funny Front Street Bakery commercial-- hilarious


• Do miss me
• Don't watch Da Vinci Code without me


• Don't mobile me, since I'm not bringing my cell


• Don't try the new Green Tea Latte at Starbucks-- it's nasty and is just powder

Wish me luck and hope I don't forget something!

I saw this at the park on my way home from work.

I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry. But considering there is no way of contacting the "owner" of the pet, I guess I should laugh. Besides, Nemo is in Sydney, not Markham.

Poor Nemo, I hope I don't find you in the park.