{"id":5662,"date":"2013-05-08T03:13:23","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T02:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=5662"},"modified":"2013-05-08T03:13:23","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T02:13:23","slug":"a-few-observations-about-life-in-europe-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/a-few-observations-about-life-in-europe-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Observations About Life in Europe & the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

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1. \u00a0Men here wear red pants– if you are in the UK that will read as underwear– so I mean trousers. \u00a0They also wear orange, bright green, pink, and turquoise trousers. \u00a0Men here are much more sartorially adventurous. \u00a0They also wear silk scarves, wool scarves, and cotton scarves which are meant to be decorative as well as warm.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0If someone tells you– “Oh it’s just 5 minutes further on” expect it to be about a 20 minute walk. \u00a0People here walk much much more than in the US. \u00a0They always vastly underestimate how long a walk it is between here and there. \u00a0Buy comfortable shoes.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0They also smoke more– much more. \u00a0Perhaps the walking counter balances this. But expect smoke to be wafting everywhere people gather outside. \u00a0Most places do forbid smoking inside restaurants and other public venues but the walking includes walking past lots of smokers.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0People live at much colder temperatures, especially in the UK. \u00a0Central heating is still an advertised special feature in apartment ads. \u00a0Maybe that’s why they smoke– to keep warm. \u00a0It could also be why they drink. \u00a0People drink way more, especially in the UK, than in the US. \u00a0I am talking about middle-aged professionals here– not kids. \u00a0Black-out drinking is not uncommon. \u00a0I’ve overheard several conversations between colleagues about this in my travels. \u00a0Or maybe it’s just the people in the entertainment industry? \u00a0Or just people I know.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Whenever there is the least glimmer of sun people sit outdoors in cafes, etc. \u00a0It can be freezing cold but people still dine and drink outside if there is any spot of brightness.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0People actually take vacations. \u00a0Yes, they turn off their mobile phones, their email, and are unreachable– for weeks! \u00a0It’s called relaxing. \u00a0This is a concept Americans seem to have trouble grasping, especially in the television business. \u00a0I am getting used to it.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0Things are more expensive here. \u00a0People tended to have fewer really nice things and not all the cheap crap that Americans tend to horde. \u00a0What they do have they use a lot and enjoy. \u00a0Yes yes there is cheaper crap over here but there is somehow a different mind set about things. \u00a0Physical evidence is the general lack of gigantic closets and tons of storage space. \u00a0This is not necessarily a matter of room size. \u00a0A good-sized bedroom might still have no closet and a just a medium sized wardrobe– a few shelves and a small single rack to hang clothes.<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0Dining is a form of pleasure. \u00a0It takes much longer to be served at restaurants and no one rushes the bill. \u00a0People linger and talk. \u00a0There are certainly American fast food places but when having dinner with friends or colleagues it is a much slower process. \u00a0Waiters aren’t rushing to “turn over” the tables.<\/p>\n

9. \u00a0People here are much more knowledgeable about the US and elsewhere than Americans are about anywhere. In general, they understand the mechanics of the US political process better than a lot of Americans or will quiz you on this to improve their understanding. \u00a0They are absolutely astonished at the lack of affordable healthcare and mass shootings of children– and the seeming lack of will to do much about either issue.<\/p>\n

10. \u00a0They are much more energy conscious. \u00a0They drive smaller cars. \u00a0In the UK they have individual switches to turn off the current for each plug. \u00a0They seem to recycle more and don’t have the animosity some Americans have about alternative energy sources. \u00a0Germany, for instance, gets the vast majority of its electricity from solar power. \u00a0It’s not a particularly sunny country but they have developed the technology to improve on performance.<\/p>\n

No things are not perfect here. \u00a0We all know about the economic troubles everywhere. \u00a0And yes you can complain about “socialism.” \u00a0But I am enjoying my time here and it is changing me, in lots of ways for the better. \u00a0I find my self collecting experiences rather than things– yes yes I know I did some shopping in Milan– but I bought a couple of really nice, if a bit expensive things. \u00a0I am learning a lot about myself and others. \u00a0There is nothing like travel to enrich perspectives and broaden personal horizons. \u00a0I am doubly blessed to be working on the stories of other cultures and having the deep intimate conversations that storytelling stimulates. \u00a0It’s been a great three months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been living in Bristol for about three months now, interspersed with frequent trips to the Continent. Here are some general observations on a few key differences with the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1271,25,26,27,28,895,896,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,565,41,1272,42],"class_list":["post-5662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-thoughts-pop-culture-political-movie-television-blog","tag-bristol","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-film","tag-films","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-travel","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image Size 500x500":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",500,375,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Hutzler","author_link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"I've been living in Bristol for about three months now, interspersed with frequent trips to the Continent. Here are some general observations on a few key differences with the US.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}