2004 Year in Review

Roundabouts

When I lived in London, England and worked in the North Sea there were some obvious differences from my hometown of Morrison, IL. You could probably write a book covering the details (or at least a good 1 hour stand-up comedy routine) but I think I’ll concentrate on those things or ways that I thought were better or worse than here at home.

Obviously, the UK (United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) has a much better public transportation system than we do. Basically you can live anywhere and get anywhere without the need for a car. The UK is smaller than the USA has more public transport options and their roads meander (sort of an afterthought) so motor vehicle traffic is not so convenient. Gas (or petrol as it is called there) is relatively expensive as it is in most of the world so the incentive is to walk or use public transport. In my opinion, this is a good thing.

Walking and exercise are also encouraged by designated greenways and walking paths that crisscross the nation and tie together scenic vistas and small villages. Public right of way may even cross a farmer’s field. The farmer can put up a fence to keep his livestock in, but he cannot restrict access to the public right of way. Walkers must close the gate behind them and keep on the path. The pathway is well marked. There are shops and pubs and restaurants and bed and breakfast establishments along the way, so the pedestrian can travel great distances without having to backpack the “kitchen sink” with him.

The beer (ale, lager, stout) is better.

Every time I come to a 4 way stop (or actually any stop sign) here in town I cringe. This is a waste of energy in the name of safety. In the UK especially and to a lesser extent in the rest of Europe they use a traffic circle, rotary intersection or what we called in North London a roundabout. Traffic slows down at the intersection, enters the circle all going in the same direction and get off on the road going your way. Theoretically 4 vehicles can arrive at the intersection at the same time and none will stop. The vehicle in the roundabout has the right of way, so you have to yield and follow in behind. It works better than stop signs.

Road traffic stops for pedestrians in designated crossings (i.e. the Abbey Road album cover). Doesn’t matter how fast you are going or how much of a hurry you are in – you stop. Hit a pedestrian, go to jail.

There were 2 styles of light bulbs when I lived in the UK. One was the screw type that we use and another was a bayonet twist style that never worked. There must have been some logic to the design, but whenever I wanted to change out this style of bulb it was frozen in place, the glass would break and then I’d have to turn off the power in the house to use pliers to get the base of the bulb out of the socket. This was not a great invention. Also appliances in the UK usually were not sold with plug fittings which had to be installed. The plugs used in the UK have fuses in them and I guess it is a safety item, but you have to be a lot smarter in the UK to use a toaster than we do here. One advantage they do have is that with 220 volts at every residential outlet you can toast toast and boil water quicker.

The currency comes in different sizes and different colors so it is very hard to confuse a 10 for a 20.

Television pictures and sound were better. Ours will improve once we switch to digital, but they use a different system in the UK (they use PAL, we use NTSC). Television programming in general was better probably because commercial television was secondary to public television. The disadvantage was that you had to by a TV license yearly – to pay for the programming.

Roses are cheaper. Gardens or yards are smaller and more manageable. The rain and weather, in general, is gentler. You can walk in the rain and not get wet, sort of. This does not apply to the North Sea and maybe anywhere on the coast where the weather is fierce.

The whole weather topic is basically the difference between a continental and maritime climate, so I won’t go there, but the striking difference to a Midwesterner is that it is colder inside a UK home than it is outside. It has something to do with the slow development of central heating and the love of fresh air.

I recommend a visit to anyone who hasn’t been to the UK. Once you learn the language you’ll have a great time comparing the differences and striking similarities.

by Marc Adami, Guest Columnist
October 25, 2004