The Adventures of Matthew Townend

It's been awhile since I wrote my last blog. I've changed. I'm a new man. Well....not really. I've just been busy. I've become comfortable. Now I know that sounds really negative, like I've given in to lethargy and let myself become complacent in my time here. And it is, somewhat. The romance of being here has sort of faded, my connection to the States has dwindled, and I'm kind of just soaring on the breeze. But at the same time, I'm becoming more confident in myself and realizing that being in England is really not all that different than the States. The people here are basically the same, minus a few cultural facets. One of those is seeing how people seem to care about one another. In the States, the attitude seemed to be “take care of yourself first” and the rest will work itself out. This mentality is great for having healthy boundaries with others and not letting them take advantage of you, but it's really bad if you'...

"I mean, they got the same shit over there that we got over here," said John Travolta's iconic Pulp Fiction character Vincent Vega, "But it's the little differences." There's some things over here in the UK that I love, and some that I'm not too fond of. It's taken me a little bit of time in my unemployment and limbo stage to decide what those are.  Here's my list: Love: -The Indian food here is amazing.  Indian is basically considered the national food now, more than fish and chips.  Stunning.  I have learned, though, that the Indian here is highly Anglo-ized.  They even invented dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala - a dish that does not exist in India.  Good ol' cultural appropriation. -The way they do bedsheets is just better.  They cover the comforter with a cover, rather than use an extra sheet, so that you only have to wash the comforter cover and only have to deal with one sheet on the bed.  The American way of having to wash yo...