Rounds

We went to a pub for an engagement party last night (one of Chris' labmates is getting married). It's been awhile since we've been out with Brits and I had sort of forgotten how popular and annoying "rounds" are. A round is when someone decides they need another drink then asks everyone standing/sitting near them who else would like a drink. The idea is that someone different offers to buy everyone a round the next time around.

You can, of course, imagine the problem with this system. Not everyone wants a drink at the same time and people leave throughout the night, so each round has a different number of people. With a big group you might end up buying 20 drinks, but by the end of the night someone who's just taking their turn might only buy 5 drinks for the remaining people.

Nobody seems to really keep track or be offended if they'd had to buy more drinks than others. It's just an accepted practice when going to the pub. I've also found that Brits don't like it when people aren't drinking, so even when you say you're done for the night, the drinks keep coming.

The picture below, from last night, is of Yotis (Canadian labmate), Chris and Chris (boyfriend of a labmate). The Chris on the far right joined the picture of the two North American boys because he's wearing a Minnesota shirt :) He's never been to the U.S, he just liked the shirt. Those types of shirts are quite popular here which I find strange, especially because it's random states. Florida, New York or California would make sense, but instead it's often states from the heartland of America.

Random Ramblings

Weather

The weather here has been fantastic lately, with temps in the 50s and lots of sunshine. Granted it never really gets that cold, but temps in December with mostly in the 30s and we got lots of rain, so I'm quite enjoying the difference. It's strange to hear birds and other spring sounds in January, it reminds me of April in Wisconsin. I've always hated cold weather, and as much as I'm looking forward to returning home, I'm not excited about the prospect of living in a state with long, cold winters again.

Income Taxes

I recently researched a tax clause we had heard about prior to moving here, in which teachers and researchers who stay in the UK less than two years are exempt from paying income tax. I never thought we'd be here less than two years so I never seriously looked into it but that now that it's becoming a serious possibility I've written to the Birmingham tax office for more information. The amount is quite significant and worth leaving in July for, as Chris pays 350 pounds/700 dollars per month in income taxes. On a related note, we just found out that our landlord will not allow us to a month-to-month lease after August, so it's all the more incentive to leave in July.

Famous Footwear

The company I worked for in Madison might be shutting down. There was always a rumor of this happening even when I worked there, as the company headquarters are in St. Louis, but I still thought I might go back to work there one day if Chris and I ever returned to Madison.

http://www.channel3000.com/money/15137831/detail.html

Pet Girl

I read a strange newspaper story here the other day about a girl who acts like a pet, and while I'm sure something like this could just as easily happen in the U.S., I'm almost certain that this kid would not be allowed to live off welfare like she does here. It's so depressing to think that my UK tax money is supporting her lifestyle.

Tasha Maltby, 19, told British newspapers she was the "pet" of her 25-year-old fiance Dani Graves. The articles go on to say that The couple, who live on benefits (neither one works) in a council house (free housing) and plan to start a family, have been friends for years.

"I am a pet," she told the Daily Mail. "I generally act animal-like and I lead a really easy life. I don't cook or clean and I don't go anywhere without Dani. It might seem strange but it makes us both happy. It's my culture and my choice. It isn't hurting anyone."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2388251520080123

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=509713

Right Brain vs Left Brain

I think it's interesting see the difference between how left-brained and right-brained people think. Chris and I are very obvious examples of predominantly thinking with one hemisphere. This was confirmed when taking the Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test which was designed by researchers at The Art Institute of Vancouver.

Interestingly enough, it seems I'm better suited than Chris to be a lab scientist :) Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.

Left Hemisphere Style
- Is planned and structured
- Prefers established, certain information
- Likely to read an instruction manual before trying

Right Hemisphere Style
- Is fluid and spontaneous
- Prefers elusive, uncertain information
- Trouble prioritising, often late, impulsive

I'm curious how many couples are like us and think very differently. It certainly works well when we travel because I plan it all out and Chris is willing to talk to anyone, no matter what language they speak, once we're there :)

Anti-Virus Software

I've never thought much about anti-virus software because UW provided free Norton software to all students. We were pleasantly surprised when Norton continued to work after Chris graduated but became very unhappy last week when we were suddenly cut off. I knew the day would come eventually however we had no warning, so almost immediately we were inundated with viruses.

I assumed we'd need to purchase new software but so far a free program recommended by Chris' labmate seems to be doing the trick. We're using the free version of AVG and I'm hopeful it will offer sufficient protection.

http://free.grisoft.com/

So my PSA for the day is - don't let your anti-virus software expire because trying to do work on a computer plagued with viruses is maddening! This is also a warning to my brother who was hoping to take advantage of UW's free software post-graduation :)

Same Logo

A student at work brought a website to the attention of a staff member yesterday. Turns out this website shares the same logo which we just started using when the college name changed.

Needless to say the higher ups at our very Catholic college are not happy! I'm quite curious to see what happens over the next few days. I highly anticipate a logo change.

http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/

Double Taxation

I'm working on our taxes this weekend. It annoys me that we have to file U.S. taxes despite having earned no U.S. income. It's actually relatively painless, except for the calculation of our income which has to be done on a daily exchange rate basis.










Thankfully we each earned well under the $82,400 federal cap (and the $80,000 Wisconsin cap...yes we even have file state taxes!), so we will not have any U.S. tax liability, it's merely the formality of filing the paperwork. We would only have to pay U.S. taxes if either of us earned the equivalent of $82,400 a year. The U.S. is one of the very few countries that double taxes its citizens. Most countries have agreements preventing double taxation.

Newman University College

kk
The college I work for was recently granted taught degree awarding powers, which essentially means it can now grant it's own degrees. This also means the name changed from Newman College to Newman University College...a small but annoying change in my eyes. The official change was yesterday which meant all new stationary and hours spent changing document templates. In general, a lot of time and resources wasted.
kk
The term college here is quite different than the U.S. In general, college refers to further education, which is what students do after they "leave school" at the age of 16. It reminds me of community and technical colleges in the U.S. So at age 16 you go to college and at age 18 you go to university. There are a few higher education colleges, which really confuses the situation. A higher education college offers university level degrees but cannot award it's own degrees, it has to be affiliated with a university. A "university college" can award it's own degrees but still isn't big enough (student and program-wise) to be a full-fledged university.
kk
Brits get confused when Americans refer to university as college. It's also confusing to them when I say I went to the University of Wisconsin and Edgewood College. They want to know the difference and I honestly have no idea. I assume it's similar in that larger schools which offer more programs (undergraduate, masters and doctoral) are known as universities and smaller schools are simply colleges. If anyone knows more, clue me in because I'm curious and wikipedia wasn't as helpful as usual when I searched earlier.