The 10 things I miss most from the UK
Whilst Brazil is a great place to live with many many positives, unsurprisingly, there are a number of things I miss from the UK. Some of these are trivial, others less so, but after 4 years, and still missing them, I guess they must have some significance. So here they are in no specific order.
Friends and Family
I think the reason for this is clear, so I wont say more.
Cricket and Rugby
Why cricket and rugby and not football? I guess the answer is obvious – Brazilians (not all but most) love football so there is plenty to watch on TV, normally including 3 or 4 matches from the English Premier League each week. However, it is impossible to watch cricket here. I have to follow it on the internet, but thanks to Test Match Special on the radio via the internet, I was able to follow our re-taking of The Ashes! A pity the one day series has been so bad.
Unlike cricket, there is some rugby on TV and Belo Horizonte even has its own team. I found this out when I taught the club’s president for a while. The TV has European club rugby matches on, but they are usually recorded and, therefore, not so interesting when you know the results. It is also possible, on cable TV, to watch the French Six Nations matches, but only the French games. Shame it has to be the French!
An old English beer
Warm beer
Who remembers Skol from the UK? Well, here it is perhaps the most popular beer – enough said? Seriously, Brazilian Skol is much better than our version, but virtually all the beers here are lagers/pilsners. Whilst I like them, sometimes I really crave a draught 6X, London Pride, Old Speckled Hen or one of our delicious real ales. It is possible to buy cans of some of these, but they are expensive and who likes canned beer? There is a local German bar that serves draught Guinness which goes somewhat to soothing those pangs.
Television, especially the BBC
I still struggle with understanding Portuguese properly, so long for decent TV. Yes, we get the US sitcoms, CNN and BBC World, but this isn’t the same as television in the UK. Even when I was young and living in California, I missed British TV. I guess it is cultural, but the American shows just don’t hit the spot.
By the way, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the BBC, BBC World is not the same. Sure it is the same company, but if I were to give the BBC in the UK 9 out of 10, I would give BBC World 1 out of 10! Fortunately, I’ve recently discovered a way to watch the BBC.
Strong mature cheddar cheese
This is perhaps the one thing I miss the most. Sure there is nice cheese here. You can get most European cheeses, but the thing Brazilians call cheddar is the tasteless version that can be found in the USA. If anyone ever visits, please bring me some!
A traditional British cheddar cheese
Other foods
As a very fussy eater, I can honestly say that Brazilian food is excellent. I don’t like everything, but that goes for the UK as well. However, the things I miss the most, in no particular order, are curry, Branston Pickle, Fish and Chips, Horseraddish sauce, Bovril, McVities Plain(Dark) Chocolate Digestives,and English mustard. Who notices a bit of a pattern? Yes, I like spicy, flavourful food and Brazilians tend to prefer plainer tastes such as rice and beans.
Seasons
In Belo Horizonte there aren’t any ‘real’ seasons. Sure there is the rainy season and the dry season. but the temperatures never get really cold, the trees don’t lose their leaves, the length of the day doesn’t change much. Sometimes, I long for some cool weather but not the dreary, sunless winter months of Britain.
Cheap computers and components
Although it is possible to buy almost anything electrical in Brazil, the things are usually very expensive. For example, I just bought an Apple iPhone and the cost of it (with a similar package to one in the UK) was approximately double. I paid R$1449 (roughly £490) for the mid-range one. This isn’t just for Apple products, but is particularly applicable for electronics companies who don’t have factories in Brazil or other South American countries.
Although I mention an expensive product, the same applies to laptops, desktops, video cards etc from other suppliers such as Dell and HP.
Outdoor activities
A view of Belo Horizonte from a road leading to one of the most affluent suburbs, Belvedere
Why outdoor activities when the weather is so much better than the UK? The answer to this depends on the activity in question.
First, I like walking in the countryside and even around towns or cities. Where we live in Belo Horizonte, it isn’t easy to walk for two principal reasons: security and topography. Even though I haven’t personally witnessed any serious crime in Brazil, some of my students tell very unpleasant stories. It is therefore considered unwise to walk in many areas both in and outside of the city.
The second reason is the topography. Belo Horizonte (beautiful horizon is the translation) is a very hilly city. So to walk anywhere here means, almost certainly, scaling small mountains which is good exercise but not quite the pleasant stroll that I prefer. Of course this is specific to where we live.
The second outdoor activity I miss is gardening (please don’t laugh for those who saw my garden in Kingston). As most people choose to live in flats, there is little chance to garden. We have a small herb garden on our balcony, but this doesn’t count as the balcony is enclosed in glass. We are thinking about buying a house in the future mainly for this reason.
Lastly, and yes I’ve started to struggle to think of 10 things, is:
Public transport
People in the UK, and I was one, complain about the public transport being late, dirty and many other things. In Brazilian cities, the only significant public transport is buses. These get really busy and hot apparently because they don’t have air-conditioning. I say apparently because I’ve never actually tried them yet. Imagine being on a bus full of people, some who may have been labouring all day, in direct sun with temperatures in the shade in the mid-thirties centigrade. Suddenly, the British trains, tubes and buses don’t seem so bad. The UK has an established public transport system, perhaps with room for improvement, but, in Brazil, there is little option other than using a car for those who can afford one.
Concluding, there isn’t so much missing in Brazil. Most things can be found with some effort, but there are those few things that I shall always miss. Thankfully, the UK isn’t so far away.
In the future …
- The 10 things I don’t miss about England
- The best things in Brazil
- The things I’d change in Brazil if I was President
London’s Public Transport
One of the questions I’m often asked is “What is the metro like in London?”
First, there are several public transport systems in London, most of which are now managed by the city council. There is the London Underground, which Londoners call the “The Tube”, and it has 12 separate lines. The tube network is mainly in the north half of the city because of London’s geology. This system starts operating at around 5:30am and runs until about 12:30am seven days a week. The trains depart central London stations at about 2-3 minute intervals during peak times, and 7-8 minute intervals in off-peak times. Contrary to general opinion, much of the Tube is above ground, particularly away from the central zones. See the tube map.
There are also plenty of London buses, including the famous red double-deckers. Their routes extend across the whole of London and operate for similar hours to the tube. However, there are also night buses. These night buses run along similar routes to some of the day buses but have a reduced frequency. You can get on a night bus from about midnight in central London and take it to your neighbourhood in the suburbs.
Additionally, there are also river buses in central London, but they aren’t generally used by Londoners.
Finally, and definitely not least importantly, there is the National Rail network or over-ground train system. This is operated by many different companies and the trains depart from many central London terminus stations like Waterloo, King’s Cross, St Pancreas, Victoria and Paddington.
The southern half of London is mainly served by this overland network rather than the Tube. Therefore, if you look at the famous Tube map, don’t be fooled into thinking this is the complete ‘train’ network. There are in fact, probably, twice as many stations with the other 50% appearing on the ‘London Connections’ map.
To use this network, you can buy single tickets to go from place to place, or you can buy daily, weekly or monthly tickets or even an oyster card from any of the stations or other points of sale such as newsagents. The cost of travel depends on how far you travel. The entire network is divided into 6 principal zones. These zones are arranged as concentric ‘circles’ around the centre of London. All you need to do is buy a ticket for the zones you want to travel to and from (and any zones you pass through en-route).
To navigate on the Tube is very easy. Each line is colour coded. On the map, the stations where you can change from one line to another are shown as a circle, the non-interchange stations are shown as a ‘tag’. The direction of travel is shown on the front of each train and on signs on each platform. Additionally, it is important to know your north, south, east and west despite the fact that the platforms are labelled as northbound, southbound, eastbound or westbound. To find your way round, you simple follow the colours of the lines/signs and have a general idea if you need to go north or south.
I hope this brief introduction of getting about in London is helpful.
For further information: Transport for London
Pictures: Wikipedia and Guardian.co.uk
1and1.co.uk – A rant
When I updated my website I moved the hosting from 1and1.co.uk to a Brazilian host and I wanted to cancel my hosting package but not domain registration. No big deal you’d think. However, they have not allowed me to cancel my contract due to extremely poorly devised systems, in my opinion.
The situation
I normally pay by credit card. However for separate non-related reasons, the registered credit card was no longer valid. Originally, I chose not to update paymenr details until I had a guarantee I would not be charged. I then wrote requesting cancellation and I was repeatedly (over a period of over 2 weeks) sent the same email with instructions on ‘how’ to do this.
The problem
As per the instructions, I navigated to a page to change my package. I selected the option I wanted, and hit the continue button. This directed me to a page asking me to update payment details. However, I don’t have a credit card with a UK address. I have various credit cards, both English and Brazilian, but 1 and 1’s system would not accept the address. I have phoned and emailed on numerous occasions. On one occasion on the phone, I was told that 17th August was a holiday in England and to call back later… The real reason was the time of the call! I’ve sent screenshots documenting the problem
After a long phone call earlier today being forwarded 3 times to the ‘billing’ department (This is whom I thought I was speaking to), I eventually discovered the answer.
The solution
There is no solution. It is a Catch 22. You can’t cancel unless you ‘pay’. I can’t ‘pay’ because they refuse to accept perfectly valid credit cards because their inane error checking doesn’t allow me to enter my address. Even the person I spoke to was unable to do anything. She was using the same system that I was. How idiotic is that?
My advice
Stay clear of 1 and 1. They are cheap, but I’ve never had much success with them. I’m still waiting for answers to various questions I’ve posed over the years.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
If anyone from 1 and 1 reads this, I would love to discuss this more, but it is impossible to get through the defensive barrier erroneously called the ‘help desk’. This a very much abridged account.
18 September, 2009 | Written by Steve | Comments: Add comment