A Quiet Birthday, a.k.a. A Message for Our British Readers

Today is officially my last day as a twenty-five year old.


Today, I received a care package from Mom, which brought a smile to my face. Then I received a wedding invitation to my dear friend Emily's mariage for this summer. I can hardly believe that just a little over a year ago, unemployed and living at home in Miami, I was uncertain as to how I would be able to make it across the Atlantic to see her on her big day. (At least I accomplished one of the four goals I had set for myself last year...)


Tomorrow, I shall cross that threshold of experiencing my second quarter of a century in this finite life of mine. Unlike last year's hoopla, tomorrow will prove to be a tranquil birthday. No cake. No candles. Not even an appearance from my DJ alter-ego and the Cartoon Party Cookies.

Rather than feeling a bit morose, I'm quite pensive on the matter. Moments like these provide me with a sobering shock that I am well into my adulthood.

But adulthood? Yes, I am a grown-up who has crucial responsibilities of ensuring that several French students learn English and Spanish, but I still feel like a naïve and ignorant child at times, especially whenever I experience a brief relationship that comes and goes in the blink of an eye. I suspect things can only get better for me in the long run.

Moreover, I certainly won't have any time to reflect on my solitude. In three days' time, I will board a bus at 6 a.m. and chaperone 19 French Middle Schoolers all the way to Albion.

That's right, British pals. I'm going to England for two weeks! TWO. WEEKS. I can almost taste the Cadbury's Dairy Milk and bottles of Irn Bru already.

I'll be mostly around the London area with my students, but in case you see an American shouting in French at her pupils to look both ways before walking past vicious gangs of "Keep Left" signs and reminding them to mind the gaps in the London Underground, then it's probably me.

Anyway, I do apologize for the lack of cartoons in today's post. I'll probably make up for it when I do my re-cap of my trip to England later this month.

Cheers from Barb the French Bean

A Little Moment of Empty "Eureka!"

Over the weekend during a short trip to Tampa (technically, it was in Springhill, FL), I stepped into a local Publix grocery store and gasped with glee when I encountered a small shelf containing British goods. Among the selection of goodies I plucked to fill my basket were a couple of tins of Cadbury Original Drinking Chocolate.

As my brain reasoned, I love British Cadbury chocolate and I love hot chocolate. Finding Cadbury hot chocolate mix is a classic win-win scenario. I honestly heard in my head the "dah-nuh-nuh-nuh" music that plays whenever Link from The Legend of Zelda finds a treasure in a chest.


(I stress that I love British Cadbury chocolates because here in the States, we can buy a pseudo-Cadbury that is manufactured under the more prolific Hershey's; the taste is not the same. Just not cricket, what-what.) 


Shopping wasn't the only thing I did in Tampa. I also went out for a nice walk and saw Cypress trees and a gator swimming in the marshy water. That was pretty cool. 

Cypress tree

Anyway, as it is with most imported products, the Cadbury Original Drinking Chocolate packaging underwent the ritual of having an American-style nutrition label plastered directly unto the original European nutrition grid. I didn't think too much of this for it is what commonly happens to foreign foods over here. 

The Ye Olde American Nutrition Facts Label

However, it wasn't until I returned to Miami when I decided to pay closer attention to said label.


According to the new American label, one serving of the drinking chocolate, a tablespoon, contains 602 calories. 


"That is not possible," I thought to myself. "That cannot be nutritionally possible!"


Then, as if I had to prove my point as to why this could not be nutritionally possible, my inner schizophrenic began to reason and form an argument based on facts. 


"Of the chocolate I would eat in France, just 20 grams out of a 100 gram bar of chocolate would be roughly 125-130 calories. That means that the entire bar of chocolate, all 3.5 ounces of it, would just surpass 600 calories! How is one 15 gram tablespoon of powder more than that?"


"I mean, even a tablespoon of butter is just a little over 100 calories. And it's butter."


Curiosity got the better of me. I peeled off the American nutrition "facts" label, examined the British nutrition information grid, and nearly peed from laughter over the grievous mistake that had been committed. 

Grids are cool.

I do not know what poor soul at Cadbury USA had the responsibility of having to type up the American nutrition label, but I am fairly certain that it was an American who clearly did NOT know the difference between kj and kcal. Either that or they had misread the grid with one flippant glance. 


"I knew there was something wrong!" the voice in my head cheered. "It clearly says on the grid that 100 grams of dry powder are 370 kcal, or 1575 kj. As for the actual 18 gram serving of dry powder, prepared with 200mL of semi-skimmed milk, the concoction is only 165 kcal! Whoever did this label confused the 695 kj with the 165 kcal!"


My inner schizophrenic rejoiced with much rejoicing.


"I uncovered a mistake! I literally uncovered an error by removing the label! My detail-oriented skills have not completely gone to waste! I have faith that I am still a fully-functioning human being! YIPPEE! My life is complete! Ha ha ha!"


...Then I realized that this discovery of someone else's mistake on a food label amounted to being a big whoop by human standards. Yippee. 

Barb the French Bean

Three Months Later and Christmas is Here!

Okay, so Christmas isn't here, but I never got to show the Christmas pictures of my amazing trip to England.  In fact there are many things I have not posted; from crazy adventures to everyday accidents. Those stories, however, will be for another day. So without anymore delay, the wonderful pictures from my trip.

The first thing I did was go into a pub.

Somewhere in Cambridge.

I loveeee the telephone booths.

A little market place somewhere in Cambridge.

Underground.

I never knew London had a Chinatown...and I've only been in London at least 5 times.

Proof that I was in England! and no it was no photoshopped or else I would have made myself look like a model.

Westminister Abbey.

Wellington Arch in London.

@_@ Me+Sweets=KABOOM!!

Kings Cross station (Yes, this is where they made platform 9 3/4 for Harry Potter and no, I did not go see the famous platform.

Cool statue in the train station.

A huge sculpture in the train station.

My transportation for the few days I was there.

The houses are so cute ^_^

I was in the middle of nowhere visiting friends.

Every church in England seems to have a cemetery, which is not seen in the U.S.

I definitely forgot the name of this place, but I believe it was a type of museum. I just remember a whole bunch of people walking dogs.

Me again! 

The name of this place made me laugh. Imagine shopping at the cow. "Oh I got this dress at the cow, do you like?" 

King's College London....Damn I should have gone to this school.

Somewhere around the universities.

I believe this was part of the university.

You could say this is college town, since Cambridge University and King's College are around.

It was so peaceful.

"I got this beautiful blouse at SweatyBetty." o_o

The grass is soooooo green for being winter.

The round church.

I love how I mostly never see this in U.S unless you are in college town.

CANDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYY!!!!

my new job...(not really)

Fake Michael Jackson in England 

I so want to see this.

I still haven't seen Les Miserables...somehow I feel like I'm missing something important.

Chinatown.

Very wise man.

Abraham Lincoln in England?!

My first beer in England.

This christmas tree was made out of legos.

Fish and chips. Not really my favorite, but I did tell myself I would try something different and most common in England.

I love how this picture captures how windy it was by the hair on my face, yet shows the beauty this world has (no I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about the Big Ben).

Big Ben.

Buckingham Palace.

There are more pictures, but I decided to just show the better ones. Sorry for the side way pictures and for making one of the longest posts ever.

-Hanny