Different and Not

Some other things that are different in England.
When I was last here, you couldn’t go anywhere without finding a Wimpy Bar. That doesn’t mean a place for wimps, but a kind of pre-MacDonalds, where they sold Wimpy Burgers. Now you can’t go anywhere without finding a MacDonalds – except in Sudbury (south of Bury St Edmunds), which still has one of the last Wimpy Bars in England.
Fish and chips aren’t horrible everywhere in England. We had some very nice chips the other day. And in the Guardian this morning they’re saying that fish and chips are now being served in top restaurants as one of the great English meals – with lots of garnishes, of course.

Some things that aren’t different.
Television is almost identical to the television we see in NZ. Not so much in terms of the actual programs, but in terms of the types of programs. There are more English-made series, but they all follow the same trends as we have: lots of cooking series, gardening, quiz shows, reality tv etc. There are more satirical talk shows, and these are brilliant, because the wit of the people on them is top-notch. There’s nothing quite like this at home. But otherwise, most of the time you could be sitting in your lounge in Glenpark Ave and watching your ordinary old tv.