An Old Castle on an Unsatisfied Stomach

Well, it's been another week in Oxford. The introductory course is over, and the real work is about to begin. On Tuesday we went to Warwick Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. It was amazing. Warwick Castle was built in 1068, with many modifications and additions through the centuries, including major ones in the 16th and 18th centuries. I was ecstatic to be there. I mean, it's old. It's a castle. What more could I want? It was absolutely beautiful, and it was an amazing way to start the day.

Stratford-Upon-Avon was nice as well, of course. We had cheap pub food, looked at both Anne Hathaway's and Shakespeare's birthplaces, and say The Winter's Tale as performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was a fun time, but I enjoyed the castle more. It's just what I'm more into.

The rest of the week last week was filled with lectures. Oh, and that essay whose deadline is slowly and surely creeping towards us all.

Yesterday my house had a little family dinner. Chrissy and I made spaghetti and brownies (with a little help, of course). We made some meatless sauce for Adam and some gluten-free pasta for Karen (because our house has all the food issues, haha). It was a wonderful night, and a fabulous way to eat up the entire day and procrastinate!

This meal leads me to move onto the main part of this post. I'm going to discuss my major complaint about Britain: it's food. Food is the most important thing in my life. It dictates my mood and it is the center of my day. Thankfully enough, I'm young and must have good metabolism, because I can eat a lot when I want to. I'm one of those people that eats when they are bored, or when everyone else is, or just because the craving strikes. Someday I will probably have to control my food intake a lot more, but I'm glad that day is not today.
However, Britain's food has severely disappointed me. I do not know what I was expecting upon arrival, but it certainly was not this. My first British meal was bangers and mash, which I had at our local pub. The sausage was local and it just did not sit well with me. Though, the mashed potatoes were delightful.


As the days went on and I went out shopping for my usual food items, I realized I had entered a version of hell. The country was lacking two things I loved: sugar and Mountain Dew. No places serve Mountain Dew, and no store I have been to sells it (and believe me, I've been checking every little sketchy place). Mountain Dew makes up about 50% of my liquid consumption. Though not a healthy amount, it became a vital amount. I used it to survive late nights at school, and to survive working with idiots and QT. Thankfully, Britain does have Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, which have almost stopped my Mountain Dew cravings, though, I'm not sure for how much longer.

As for the other part of my unhealthy diet, I realized Britain's drastically low sugar amount when I bought my first box of cereal. First of all, to find a box of cereal that even remotely looked appetizing and sugary was difficult. There were no marshmallow cereals, or fruity pebbles. I managed to find two boxes of "chocolatey" cereal, and for fairly cheap. The next morning I woke to a shock: the cereal tasted wretched. It was not until I dumped about four spoonfuls of sugar on it that it began to taste a bit better. Things were not looking good.
Since then, I have been experimenting with what should be sugary and delicious things, but are not. If I bake my own things, they taste great, but pre-made doughnuts, brownies and cakes have so far been disappointing. Therefore Britain has made me resort to things I never thought I would to get that sugary fix: fruit. I have bought more fruit (of my own accord) in the past two weeks than I think I have in the past year. The fruit here, thank goodness, is just as good as in the US. It may even be better.

So, as the days progress I will continue to fight British food until I win. I will continue experimenting with different places, brands, and combinations until I find stuff I like. And, thankfully enough, Britain does love their salt, or I would be in a even bigger world of hurt. Soon though, I will have sugary cereal and Mountain Dew in a package from my mom. You cannot beat me yet Great Britain!