I have Thursdays off and my Friday classes do not start until next week so the weekend has come a bit early this week! I really don't have any work to do either because my War Studies class has not uploaded its syllabus to blackboard and I couldn't get my Film Studies books from the library so I spent my morning contributing to the death of the British book stores. Thank you Amazon.
When I came to the UK, I envisioned the cleaning ladies being these cute old British ladies who would chat with you everyone time they see you. Maybe see them in the kitchen and have a spot of tea and some crumpets (maybe I am basing this on Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast a bit too much), but alas no. Instead of being Hispanic like in the US, the cleaning ladies here are Black French chicks who do not speak one word of English. This morning she knocked on my door and started speaking to me in French. It isn't gonna do her any good really because the only French words I know basically are "bonjour", "merci" "omlette du fromage" and the words to Bad Romance and Lady Marmalade. I apologize to any French people if I spelled those words incorrectly. Chances are also I probably murder the pronunciation as well. So getting back to Marie, thats what I am going to call her from now on. She comes in and is saying in French what I assume is "I am going to vacuum". I tell her "no" because my floor is perfectly clean, and I'm trying to be polite and lessen her workload. Apparently no isn't universal because she ends up barging in and starts vacuuming. She is kinda like Consuela from Family Guy, only opposite. It's a great clip so I highly recommend. So then she starts removing everything from my sink and washing that too because apparently once again no means yes. Then she just muttered some words in French, rearranged my furniture (I didn't ask her to be my interior designer, I like where my coffee table is) and left. It made all the time when the cleaning lady at GW walked in while I was coming out of the shower in only boxer briefs look less awkward.
It may sound like I'm complaining but I actually find it funny. It just goes to show you how everyone has these preconseved notions about different cultures and like this instance, the cleaning lady situation is no different in the UK then the US, just flip the nationality and the language. The one thing that unites us is the fact that no one seems to want to clean themselves. I will befriend a cute old British lady before I leave, so help me god!
Here's to hoping she just doesn't steal my money like Consuela: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEOSehGMwB4&NR=1
Since its an early weekend, going out tonight should be fun!
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