An American in Scotland

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Cigarette Pack Update

In Smoking Kills, I mentioned the differences in cigarette pack health warnings among the U.S., U.K. and Canada. I just came across an article on the BBC's website announcing that the U.K. is going to follow Canada's lead: beginning next year, they are adding graphic pictures of diseased body parts on the back of cigarette packs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5017616.stm

The National Health Service has posted the proposed images on their website and are asking the U.K. public to vote for the ones they think would be the most effective smoking deterrents. Click on the link below to cast your vote.

http://www.packwarnings.nhs.uk/

Friday, May 26, 2006

The Road to Hell (Part 2)

I’ve spent the last two months preparing for my driving test. While immigrants from EU countries can simply show their current license and passport and get issued a U.K. license, the rest of us have to go through the same process as British teens.

First, there's the Provisional Driver’s License, which is similar to a driver’s permit in the U.S. To get one, I needed to show proof of identity, fill out a form and pay a £38 fee (about $68). http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/applydl.htm

After getting the PDL in the mail, I contacted one of a billion driver’s training schools. John, my instructor, assessed my driving skills by having me drive around St. Andrews for a couple of hours. Then he gave me a study guide CD for the written portion of the test, which I have to pass before I’m allowed to take the practical test.

The written test has two parts: a multiple-choice theory test and a hazard perception test. The 35 theory questions are similar to what you would find on the U.S. written test. The hazard test consists of 14 video clips that simulate driving on varying types of roads at different times of day. During each clip there is a developing hazard that you are suppose to recognize. As soon as you spot it, you let the computer know by clicking your mouse. http://www.2pass.co.uk/hazardtest.htm

A few weeks later, my test day arrived. On the way to the test center, a pheasant decided to run out in front of my speeding car. As I pulled into the parking lot, I wondered if hitting deranged birds could be considered a bad omen.

The man at reception checked my PDL and instructed me to put my coat and purse in a locker. Then he handed me off to another man who led me to a small cubicle containing headphones and a computer. After taking the practice tests, I sailed through the multiple choice. The hazard perception part was going okay as well until my finger spasmed, clicking the mouse a couple of times in quick succession. The program determined I was cheating and gave me a zero for that clip, causing me to shout at the screen until I remembered where I was. Fortunately, I still received enough points to pass.

Meanwhile, I had been taking weekly driving lessons. Each hour and a half lesson costs £33, while the testing fees set me back another £70. For the practical test, I will need to correctly execute several maneuvers that are supposed to show my adeptness at driving:
  • Emergency stop – A wayward pheasant might qualify, though only if I’m not endangering a driver behind me.

  • Parallel parking – Even though I didn’t get much of an opportunity to do this in the U.S., it’s obviously something I need to know how to do.

  • Three-point turn on a side street – I’ve done this a few times in the absence of a driveway to turn around in.

  • Backing into a parking space – I’m in unfamiliar territory here, but it’s apparently safer because your visibility's greater when you’re pulling out.

  • Reversing around a corner – I have no idea why anyone would ever have the need to do this. And of course, this maneuver has proven to be the most difficult for me to master. John did say they were planning on removing it from the test at some point, though not before I’m scheduled to take it.

There’s also a brief question/answer session called “show me, tell me,” where the examiner asks questions related to car maintenance. It’s fairly straightforward and the least of my worries.

My partner Gareth thinks the U.S. driving test is a joke, and I must admit that I’m putting a hell of a lot more work into passing this test, even with two decades of driving under my belt. But when I think back to my Driver’s Ed training in Michigan, which was free except for the license itself, it’s no wonder only 26% of 16-19 year-olds here have licenses. It must run them close to a thousand pounds in training and test fees, not to mention the high insurance premiums.

Friday, May 19, 2006

The Road to Hell (Part 1)

By far, the most difficult part about moving to the U.K. has been learning how to drive. I know you’re thinking: “Don’t you already know how to drive? Isn’t it just a matter of getting used to driving on the other side of the road?” This is certainly the most obvious difference, but not nearly as painful to get used to as some of the others I’ve encountered. Below are what I would consider to be my three greatest challenges:
  1. Roundabouts: A roundabout replaces stop signs or stoplights at an intersection. If you saw an aerial view of one, it would look like a child’s drawing of the sun. You always enter a roundabout on the left, while the vehicles already on it are coming at you from the right. Wikipedia has some great illustrations and photos. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout

    Roundabouts are everywhere and come in all sizes, from mini-roundabouts that are just painted circles on the ground, to massive, multiple-lane roundabouts containing several stoplights within them. The mixing of roundabouts and stoplights puzzles me: since roundabouts are supposed to keep traffic flowing and stoplights intermittently stop it from flowing, then why not just have the stoplights?

    I find them upsetting for a couple of reasons. First, you need to figure out which of several exits to take by quickly reading a sign just before you enter. This gets even trickier in Wales, where the exits are listed in both Welsh and English. Then, once you're on the roundabout, you have to choose just the right moment to cross one or more lanes in order to exit without crashing into anybody. I thought I was going to have a coronary the first time I drove on a large one.

    A few roundabouts exist in the U.S., but from what I understand, they’re really more like traffic circles than roundabouts. baconsrebellion.blogsot.com/2006/05/in-praise-of-roundabouts.html

  2. Narrow Roads: Since many of the roads have been here for centuries and were originally built for horse-drawn carriages (or just pedestrians), they have no extra space for street parking, which means that vehicles are always parked in the lane you’re driving in and you have to continually maneuver around them. Side streets are often only wide enough for one vehicle to get through (usually because of parked vehicles on one or both sides) so you have to wait for oncoming vehicles and vice versa. I’ve even driven on country lanes where I’ve had to back up several yards to allow the car coming toward me to pass.

  3. Street Furniture: This is what American author, Bill Bryson, calls the inordinate amount of signage cluttering U.K. roads. www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.5411 It’s as if Brits tried to cover every possible or potential hazard that might befall an unsuspecting driver in virtually every weather condition known to man. At first, I constantly worried that I was missing something important until I got to know which signs were actually helpful and which were just telling me what I already knew.

Keep an eye out for low-flying planes.


Be careful not to run aground.






Choo-choo Xing.


Try not to drive off the bridge.






In all fairness, the Brits I know who’ve driven in the U.S. said that, although they loved the wide roads, they found the lack of signage disconcerting and couldn’t fathom the idea of turning on a red light. I guess it really comes down to what you’re used to.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Smoking Kills

Last year in August, my partner Gareth and I moved from Los Angeles to a small town in Scotland called St. Andrews. Gareth grew up in Wales so, as his partner, I was allowed to become a U.K. resident on a 2-year Work Visa. If we decide to remain here, I can then apply for citizenship after my Visa expires.

St. Andrews is a picturesque town on Scotland's southeastern coast, a little over an hour's drive from Edinburgh. http://www.standrews.org.uk/ It’s home to the University of St. Andrews, which is where Prince William just completed his Art History degree. According to several British newspapers, his 2001 arrival prompted a sharp increase in British Council inquiries by American girls who were suddenly interested in applying.

The town is also known as the "Home of Golf." The golf course frequented by all the celebs is called the Old Course at St. Andrews Links. Although I'm not a golfer, the fact that St. Andrews is THE place to golf means there are loads of decent restaurants. The downside is that, during the golfing season, the town becomes filled to the brim with Americans.

I don't have a problem with Americans as such. I just mistakenly thought that moving to a small, Scottish town would not involve daily encounters with my fellow countrymen (and women). Even more worrying, however, is that American tourists are allowed to drive on British roads without any tips or training whatsoever, imperiling British and non-British drivers alike. More on driving in the U.K. later.

To begin my exploration of the differences between British and American life, I thought I'd talk a little about the smoking ban that just came into effect in Scotland on March 26.

Although the whole of the U.K., which includes Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, is mostly controlled through the British Parliament in London, taxpayers also support national assemblies that have limited decision-making powers over local affairs. This includes the ability to vote on and enact a public smoking ban. Northern Ireland had opted for a partial ban in 2005, while full bans in England and Wales are scheduled to go into effect in summer of 2007.

In the months leading up to the final decision, most of the polls I'd seen were in favor of the ban. However, a few groups (tobacco industry lobbyists, smokers' rights groups and restaurant and pub lobbyists) fought tooth and nail to keep it from happening. Interestingly, the plummeting revenues and sweeping pub closures predicted by these groups have not yet come to pass.
http://www.ashaust.org.au/SF'03/files/ScotBan060412.htm

Having spent a number of years in California - one of the handful of states that currently has a smoking ban - I'm thrilled to finally have a meal or a pint that's not laced with smoke, and from the reported revenue increases by many pubs, it sounds as though other non-smokers are flocking to enjoy the fresh air as well.

Which leads me to a discovery I made during my first trip to the grocery store. When I walked past the tobacco products area, the first thing I noticed were the startlingly large warnings on the cigarette packs. Not only did they take up nearly half the front and back of each pack (compared to the tiny warnings on the backs of U.S. packs), but the warnings themselves were more ominous. Besides the beautifully to-the-point, “Smoking Kills,” below is one of my favorites:

Although I found this “in your face” approach surprising, apparently it’s nothing compared to Canada, where they include graphic pictures of smoking-ravaged body parts on the packs as well. http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/01/09/canadian.cigarettes/