I love england :)

[El]

I went out clubbing last night in the beautful city of Norwich and i am happy to say from the hours of 9pm till 3:30am i didnt recieve a single insult. I got asked my gender twice, but in a polite way that didnt upset me. I had an older gentleman ask for my phone number (i politely declined lol). We went to three clubs and a pub and by the end of the night i really felt like a "normal human being" which is very rare for me. So thank you england for being such a friendly place for a 22 year old trans woman who doesnt pass!

[cindianna_jones]

How wonderful for you! I'm so thrilled to see people starting to accept us. It's only getting better!

And as far as passing goes.... you'll get there. Really.

Chin up!

Cindi

[Padma]

Hey, good for you (and good for Norwich) - I started my transition there last year before I moved to Devon, Norwich is a good town (oh, and the best chips in the universe are to be had at Straits Fish & Chips in Sheringham ).

[Pippa]

There are always going to be idiots out there and you have to be careful.  However, I have noticed a change in people's reactions and to be honest, most people couldn't give a jot.  I think recent changes in the law and the better profile we get in the media is helping.  You see a lot less of the 'Shock, Horror, he's becoming a girl' stories in the media.  People are also less confused about gender difference and don't automatically think trans means gay.  Important discrimination legislation has been passed in the last few years and I salute those of us who have lobbied parliament and the media in our cause.  putting yourself in the public spotlight is not easy and I for one would not wish to attract such attention.

Things are changing slowly but I still think that the idiot radar needs to be kept switched on.

[TheUglyDuck]

Fish n Chips?

How painfully anglo saxon XD

[Padma]

I ain't no Anglo Saxon, thank you very much, I'm a Jew . I don't do the fish (can't eat the wheaty batter anyway) but chips are originally a French invention, as it happens . The ones from Straits are crispy and a little brown, and not the usual "paper bag full of pus" that most British chips seems to aspire to.

[TheUglyDuck]

Hahaaha so sorry. XD

I've never been to much into the fried fish either. I always prefered the hamburgers myself. : )

But aussie chip standerds really are much better. ;p

[Padma]

Right, and you can't get a decent pie floater in Norfolk either .

[Pippa]

Fish and Chips has become associated with the UK but it's history goes back much further.  Basically the two elements were sold seperately and it took an influx if italian ice cream sellers in the 19th century to put them together.   Basically they were looking for a winter market when ice cream didn't sell.  It is arguable whether chips developed from french fries,  I think it most likely that many places fried potatoes and that chips and fries were created by morphic resonanace.  The batter never used to be eaten but I also believe it's origins are jewish (shellfish aren't kosha but most other fishes are).

[spacial]

I've also heard the version of Padma and while I have huge respec t for her, I have to agree with Pippa, that the origins may be somewhat different.

I have to say, though, it is rare to get decent fish and chips anywhere now.

I came to this country in the mid 60s and lived in a small village in the Midlands. There was a chip shop there of the type that were all over the UK. My first experience of English food.

The point was, they used dripping to fry.

You can buy dripping in some butchers and supermarkets. though only small quantities. If you get some, try shallow frying with it. Not quite the same as the old chippie deep fried but the taste is still quite amazing.

Frankly, it's my experience that French food is all colour and no taste. It's also incredibly greesy for some strange reason. Though not being a chef, I have to assume it's because it's French.

English food may be quite plain but, health fascists aside, the taste is incredable. Buy meat now-a-days, the fat has been cut off. Supposedly it cloggs our arteries. Yet people ate it for centuries, often all they did eat.

[Padma]

Hmm, more extensive chip research suggests Belgium rather than France, dating from the 1600's. But I was really just responding to the Anglo Saxon quip, and specifically about chips, not the f&c combo - I don't really care where they came from (they may well have arrived in England via Italy, but they didn't originate in Italy), but they definitely didn't come from England!

Still trying to find somewhere local that does gluten-free fish batter, sigh.

[El]

lol i cant believe this has turned into an indepth discussion of fish and chips. I like the battered cod but i dont really like chips so i generally just get a piece of cod and eat it where no-one will judge me for it

[Padma]

Heh, "in-depth" is flattering it, innit? Anyway, Norfolk has lots to offer apart from its exceptional chips . Sheringham Park on the north coast is bloody amazing, especially in spring when all the Rhododendrons and Azaleas are in bloom.

[El]

Bawsey Woods, Thetford Forest, Wells dunes and pine forest. I love them all lol

[Padma]

Bawsey Woods, Thetford Forest, Wells dunes and pine forest. I love them all lol

And on the townie front, if you like funky little bars, Franks Bar is both little and funky, and plays good music (and always has great gluten-free cakes *bows down*) .

[K Style Addiction]

Sounds great, now i know where to go if i ever take a vacation .

[spacial]

Hmm, more extensive chip research suggests Belgium rather than France, dating from the 1600's. But I was really just responding to the Anglo Saxon quip, and specifically about chips, not the f&c combo - I don't really care where they came from (they may well have arrived in England via Italy, but they didn't originate in Italy), but they definitely didn't come from England!

Still trying to find somewhere local that does gluten-free fish batter, sigh.

I really think you're wrong there Padma. I understood the origins to be the seaside holidays taken by working class city dwellers. They were used to chips from home and combined with locally caught fish, in the seaside towns.

But regardless, the dish died with the introduction of recycled oil and the US style fries, which taste so like cardboard as to be spooky has finished them off.

Did find this though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_chips

[Padma]

I've never been talking about the origin of "fish & chips", I've always just been talking about the origin of chips . I've got no idea about "fish & chips", and no idea how this became a discussion of the origin of "fish & chips", but it wasn't my doing - but I'll take your word for it on the origins of that immortal pairing .

[Stefan]

That's great to hear!
I'll be going to England for the first time in March and it's nice to know that people are open minded.
I'll be in London though, does anyone know how people treat trans* people there?
I pass 100% but I haven't had my gender or name changed yet so I'm a bit nervous about that.

[Sweet Blue Girl]

Congrats el