Hey, so today officially marks the One Month Away point. And let me be the first to say, it’s flown by.
I figured that perhaps now would be a good time to share some of the wisdom I’ve learned so far.
- Travellers are a community unto themselves. It is like a club and once you join, you are a member for life.
- For some reason dryers never caught on in the UK.
- Fortunately radiators did, and so when visiting someone for the first time, you usually get a great glimpse of their gitch collection laid out to dry.
- Though you are not limited to 5 channels, it’s all many people have. To get more you have to get a digital box.
- BBC4 (I think it’s also called ITV4) is the best channel. It has hardly any censorship. They have a show here called Dirty Sanchez that is like Jackass, minus any sort of storyline or creativity – it’s mostly just painful, scratch that, it’s ALL painful. I’m also addicted to this new show called Bedsitcom, which is like Joe Schmoe, but set up like The Real World and it has three real people and three actors. It’s hilarious. I could speak endlessly about the TV here.. it’s great. I’m also addicted to Eastenders, but don’t tell anyone.
- Many movies do come out later here (i.e. SWAT just came out in theatres), but by and by the bigger films come out at the same time.
- I survived haggis, have avoided Marmite at every turn and am in love with Dairylea cheese spread.
- I’ve given up on trying to sort out the whole “wrong side of the road” issue, and I just look about 10 times in both directions, step forward and pray.
- The accents aren’t that hard to get used to – though most the people I’ve met have been Australian!
- If you come to the UK, DO NOT STAY IN THE SOUTH! Really, there is very little difference between Southern England and Ontario. I mean, the architecture is a bit different, but mostly, boring and the same. However, Northern England, Scotland and Ireland are great for scenery!
- The British Empire may have ushered in a new era in mass transportation and created a navy the world feared for centuries – but they have a LONG way to go when it comes to plumbing.
- Populations and distances are something to get used to. Because the cities are so famous for various reasons, you just assume they are really big. Belfast and Edinburgh are smaller than Hamilton. Glasgow is about the same size of Hamilton.
- I should have brought another shirt or two, I shouldn’t have brought my winter jacket, I should have brought a lighter jacket, I’m glad I brought my laptop (though it’s heavy), I could have left my mobile at home (but it’s light)and my digital camera is great – but eats batteries like an SOB.
- The British are obsessed with their mobile phones!
- Round-abouts are something that North America could learn a lot from for traffic control.
- As much as my friends get the run down on what I’m doing, I NEVER hear from them! Bunch of ungrateful bastards.
Haha, so yeah.
I went into Belfast yesterday and explored a bit. The weather was crummy so I didn’t take any photos. I did a tour of the City Hall which was quite cool and then I walked up to a photography exposition that was on. From there I figured I’d kill a couple hours and catch a movie. I went and saw Timeline. I had read the book and didn’t think they’d do a very good job of the movie. I was wrong. It kicked ass. I really liked it. PLUS I got to see a teaser trailer for AVP (Aliens Vs. Predator) out in 2004!!! Oh yeah! I’ve been waiting for what… 5 years for that?
I also ended up splurging a bit and bought three books yesterday. It was a 3 for the price of 2 sale and I couldn’t resist, even if it did run me £17. I am super excited about the books though. I finally bought Stupid White Men by Michael Moore – a long time coming. The other two I bought were Staw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals by John Gray and The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I bought it yesterday and am more than halfway though. I can’t put it down, it is incredible. I bought it because it sounded interesting and I know that M. Night Shamalhan (sp?) is making a movie of it. I can’t wait to see it. I love his movies to begin with… so this should be great.
Well, I’m heading down to Dublin tomorrow. I’m going to once again try hitch hiking. I can’t wait to see Julie and Gerard! I’m also hoping to meet up with a really cool sounding girl from Globalfreeloaders.com, and hopefully chill with her too.
Alright… that’s all for now, I just KNOW Carol’s trying to call me and I’m on dialup…
Peace.
