Quaint English (blank)

My first week in England is coming to a close, and so far it’s been a busy one. I arrived on Saturday, and then on Sunday walked around Ipswich for a few hours. On Monday JP and I went into London and did a few touristy things, one of which was exploring the British Museum. I’d never been, and I’ll need to go back a few dozen times to see everything. By which time they’ll have changed all the exhibits, and I get to do the whole thing over again. That same day I opened up a bank account with the chattiest banker I’ve ever experienced. It took an hour all in, and probably should have been only half that. Later on we walked across the Jubilee Bridge into South Bank, and saw the Globe Theatre. It was very cool.

Tuesday a few of us went crabbing up in Walberswick. In a technological feat of amazingness, we used string to catch them and bacon as bait. Surprisingly, it worked well. We also had High Tea, and I have been assured that this is a traditional Tuesday pastime. I have unreliable sources though, so I am reluctant to trust this information. On Wednesday I indulged in yet another traditional English pastime and watched the football. We were playing Slovenia and I was showing my English colours in an attempt to not get lynched before my first week was through. Also because it gave me a good starting point when I proceeded to play silly games on a phone instead of watching the game. Luckily the people I was watching with didn’t take my desertion to heart.

Thursday JP and I went into London again, this time to meet up with a few dearly missed friends. Highlights of the trip included a street of books, the British Library (Beowulf! The Magna Carta! Illuminated Manuscripts!), Billy Elliot, and to finish we had dinner at the Texas Embassy. There was a meat scare, but four hours later we’re fine so it’s probably nothing. (Hopefully.)

Lowlights included the hotel, the hotel staff, the hotel fire alarm, and the hotel breakfast. To cap off that visit, as we left the hotel we saw a police car in the car park.

On the whole there were quite a few police around, more than I’d seen in Vancouver on a typical day. Then again, there were more people on any main street in London than you’d see in the busiest part of Vancouver on a Friday night. So that was exciting.

I’m enjoying the quiet of tonight and the promised quiet of tomorrow. It’s been a busy week, and I plan to enjoy the peace while it lasts. In the coming days we’ll be travelling to Cambridge to see if we want to live there, and after that who knows?