Cheers

Where do I start?! I honestly don't know! Obviously I'm in England now! The trip here was (thankfully) uneventful. My flight was slightly delayed, and I almost fell off the train when I got to Bristol, but those are about the only things worth mentioning.

I got to Bristol on monday, the 19th, late afternoon, and my cab driver was probably one of the friendliest people I've ever met! He was fantastic. Finally got to meet Sarah, Louis and Luke, which was fantastic, they're such lovely people, honestly. They've made the transition here almost flawless (well as flawless as I get lol). Unpacked, ate dinner, then it was off to bed at the ridiculous hour of 7:30...! The following few days were a whirlwind of exploring Bristol and meeting new people.

Cara, another American girl over here, and I spent tuesday and wednesday wandering around Bristol, never quite sure where we were at any given moment, but we still managed our way back home at the end of the day! Though I was supposed to meet Cara at her hotel at 10 in the am, but Iwas a little late... as in I didn't get there until about 11:30! I almost got on the wrong bus, but luckily I asked the bus driver when I got on, and realized I was waiting on the wrong side of the street and he was going the opposite direction than I wanted! So I laughed good naturedly at myself (what else can you do?) and skipped off the bus over to the opposite bus stop. Then the bus I need drove right on by, and I turned to the older woman standing next to me and said "shouldn't that bus have stopped here?" to which she replied "only when you wave them down, but you didn't need that one did you dearie?" (oh yes, she did in fact call me dearie) and I just started laughing "Yes, actually I did!" so I just got on the next bus, but I had no idea where it was going, I just knew it was going in to Bristol (I live on the outskirts of the city). So I finally got off at the city center (sounded good to me) and thanks to my trusty a to zed (for those of you reading this that speak american, thats an a-z map of the city) I was able to find the hotel where Cara was staying, an hour and a half after we had arranged to meet... but it was all ok in the end!

The city itself is wonderful. Its uh, a bit bigger than Reno... and already after just a week, it has its own character. I haven't done nearly as much exploring as I would like, but I've got plenty of time! I love love love all the old buildings, you just don't get that in the states. Its somewhat humbling to be faced with a building so many hundreds of years older than you, or even any of the buildings you're used to. There's a modest little park area in the heart of the city, up on a hill that over looks southern Bristol, its absolutely breathtaking, especially at about 4:15 in the afternoon, when the light is starting to change and there's this... fog around certain things in the distance. I love that time of day, and I've come to understand why it was call the magic hour, or the time between times, in celtic folk lore, and why so much significance was placed on it. They believed that in that hour, dawn or dusk, when the light was not quite normal, before it sets completely, but after it starts to dim, the portal from our world into the other was open, or at least capable of being opened. I am admittedly a bit of a romantic, but I just love the idea of that, not so much that there is a portal between this world and another, but the feeling in those times of day, when its just beginning or beginning to end, is some what indescribable, at least for me. Sometimes, if you're in the right mind frame, there is a moment of stillness, almost like a sigh, and then the sun finishes setting and its night time. I do get rather tangental some times don't I?! The point of that was that I was looking out over the city at that time and it was quite beautiful!

The collection of buildings that makes up the University is quite impressive. Its not really a campus, in the strictest form of the word, as they are rather spread out. There are centralized areas, and luckily my classes are in one concentrated area, in 2 really old, really neat buildings. The Victoria Rooms are quite impressive, there is a rather epic fountain/statue thing just in front of some equally epic columns. Everything has so much character! I'll get pictures up as soon as I can, I've been too busy wandering around with my mouth agape to actually take pictures :)

Now I am going to go on a tangent about the word "cheers". I had no idea it was so versatile. I knew it was used differently over here, but my goodness! It can mean just about whatever you want it to. At times its more the inflection of your voice than the actual word itself. In the largest capacity that the word is used, it really embodies the English very well, at least my impression of them so far, combined with pre-formed stereotypes I'll admit. It's very charming, it manages to effortlessly convey an appreciation for the recipient, without creating an arena for further conversation. What do you say back to cheers? "Cheers" "Oh yeah, uh you too...?" I've decided on a fairly non-commital noise that sounds a bit like "yeah" without being terribly American, I hope anyway. But usually nothing is required in response. Its bit like "I'm friendly, without being terribly chummy, quite charming, and casually conifdent in the fact that I'm British" maybe I read too much into it...

Anyone who is secretly harboring the idea that I'm not getting a real study abroad experience because I'm in an english speaking country and how different could the cultures be... is an idiot. Anyone who thinks I don't have to deal with a language barrier is also an idiot. There are so many little things that leave you going "Uuum, I'm sorry... what?" and I absolutely love it. I've found a smile goes a terribly long way, especially since people don't tend to smile at one another on the street here, I get a lot of blank stares, but I jsut can't help smiling, one because I tend to do that a lot regardless of where I am, and 2, I've only been waiting for this opportunity for years, so I'm going to smile about it dammit! So far pretty much the only people who smile back are the service men, the bin men (in american that would be garbage men) the men sweeping the street or building something... and honestly only a few of them have been leers, most of them are just slightly surprised smiles. Here I am, bouncing along in my grey pea coat, hair dancing crazily about in every direction, having an absolute ball in this wet weather (its honestly disastrous sometimes, it can be slightly alarming, my hair really does have a mind of its own) with this beatific smile on my face, people must thing I've escaped from an institution! Ah well, the few people that do acknowledge me appreciate it, or maybe its more of a grimace...?! Haha! More adventures to follow, but for now... cheers!

Becca xx