So, the past few weeks, I have been learning first hand about the everyday rules. These are just a few that I have come up with (I will make note of more as they come up in the future).
1) In the US, we naturally pass people walking on the right side. In a grocery store we usually do the same, because that is how we drive, and it is how we grow up. So, everyone knows that in the UK, people drive on the left side of the road. Well they walk the same! They walk on the left side of the stairs, the left side of the aisle, and so on. Unless you want to crash your shopping cart into everyone you pass in the grocery store, pass on the left! Most of the time left is right, except when you are on the escalators, then standing on the right is right. Confused yet? Because I am.
2) This is very important: Pedestrians do not have the right of way in the UK! Or at least that is how it seems. If you reach an intersection and see a car approaching slowing down, it is not because they are waiting for you to cross (because they won't stop), it is because they don't really have stop signs, it's more like a mutual understanding to yield when approaching a bigger street than the one that you are on.
3) If you try and fit in with the speech here, it doesn't work. They get confused when you mention football with an American accent. "you mean American football, or proper football, soccer?" Also, if you say "cheers" with an American accent, you will be laughed at. However, there are so many different English accents within England, no one will question your fake British accent if you try, well to your face at least!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
A Little Look at Middlesex
Sorry for not posting for so long, I have been busy trying to sort out my classes, and get settled in. We have had some snow this week, which made me extremely happy, but it was almost all washed away the next day by rain. Since my last post, I have continued to meet a lot of people, gone on a bus tour of London, gone to a club in the city, got my classes figured out, and gone on a The Great Treasure Hunt of London!
This past Monday, we were officially welcomed to our Middlesex campus, Trent Park. Just thought I'd share some interesting facts in case you were curious where the name Middlesex comes from. In the 6th Century, the Anglo-Saxons began to inhabit the area now known as London. The saxons named the east Essex, the south Sussex, the west wessex, and right in the middle was Middlesex. As the city of London grew larger, it became bigger than the county of Middlesex which it was in, therefore changing the name of Middlesex to London.
On our Trent Park campus, there is a building known as The Mansion. This is because Trent park used to be part of King Henry IV's hu
nting grounds. Later, in 1909 the estate was sold to a man who who played host to many celebrity visitors at Trent Park, such as Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill. At one point Queen Victoria even vacationed at the Mansion.
I am not going to get into my classes now, since I'm sure I will talk about them later but I am so relieved that I got into the ones which I wanted. As of now, I have class Wednesday at 10:00am, and Thursday at 2:00pm.
This past Monday, we were officially welcomed to our Middlesex campus, Trent Park. Just thought I'd share some interesting facts in case you were curious where the name Middlesex comes from. In the 6th Century, the Anglo-Saxons began to inhabit the area now known as London. The saxons named the east Essex, the south Sussex, the west wessex, and right in the middle was Middlesex. As the city of London grew larger, it became bigger than the county of Middlesex which it was in, therefore changing the name of Middlesex to London.
On our Trent Park campus, there is a building known as The Mansion. This is because Trent park used to be part of King Henry IV's hu
nting grounds. Later, in 1909 the estate was sold to a man who who played host to many celebrity visitors at Trent Park, such as Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill. At one point Queen Victoria even vacationed at the Mansion.I am not going to get into my classes now, since I'm sure I will talk about them later but I am so relieved that I got into the ones which I wanted. As of now, I have class Wednesday at 10:00am, and Thursday at 2:00pm.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Welcome to Narnia
After getting a brief tour of the Trent Park campus at Middlesex University, the other Study Abroad students and myself decided that we are now living in Narnia! We are surrounded by beautiful snow covered trees as well as plants which seem to go on and on. Everything around us is so calm and still. Though it's cold, I have found the crisp air ve
ry refreshing. Also, despite the weather reports, it hasn't snowed or rained since I've been here, but who knows what it will be like tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Arriving
If anyone has seen the movie The Holiday, and remembers the part where Cameron Diaz is trying to find her rental cottage, that was me today. Apparently there was too much snow on the ground for the University Bus to pick me up from the Underground station, so I took a cab. The driver stopped, and told me that he couldn't go any further because he wouldn't be able to get out of the snow. So there I was, dragging two 50lbs suitcases through the snow! What a journey! After a 10 hr plane ride, a 2.5hr tube ride, 5 minute cab ride, and 15 minute hike I made it!Next adventure: to find some food... I don't think that bag of Doritos is going to hold me over! Oh, and I need to find a bank to get some money!
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