A Nice Surprise

I had an unexpectedly good weekend.

So here’s what happened. I went to the International Office to pick up a ticket for a trip to Warwick Castle (which is in two weeks I believe). Upon entering the room and looking at the various options for trips, I noticed a sheet describing a tour of the Sussex countryside that was planned for the next day (Saturday). Oh, why not, I thought. I’m not doing anything else so I may as well go.

I’m SO GLAD I decided to go. I met a really nice girl on the trip and we ended up hanging out the whole time. It was raining and the fog was ridiculous (you could barely see anything), which was disappointing because it meant we couldn’t go to Beachy Head. Beachy Head is this really huge cliff that has amazing views. It’s also a very popular spot for suicide in the UK. Understandably, we couldn’t go.

We visited the Seven Sisters Cliffs, which was cool, but the rain and wind was uncomfortable. Afterwards we traveled to Eastbourne, a really pretty seaside city. It must look gorgeous when the sun is actually out. We had a bit of free time so we ate at a pub (my first pub!) and went shopping. I finally got a UK phone so now I can contact other people here, and we went to a place called Primark which is my new favorite store. They have great clothing and accessories in there, and even better, it’s cheap! I’ll definitely be going back.

We stopped at the ruins of a castle next. Apparently it's only half the size it used to be (vertically I mean). For a castle it was pretty small. There wasn't much to see so we didn't stay very long. It was an interesting visit though. My umbrella blew inside out. That's always fun.

Our last stop was in a town called Alfriston. It’s a quaint little English town with narrow roads and cute little shops. We went to an adorable tea shop and I finally had a cream tea and a scone. The scone was delicious.

Random interjection here, but I’ve been wondering what the UK equivalent of a biscuit is for a long time. Because okay, an American cookie is a British biscuit, so I wondered what an American biscuit would be—that is, I wondered what the word for it was. I’d heard of scones before but I never had one, so now I know. They’re not exactly the same of course; biscuits aren’t really sweet like scones are, but they have the same texture. I hope that made sense.

Anyway, I now know why British people put milk in their tea. It’s really good. I usually only drink fruit teas so putting milk in that would probably be weird, but for regular British tea milk is an excellent addition.

When we finished our tea we looked in some shops. I bought a mug, surprise surprise. After looking in a few more shops it was time to leave. And guess what? The sky started clearing up about half an hour before we left and by the time we got on the bus it was a beautiful sunny day. Argh. Good job sun.

So that was a good day. Sunday was okay too. I didn’t do much but it was relaxing. It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised. I liked that trip better than Stonehenge, and I was expecting it to be just average. You never know what can happen.

In other news, I may be planning a trip to Paris. We shall see. It won’t be for a while though, probably December. Eurostar is expensive unless you book really early, so I’d better make the decision fast. I tried looking for plane tickets but, long story short, it didn’t work out. The train is the best option I have.

Okay, a few more British tidbits for you before I go:

Instead of saying, “Can I help you?” cashiers just say, “Can I help?”

Some British people end their sentences with the word “yeah”, or stick it into the middle of a sentence. I guess it’s similar to an American saying something like, “So I was walking down the street, right, and then blah blah blah”, the “right” being the equivalent to “yeah”.

They ask, “Are you alright?” more than “How are you?” This threw me at first, because in the U.S. people usually only ask “Are you alright?” if you look like you’re upset, so I was worried that I was walking around looking sad or something. Nope, just a cultural difference.

People seem “greener” over here than in the U.S. On my campus one store charges for plastic bags, and when I went to one supermarket off campus the cashier told me that their plastic bags were free, as though it’s a question that many people have. It actually works—I got a few free reusable bags at the Freebies Fair early in the term, and I bring them with me whenever I go shopping. Less plastic bags! Maybe America should consider it…

Okay, I have to go work on an essay. Is it weird that I’m kind of enjoying writing it?

Hm…there’s no trips this weekend (as far as I’ve planned) so it’ll be a bit more relaxed. I’ll update again soon J