Sunday, November 05, 2006

Wroughton

This was my entry from Saturday, that blogger decided to conveniently erase, but luckily I saw it coming:

So yesterday was another all-day educational field trip. This one was to Wroughton, which is near Swindon, which is somewhere between London and Bath. Somewhere on the outskirts of Wroughton there is an old World War II landing strip/series of airplane hangars that has been converted into the sort of 'stuff to big to put in the regular museum' branch of the National Museum of Science and Industry. Needless to say, I think we were the only people there. Getting to said destination required leaving campus at 8 am in a mini-bus driven by the lecturer. Not ideal.

On the way there we went by a bypass, where the lecturer was telling us about how inconvenient it was that in order to build it they had to remove the environmentalists from the trees because you can't just cut them down when they're up there and there are tv cameras present. At said museum we visited only one hangar, which had stuff related to transportation, so bicycles, motorcycles, cars, and planes. We had a guided tour by a man who quickly picked out that I was American and then continued to tell anti-American stories at every single item he showed us. And he showed us items for over two hours. Now, if I had been able to walk around on my own and look at the stuff I would have thought it all very interesting, but we all have our limits. Especially when it's about 35 degrees outside, the hangar is uninsulated and unheated, and you've lost contact with your lower extremities. But the old bikes were really neat.

After the museum, the lecturer decided we would be eating lunch in Avebury (or is it Avesbury), which some will recall to be a place with a bunch of stones older than Stonehenge that we went to on our Mad Max tour. It is much, much cuter when it's sunny and not-windy. Then we went around to some other town, and then we went to look at a canal, and then to get a better look at the canal, and then to another town (only getting out of the mini-bus once), before finally getting back to Southampton a little after 4 pm. After departing the mini-bus, it was realized that nobody really knew why we had gone.

I must also mention this week's quiz. As you all recall, I did not know the big final question to last week's quiz. But this week I was able to redeem myself, mainly thanks to it being mentioned on an episode of the Newlyweds with Nick and Jessica. And we got third place.

The question: In what city in Kentucky does the Kentucky Derby take place?
The answer: Louisville.

6 comments:

Buehler Recipes said...

I feel for you in the anti-american tour-leader area. I finally learned to slip into museum groups and keep my mouth shut. The Dutch are the worse, Scott's are the nicest. But then, I did tell the Scottish guy that I believe in the Loch Ness monster.
Hey! Looks like I earned a Blogger display name! Weird.

Aaron said...

If Kentucky ever comes up in another quiz, there's a chance the question will be in what city was KFC founded. The answer to that is Corbin.

Anonymous said...

How would you have to change your appearance so you wouldn't be recognized as an American--besides getting rid of your chin, making your ears stick out, and unstraightening your teeth? Oh, I guess I'm being a litte mean, but it has to be said. The Brits are not, in general, an attractive bunch.

Anglo Mango said...

I must say that the younger English types have perfectly normal teeth. It threw them off when I revealed that we think of them as all having bad teeth. And I was hoping to not mention that I was American on the tour but the lecturer sort of pointed at me. So I knew I was stuck.

Anglo Mango said...

I must say that the younger English types have perfectly normal teeth. It threw them off when I revealed that we think of them as all having bad teeth. And I was hoping to not mention that I was American on the tour but the lecturer sort of pointed at me. So I knew I was stuck.

Anglo Mango said...

I don't know why that comment is there twice. Even new blogger hates me...