Chichester

I went to Chichester today.

I can honestly say that Chichester is not a place I would have ever gone if had not been specifically suggested to me, and a ride and tour provided. To be honest, it's a very cute little town, no wait, city. It has a cathedral (Southampton is a town, no cathedral). The two main shopping streets are on a cross around this cute structure sort of bit, with the cathedral on one of the corners. It's a smaller cathedral than the others I've been to, but it dates back to like, 1087 or something ridiculous, so those things are always interesting in some way or another. Plus the cathedral is free, always a bonus.

Aside from the cute cathedral and cute surrounding cloisters (today's random head shot is from a little alley in what I suppose is the cathedral close), the shopping streets are also very cute and 'authentic' in a way we can't pull off stateside. While mainly chain shops you find everywhere, they were located in obviously old structures built for entirely different purposes. It gives the place something we like to call 'character', but in an almost stereotypically English way. Maybe it's just a bit hard to describe. It was quite crowded today, with the news promising it to be the busiest shopping day of all time or something silly, but it still wasn't as bad as the main shopping bits in Southampton as of late.

Overall, I would say Chichester is a pleasant place. But I don't know if I would recommend it as a destination on a short trip. Unless you were driving along the south coast and wanted to hit all the sights. Oh, and they had some really cute looking pubs. Like, really, really cute.

Portsmouth Returns

I went back over to Portsmouth today on a secret mission. It didn't go particularly well, but it was very foggy and so I at least took a couple of cool foggy pictures. Oooh, look at the fog. You couldn't even see Spinnaker Tower, and it was right there. The fact that it was inhumanly cold kept me from staying too long, however, so it was a quick jaunt.

This part of town (aka, campus and north of campus) have seemingly cleared out by now. It's back to how it kind of was during the international induction week, with me and a bunch of students from Asia, only the Europeans that were here during the induction have pretty much all returned home for Christmas. One of the girls that lives in my 'flat' is from Malaysia and she is still around, otherwise it might be a little too quiet.

Tomorrow I have to stock up on supplies because all of the stores will be closed Christmas and Boxing Day, plus the buses and trains will not be running those days either. I will discuss Boxing Day at a later time...

Oxford

So I went to Oxford today. Lucky for me I chose the coldest day ever to walk around outside all day. Go me. Needless to say, my first stop was a coffee place to regain feeling in my hands.

Most of the colleges were closed, and there weren't many tourists around, so things were remarkably quiet while walking through the non-shopping streets checking things out. I don't really know what was what, but I did see quite a good number of colleges. This included a trip to the top of a church tower by the little round building by the library, of which I took numerous photos that are on picasa. Now, for 2 pounds (student rate, I'm afraid), you can climb up the scariest stairs ever, but you get a fantastic view of the city. Of course, it's also the narrowest walkway ever and near impossible to get by anyone, but still worth it. Once again, you should check out the photos.

Having run out of colleges to see by 1, I was forced to walk around the shopping bits of town. The stores were the same as in Southampton, so it was not particularly exciting, except for this little covered market bit. It had quite an interesting assortment of local businesses, a good portion of which seemed to sell meat. This included a butcher shop with what was probably hundreds of fake dead chickens hanging outside of it (sorry, no photo). After running out of shopping, I went to the Ashmolean Museum to kill some more time (plus it was free). Unless desparate to pass some time, I don't really recommend the place, as it's just sort of a lesser version of stuff they have at the London museums, only with a bunch of rather talkative French middle school students following you around.

Upon departure it was still only 2:30, so I wandered around a bit more. Found a few more interesting bits, and then finally headed back the train station. On the way I came across the special Oxford canal, which is by one of the rivers, and took some pretty photos, including the one above.

I got to the train station around 3:30. The trains that go to Southampton leave at a quarter past every hour, so I bought a magazine and was prepared to wait 45 minutes for the next one. Lucky (or so I thought) for me, the 3:15 didn't show up until 3:50, so I managed to get on that one. Unlucky for me, its string of bad luck continued and we were at a standstill for 45 minutes between Oxford and Reading behind a broken down freight train. Lucky for me, handguns are illegal in this country, because otherwise I would have been extremely weary of the guy across the aisle shaking his head continuously and muttering obscenities under his breath. Basically it took over two hours for an hour and 15 minute train. But they had a really long list of excuses, and that's the most important thing.

Borders

As part of my 'avoid Above Bar Street at all costs' moves, I went to Borders today, which is conveniently down behind West Quay and can be gotten to from the bus stop without being crammed onto overcrowded sidewalks (ahem, "paths", as some locals would call them).

Aside from the general appearance being the same as its American counterparts, there were quite a few interesting differences to be noted. First of all, there was a giant Starbucks (not Seattle's Best). And then of actual interest to at least me:

- It is cheaper to buy imported American Vogue (3.25) than British Vogue (3.60)
- Most of the biographies are either about a) footballers or b) random female celebrities no American has ever heard of
- The crime section was nearly as large as fiction
- They have like, every Wilkie Collins book, not just The Moonstone and Woman in White. SCORE.
- There were ten million books either about celebrity chefs or cooking

I spent a little too much time looking through 'A Xenophobes guide to Americans'. I learned quite a bit about the American people. Apparently winning is paramount, but on the inside we are all insecure pessimists (who one day want to start our own businesses). Plus we are a little too into the Superbowl, we don't understand that other cultures might be different than ours, and having God on your side is the same as having America on your side. There was 'A Xenophobe's guide to the English' as well, but I had been standing in the same spot for quite some time and felt like I needed to keep moving. Now I just have a reason to go back (well, that and Wilkie Collins novels).

London shoes!

I got my first pair of English shoes yesterday! In London! For 27 pounds! I have them on right now!

So, I got in my let's-see-London-done-up-for-Christmas trip yesterday with a couple classmates. After dropping one off for their interview at Notting Hill Gate, wandered down this adorable little street, Kensington Church Street, to get to the Kensington High Street. It was on this street that I realized normal human beings do not live in that neighborhood (the streets were literally lined with Jaguars, BMWs, Mercedes, and Porches), but I also found my shoe store where things were quality made and half-price. After some more shopping in Kensington, it was time to head over to Covent Garden to soak up the festive atmosphere. It was quite festive. Oxford Street was quite crowded as well. There were shoe sales everywhere, but I managed to resist.

My big thing I wanted to see was the Christmas tree (a gift from the people of Oslo, apparently) in Trafalgar Square. While it is indeed a big tree, you'd think it would have been a little more impressive. But the photo is above (and additional photos are on Picasa), so you can judge for yourself. As it was right there, the Christmas tree visit lead to another detour through the National Gallery, which I kind of rushed through before. Then it was over to Leicester Square to see what they had come up with, which was a Christmas carnival, then around Piccadilly (some lights), and eventually back over to the South Bank (I don't know if colored plastic bottles count as Christmas decor...).

While there was not oodles of Christmas-ness all around, the people were especially festive in their behavior. Being the last real Friday before Christmas weekend, a lot of people at both restaurants were having their Christmas meals (the restaurant gives them crackers, so they wear those little hats like in About a Boy). Overall, I would say that its all just sort of done in their own way. It's probably for the best, as I have managed to not hear nearly as much Christmas music. Although there was a little Last Christmas going on at the lunch place.

And for some reason my hair is getting noticeably lighter. It's really strange.

Break!

Today was the last day before Christmas break. After weeks of freaking us out about how long this afternoon's lecture would be (they told us it would last until 6), imagine how relieved we were when it not only got out at 4:45, but that the head of the department would be buying everyone drinks down at the Stile. So everyone scuttled down the road and we got to chat with a few of the professors outside of the classroom. I'm not sure if they are that impressed with us as a group. It's a bit sad.

So now I have three weeks and four days before I have another lecture. This should seem like a long time. I suppose it is, but at the same time I've been a bit jumbled as of late and it hasn't really sunk in quite yet. Aside from spending Saturday and Sunday getting caught up on all the things I've fallen behind on (grocery shopping, laundry, organizing the growing stacks of paperwork), I'm fully intending to do at least a few day trips over break. Tomorrow is London. It should be quite nice because it will be my first trip up there without 'engineering works', so it will only take an hour and twenty minutes instead of two. It'll be like an express train. I'm not quite sure where else I should be going before classes start again. The fact that it gets dark so early and often rains makes a lot of destinations a little less desirable. Perhaps Bath? Exeter? Warwick? Oxford? I feel like I will get no sympathy if these are the things I am left to ponder over... Either way, a few random head shots are surely on the way.

Of course, I have three pieces of coursework I need to do over break, and two of them are on noise and vibration, which I assure you, is not as interesting as it sounds. I also need to start worrying about exams, which are two weeks after the semester starts back up in January.

The English say Greek letter funny. Like, oh-meeee-ga. They're silly.

Missing out

Last essay is due this morning!! Yay!! It's pretty much done, I just have to read it through, print it out, and turn it in by noon. The four topics I chose were: the rudder, the wind tunnel, the chronometer, and the internal combustion engine. And then I had to go over their development and background in terms of transportation, and discuss later developments and how they have been used in other forms of transportation than those for which they were originally intended. Interesting, I know. A master's level essay question, I think not. I'm pretty sure every single essay turned in will have used wikipedia as a primary source.

Once the essay is all turned in, it's time to kick back, relax, and watch movies all afternoon in preparation for nine hours of class tomorrow (which will be the longest day of the term, also the last before break, seems a little cruel).

I learned something quite sad yesterday that I have every intention of correcting. The English don't have deviled eggs. They have not even heard of them. This is a unacceptable. A life without deviled eggs is no life at all. I have officially added deviled eggs to my list of things I must make for the English, along with at least slightly authentic Mexican (there's only so much to work with over here) and daiquiris, because I'm sick of people asking me what they are every time I bring them up (me: they are good, that's all you need to know).

We got wished a 'happy Christmas' by one of the lecturers yesterday. I'm not sure if that is more or less demanding than a merry one.