I am amazed at how fantastic the weather has been here. Seriously. Everyone told me that I would be in a constant state of being cold and damp, and yet, it's been between 65 and 70 every day with bright sunshine. Now, granted, since I've said this, it's likely to change tomorrow morning (I think we're expecting rain Sunday anyway), but I simply had to spread the news that English weather is not always miserable.... only sometimes....ok, most of the time.
Anyway, the morning actually started out a bit foggy-- we got up early for our last orientation meeting, all about cultural enrichment. We had a lovely time talking about our stereotypes of the British, strange things that we've encountered here, as well as what the British think of us. Turns out, they get most of their perceptions of us from reality tv....they think we're all like the characters from Jersey Shore. I've never watched this show, but apparently, it's truly awful. Also, several Brits seem to blame every single American for the Iraq War...which is a bit awkward. No wonder people hate Americans!
Interestingly, I'm not really going through much culture shock. I feel very at home in this culture (though I have to keep remembering not to say "pants" instead of "trousers"... as "pants" here means "underwear"), and as a whole, the Brits are much friendlier, wittier, and classier than most Americans.
After the cultural session, we took a tour of the University of Bath. The campus is very peculiar-- up on top of a hill, in a giant complex of connected buildings-- it could almost be an outdoor mall, with lots of levels. It has a world-class fitness center (it was super intimidating to simply walk through, let alone work out there), classrooms, a few dorms, a travel agency, a library, an art center, a theatre, some bars, a grocery store...I don't think you would ever have to leave the campus. We also took a few minutes to sit outside by the pond-- and we had some visitors....
So many ducks!!!
After the tour, we didn't have anything to do until 7:30, when we had an evening reception in the Victoria Art Gallery with our tutors (like professors, except that in the British system, you aren't called a professor until you've become super accomplished in your field and have been teaching for bajillions of years). So I decided to take a little stroll through Victoria Park (five minutes from my house), and maybe sit and do some reading (my first homework...and classes haven't even started yet). By the way, this is no Core Creek Park that we're talking about here:
...Because this park has the Royal Crescent behind it-- one of the most expensive and prestigious addresses in the world. It's beautiful, and too big to fit into this picture!
Here's another section of the park, with the monument to Queen Victoria:
And this adorable little cottage and tree that looks like it would be amazing for climbing:
While I was sitting on a bench facing this, I was approached by a Jehovah's Witness, and wound up having a very interesting conversation with her for about twenty minutes. Needless to say, I didn't get an awful lot of work done.
Oh, and I finally remembered to take some pictures on the beginning of my walk into town!
We start by leaving my door:
And then we walk down my street:
I'm at the very top of this very long hill.
And then we pass through the Circus!
Sorry....not the kind of circus that you were thinking of.
The Circus is a giant ring of Georgian town houses, like the Royal Crescent, but shaped like a circle instead. Nicholas Cage bought a house here recently (but then had to sell it because he went bankrupt...or something....).
...And then I stopped taking pictures. I'm sorry. I had to start paying attention to where I was going-- there are so many options for how to get to Nelson House, you need to think about it. Also, crossing the street is like running with scissors....the drivers are crazy, there are no crosswalks, and everyone drives in the wrong direction. It's madness.
Also, I made my own dinner tonight for the first time since I've been here-- I was very proud of myself. Pasta with spinach and butter, and then a jam-and-brie-on-toast sandwich (which I highly recommend!).
Another note-- pubs on a Friday night = madness. Don't go unless you want to suffocate. We went just to see what it would be like, and left fairly quickly-- not something I plan to do again soon!
Well, now it's quite late, so I had better be going-- talk to you again soon!
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