Starting on Friday, the international students here at US (how funny is it, by the way, that the abbreviation for the University of Sussex is the same as the common abbreviation for my home country?) have a week-long break. I'm going to be traveling from Brighton to London, then to Edinburgh (Scotland), then to St. Andrews (Scotland) to see a very close friend, then to Alnwick (back in England), Newcastle, Durham, Hadrian's Wall, and York, before coming back to Brighton and taking the bus back to campus. I'm planning all this out now, and it is making my head hurt. I really love to explore new places, but I don't enjoy the process of figuring out how to get there and where to stay. This is what I like about being able to drive most everywhere I want to go back home! However, it's ironing itself out.
What I wanted to share, though, was this quote. I found it on the England lonelyplanet page.
"Throughout its long history, it's been a green and pleasant land, a sceptred isle and a nation of shopkeepers. It's stood as a beacon of democracy and a bastion of ideological freedom, as well as a crucible of empire and a cradle of class oppression. Magna Carta, the King James Bible and the welfare state were all dreamt up here, but then again so were beer bellies, Bovril and Mr. Bean. It's a nation of tea-tippling eccentrics and train spotters, of dog lovers and footy fanatics, of punk rockers, gardeners, gnome collectors, celebrity wannabees, superstar chefs, free-wheeling city traders, pigeon fanciers, cricket bores and part-time Morris Dancers. To some it's Albion. To others it's Blighty. To many it's the most eccentric, extraordinary and downright incomprehensible place on earth. Welcome to England."
I think it gives a very accurate feel for the country, so far as I've been able to tell so far.
By the way, I haven't forgotten about posting pictures from my Winnie-the-Pooh trip and trip to Lewes. I just haven't gotten to it yet.
Did you know that in British English, the word "gotten" is considered archaic? So is the term "fall" used seasonally. They use plain "got" and "autumn" and snicker about backwards Americans. Therefore, I've been making more of an effort than usual to use "gotten" and "fall" in everyday conversation, purely to be contrary.
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