Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Days 15 and 16 - Just ready to come home
Well, I am just waiting for my ride to the airport, so a couple of quick thoughts on what I have noticed this trip around (since the past two days were boring to say the least):
? The definition of a salad in England is very different than the States. A salad here is composed of brown leaves, wishing to be dead but unable to get all the way there. As green as this country is you think a green salad would be easy. Word of advice, never order the Ceaser salad at the Bell Tower pub?I don?t think I need to explain.
? No matter how long I am here I am still looking left instead of right to cross the street. Funny thing is that the only motorists who have ?flipped me the #1 sign? the entire time I am here are Muslim drivers ? three of them so far.
? You know that the world changed after the Madrid bombings when you go to the train station and there is no a single waste basket to be seen anywhere. I finally gave my bag of trash to the conductor. Not sure he appreciated that.
? They have something going on here called the Manchester Cow Parade. This is some sort of worldwide art thing where all these life-size cow statues are shipped to a city, painted by local artists, and then displayed all over the city. The previous two spots were Kansas City and Dallas. Hmmm, KC, Dallas, Manchester??? You have no idea how weird it is to see all these painted cows all over town. Kind of a weird, alien takeover thing.
? You know you are eating at the same place too many times when you enter the pub, and they tell you take a seat, bring you your drink and ask if I am putting this on my VISA. Hope they didn?t memorize the numbers.
? In a country known for a lot of things except food, I have ate well here, smelled lots of flowers (The flowers here are gorgeous, but not one has had any smell ? plastic?), and generally starting feeling at home.
? Why are cigarettes here so cheap and pipe tobacco so expensive? And why will some coffee houses let you smoke a cig but not a pipe? I was under the impression that pipes smelled better. Maybe that is just me.
So, I am ready to return to Colorado, work hard for three weeks, and come back over for my next conference and?to defend my progress for the first year and present my findings. Until the 27th then, hope to see you in person.
Manchester • Summer 2004 • (11) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
