The news here is humorous. There are many free publications, and you can find them everywhere. I really enjoy the dissemination of news here.
From the Metro (found on the tubes) on May 28, 2008
[quote]
IT [sic] could have been a scene from Baywatch … well, if you replaced the glamorous lifeguards with a couple of boot-wearing coastguards, swapped the sand for mud – and ignored the fact that a Somerset lamb was being rescued, rather than some tanned Californian. The lamb in question got stuck in a mudflat and would have drowned at the next high tide had it not been rescued. ‘Special safety boards were used to reach the animal and one of the team carried the lamb to safety, to the relief of the grateful farmer,’ said Steve Bird, a coastguard in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. The lamb has now been named Baamela Anderson (no it hasn’t, but we know some of you like a bad pun).
[/quote]
Yes, it’s real British humor. Well, I have finally found a place where I can leave my bags for more than 5 minutes. I was able to walk around for nearly a half hour today without carrying my monstrosity of a bag. I am staying in a “trendy” hostel tonight called the Generator. It’s most definitely a youth hostel. I haven’t seen anyone here that looks over 30, while I have definitely seen older people at the other hostels.
One of the things that has been bothering me the most is the bloody keyboards here. I’ll have to post a picture sometime, or you could look it up if you feel so inclined. Where our Enter key is, the European keyboard has been split between Enter and #~, making it very difficult to use. The left shift key has also been reduced in size to add room for another button, then they decided to mix the symbols up a bit. @ is no longer Shift+2. So now every time I try to type in an email address it always comes out as name”email.com. It’s a real pain to go back and redo it every time.
I have also found that it is very western here. I honestly can’t say that I feel much like I left the US. The only difference is that there are Gay stores, a subway, and a thick accent no matter where I go. It is very diverse here though. I think there are more middle easterners here than there are Londoners. I really haven’t met many British people.
Well, that’s it for today. I think I’m going to rest a bit before I do something fun this evening.
I’m glad things are going well.
It is back and forth. Sometimes it’s hard to get by not knowing anyone here, but the people are friendly when you break through their barriers (all you really have to do is walk up to them and say hi, can you help me), and the other travelers I have met in the hostels have been an amazing help. It would seem that there’s this strange understanding between travelers that they will help each other in times of need. It’s really cool.
Haha, I am so sorry about calling so late. I am still trying to get used to the time changes here. I keep forgetting that you are 7 hours behind me. Afer my long days, it makes it incredibly difficult to stay up late enough to be able to call you, plus I don’t always have a phone available. My post today will explain why I was able to call you yesterday.
oh and I forgot to mention…
…stripped down?
That’s 6 hrs. ahead of us. and your home page says your coming back “June 5th”, did I miss something?