“Talk British to me kids!” (4/29/08)

Well Sunday wasn’t very eventful because I didn’t have any money, so I stayed in the dorm while Vik, Zhiying and Fang went out into the mountains. I watched LOST with James (the BU guy) and took a nap. I went down to the convenience store on campus, which is more than a convenience store but less than a grocery store, and just picked up a bunch of vegetables and chicken. When Vik, Zhiying and Fang got home, I made a stir-fry. Afterwards we went to bed pretty early - they were all exhausted from the mountains and I had to get up early to catch my flight.

Monday morning I got up at 8:30 and packed up my stuff and took a shower. Vik walked me down to the bus stop and sent me off. I was a little nervous, as I always am with buses, that I would miss the correct stop, but I did fine, changing in the city center and getting on the bus for the airport. I got all checked-in and everything and wandered around the terminal. I ended up buying Guinness “luxury fudge” which is apparently flavored with Guinness beer. I haven’t tried it yet. I went to my gate to find that my plane was delayed, so I bought a book and sat down and waited. I got a call from Kris saying he couldn’t meet me at the airport so I would have to take a train to Shoreham, the closest train station to his house. Since I had already navigated my way to and from the Dublin airport on my own, I felt pretty confident in my capabilities. As soon as I got to London Gatwick and got my bag, I bought a train ticket. It then took me about 20 minutes to find the platforms, even though they were right next to me. I went all across the airport looking for the trains and ended up where I’d started, feeling foolish and nervous that I was going to miss my train. I hurried down to the platform and jumped on the train, only realizing too late that I had gotten on the wrong one! Luckily it wasn’t too wrong, just a different destination on the same service I should have been on. So I got off after a few stops and got on the next train, which was the proper one, and got to Shoreham-by-Sea with no more difficulty. Kris and his mom were there with his mom’s car (a car!) to pick me up. They brought me back to their house where I have my own room (!) and showed me around. Kris’s mom made dinner (breaded chicken, boiled potatoes, salad with feta) and it was delicious! Afterwards Kris took me out to the center of Brighton and showed me The Pavilion and The Lanes and of course the gay area. We stopped into a couple pubs and had a couple drinks and then caught the last bus home, where we went to sleep.

My room


Tuesday morning I got up and showered and had some tiger bread, which I have never heard of before but which is delicious. When Kris got up he asked if I wanted a “cup o’ tea” to which I of course said yes, even though I don’t drink tea except sometimes herbal tea with honey when I’m sick. So far on this trip I have basically tried anything that I’ve been offered, so I had the tea. It was good! I may have to start drinking tea. After a bit, Kris walked me to “the Square” which is the central area of their suburb of Southwick. It was like Lexington Center in size, but more… English. We went into a bakery and I got a pasty. Yum! Afterwards we walked back. Kris had some errands to do so he went out to do them. I had been having some real pain in the back of my ankle (if I knew anything about anatomy I would say it’s my Achilles’ tendon but I have no idea) and I had been having trouble walking the night before and that morning, so Kris gave me a support bandage and I sat down to write this. I might go into Brighton though, to walk around and take some pictures. I can’t decide if it’s worth it or not, with the pain in my ankle, so I might just stay here and read my book. But then I would feel pathetic and lazy, especially because it’s such a beautiful day. Maybe I’ll wait until my camera battery has charged and that will be my excuse for sitting around and reading my book. Yeah. That’ll do.