UK Trip: PartI
My weekend was once again fantastic! Murat asked me how my weekend was when I got back last night (he stayed in Buyukcekmece) and when I told him how great it was he replied, “you always say that.†I went outdoor climbing, swimming at Tahsin’s house outside the city, partied it up on Saturday. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say Saturday felt like I was back in the fraternity. Respect to Leyla for going drink for drink with me. Pictures from the weekend can be found at the link below:
Although my weekend was excellent for me, I don’t think that it would be so interesting for you. It was great fun, but not all that unique. Today, for a change of pace, I am in the UK. I got up at 6am this morning to catch my 8:05 flight. I had planned on an afternoon meeting in London before heading to North Hampton (where I am now), but that got cancelled. So I have done very little today. Having not slept very much, it is probably good that I haven’t done much. I have been in a zombie like state all day. I haven’t quite recovered from my weekend, and am exhausted from having to take a plane, then a train, then walk a bit, then another train, then walk then a bus, then walk… you get the idea. It took me a while to get to Wellingborough.
Wellingborough is exactly what I imagine an English town would be like. It’s old, cloud and green, with cars on the wrong side of the road. The commercial part of the town is very small. Everything is packed together around its small center. My hotel is less than a kilometer from the center so I was able to walk around and do a bit of shopping that I haven’t had time to do in Turkey (I know it would have been cheaper in Turkey, but I have no time). The buildings are all small, and there are plenty of trees around. Furthermore, there is lots of nice green grass, something you don’t see too much of in Turkey.
My first time crossing the road I made the mistake of looking the wrong way – this must be classic mistake made by people form countries where they drive properly. After the adrenaline of almost getting hit had worn off, I wondered how many foreigners are hit by cars each year because they look the wrong way. I imagine this statistic would be interesting. More interesting and more amusing, is how many British are hit by cars per year because they look the wrong way in other countries. You could look at how many people total from countries driving on the wrong side of the road get hit in countries where they do things right, but I have a feeling that statistic would be 95% British.
On the train – it was a very nice train – I was watching the weather report. The weather was, and I quote, “cloudy, with sunny spells developing.†Depressing isn’t it? I don’t think I have ever heard the weather put that way. The word ‘developing’ is always used to describe thundershowers, or hurricanes, or low-pressure systems or anything really, except for sun. You can have rainy days with the sun ‘peaking through,’ or ‘partially sunny.’ ‘Sunny spells developing,’ seems to imply that the weather here must really suck. I have heard stories that British weather is bad, but I had never been here before. In my first hour in the country, I happened to catch the weather report and it was pretty dismal. I must say I am glad I don’t live here. Istanbul seems to be sunny all the time, which is quite nice. Maybe the crappy weather is why it seemed nobody smiles around here. (If you are wondering, the weather was sunny and warm today).
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