London (Sunday) and home again
Dec. 4th, 2001 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangosteenSunday, being the last full day of my trip in the UK, was spent wandering around the center of Cambridge, gawking at the pretty architecture, taking a bunch of pictures, and outwitting a small group of performance artists (more on that later).
Sunday was also the first day where my surroundings began to feel fairly familiar. There wasn't the slightly off-kilter "it's all vaguely familiar, but it's a bit off" feeling that I had during the first few days. It felt like a place that was home, in as much that home is defined as wherever me, a bunch of my stuff, and a net connection happen to be. A friend once observed that home can also be defined as a place where, when you get up in the morning, you know you'll be going to sleep there that night. I agree.
Cambridge has lots of big old buildings. No real surprise here, as it has been around for about 2.5 times as long as the oldest city in the US. It's the original. The buildings are really that old. The streets are really that old. The market at the center of town has been a going operation for umpteen-hundred years. I think this is what people mean when they talk about getting a sense of perspective.
About the performance artists. A couple of compatriots and myself were walking down a street in central Cambridge, when these two young women who looked like first-year students at the local University came up and said "are you my mama? I've lost my mama." They kept repeating that, and variations on that theme, for a few minutes. I decided to fight back. I said to one of my friends, "Two quid that they'll get bored after 45 seconds". He agreed, and then I started counting off the seconds out loud to said performance artists, so you had something that sounded like:
"Are you my mama?"
"one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand...."
"I've lost my ma--"
"four one-thousand, five one-thousand....."
By the time I got to twenty-five, they were sufficiently weirded out that they walked away, somewhat confused. Chalk one up for a crazy yank.
The flight back on Monday was uneventful. A seven hour flight, during which I got in four one-hour naps. Hooray for the small things.
Observation: Enhancing airport security in the US would be a lot more straightforward task if they'd just copy what the Brits do. They have separate security guards who go up and down the check-in line asking you questions you actually have to think about for a few seconds. In addition, the guards at the metal detectors seem to have a much better grasp on what's a threat, and what isn't.
Observation: Cars in the US are really big, compared to the UK. Even my car, which is classified as a "compact station wagon", is the equivalent of a mid-size car there.
So, I'm in my room sitting at my computer, wrtiing this entry, and I feel just a little bit more grown-up. I've traveled outside of my country, navigated the largest city there, made a couple of new friends, saw some pretty incredible things, and returned home in one piece. I feel just a little bit more whole.
It feels wonderful.
Sunday was also the first day where my surroundings began to feel fairly familiar. There wasn't the slightly off-kilter "it's all vaguely familiar, but it's a bit off" feeling that I had during the first few days. It felt like a place that was home, in as much that home is defined as wherever me, a bunch of my stuff, and a net connection happen to be. A friend once observed that home can also be defined as a place where, when you get up in the morning, you know you'll be going to sleep there that night. I agree.
Cambridge has lots of big old buildings. No real surprise here, as it has been around for about 2.5 times as long as the oldest city in the US. It's the original. The buildings are really that old. The streets are really that old. The market at the center of town has been a going operation for umpteen-hundred years. I think this is what people mean when they talk about getting a sense of perspective.
About the performance artists. A couple of compatriots and myself were walking down a street in central Cambridge, when these two young women who looked like first-year students at the local University came up and said "are you my mama? I've lost my mama." They kept repeating that, and variations on that theme, for a few minutes. I decided to fight back. I said to one of my friends, "Two quid that they'll get bored after 45 seconds". He agreed, and then I started counting off the seconds out loud to said performance artists, so you had something that sounded like:
"Are you my mama?"
"one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand...."
"I've lost my ma--"
"four one-thousand, five one-thousand....."
By the time I got to twenty-five, they were sufficiently weirded out that they walked away, somewhat confused. Chalk one up for a crazy yank.
The flight back on Monday was uneventful. A seven hour flight, during which I got in four one-hour naps. Hooray for the small things.
Observation: Enhancing airport security in the US would be a lot more straightforward task if they'd just copy what the Brits do. They have separate security guards who go up and down the check-in line asking you questions you actually have to think about for a few seconds. In addition, the guards at the metal detectors seem to have a much better grasp on what's a threat, and what isn't.
Observation: Cars in the US are really big, compared to the UK. Even my car, which is classified as a "compact station wagon", is the equivalent of a mid-size car there.
So, I'm in my room sitting at my computer, wrtiing this entry, and I feel just a little bit more grown-up. I've traveled outside of my country, navigated the largest city there, made a couple of new friends, saw some pretty incredible things, and returned home in one piece. I feel just a little bit more whole.
It feels wonderful.
