One of my best friends from high school, Sarah, attends the University of Leicester in England for graduate school, and I went to pay her and her flatmates a visit last week. We explored the town of Leicester, which was pretty interesting to me because I got to see the town from a student's perspective.
On Friday, we took an early coach (fancy term for a bus with seat belts) to London for the day. Sarah, being a history enthusiasts and an Anglophile, was pretty much the perfect tour guide. We kicked off our day with a jaunt to Abbey Road, since we both share a deep-rooted love of all things Beatles.
Then we headed off for a walking tour led by Sarah herself, hitting all the major sights - Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, the National Gallery, Tower Bridge, and a few moments in the National Museum.
When I first landed in England, I was really thrown off by all of the English, and by the accents. I kept accidentally responding with "si" and "grazie," since I was so used to using those words in travel settings. Since I was so mixed up, I decided to find some Italian tourists and help them translate English signs to acclimate myself (plus I had some time to kill). I taught an Italian family that "exit" meant "uscita" and I helped another Italian tourist find her way to the train station ("il stazzione treno"). England seemed like such an international place to me, with food and people from all over the world. And so many things were similar to the States - even KFC and products in the grocery stores. While I liked the UK, I'm glad I didn't choose to study there and that I decided to challenge myself with a language barrier.
The British people themselves were friendly, and helpful. I understood immediately what people mean when they refer to "British sarcasm" - it's everywhere, in tons of their phrases. The Brits were fun, constantly wishing me "cheers!" But they definitely seemed more short and to the point than people in other parts of Europe, especially Italians.
Then, I left England and traveled to The Netherlands. The Dutch are extremely interesting, and I don't think I was expecting half of all the interesting things I found in The Netherlands. First of all, the land is beautiful. The Dutch have a saying: "God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland." And it's true - hundreds of dikes (once windmill-powered) reclaim much of the low-lying land from the sea. I think almost half of The Netherlands lies below sea level, and therefore the country is constantly keeping the water at bay. But the result is beautiful dikes and canals formed by world-class engineering.
To me, The Netherlands felt very homey. The country is completely drive-able, and I actually got to see much of it by car, which was cool. Much of it was rural, with small cities here and there. I spent a day in Amsterdam, which is a fascinating place. The Anne Frank house, on the site of the actual Annex, was a must-see, and the impact of that place is not small for any traveler. I loved how the purpose of the museum was to charge visitors with the responsibility of protecting human rights around the world so that such atrocities don't happen again.
I got to watch the queen of The Netherlands, Beatrix, announce on national television that she will step down in the spring and allow her son, Willem Alexander, to assume the throne as king. That was incredible, especially watching the Dutch people's reaction to this news. They seemed to hold their monarchs very dear. I can't really explain the Dutch people, but I was fascinated by them. They know their nation is small, but they are fiercely proud of their history and heritage and of their contributions to the world. At the same time, they were incredibly kind and welcoming and seemed like people I had known my entire life.
Overall, experiencing two linear-active countries in Northern Europe really helped give me a basis of comparison for my experiences in the multi-active south.
When I first landed in England, I was really thrown off by all of the English, and by the accents. I kept accidentally responding with "si" and "grazie," since I was so used to using those words in travel settings. Since I was so mixed up, I decided to find some Italian tourists and help them translate English signs to acclimate myself (plus I had some time to kill). I taught an Italian family that "exit" meant "uscita" and I helped another Italian tourist find her way to the train station ("il stazzione treno"). England seemed like such an international place to me, with food and people from all over the world. And so many things were similar to the States - even KFC and products in the grocery stores. While I liked the UK, I'm glad I didn't choose to study there and that I decided to challenge myself with a language barrier.
The British people themselves were friendly, and helpful. I understood immediately what people mean when they refer to "British sarcasm" - it's everywhere, in tons of their phrases. The Brits were fun, constantly wishing me "cheers!" But they definitely seemed more short and to the point than people in other parts of Europe, especially Italians.
Then, I left England and traveled to The Netherlands. The Dutch are extremely interesting, and I don't think I was expecting half of all the interesting things I found in The Netherlands. First of all, the land is beautiful. The Dutch have a saying: "God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland." And it's true - hundreds of dikes (once windmill-powered) reclaim much of the low-lying land from the sea. I think almost half of The Netherlands lies below sea level, and therefore the country is constantly keeping the water at bay. But the result is beautiful dikes and canals formed by world-class engineering.
To me, The Netherlands felt very homey. The country is completely drive-able, and I actually got to see much of it by car, which was cool. Much of it was rural, with small cities here and there. I spent a day in Amsterdam, which is a fascinating place. The Anne Frank house, on the site of the actual Annex, was a must-see, and the impact of that place is not small for any traveler. I loved how the purpose of the museum was to charge visitors with the responsibility of protecting human rights around the world so that such atrocities don't happen again.
I got to watch the queen of The Netherlands, Beatrix, announce on national television that she will step down in the spring and allow her son, Willem Alexander, to assume the throne as king. That was incredible, especially watching the Dutch people's reaction to this news. They seemed to hold their monarchs very dear. I can't really explain the Dutch people, but I was fascinated by them. They know their nation is small, but they are fiercely proud of their history and heritage and of their contributions to the world. At the same time, they were incredibly kind and welcoming and seemed like people I had known my entire life.
Overall, experiencing two linear-active countries in Northern Europe really helped give me a basis of comparison for my experiences in the multi-active south.
We loved having you in England! You're always welcome here if you need a place to stay. I kind of wish that I had studied abroad in a location that spoke a different language (France or Germany for me) but I guess I can't complain too much, eh? So jealous of the Netherlands- I shall have to visit there sometime soon. I was astonished about Beatrix's abdication until my genealogical memory kicked in and I remembered that it is very common for Dutch monarchs to abdicate, as both her mother and her grandmother did the same. It is a very interesting dynamic. You are so fortunate to have witnessed it first hand. xxxx
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, thanks for the comments!! I know, you would have loved watching Beatrix's announcement, and the whole country is obsessed with Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima so they were all over the news after that. Thank you SO MUCH for letting me stay - it was an incredible opportunity to have people like you and Matt and Lucille give me the local perspective. And no worries, I'm sure more visits are to come ;) Next time come see me, wherever I am!
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