Coming home from work today I decided not to go all the way back on the Metro, so I walked.
And you'd think walking from one part of Newcastle to another I would pass concrete block after concrete block.
Well, thankfully, Newcastle isn't like that!
It seems to have lots of public parks, large open spaces of green loveliness.
So it was really great walking back through Jesmond Dene and Heaton Park.
Fresh air, trees, space and the outside.
Lovely, and unusual for a big city which is known for it industrial heritage.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Shopping centres, weather, and other things that British people like to talk about.
Well, I haven't written on this blog for some time.
So Newcastle life is going well, it is not as hot as some parts of the country, in fact yesterday it rained ALL DAY! Not just spitting rain, massive buckets of water from the sky. Today is better weather wise, a lot brighter.
Josh came up to Newcastle last week. We went to the the city centre, and into a rather large shopping centre - eldon place or something - and it did the thing that all shopping centres do: make you feel like you're in any city in a any county, SOMEWHERE in the UK.
It is very strange how this happens, and it might be something to do with the shops all being the same in the whole country, but it really did feel like I could be in Reading, or London, or Scotland.
So we attempted to make our way out, and then spent about 20 minutes wandering round this vast bright shopping centre unable to find the exit! At one point we could see the street from above but couldn't get out, it was weird!
So Newcastle life is going well, it is not as hot as some parts of the country, in fact yesterday it rained ALL DAY! Not just spitting rain, massive buckets of water from the sky. Today is better weather wise, a lot brighter.
Josh came up to Newcastle last week. We went to the the city centre, and into a rather large shopping centre - eldon place or something - and it did the thing that all shopping centres do: make you feel like you're in any city in a any county, SOMEWHERE in the UK.
It is very strange how this happens, and it might be something to do with the shops all being the same in the whole country, but it really did feel like I could be in Reading, or London, or Scotland.
So we attempted to make our way out, and then spent about 20 minutes wandering round this vast bright shopping centre unable to find the exit! At one point we could see the street from above but couldn't get out, it was weird!
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Website curiosity
Just seen the front page of www.kent.ac.uk - my old uni website and had to laugh.
They have a link for "Canterbury open day" above the link for "Swine flu update".
Probably not the kind of welcome they were going for...
You're a what?
I haven't written on this for AGES...
Well, "from a final year to the world" is this blog's tagline, and I'm going to have to change that, because I am now officially a graduand. What's that? Umm, Google...? Its a person who's finished their degree, but has not actually graduated. So I will be a graduand for a matter of days, I'm going to enjoy it!
The good news is that I have a 2:1, and the other good news is that I've now moved to Newcastle for a job up here.
For people reading this who are not British (or indeed, know only the south of England...), Newcastle is nearly 300 miles from London, and on the River Tyne. It is famous for its football team (recently relegated), its ale, coal, and recent rejuvenation.
Its a great place, and this blog I'm sure will soon be full of the differences between my former home of Whitstable and Newcastle.
Saturday, 30 May 2009
FA Cup final day
Today is the end of the football season, and the BBC have done a beautiful picture collection of the FA Cup trophy being mended:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8072594.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8072594.stm
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
The exam term, and unique uni goings on
At the University of Kent we have this weird 6 week exam term at the end of each year. The other terms are 12 weeks, so this one always feels very short.
And with everyone doing exams, different people are counting down to when they finish all the time. It's quite strange, we say things like - "only 6 days left", or "1 down, 3 [exams] to go". So everyone is counting down to when they no longer have exams to do. Its all a bit odd - we're rather taken up with what is to come, and what's over the horizon, and not what is happening now.
This is just one of the things that is really strange about uni, and one of the things that I'll probably forget when I leave - which is why I wanted to write it down now.
One of the other things that is strange about uni is the village atmosphere. Being on a campus with 15,000 people, you tend to get to recognise a lot of them by face if not by name as well. But what is really odd is that I go for weeks without seeing someone and then I see them 3 times in a week! I don't have that in the town I live in when I'm not at uni, it's a very particular oddity of university.
And another thing...
I've gone through my 3 years at University and I've seen how people have changed so much over that time. I have changed loads, so I've noticed it in me as well, but there are a lot of people who seem very different from that first September in 2006 of my first year.
Generally I notice the ones I don't know very well as I can be more detached from them. Some people have put on lots of weight over the three years, some have taken up smoking, others have got deeply involved in religious societies, others taken up sports clubs. You could say, "well that's just life", well yes, but in the microcosm of University, its much more noticeable, as we live in close proximity to each other, we're not separated by work/life boundaries or the miles of distance of a large city.
We live our lives in the full view of 15,000 people!
And with everyone doing exams, different people are counting down to when they finish all the time. It's quite strange, we say things like - "only 6 days left", or "1 down, 3 [exams] to go". So everyone is counting down to when they no longer have exams to do. Its all a bit odd - we're rather taken up with what is to come, and what's over the horizon, and not what is happening now.
This is just one of the things that is really strange about uni, and one of the things that I'll probably forget when I leave - which is why I wanted to write it down now.
One of the other things that is strange about uni is the village atmosphere. Being on a campus with 15,000 people, you tend to get to recognise a lot of them by face if not by name as well. But what is really odd is that I go for weeks without seeing someone and then I see them 3 times in a week! I don't have that in the town I live in when I'm not at uni, it's a very particular oddity of university.
And another thing...
I've gone through my 3 years at University and I've seen how people have changed so much over that time. I have changed loads, so I've noticed it in me as well, but there are a lot of people who seem very different from that first September in 2006 of my first year.
Generally I notice the ones I don't know very well as I can be more detached from them. Some people have put on lots of weight over the three years, some have taken up smoking, others have got deeply involved in religious societies, others taken up sports clubs. You could say, "well that's just life", well yes, but in the microcosm of University, its much more noticeable, as we live in close proximity to each other, we're not separated by work/life boundaries or the miles of distance of a large city.
We live our lives in the full view of 15,000 people!
Monday, 4 May 2009
Saturday's thoughts
As I sat in Canterbury high street, it seemed to me that the city had lost itself.
I had walked through the clinical Whitefriars and down the high street and it just didn't seem to have that 'mystery' factor that made it different to other cities.
But I was to be proved wrong, and right, in one go.
I found a seat under a large tree near cafe rouge and read the paper. Soon people sat next to me. I can't remember most of them specifically, but they sat there.
A man then stood in front of me for quite some time. Then a little boy came up with another child, and a woman, perhaps his mother. The boy said to the man - who the family clearly knew "can I have an ice cream?"! "What's the special word?" came the inevitable reply, "please" the boy said.
And then, "you're looking smart today..." the boy looked at the man and waited.
I smiled, as did his mum and the man.
"He's learning quickly" she said and laughed.
It was nice to see some humour in the world; something that made the world such a good place to be.
And so there is something here that makes Canterbury different (and the same) from other towns: it wasn't the shops, or the fashions, or the tangible material things that made this world a lovely place to be. It is the people. Small moments, little actions. Real people, real life.
Its worth writing about.
I had walked through the clinical Whitefriars and down the high street and it just didn't seem to have that 'mystery' factor that made it different to other cities.
But I was to be proved wrong, and right, in one go.
I found a seat under a large tree near cafe rouge and read the paper. Soon people sat next to me. I can't remember most of them specifically, but they sat there.
A man then stood in front of me for quite some time. Then a little boy came up with another child, and a woman, perhaps his mother. The boy said to the man - who the family clearly knew "can I have an ice cream?"! "What's the special word?" came the inevitable reply, "please" the boy said.
And then, "you're looking smart today..." the boy looked at the man and waited.
I smiled, as did his mum and the man.
"He's learning quickly" she said and laughed.
It was nice to see some humour in the world; something that made the world such a good place to be.
And so there is something here that makes Canterbury different (and the same) from other towns: it wasn't the shops, or the fashions, or the tangible material things that made this world a lovely place to be. It is the people. Small moments, little actions. Real people, real life.
Its worth writing about.
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