Brighton: Week 1

First week in Brighton:
On Thursday, the 10th of September, I left the United States for Brighton. My flight from Spokane to Seattle left around 2:30pm. I drove for the last time for many months to come. The drive from Lewiston to Spokane was rather uneventful. The main conversation was that of speculation about the English people. Everything went perfectly (I didn't even get double checked through security, which usually happens). I had a steak sandwich at a sports bar and grille in the airport, and soon discovered that all steak is not cooked, kept, or created equal, and promptly decided that was the last time I was getting steak without any previous recommendation. I have never had bad beef before, but now I know what it is, and I refuse to eat it again. Generally, I am not a picky eater. It has to be pretty bad before I say I will never eat it again. And it was pretty bad.Anyway, flying into Seattle was breathtaking. Every time I visit Seattle, the weather is perfect. I would never know Seattle is known for rainy weather if I did know people who have lived there and declared it as such. The sky was clear and the eye could penetrate as far as you can imagine. Some snow still remained on the peaks, and little snow pack streams glinted in the mountain crevices like veins of silver. The high mountain lakes winked in the sunlight and wind. The evergreen trees covered the mountains in a beautiful tapestry. It was breathtakingly beautiful.Seattle airport itself was nice. I have only ever been there when I was blowing through quickly, so it was nice to relax a bit before the great glass windows in the main entrance before taking the subway to the international flights terminal.The flight to London's Heathrow airport was mostly spent in silence next to an English couple from York who had just been to Seattle to see their new grandson. The flight lasted about 9 hours and we crossed the international date line, gained a day, and arrived at about 12:00 Greenwich time/4 am Pacific time. I had nothing to declare in customs, so I just breezed through Terminal 5, got some cash, phoned home, and waited for my bus. I took the National Express to City centre Brighton, and walked up the road to 33 Richmond Place where my Journey's Brighton Hostel was waiting for me. I checked in and got settled into my room, took a shower, and went out to explore the coastline. The weather was affable, as it usually is here this time of year. The beach was lovely, although not the kind of beach you would expect. Instead of sand, it is comprised of small terra cotta stones. Larger than pebbles, but still smooth as such and ankle deep. It is difficult to walk through, but very comfortable to sit on, which is what I did for about an hour. I watched a couple of swimmers in the inlet. They must be on some professional or Olympic team, because they swam for a full 45 minutes at least. I was rather worried for them, hoping they knew what they were doing, because they had been out there for so long, but they were okay. Nothing to fear. They were very good swimmers. Eventually other people came and sat near me and started chucking rocks at the, surprisingly shy, gulls. I thought the gulls were unnaturally unobtrusive, most seagulls being eager to discover whether you have any tasty bits to give up. But these gulls purveyed me with a wary eye, and took them almost thirty minutes to even venture within 10 feet of me. As soon as I saw those kids trying to pelt them with stones, however, it all made sense. There was another event which prompted me to leave the beach, but it is too vulgar and negative for me to record for the public eye.I returned to the hostel and bought some falafel and humus and a banana. The humus packaging almost had me in tears. I was so fatigued, I could not figure out how to open the container, and I was so hungry, all I could think about was how delicious the humus would be. I struggled with the opening tab for a while, tugging upwards before becoming aware of my pointless actions. Then I calmly collected my intellect and read the button that said "push"... I was too hungry to laugh at my own stupidity, I just did what was necessary to get that humus! And it was delicious.I went to bed early (around 8pm), and slept for several hours before being woken up by noisy party-goers in the street. It was Friday, so of course a vacation/leisure location such as Brighton is going to have lots of pubs, and a lot of drunks to populate them. However, soon I was fast asleep again and slept until 8am. The sleep restored some life into my jet-lagged body, and did much to lift my spirits.
On Saturday, I caught a taxi to Paddock Fields and arrive half an hour before the office opened, and was the first international student to arrive. I felt badly about not warning them I was coming, but I was so anxious to see my place of residence and become settled somewhere that was safe. I felt a little self-conscious and exposed traveling alone. And I got a little frightened, I will admit. But after I got into my room, I felt much better, although very lonely because there was no one else there. I took a walk on a path through the woods and discovered a neighboring village. The woods are lovely here. The downed trees have become 'nurery' logs and have many trees springing from the trunk. Ivy covers the ground and spider webs cling between the tree branches. The light through the leaves dapples the forest floor and illuminates the many small insects buzzing about. Snails are common and their empty shells litter the ground. The copse is apparently a pretty popular place, however, and sadly is littered with rubbish around the fire left over ashes in the fire pits. Saturday was spent alone in Brighton grocery shopping, exploring the city, and buying necessities.
Sunday saw the arrival of several new flat mates and company, which was sorely lacking before. I had hardly spoken in three days, so it was very nice to have people around to talk to. Sunday afternoon we went out grocery shopping where I bought some meat. Meat is very expensive here. It was £2.80 for a little half pound Irish rump steak. But it was delicious. Everything here tastes sweeter. The meat was sweet, the milk is sweet, the pizza is sweet, the fruit is very sweet. I wonder what it is...Sunday night, our flat went out to celebrate our arrival in Brighton. We first visited the Bear Inn, where I had some drinks, and then we moved onto other various pubs and dance clubs in City Centre. We went to one dance club where I met a Turkish person, whom lived in France for many years, but did not speak much English. We talked a bit, trying to understand one another.
One thing I noticed about the pubs that is different from the bars in the U.S. is the people in the pubs are only there to talk to their friends and look at other people in the pub. The U.S., or at least in Moscow, Idaho, the bars are generally used to watch sports, play drinking games or dance, and get "hammered". But perhaps that is just a college town. Although, I haven't really been in that many bars in the U.S., and when I did go, it was always someone's 21 run or something... so that probably has a lot to do with it. But people in England will just stare at you, and you can hear them talking about you as you're walking by. They do not lower their voices to discuss you or your appearance. They speak their opinions openly and decidedly, which is pretty cool, I think, however, it makes it difficult to respond. Should you acknowledge you heard them, or simply ignore their remarks? Thus far, I just ignore what I hear and carry on. I wouldn't really have anything to say to them anyway. The people are very friendly. They call you "sweetheart", "love", "treasure", "darling", etc. just for being polite to them. And they very much appreciate a kind gesture. "Cheers" is generally employed when you are thanking them for something, or if they are thanking you. Instead of saying, "buddy", the term "mate" is used, like in Australia. They say, "Good morning" or afternoon, or whatever time a day it is. They have good manners, for the most part. However, a lot of them are also rambunctious and do or say things to watch you react, or just to bother you. But this really doesn't bother me. Jerks make the world more interesting...
On Monday, the residential advisor, Lucy took us to Churchill Square, the main shopping centre of Brighton. The shopping mall is humongous and very nice. There are stores that range over every style and fashion imaginable. They call Brighton the "Little London by the sea" and I can see why. From the outside, the mall doesn't look that large. It is deceptively large. I purchased some very comfortable boots, a skirt, and a shirt at different department stores. But there are at least ten different shoe stores, clothes stores galore, Accessory stores, and everything in between. I spent a lot of time just looking at everything. I got very excited (I always do when I see new clothes), and just kept walking into stores and looking everything over. Heaven! Just to touch all the nice fabric and look at the designs (some of which aren't very pretty, but still interesting) made me very happy. My brain got pretty stimulated. I tried to open a bank account, but they were too busy. So I walked around the streets and ate a subway sandwich in a small bakery in Churchill Square. I had a "Coronation chicken" which was extremely delicious! And once again, sweet. I had heard English food was gross, by some friends who had visited here a few years ago, but I have yet to run across anything I have not liked.
Monday night me, Apryl, and the Korean girls from our flat went and chilled at the Bear Inn and the King and Queen (which was used as King Edwards? stables.. I can't remember which King. I'll have to look it up again). Then we headed home early because the buses stop running to the University at 12am. It was pretty fun. It was the first time I had just hung out with all of my flat mates.
On Tuesday, we met our international advisers and they informed us of our future stay, classes, etc. Just a regular orientation. They fed us pizza for lunch and we got our username and e-mails from the school. Tuesday night I went out with the Turkish guy I met on Sunday. He took me to a traditional Turkish deli/restaurant. I can not describe how delicious everything was. I have never had such delicious Mediterranean food in my entire life, and that is no joke. I don't remember what the food tasted like at the Jerusalem Cafe, which my mom apparently thinks is the apex of Mediterranean cuisine. But in my memory, Turkish food is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. I tried Ayra, a yogurt drink. Made of yogurt, water, and salt. I had traditional Turkish tea (drunk with a lot of sugar), dolmas, humus, bread, chicken wings (which Delgado loves, apparently), rice, a delicious cold olive/tomato/eggplant salad, cucumber sauce, and something crunchy and small (not sure what it was). Then for desert was a soo-eet with ice cream. I don't know how to spell all of the food, that's just what they sounded like. I learned how to say "thank you" in Turkish: tish-a coo. I have had an overflow of new words in different languages to master. French, Turkish, Korean, English... I can almost feel my brain getting bigger. Anyway, then we went to the arcade in the Brighton Pier, and then went to "The Beach", ironically (there was a popular dance club in Moscow, ID named the Beach, which is where I would always go dancing Country Swing with my ex-boyfriend), and Delgado taught me some salsa, samba, and this strange French dance which I could not get the hang of. He also bought me drinks, and in general spoiled the living daylights out of me. I have never been so lavishly treated by someone other than my father... However, I wanted to return to campus early because I had an advising session the next morning, and I was also wary of being out too late with someone I barely knew (not the best idea). I figured it was time to go, so I took the bus home. For some odd reason, the bus driver was very cross with me because I had said, "ten pounds" when I gave him a 'tenner'. That ticked him off. As he said, "You said ten pounds. I've been in the business long enough to know what a tenner is." Weird. Although when I got off at my stop, his voice was more kind. Who knows.
Wednesday I had an advising session, and once again just tried to get acclimated to my new life here. One interesting note: there are rabbits everywhere, the birds are very small, and poppies grow wild in the fields. Paddock fields is right behind the South Downs, which are protected lands, apparently. They are beautiful. I have a perfect view of them through my bedroom window, and my window faces a large field, with no other buildings, so I do not have to be concerned about eyes intruding into my room. It's a nice set up.
Another interesting thing: even though this is a popular vacation destination for England (or anywhere, really), the people dress very modestly. The women are all almost completely covered from their necks to their ankles. They show their arms, but not their legs or any other body part... at least 98% of the ones I have seen dress this way. They also dress in demure colors and patterns. None of them stick out too much, and makeup is very minimal here. It's a stark contrast from the bright, revealing trends of American fashion. The 'high fashion' magazines and advertisements are about the same, but the average woman is much more modest than the average American woman. I have yet to see an English woman in shorts (without tights underneath). They all wear long tights under anything short they wear.The men dress much more flamboyantly. They wear the bright colors and the short shorts. I was thinking they are like birds, the sexes here. The males are more 'attractive' and the females are more demure and unassuming. Just a note. I am probably wrong, but it’s all the information I have for now. I will update this as I go along. I have not gotten sick or nauseous, or had stomach problems with the food or water or anything like they said I would probably get. Knock-on-wood.
Today, (Thursday) which marks the first week since I have touched U.S. soil, I tuled around in Brighton, again. Got my Unicard (student I.D.) and my three month bus pass. Met a very nice man at an Argus store (which is like a News Kiosk in NYC), and had a nice sit on the Beach. I tried Fish and Chips and something called "Mushy Peas" which was, in my opinion, delicious. Mushy peas are a new favorite of mine. I always have liked peas, and these were just like that, except a little easier to eat because it didn't roll around all over the place, and it also tasted very nice with the fried fish. Next time, though, I'm going to use some vinegar for the fish. It needed a little more flavor. I was expecting it to be like American fish and chips, with all the salt, pepper, or other spices they have, but it was just plain fried with no salt or flavoring. It was alright, but I'll know better next time.
I am finally getting a hang of the Brighton and Hove bus company, and all the various stops the buses make. It's taken me long enough. But I think I'm doing alright considering no one has really told me in depth how it works.
The weather is lovely, but a little chilly, so I found a T.K. Maxx (instead of T.J. Maxx, like in the U.S. but it's still the same store) and got me a nice fleece and trench coat for pretty inexpensive. The shoulders in all the clothes are so narrow! I am probably a size U.K. 10 in the waist and hips, but I am a size U.K. 14 or 16 in the shoulders! So, I had to buy the coat too big for me, but at least I can move my arms, which is more important than anything.
Oh, and TV's have to be licensed here. There are only five channels: BBC Channels 1, 2, 3, 4, and sometimes 5. But since the BBC shows no commercials, they make up for it with TV linceses. There are TV license vans that go patroling around making sure there are no illegal TV's in use. Which, for some reason, I find kind of funny.
The TV in our common room is really tiny, and sometimes it works, but most of the time it sounds like a little Gremlin. The sound input is messed up or something. As one of the Korean girls said, "It sounds crazy!", which is true. It does. Sounds really funny, though.
All in all, so far, this week in Brighton has been very long, and very up-and-down. I am still getting used to everything (not without some funny looks from the natives), but I am having fun. The feeling of excitement comes and goes. Mostly I just feel like I am on another planet. But that's a good thing, I think.All for now.Cheers!Hannah