Hey guys!
So on Saturday we had the IES overnight trip to York. I didn’t
have internet the whole time so that is why I am writing now; also, we were
just really busy.
In the morning, Peipei (my roommate) and I were getting
ready to go, and she mentioned that she didn’t have any friends at all who were
going on the trip so I invited her to hang out with Hannah and me for the
weekend. We talked more this past weekend than we had the entire time we had
been roomates – not even joking. I feel like, when we’re in the dorm, it’s
often the space for us to relax after a long day of school and sight-seeing,
also just to do homework and, for me, write; so we don’t exactly regard it as a
social space and both of us have been fine with that. Hannah laughed at me a bit
this weekend though because it kind of turned into the first time I’d really gotten
to know Peipei. We all got along well though and had a lot of fun.
The train took us two hours north through the classic
English countryside, dotted with cottages and farms and white sheep speckling
the green hillsides – absolutely picture perfect. I couldn’t help thinking that
these are the hills, the forests, the
streams, the farms that inspired a thousand poems, novels, and paintings.
Straight from a fairytale. The reality of it hit me a little, I suppose, that I
was looking at the same landscape
that inspired some of the greatest minds. It was real, and I was seeing it
firsthand, not through the eyes of another. I am here too.
We pulled into York at about 10:30, dropped our stuff off at
the hostel and then immediately went back into town for a guided tour of the city.
The tour was interesting but being so close to lunch it was rather difficult to
pay attention at times because of my growling stomach. I really enjoyed the
walk though, even if I didn’t retain everything the guide was saying, it was
absolutely worth it to enjoy the sunny walk along the riverside, near the
Abbey, along the top of the old city wall, through the narrow streets of the
old town itself, and eventually ending at the Cathedral.
We were then freed up to go find lunch which we ended up
getting at a bakery that had some really good lunch pastys and bakes. We then
sat in one of the town courtyards eating and watching an interesting street
performer/escape artist. Peipei didn’t want to watch his final act so she
eventually wandered off and told us she’d meet up with us again shortly. Hannah
and I watched he guy perform despite the rain that began pelting us halfway
through. We then moved on and took some refuge in various shops from the
increasingly grey sky until it was time to meet back up with the group at the
Cathedral.
The group was then allowed to explore the Cathedral and then
do whatever until meeting up again for dinner. The Cathedral was stunning; they
all are. And we got to hear the organ play as well as the boys choir sing the
Evensong which was, as always, hauntingly beautiful. Peipei, Hannah and I then walked
around the town, going into various stores just as a means to escape the cold
and rain. We eventually ended up at a Pret where we warmed up with hot
chocolate before once again meeting up with the IES group and walked to an
Indian restaurant where IES bought us dinner. The food was really good and that
was the main time when Peipei and I talked the most. She told me about some of
the biggest culture differences between China and the US and described how
Chinese kids just don’t get nearly as much control over their own lives as
Americans do. She said that even though she wanted to do Public Relations, it
was decided by her parents that she would study Finance; an inarguable decision
for her as it would be entirely disrespectful to stand up to her parents –
something she has never done. She also told me about one of her friends who
wants to be a journalist, but who can’t be because her parents decided that she
will go into the corporate world, her mother being the executive of a large
company. Conversation between the three of us turned around guys, tattoos, and future
plans. She asked about my tattoo and laughed when I asked her if she’d ever get
one, telling me that if she did her parents had promised that they’d dig it out
of her skin. But it fits more I suppose, because she said that tattoos are
looked on quite poorly in China, indicating a kid whose parents did not raise
them right. I suppose some in the States feel that way also, but I think the
public opinion is currently shifting on that toward the understanding that
tattoos can be art and can be tastefully and beautifully done. After dinner, we
were taken back to the hostel (anytime we went to the hostel we had to take
taxis because it was some distance from the city center) and even though it was
fairly early in the night, we all turned in.
The next morning, we had breakfast and got on the bus which
took us an hour and a half across the moors and countryside to the seaside town
of Whitby. On the way, we stopped briefly along the road for some pictures of a
beautiful hollow/ravine. It is amazing how you can be driving through some of
the greenest, most picturesque land you’ve ever seen, and then all of a sudden,
the green just disappears entirely and now the land is brown and treeless for
miles; arid ground where nothing grows. The moors are beautiful in their own
right, but they certainly constitute a drastic contrast which makes the green
countryside all the more splendid in its beauty.
We arrived in Whitby and were turned lose to explore the
town. Hannah, Peipei and I started by hiking the hill up to the Abbey on top of
a hill which overlooked the town, the beach and the ocean. There we walked
along a small path that followed the cliff-side over the ocean and which had an
old graveyard to the other side of it that overlooked the ocean; a little path
between two eternities. The blonde sea-grass covered the hillside and blew in
the breeze. Occasionally, there was a patch of daffodils which grew wild at the
base of one or two of the now unreadable headstones as though they had, of
their own will, chosen the grave of a favored person. I could not help but think
that there is no better place to be buried than on a cliff overlooking the sea.
So many people want to be cremated, and I have heard it tossed out as the
favored option many times as though it were in fashion and was supposed to be
easier in some way. But if there is a place so pretty as this spot on the sea,
then I should think that I would like to be buried.
Anyway, we then went over to the ruins of the old Abbey and
did our best to get pictures of it without having to pay to go inside the wall.
We found a spot around the corner where the wall was low enough for one to lift
their camera over the top and thus take pictures that way. Even though all I
could see was the stone in front of my face, my camera could see the Abbey and
I was able to get some good pictures that way. We then made our way down and
walked through the town, crossed the bridge again and walked through the other
half of the town, eventually ending up at the end of the pier. We retraced our
steps a little, and wandered through a small museum dedicated to lifeboats
before finding a place to get fish and chips. We sat on a stone wall along the
water and watched the flocks of seagulls daringly seize any opportunity to
snatch a French fry or bit of fish from any unsuspecting person. They would
also try to be annoying as possible just so that people would through them food
as the only way to get them to shut up. As we sat there, an older couple
eventually sat down to our left. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the
guy looking at me occasionally and after a few times I turned to meet his gaze.
They were the very image of a couple living in the English countryside, they
probably had a farm and a cottage, a field of sheep and a dog to round them all
up – the whole nine yards. The guy, who
was about seventy or so is my guess, smiled and leaned over, pointing at my
hat, asking like a grandpa what the button with the two crossed hammers meant.
I told him it was from a Pink Floyd album to which he asked, “Oh, and are they
a pop group or…?” I almost laughed a bit, because I am so often teased for
having such an old taste in music, I would never have guessed that someone much
older than me would not know them. I told him no, they were an old, classic
rock band. He asked what songs they were known for and I rattled off a few,
saying that generally they are most known for their album Dark Side of the Moon.
He had no idea what I was talking about.
He then told me, “Oh okay, I was just wondering ‘cuz I thought it looked
like some sort of Goth symbol and I noticed the dark eyes” drawing his finger
across his own eyelid, “And I thought, ‘we might have an apprentice Goth here
or something.’” Now that I did laugh at and told him no, definitely not. Not
entirely sure what he meant by “apprentice Goth” but my guess is that I looked
Gothic, but not enough to be Gothic. Granted, I had my coat buttoned so he
wouldn’t have been able to see my more Rock style apart from my hat which he
obviously was unable to translate. His curiosity was very sweet though and I
wondered what he would have said if I had turned out to actually be what he
called an “apprentice Goth.”
Back on the bus, we were then taken to a place called Castle Howard which is a vast estate that is still lived in and owned by the wealthy
family who has had claim to it for generations. Visitors are allowed to wander
around the grounds and through the house, however. It was also the filming
location for the film “Brideshead Revisited” which was based off a novel by
Evelyn Waugh (I just recently read one of his other novels called “Scoop” for
one of my classes). The family earned my respect when, upon entering the
library, there was a secret door that stood ajar that was disguised by a
bookshelf. Additionally, in the same room, various facings of the pillars would
open up to reveal secret storage compartments for Brandy and Whiskey.
Being filthy stinking rich: you’re doing it right.
You can’t have that much money and not have at least one secret door.
The place was beautiful and we walked outside for a while
too. When the rain started pelting us, Peipei decided to go wait in the café but
Hannah and I wanted to brave the rain and see if we could get to one of the
distant monuments that are on the property. Unfortunately, that one did not
have public access but we did decide to walk along the path which skirts the
woods to another monument which was possible to get to. The rain stopped very
shortly after Peipei left so we were able to comfortably get pictures of the
property without getting too soaked. The daffodils especially were amazing,
creating a thick yellow carpet along the hill. They are all in bloom right now
and they are everywhere, I actually
think they grow wild here and are possibly a native British flower. Regardless,
it is not uncommon to see people walking around with daffodil pins fastened to
their lapels. When it was time to go, we met Peipei at the café and they made
the walk back down the very long and slightly muddy driveway to where the bus
was parked.
From there, we started to make our way along the main road,
however, our bus driver turned around when he saw that the evening traffic was
at a standstill. We instead then drove through the country back roads and villages
to York. Before coming here, I had heard a rumor that in some of the more rural
villages, the old red phone boxes have been converted into mini libraries;
stacked with books that are free to take so long as you leave another book in
its place. I wasn’t sure if this was really a thing, you can’t always trust the
internet. However, when passing through one of the towns, I made a point to
look into one of the phone boxes and sure enough, at least one wall of it was
stacked with books. Seriously, why am I not English? Think I was born in the
wrong country…
Today, we finished up Hamlet in my Shakespeare class, rather
sadly because I would love nothing more than to just keep on studying Hamlet
forever. I went to the store and then spent most of the afternoon working on my
Hamlet essay and bumming around online. Mom and Haley are coming this Saturday
so I am enjoying a bit of downtime before they get here as when they do I will
be keeping them on the run for the entirety of their stay.
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