It's spring break vacation right now and I'm typing this on someone else's laptop at the United World College at Llantwit Major, Wales; and this after - get this - travelling by bus to New York City, by subway and AirTrain to JFK International Airport, cross-Atlantic Air India plane to London Heathrow, by the Tube to London Paddington station, national rail all the way to Cardiff Central, and finally to this little corner of Wales.
Quite a journey to be making alone, but I seem to be getting increasingly used to this sort of travelling. I met Lin Zi at Heathrow and spent the afternoon walking London's streets in the constant wind and drizzle (typical miserable British weather - far removed from the blazing blue skies of Providence but hey, it's still London), visiting Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, before boarding the train for Wales.
Strangely enough, after the vastness of the US and China, England seems manageably puny in comparison, at least in this age of modern transportation. Strange - because in my mind, England has always been somewhat larger than life - a semi-mythical land, unfathomably historical and romantic, home to an entire library of fictional universes, boarding schools and charmingly (or not-so-charmingly) eccentric characters. Now that I'm here, the place just seems a little run-down and grey; chilly, damp and permanently, depressingly overcast. The British seem to be polite in a distant kind of way, at least in comparison with the effusive American brand of friendliness. They are a lot quieter than the Americans too - not a lot of British-accented conversation that I could hear on the streets - the tourists seem to be a lot chattier. People jog along the Thames in T-shirt and shorts, in the face of grey drizzle and biting wind. I don't get this madness. But on the Tube, we had a group of British schoolgirls decked out in real Brit school uniforms: tie, vest, stockings and black shoes - clamber in and chatter away the way young girls do. I was greatly amused. All that was missing was the black robe and wand.
As usual, the travelling was plagued with hiccups, but fortunately, with a bit of patience, common-sense and luck, things worked out. And since I made a conscious decision NOT to check in my luggage, there weren't any problems there either.
I'm going to try uploading some photos. With this pokey connection, I'm not sure if I'm going to succeed, though.
words were spilled on Monday, March 27, 2006
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