Being English

Since being in England I have met new friends, experienced the cold, worn shorts in the rain, found a shop with my name, found a street with my middle name, found the all famous red telephone booths. I have climbed hills, asked directions, taken photos, looked silly ( Shirt and shorts ) , drank too much tea, sat on a farm, lit fireworks and the list goes on.


I think i am safe to say that i am on my way to becoming qualified as

"English"

. I have even started saying "Wha" instead of "What"

What is new you may ask? Well where shall I start. I first want to point out that what they say about the English and the amount of intake of tea that they take is absolutely correct. I have never witnessed people drink so much tea in my life and never knew that it was even possible. I have to say that i succumbed and started drinking a lot more tea. To celebrate this fact i went out and bought a key ring that says " Totally addicted to tea "

Today was a great day as I got to visit my cousins work, he works in a college teaching 6th formers media and filming. As this is just up my street I gladly accepted and managed a long and tiring bicycle ride to a location just outside of WInchester. It was great to see how the college works and what it looks like.
Afterwards i had to cycle into town to sort out something with my phone. I then found out that i am not able to access internet in this country without wifi - So much for the great iPhone. I think i am slowly turning towards blackberry. I thought iPhones were going to dominate South Africa as it does with the rest of the world - but i was wrong. As Fate had it my own iPhone revolution did not work and people turned towards blackberries.

I have realised that a lot of people here are not friendly at all - especially the older folk. I think the older people think that who ever smiles at them has an ulterior motive and hence the clutching of their handbags as we younger people walk past. I have gotten many grumpy looks after happily walking past and saying Hi to people. I guess this is just not how it works.

I just have to comment on the transport system and how green this country can be. Now the positives about the trains and buses here are the fact that they all run so smoothly. You walk to the bus stop - catch a bus - walk up to the train - catch a train. It cannot be more simpler than that. IT is well oiled and lots of people make use of these facilities.
The only negative however is the cost. Because the government charges so much tax everything just rises in prices.
Lets compare

A ticket from Heathfield station to Cape Town return costs around R16 which is about 1.2 Pounds and the journey is 20 or so minutes.
Here in England for a 20 minute journey costs about 8 Pounds return which is about R84.

Until next time


I just want to send a big shout out to all the Matrics of 2011. Congratz on your results and I want to wish you the very best for the future and what it has in stall for you.