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The hard life in Wales
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Britain! Wow, what a country! Or was it two? I spent a week and a half
gorging on the wonders the English Isles had to offer. I have to say I
was impressed that everyone spoke English, and the shopping was endless.
My Anglican adventure started innocently way back in January, when,
via an odd charge on someone’s staff account I couldn’t explain, I found
out that PW has a regatta every summer in England, the Windsor
Winch. As one who is know to wander into odd things, I jumped at the
chance to go sailing. What else am I gonna do with a few hundred buck and
three days of my life? So after a bit of BS, a well placed usage of the
word ‘jib pole,’ and a bit of begging, I got on the invitee list.
Joe-cool! I was going sailing!
Before I wound up on the boat, I went on a little South Island Odyssey.
I flew into London (of course) and went to stay with an old housemate from
DC, Danny. She lives in Wimbledon, a section of London strangely devoid
of tennis courts. I looked all over, but I didn’t see a single one! She
was good to catch up with. I got the latest gossip from DC, and her take
on the American Experience.
After spending time with her, and shopping like
mad in London, I went to see another ex-DC housemate (well more like
house crasher) Richard. We had a great time, driving to Cardiff Wales,
which might be an independent country, but I’m still a bit confused. There,
we packed up his University apartment and drove it back to his home in
Huntingdon with his stuffed animals staring out the back window the whole
way.
I rested in the English countryside for a few days before it was off
to London again. This time it was more of a bar crawl, with a dinner at
the posh National Liberal Club as the climax. I promptly got food poisoning
from the spring rolls (I knew the English cooked bad, but food poisoning
too?!).
The next day, as I learned all about the many
toilets of England, I made my way to Southampton, where the regatta
was going to be held. I met up with our crew, and of we went. A boat ramming,
impromptu swim, a broken jib pole, and a wind burnt face later, we came
in 6th, 5th, and 3rd out of 25 boats who sailed on a regular basis. For
a close to novice crew with a world class skipper, we did pretty good and
collected two bottles of champagne, if not a trophy.
All in all, I really enjoyed my time in Britain, and London is now on
the short list of cities I definitely want to live in.
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Sorry for learning all those toilets! You are not alone.Maybe you did not eat some snacks with prawns! Hmm!You can’t reach the toilet!Just change the trousers!