Tuesday, September 23, 2014

First Week in Leeds

Hello, everybody!

It's been quite a busy week, what with acclimating to city culture, getting supplies for the apartment, adjusting to living without a cat (slightly joking), and running around to different lines to become a fully registered postgraduate student.  Things have been breezily settling into place, though, and I've had plenty of time to relax and explore Leeds.  Though it's not the prettiest city I've been to, it's very easy to live here--if that makes any sense.  My adjustment period has been very short (compared to the same period when I moved to Celle in 2009), and I like the area where I live...even if there are blasted young people who do young people things at night.

Some observations I've made in the week I've lived here:


  • When people say "Cheers" to you, it's most likely they are not referring to the well-beloved '80s sitcom of the same name.
  • It is perfectly acceptable to express calm impatience/polite irritation to other queue-goers while waiting in your fifth queue of the day--all to get a little card with your picture on it.
  • "Sorry," "please," "You all right?," "love," and "Ta" are regular parts of the British-English language.
  • The Brits can actually make pretty good lattes.
  • The students here dress like 1980s caricatures.
  • The Brits' legs of steel are second only to the Germans'.
  • It's pretty cloudy here.
I'll admit that those weren't all that funny, but cut me some slack.

I've been exploring a few places around Leeds, such as York (as aforementioned) and Headingley, which is a community within Leeds.  If I recall correctly, Headingley is where J.R.R. Tolkien lived while he taught at the university.  I'm hoping to be able to go somewhere this week, too, since I'll be starting classes next Monday.  (Once classes start, I'm hoping to be able to set a nice routine.)

On a random note, I may be going to Swansea, Wales near the end of October.  More info the come, if it happens.

"Ta."

3 comments:

  1. Those whippersnappers! :) I liked those random facts; very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So is cheers more a salutation or toast? I have always wondered. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rachel, I've found "Cheers" to be more of a form of thanks...which is a bit different than I'm used to. :)

    ReplyDelete