What My Plans are

Well, I appreciate the constructive advise from all my nearest and dearest.
So, now that the first stage of my "year abroad" is winding to a close, I figured that I would let you all know what my plans are.
First off, though, I will tell you how I have spent the rest of my time here in Stourport with Sara. We have really taken to each other, and spent some pleasant hours together. Birmingham, the 2nd largest city in England, is quite a lovely town, despite the bum rap it gets in many guide books. It was once a huge industrial centre, thanks to the industrial revolution, and sits at the centre of the nation, and also the centre of the extensive canal system (dad, these canals are amazing, and I think would make a cool circular paddle, al through the countryside, to the Severn). In fact there are more canals in Birmingham than there are in Venice. Thanks to a recent clean p effort, the city's down town is a very pleasant area. We went there a few days ago to see the National Sea Life centre (ironically situated here in a land locked city). I was a little sceptical but it turned out to be excellent. There were huge displays all set up in the most modern ways to perfectly replicate natural habitats. The real highlight was the Green Turtle display, which was a massive tank where the walkway passed right through the middle, completely covered by the water, above us, under us, on both sides...a very effective way to se all the animals in the tank, which held black tip reef sharks, a huge green turtle, and a variety of tropical fish. t was like walking righ ino the middle of an active functioning reef.
I also spent a lot of time wandering about Stourport, which also has its fair share of canals and lock systems. It sits at the joining of the Severn, the Stour river, and the Birminham canal. The area of the city called the Basins, which was a very complex system of locks. Very pretty town.
(But full of scumbags, Sara assures me).
Anyhow, she has to end her holidays, and go back to work, and I have a ticket home, so we have to part ways tomorrow. However, We have a really good thing here, and neither of us wants to see it come to and end, so I have altered my plans somewhat. I am coming home, and will apply to get my UK work visa, so that in the new year I can return. I am simply backing up my teachers college plans for a while, which is no worries...I had originally planned to be gone for a year, and now I will be, before I begin that. Being based in Birmingham will be hady as it is the centre of the island, close to many places to visit ( and very close to Gloucester, Aunt Nancy, so the cheese race is still on!). It will also enable me to hop on a plane and go to Paris, or Rome, etc. for a weekend...AND I will be making the pound, which is worth double the looney, so it is all good..not to mention that I can pursue my romance with a beautiful English firefighter. Yep, all coming up Geoff.
Don't worry mom, I will be home for xmas!

Catching you off guard

I know, I know...some of you think I am a sap, but what else is new?
After the weekend in Brighton, I had really come to like Sara a lot. She really is an exceptional person who I could waste a lot of time with and still count it as time well spent, but what happened on the way home blew me away. It was one of those things that really shapes your perspective of a person forever, and Sara is amazing.
We were driving along, and had been on the road for hours. We were almost home, when we saw the accident up ahead. Now, Sara is a fire fighter, and she saw that there was no rescue crew at the site yet, so without even thinking about it pulled over to render assistance.
I have never seen an accident like it before. It was utter carnage. A transport had gone through the barrier, from our side, into oncoming traffic (on the M5, a highway like the 401). There was a 200 m section of barrier that simply no longer existed. The truck must have then hit a Range Rover, and another smaller car. All of it happened no more than 2 min. before we got there, so it was chaos, and there were no police, ambulance or firemen. Sara ran over right away, but I froze. I stood by the car and looked at the remans of the vehicles and just froze. The SUV was obliterated, the roff had been torn off, and was 30 m away from it. I looked, and there were 15-20 people who had stopped to help, so all I could think is "I will just get in the way", but if I'm honest, it was more likely I was afraid of what I would see. I don't say this to create a sense of self pity, or seek reassurance, but to better ilustrate the character of another person. Sara went over, and realized that all the other people were just other drivers, so she took charge, simply by announcing herself as a firefighter. It was Sara who knelt in the blood of the woman who had been thrown from the Suv, and saw that literally half her head was missing. It was Sara who, after feeling the pulp that was her skull as she tried to open her breathing passage, announced her dead, and covered her with the sheet. Amazing, such bravery. Sara dismissed it afterwards, but it changed nothing in my mind. Acting as she did was nothing short of heroic. Fortunately, the other rescue workers arrived at that point, so after Sara left her details, we left for home.
I was shaken up by it and I had seen nothing. My contribution was giving Sara her jacket, after she had seen to the woman (amazingly, the other 2 drivers were ok). I can only imagine what she must have been feeling. I am glad I was there though, so that she was not alone, and I could do a little bit to help he through it, although my impact, I am sure was minimal.
SO, the moral here is that there are things that happen, catch you off guard, and they change your view of another person for good. Leaving here in a little over a week will pull my guts out, I think. It really will be one of the harder things I have done. I am torn in 2, but noone ever said that life should be filled with easy choices.

Making much of time, with Pagan festivals

Well, the tain carried me on to Worcester (pronounced Woo-ster, I think!). I was a day early for meeting my friend Sara (pronounced Sah-rah, sorry for ALWAYS screwing that one up, baby!), so I got a room at the Travellodge, a luxury I felt I had earned with the poor accomodation in London. There were no hostels anyway, as Worcester is not exactly a huge tourist destination. All the same, I walked around that night for while, and it seemed like a nice enough little place. I ate supermarket sammies for dinner, and turned in, to watch some wondrful cinema like 4 Brothers, Madagascar, and Land of the dead...god, who makes that shit up? Utter crap, never watch them (although to be fair, I didn't get to see all of the Land of the Dead...pity.)
The next day, I called Sara up, and she got me no worries at the train station. We had a job ahead of us, planning out our trip to Brighton. On such short notice, we had a tough time finding a B and B (no camper van, as there was no camping in Brighton...shame). As she is an awesome cook, I was more tha happy to have her make dinner, watch some tube (my name is earl), and then turn in.
The drive down south was no trouble (especially for me as I can't drive stick at home, let alone on the wrong side of the road), and we made good time. Our BandB was great, a little place called the Marine View (mom, if you and morag come here, I recommend it).
Brighton itself was a great town, with a very cosmopolitan Continental feel to it, like London, without the bad bits. Winding lanes house many cool shops, and creative restaurants. Of course, it is Englands gay capital, so I made sure my ass was on display!
That night we took te train to Lewes, the town where they hold a huge Guy Fawkes bonfir night. The story of Guy is very simple. In the years following the Reformation, England was in turmoil religiously, as the catholics and protestants vied for power. At last the protestants won out, but that really pissed off the catholics, so they conspired to blow up Parliament, with the king in it (the king was the head of the church of England). The plan was carried out, but at the last minute, as the gunpowde was being set in place by Guy ( a low level conspirator, as it turned out), he was betrayed, and caught. For his attempted assasination and treason he was hung, drawn and quartered, then burned at the stake...they really had to make sure they got him. Now, every year on the weekend closest to Nov. 5th, towns all over the country have parades, bonfires, fireworks, etc, to celebrate the traitors death. Actually, it i piggybacked on a much older pagan festival, but Guy gave them a chance to modernize it.
It was unreal...I had no idea what I was in for. Firstly, I was in the company of a beautiful lady, who I was rapidly becoming enamoured with. Secondly, we split a 26er of gin on the 7 mile train ride. When we arrived, this small English town was RAMMED full with drunken revelers. There were thusands of people who had descended on the town. We fought our way down to the main street. As we walked, people were setting of very powerful fire crackers, which quickly became deafening. Garbage cans were being blown up by them, people were everywhere, it wa madness.
Then we got to the parade route. The town has 5 bonfire societies, all of whom compete with each other to outdo the others. They marched by in all sorts of dress (vikings in full gear, smugglers, French revolutionaries, etc.), all carrying torches, and carrying banners and standards that were alight..I have never seen so much fire used in a parade. At last, the societies dragged out enormous 20ft effegies that were to be torched at the various fires. There was one of Guy Fawkes, the Pope, and Condoleeza Rice (a nice touch I thought). It was full on wild.
We then made our way to one of the free bonfires. It was so huge, it felt like it was melting your skin off, and we were 50 ft away, at least. This fire was a massive blaze. There was also quite the fireworks display. It was like Victoria Day, only with fire and pagan symbolism, and a lot more fireworks.
We were cold and exhausted by that point, so we got the train, and returned to Brighton. What an amazing time!
The following day, we just lounged about the room, making our way into town eventually, just wandering aimlessly, without an agenda, simply relaxed and enjoying each others company. We met up with Sara's friend John, and went off to play some mini putt along the sea front (Brighton is an old seaside resort town). Of course, Sara won...must have cheated! After a few pints at a pub right on the water, the "Fortune of War", we said goodbye to John, and went out for Sushi.
Another night in town was well spent in each others company, as we knew that the next da would see us back in Worcestershire. We did not get an early start, and then met John again for lunch, before we made the long drive back up north. God what a time! So much fun.

Farewell my friend

Well, as most of you no doubt know already, my travelling compadre is gone, back to the "real world" with all the bullshit that that phrase implys. Well, buddy, it was a good ride while it lasted. We gave 'em shit while we could, thats for sure.
The last few days before Jer's departure were fantastic. How could they not be, we were in London, one of the great cities of the world. A lot of people like to compare it to New York, but London is a glittering gem compared to NY's paltry glass, cut to look like treasure.
With only 2 days to really sink his teeth into the hulking mass of humanity, we had a busy schedule. We took in s many sights as we could, it was like a whirlwind. As this was my second time to Lndon, I had done may of them before, but they are so extraordinary that one does not mind repeating a few. The British museum is likely the greatest collection of artifacts from the ancient world you could find anywhere. Of course, as they collected this relics ove the last 300 years, many of the modern nations where they seized items from are up in arms over the "theft" of their heritage...go cry elsewhere. As the debacle in Iraq proved, many of these nations are incapable of safe guarding their own heritage...looting on the scale that occured in Iraq would never happen here, and so the heritage of the globe is preserved by a nation that is up to the task...I take comfort in that. Also, since 1773, the British museum has been free to the public, which any fan of history will appreciate.
We spent most of the 1st day wandering about its extensive halls, basking in the glow of the ages...ironically, we had already been to many of the actual sites where many of the items on display had originally come from (the marble lions from the roof of the Mausoleum, for instance). Finally, despite the fact that we had to miss large sections of it, we had to leave, get some street meat, and wander the streets until we arrived at Nelson's column in the middle of Trafalgar square. Nelson, for those who do not know, is Britains most celebrated hero, the vice admiral who was responsible for the annihilation of Napoleon's navy, at battles like the Nile, and Trafalgar. He ws slain at the moment of his greatest triumph (Trafalgar), and has had more monuments erected than any other figure (there is even one for him in Montreal). We then pushed on to see Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey (which was closed at 3:45, so we missed it by 10 min.). Rather than be dissuaded, we hoofed it over to Buckingham Palace (home of the most unworthy family in the world to be given the title "head of state" - don't get me going on the subject of royalty!) Yes, yes yes, very nice, now lets move on! We then walked over to Hyde park, and took in the many scenes along the way - the Canada Gate, the Commonwealth war monument (for India, the Carribbean, and Africa), as well as the Wellington Gate (Wellington was the army equivalent of Nelson, who was navy, and defeated the French at Waterloo, destroying Napoleon for well and good).
Our hostel was crap...it was tough to take after the country hostels, but in the city they don't care about quality, they will always be full. We were in an 8 bed dorm, and 3 of the bastards snored all night long, without respite. I got a kick out of Jer talking out loud to himself at 3 am, plotting the murder of one of them! Good times.
The next day, we walked back down to Westminster right away, and took in the Abbey. Every Britain of note is buried there (except many military heroes who are interred in St. Pauls Cathedral), ans many who do not matter one whit. Most are monarchs, and other nobles, most of whom I could not car a toss about, but once again, strolling through the section called poets corner was my personal fav. As I noted last time, it is a sign of a societies sophistication if they glorify their artists as well as their generals. So many literary giants lie beneath the floor of the Abbey, it is staggering. I did not recite Tennysson's "Ullysses" out loud this time, but rather just stood there with my hat in my hand and said a silent tribute to the men (and women) who have moved my soul with nothing other than their words.
We then walked to the Thames, and took a boat to Greenwich, the headquarters of the British Navy. As we made our way down the river, the old gent who worked on the boat gave an impromtu tour of the sights...wow, what history. The warehouses, pubs, courts, police stations, etc., just seeping with history. My personal favourite was the story of the judge of Whomping, who delivered the "Mercy of Whomping" to pirates who preyed upon the shipping on the Thames. This judge would have pirates staked out on the tidal flat (the river rises over 20 feet between low and high tide), and would let them stay there for 3 full tides, before announcing them as dead. Charming, but no doubt effective! All of the wharfs, once filled by tea clippers and such, bringing goods from all over the globe, are gone, having been converted into luxury apartments. At one time the city got grittier and more dangerous as you went east. Now it gets more posh and trendy. Very odd how that goes.
The village of Grenwich itself is a World Heritage site, and no wonder. The British navy was the pinnacle of global power for hundreds of years, helping to change the shape of the world for ever, and as such, deserves to be recognised for its role in history. Today the naval college is owned by the University of Greenwich, and the Trinity Musical college, and no longer turns out men who would control the power of the nation, but the buildings are stunning all the same. The Naval museum, also free, is worth some time, and we did not have enough, as we had to climb the hill to the Royal Observatory, where the British used star maps and intricate technologies I do not comprehend to discover the lines of Longitude, a discovery that greatly changed the face of global navigation. Indeed, right there on the ground in the court yard there run the Prime Meridian, the line that seperates the world into Eastern and Western halves...you can stand with a foot in both, straddling the line, existing in both hemispheres...of course, the line is a creation of man, but it is still an awesome feeling.
After a dinner of Indian food at a buffet, we packed up, rady to part ways in the morning.
Saying goodbye to my bro, who has been my constant companion for 3 months, day in, day out, was hard. I waited until I could no longer see him on the platform where he went to catch his train to the airport. Then I turned and walked off, pack strapped on, feet set on their path. Another stage had come to a close, but I still had things to do, so I was off to Paddington station, where a train of my own would carry me forward, to a different sunset than Jeremy would be seeing, for the first time in a long time. Cheers buddy.