'Philosophical thoughts', as well as a long overdue update

Photos for this post: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274673&id=11832732&l=dcd85
This link should work for everyone (I was told that some of my other links didn't work for some people, so if that is the case email me and let me know)

Update for me:
Classes have been going well; I have been kept busy by them. I'd like to say taht is the sole reason I haven't posted for a while, but I have been getting distracted by, well, everything. The country is beautiful here, in both the majestic sense as well as the "craggy desolation" of the mountainsides, where you can see bramble and boulders on the hill. I'd try to describe it more, but words (or even a photo) can't do it justice.

Having said I was distracted, I can't say that I have done any exceptional things to warrant a distraction except for a Football/Soccer game (more on that later). We did have two snowfalls, one of which was a light dusting and the other a full-out snow. This is unusual because Swansea, Wales, does not normally get snow. I have heard two conflicting reports, it has been either 3 years or 10 years since the last snowfall. It is so rare that Swansea doesn't even have plows/salting machines - that more than anything is why we were out of class - it was not safe to travel because the roads were iced over with no way to prevent it.

I went to a football game, just so I could say I saw one. It would be wrong to go to the UK and not see a football or rugby match, and since I don't particularly care for people 'trying to kill each other', it was a football game I went to (but surprisingly, there were a lot more deliberate injuries than I was used to, so they were maybe not trying to kill one another, but definitely maim the other team's kickers). I greatly admire all of the skill the players demonstrated - I know that I could never kick a ball as far/high/accurately as they did, even with years of training. I guess that is why I am going to be a Computer Scientist and not a football/soccer player. One thing that was interesting was the Doncaster section. For most of the stadium, you could see two police officers/security officers for each section - one at the top, the other at the bottom. At each edge of the Doncaster section, you could see a line of officers - on the sides, one for every two rows, and in the front/back, spaced out with four or five across the whole row. I am guessing it was to prevent any 'incidents' between Swansea fans and Doncaster fans - everyone was highly energetic about the game, so I could see how a fight could easily break out after a call by the referee. Thankfully, there was no bloodshed, and I was able to enjoy the match a great deal.


Philosophical Stuff:
I am going to have a great deal of re-adjusting to do when I get back to the US. Some of the stuff seems silly at first, but when you stop and think about it, it really makes sense. For example, I am going to have to re-learn how to cross streets. I had to unlearn the american system in London, and am going to have to un-learn the british system. What I mean by this is which way to look when you cross the street. For most of my life, I looked left, right, then left as I actually crossed, switching to looking right after having crossed the center. Here, everything is reversed, since cars drive on the left side of the road. I had to deliberatly make sure that I looked the right way when I was first getting used to the system, now it is almost a habit that I will have to break when I return.

It is also going to take some getting used to going back to driving places. Here, public transportation is very reliable and convienient (at least for me, coming when I need it). Here, if the train is going to leave at 11:35, it closes the doors about 10 seconds earlier (11:34:50), and it starts moving within seconds of the clock switching to 11:35. I regret that our own system of trains and buses is not as accurate/reliable.

Money is going to be an issue - not a great one, but I feel that the british system/values of currency make more sense than the american system. Specifically, the american system has the penny (1c), nickel (5c), dime (10c), quarter (25c), half-dollar though somewhat rare (50c), and the dollar bill (1$), and the 5 dollar bill ($5). The british system, in contrast, uses different numbers which to me make more sense, penny (1p), tuppence (2p), 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 1 lb (don't know how to make a pound sign on my keyboard), and 2 lb coins. The first bill is the fiver (5 lb). To me, it just seems to make more sense having most of the monetary currency being divisible by 1. Additionally, the tuppence is a great deal useful, since a single one takes up less space than two pennys, so it is a little more practical to use. I also like how 'small charges' can be paid entirely in coins - not a real benefit or disadvantage, but I like it for some reason.

An additional money related issue I will face is that tax is included in price - if something is listed as costing 95p here, you pay exactly 95p, not 1.05p or some other sales tax not included already. This means that you can calculate how much you will pay for an afternoon snack before you actually get to the register, saving you time. For instance, if I ordered a diet coke and a chocolate crossaint from a store on campus, I know that a diet costs 95p and the crossaint costs 1 lb - easy arithmetic - 1+.95 = 1.95. There is no calculation based on a sales tax whose value you may or may not know exactly. I find this system a lot more convenient to work with.


There are other issues as well, but I'll save them for later, as well as a discussion of how I see the people here - what differences and similarities I see, and how there is not as much difference between british students and american students. Yes it's a cliff hanger for my next blog, but I don't know that you would come back to read it then :-)