Hey all-
Again, sorry for the continued delay. I like to think I've just gotten so involved with things that making the trek to the library once a day to reflect on them is too much of a nuisance. Also, I've purchased a handy-dandy moleskine notebook, in which I can now easily jot down all my artistic reflections... so this blog has some competition.
But a moleskine can't do this: check out what Wendy has published in a newspaper about Kenyon-Exeter! She hits it pretty much on the mark in some ways...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/22/opinion/edmcleod.php
I will write more later, though. I miss ranting to all you guys...
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Richard II:
This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear’d by their breed and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home,—
For Christian service and true chivalry,—
As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry
Of the world’s ransom, blessed Mary’s Son:
This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas’d out,—I die pronouncing it,—
Like to a tenement, or pelting farm:
England, bound in with the triumphant sea,
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.Sean Bye:
"British people will always make fun of your accent, but deep down they'll be jealous because you sound like a movie star."
T.S. Eliot:
"A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails
On a winter's afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England."Ken Worrall:
"The only difference between the English and Americans are their perceptions of each other."
1 comment:
Ok, sure. She's absolutely correct!
Which is why she got charged 8 POUNDS FOR A SANDWICH!? WHAT THE HELL!? Who made it, Jamie Oliver?
And if the people ask you the questions that she describes when you get back, and you HAVEN'T been to see landmark x,y,z? You're the competent tourist, they're the tourguide sucker who gets conned into an £8 sandwich. The point of visiting another country is to experience that countries' culture and you DON'T do that if you follow the package tours, or the guidebooks, or whatever. Mes parents ont jamais lis un guide de touriste, et ils ont vue plus de culture avec cette methode. Apologies if my french sucks, I haven't been back in a while. My parents are the experts - because they went off the beaten track.
Don't go to Exeter, London, Dublin and Edinburgh. Go to Exeter (Probably the Best University in The World) and then from there, visit places like Wincanton, Falmouth, Aberdeen, Laval, and the many little villages in France and Spain that cover the Pyrenees.
If there's an American Tour Guide? £8 gourmet cheese sandwiches? Then you've failed as a tourist and you're the same incompetent tourist that reads Fromers and ends up eating "Hash Brownies" in a Dutch Bakery in Amsterdam.
How to know when you've succeeded? You have difficulty ordering a coffee not because they're speaking a different language to the one you're speaking, but because they're accent's so thick they still sound like they're talking Gaelic/French/Spanish/(As for Wincanton, I've never actually worked out what language they sound like, but it isn't English!), when you GET your coffee, it's strong enough that you can cut bits off and eat them with a fork, and when you give up and try the pub there are two ciders and a beer, - NONE of which you've heard of, and all of which have unknown alcoholic content - and ingredients.
THAT'S when you've succeeded as a tourist. It's too bad that some people are forgetting that these days.
And if you want to try Wincanton, Griffin - I'm happy to take you home with me! ;)
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