Shrewsbury

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12/3/09
We’re on the train to Shrewsbusy at 6.30 in the morning. Somehow we’ve ended up sitting in the mostly-empty, first class carriage. I’ve got my retro, bus-boy hat on, we got on Marylebone station and a guy in a uniform ferried my huge huge suitcase onto the train for me, calling me ’Miss’. Given my caffeine-deprived state at the moment, the whole situation’s got a bit of a movie feel for me.

Shrewsbury has a few things going for it.
a) Ronan’s uncle Fred lives there, who is kindly providing us with free accomadation.
b) It’s in the country…I’m seeing Lord Darcy already.
c) It’s in Shropshire, from the coffee ad. Remember? “I like my coffee exotic.. Like where you’re from!” “Shropshire? How lovely!”

We checked out of our hostel yesterday morning, then proceeded to squat in the common area all day, trying to appear as though we had every right to. We were going to crash at Lisa and Dave’s but they weren’t going to be home until 6:30. So we took it in turns to go out and do stuff, so that the other could let the person back into the hostel. Ronan went to the university to enrol in the English test. He had difficulty sorting his enrolment out because his English was better than the person working at the enrolment office. When he came back, I went for a really long walk. We’ve been staying in a suburb resembling Elizabeth over here. So it was great to keep going until I hit something easier on the eyes. Walked to Winchester where there were lots of white, grand terrace houses. Reminiscent of the landscape in Mary Poppins. Only now there’s at least one BMW for every house.

Took the bus to Lisa and Dave’s last night. Not that far from where we’d been staying actually. They’re living in a place with 2 other couples. They get a bit frustrated sometimes at having to share the space, but apparently it’s pretty standard cos of the cost of living here. Almost all the furniture came with the place, which used to be a family home. The décor’s a bit bizarre. There’s a holographic Jesus, 70s style furnishings, and a huge, antique world globe. It was great catching up with them. They’ve both picked up a little bit of an accent and they explained a few idiosyncrasies of London. Also they were sympathetic about the ongoing job hunt. Dave took 2 months to pick up a job when he arrived. The economic crisis doesn’t help either.
Well I’m going to hunt down some coffee in the buffet carriage.
Over and out!

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