What a conundurham!

Well, I’m in the land of tea, and it is lovely. But seriously. The town is basically like an English version of Fayetteville except the doors are painted cheerier colo(u)rs,  the town chatter has a more nasal quality, and when it comes to a showdown between pedestrians and cars, watch out because it’s not just the yellow ones that don’t stop. The hills, however, are identical.

After a semi-eventful day of travel, we made it to Durham University. We lost two people between London and Newcastle because security was terrible and they missed the flight, although they were able to catch the next one. While in the air, I copied the chatty British woman who was sitting in my row when the coffee cart came around and had my first cup of truly English tea (milk, no sugar, please). After we landed, we were picked up from the airport by two men driving taxi vans.  I sat in the American driver’s seat, which gave me a firsthand view of the driving reversal while we were speeding along the English countryside. There’s a double line along the sides of roads, and the streets seem tiny. People drive as if they’re on a quest from either the Queen or Christ himself, and speedy road navigation is non-negotiable.

The guy driving our van became an unofficial tour guide, pointing out when we crossed under a bridge that was the former border of Hadrian’s Wall. He gave us lots of interesting tidbits, much of which was gleaned from a recent Amazon book conquest, The History of British Pubs. The other parts of his narrative were dotted with factual gems of dubious accuracy about general English history, such as the battle that destroyed his hometown’s namesake building (forgive me, but the proper name escapes my jetlagged mind). He said that 20,000 grisly Scotsmen were brutally defeated by an English army 7,000 strong. Did the English have superior weapons or a killer game plan (ignore the pun)? Nope! Instead, our driver attributed the win as the result of having a solid English breakfast. Obviously it’s an important meal.

After we got to Durham we explored a bit. There were a lot of exciting details on the buildings, which may be my favorite part of the town so far. One shiny black door had a worn gold fish knocker on the front, which was absolutely begging to be sounded (I refrained). Another thing I noticed was a common lamp post sticker that reads “Conundurham.” I’m still trying to decide if this is a punny notice to travelers, warning them that the city is confusing. So far, I’ve been lost no more than once (each hour), but I’ve always been in good company so we found our way back. We took a tour of Durham Cathedral on our first day of class. Luckily, the place was spared from a lot of damage from Henry VIII, although the darn Victorians tragically whitewashed the place and many others also took their toll. Regardless, the place was gorgeous with the colored windows, etched columns and a 40-foot-high baptismal font. Dedicated Harry Potter fans may recognize the cathedral's courtyard from the first two films (yes, I fangirled). 

As for the school, it’s been an experience. We seem to have rather spotty Wi-Fi coverage, so this post is coming a smidge later than I intended (sorry Mom and Dad). However, all is well. I have my own room that comes with its own sink. Great, eh? However, this only marginally makes up for the toilet room (notice the absence of an “s” on toilet) that has no sink despite having a detailed four-step handwashing poster that seriously cautions against leaving hands germy. But they kindly provide a dispenser of “skin sanitizer.” The best and worst part of Collingwood College is the same – the coffee.  They have a magical machine that’s partly Keurig and partly automatic barista – you just push one of many buttons, and in 18 seconds your tiny mug is filled with your choice of steamy beverage. The bad part is that this is curtained off as soon as lunch is over, which means that an evening beverage is not an option. So I decided to give a certain dining hall teacup a little taste of American freedom and I chose that and a berry tea as a lunchtime souvenir. Nobody chased me while waving threatening weapons, so I guess they didn’t mind my temporary heist in quest of an evening cup of tea. So far, I’ve held off my jetlag with double espressos, but with today’s lesson already over, I think I’ll settle for a short nap now. After all, sleep is an excellent supplement to coffee.