We've always known that the weather in the UK is cloudy, rainy and rather dismal. However, knowing it, and experiencing it are rather different. We have some pretty good rain gear to help repel the weather-Gortex shoes, rain coats, and both of our backpacks have a water proof cover that wraps around the bag. That being the case I never really expected how inclement the weather is here on the Island. We have been in London for two days, and Birmingham for two days, currently still in B-Ham. On all four days it has rained in short spurts, showed clear skies, sunshine, wind, clouds and chilly breezes all at various times. Basically what I'm getting at is even though we have been prepared, we are always somewhat unprepared. Let me elaborate.
Yesterday was fairly nice out when we went off on our way to Birmingham. The sun was mostly out, some clouds, fairly warm. We had to connect through two railways to get to an international rail station from where we were in London. The first connection ride was probably 5 minuets tops. We got outside and it was raining. Since it had rained the previous days, but not THAT hard or for THAT long we figured we treck through it to the station. It rained harder the longer we walked, and we got pretty wet. When we got off the station it was POURING rain. Sarah's rain coat was in the bottom of her 40 pound bag because the weather was nice a few hours ago we thought we wouldn't need it. The ending of this story is pretty anti-climatic. Sarah dug through all her stuff in the middle of the train station to get her rain coat, and we covered our bags with the rain shields. I just realized at that point that you can always be prepared for something but you may never be ready for it! (Cheesey? probably...but true)
One other thing we've become aware of that I wanted to touch on briefly is how worldly Europeans are, and how unworldly most Americans are (including ourselves). We befriended a fellow from France at our Birmingham Hostel. We made small talk the first night, and the second night he tried to relate to us by asking questions about politics in America. "Do you like Sarah Palin?" "Why do conservatives not like health care," But what really surprised me was how much he knew about statewide problems. He knew a lot about the issues with Unions in Wisconsin. I was shocked to even know he knew where Wisconsin and Iowa were, let alone individual state issues. It was just interesting hearing him sound genuinely interested and knowledgeable about what goes on in the states. It was pretty sad to realize how little we both knew about current French politics in return. Looks like we're moving in the right direction though.
-Nathan
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