And to think I thought Big Ben was big.
I was speaking with my landlord last night. I was saying how it is one thing to visit Britain but it is another thing to live here. Even though my parents are British and I was raised with a significant British influence, I was however raised in Canada. And the two are different. The same but different. The same language but different meanings to words. Similar weather, at least on the coast of British Columbia, but different approaches to home building.
This old Oak sure has some shape to her!
As I have always said, the old world is about culture and history, whereas the new world, aka in this case Canada, is really about the outdoors and nature. Britain has the outdoors too and of course the Brits love to get outdoors and are hardy lot. With the amount of chilly rainy days, I am still amazed how many persist riding their bicycles.
One rough and chopper ferry crossing over to the Purbecks
I am reading a book from Bill Bryson called Notes from a Small Island. I highly recommend it by the way. It is really well written and funny. And Bryson does a great job of capturing many of the unique qualities of Britain as he makes his way around this island. I almost want to quote everything he says in it. It is so bang on.
The beautiful colours of the cliffs along the Studland Beach
What I like about the book is that it validates the experiences I have been having as I have been settling down here. At first, I thought maybe I was imagining things, but here an author has written extensively about the country and its towns and people and I realize that the experiences I have been having are not my imagination. They are actually experienced by others. So therefore they are typically British.
An old war bunker that has fallen off the top of the cliff due to erosion
I think one of the things I really notice compared to Canada, at least here in southern England, is how small the country really is. The traffic is denser, the houses are smaller, things are more expensive and people are quite territorial. I guess that is the result of living in such a small country with a population 2.5 times the size of Canada.
An old house that has seen better days
It is funny too, as you get older, that your tolerance for what you comfortable with decreases. You sort of are compelled to miss those things you are familiar with for no other reason than that. It is just what you are familiar with. So as I continue to settle down here, I try not to do too much comparison to Canada because really that’s not fair. Because after all, it is not Canada. It is not better, it is not worse. It is just Britain.
The expanse of Studland Beach. No studs were found during shooting.
Glad you’re writing/posting again, because I’ve missed reading your observations……
I LOVE these snapshots, esp. the one of the old oak tree. You sure have a way of finding unusual pictures.
What do you mean by “it is JUST Britain”? I would say that it IS Britain, the beautiful! 🙂
Thanks Ines – I am trying to get back to being more regularly posting but have not yet – but never to fail!