England: Touch Down
Friday, May 13th
Right before we landed in London, we were asked to fill out this form stating who we were and where we were headed. It included our name and an address of where we were going to be staying while in England. You can imagine how confusing that particular question could be to a group of touring students. The result? A lot of us left it blank. I, personally, included the address of the first hotel we were staying in (the Holiday Inn-Regent's Park) just so I could finish the stupid form. As we touched down, we were corralled (sheep style... as is England's custom) into customs. Ironically for our group, most of our party were directed to the most asshole customs agent in all of the United Kingdom. It is my guess that he was trained over in the states... because only over here one learn the true art of the dark side. I didn't get that customs agent... I got a very nice lady who welcomed me to the country. Mike, however, will always remember the Holiday Inn-Regents Park because the asshole customs dude damn near ate his face off.
Finally, we were able to move into the airport, where we got to stand and wait for everyone to get through customs. And to wait for people to pull out British money from the cash point. And, once we did, we realized that not all the choir robes had arrived in London. In fact, those fine people in Detroit forgot to (read: didn't bother to) put the robes on the plane. So the robes were safe; just safely in Detroit. (We would receive them in time to wear at our first gig Sunday morning)
Our first taste of English freedom came after our already annoying tour guide made sure we knew how to get out of the airport: The airport that seems like it has only one major exit. Praise the gods for our fantastic tour guides.
But enough of the sarcasm. I noticed two important/interesting things about England once we got onto our coach: 1) The British countryside reminds me a bit of the Appalachian Mountains/hills. The area just South of London very much reminded me of West Virginia and certain areas in Pennsylvania with their rolling green hills and inbreed inhabitants. What? I don't know where that came from... but I do know that I didn't feel all that uneasy about the countryside because it felt like places I have been before; 2) British drivers. As we were driving to London, there was a section of carriageway that was congested with traffic. To alleviate that problem, there were electronic signs suggesting all drivers "Stay in your lane." And, to my shock and amazement, everyone DID in fact stay in their lanes. As far as I was concerned, this was a very obvious difference between Brits and Americans: No one driving felt it their RIGHT to be able to go as fast as they wanted. We've got such a fixation in this country with Freedom that we feel like everyone should be free to do whatever they want... particularly on freeways. In the States, if there was a sign that said "Stay in your lane" most people would... but you'd still see some people switching lanes, trying to go faster, etc. There was none of that in England... and I had a feeling that I was going to like my trip.
Our first stop was Windsor Castle. The first flight/coach arrived early enough that they left as we arrived. I found this annoying. Regardless, I found myself quickly within the castle walls of Windsor... on a self-guided tour of the castle. I started in a room with time-lines and dates of various important historical landmarks of the castle, and started my "mocking tour of history" by focusing on the pictures. They showed period pictures of the castle... the first being 2-D, the next being in black-and-white, and the third being a crude 3-D colored drawing. So, obviously, I started saying (as loud as I could) that the castle went through a two-dimensional period and a black-and-white period, etc. I got a few choir members laughing and felt like I had found what would be a constant source of humour on the trip. But then, someone who will remain nameless, asked me to read something written on the wall, thinking it would be "hilarious" if I did it. I started reading it and, get this, it was a story of how the castle had partially burned in a fire. I stopped reading it aloud and felt guilty about mocking the partial destruction of this historical home. Needless to say (even though I'm saying it), I stopped that right quick.
I was unable to get any pics of the inside because they don't allow pictures to be taken of the inside... but there was a fabulous vestibule (the Grand Vestibule) full of armor and weaponry artistically arranged. It was actually quite beautiful. And then I was bored by most of the rest of the tour. The only thing that REALLY made me laugh was a pic Mike and I decided to take out in the courtyard. To mock Alex's "Hollywood eating" pic, we decided to have Mike eat something in England. The best part of this picture is that three French woman (who obviously didn't speak any English) wanted to see the pic after I took it... and they giggled in French (Ugh huh huh) when they saw it. This further proves that comedy breaks down all language barriers. But what an interesting start to this fabulous trip.

Take THAT, Alex!
Posted by Hello