hull in my head

stomach and make the best of for a weekend. But as I arrived to the somber coast my apprehensions melted away.

Bournemouth is beautiful. It’s an English version of what a seaside town should be, fully equipped with thatched roof cottages sprinkled through the county as if from salt and pepper shakers. It’s one of those places that you know is highly desirable because its population is composed only of the retired, or visitors on holiday. And the city attempts to preserve this, every year more and more of the sandy beach is taken out to sea so they actually use giant tankers to suck up sand from the bay and refill the beach.

Bournemouth is also home to the New Forest. Now, the name “New Forest” is a bit of a misnomer, at over 900 years old it could hardly be considered ‘new’ and although there are trees it’s much more of giant fields than a ‘forest.’ Be that as it may, it’s an amazing place. New Forest is a paradisiac free-range area for ponies, some cows, donkeys, and the occasional pig. You see ponies just eating and playing and roaming wherever they like. I half expected to see rainbows and hear over-the-top children’s music. In my bus ride home I saw at least 100 different ones, and it wasn’t even a nice day. It is truly a place where you could spend hours and not even notice. All it’s charm does come at a cost however. First is that a road way runs through the area so many are hit and killed each year. And second is that the one pig we saw was in the middle of the road and held up my bus to the point that I missed my connecting train. I plan to eat bacon to spite him.
Ah, nature… that’s why I come here… Goulet.

Besides Bournemouth being beautiful the conference was genuinely much more enjoyable than I anticipated. I was hosted by a lovely family (Nick and Julia) from Hampshire who quickly won my heart with humor and an English feast. Julia made a giant mound of Sheppard’s pie, vegetables, and lemon zest pudding the first night I arrived and a full English breakfast the following morning. I, on the other hand, tried to pay my dues by teaching them to use their fancy new computer and by breaking into their house when Nick forgot his keys. The latter was a rush. I had to climb on two different perches to reach inside a little window and pry open a larger one from there. I am now considering my options in the field of thieving.

All and all I learned a lot more this weekend than I though I would. I learned all of the history of Bournemouth, proper English tableware manners, the myth behind Christchurch, how to English barn dance, and not to travel by train on Sundays. I even made friends.