Sunday, September 24, 2006

Leeds

I've been in Leeds for almost two weeks now and I have to say that I quite like it. It's very busy, which can be frustrating as I am out in the sticks a bit, but it's quite a fun little (3/4 of a million people or something similar) city. Here's a few photos to give you an idea:


Above is the town hall, I'm not sure exactly how old it is but, like many of the buildings around here, it may well have been built before Captain Cook was in nappies. I had a quick squiz inside and it's really nice but there was some function going on so I didn't hang around to get a photo.
Apparently there's about 100,000 of us students in Leeds, and our presence is certainly felt.
One thing I've found since arriving in the UK, but especially after my time in London, I have realised that in Australia we, believe it or not, perhaps customer service (and the general good nature of people) for granted. People are rarely willing to offer any assistance and when they do, like if it's their job or something and they're forced too, they aren't particularly helpful. Leeds doesn't seem so bad, though when I saw this sign I did wonder... Just because I'm on the other side of the world doesn't mean that the thursday night pilgrimage has to stop...
The above and below (on the next post as blogger is still playing games with me) photos were taken on one of the few typical english days (as far as weather goes) that I've had since I've been here, though I was still in shorts and a T shirt. They're both taken just down the road from where I'm living and in the background to the right of the photo below is the buildings that make up Boddington Hall where I'm living.

3 comments:

Alcifer said...

What is Boddington Hall like? How are your classes going? (You said that you have an interesting timetable).

I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the mild weather in Britain at the moment, Ash.

Are there many other Aussies doing the exchange program in your classes?

Ash said...

Good to hear from you mate! Boddington is good, it's a bit of a hike from uni (on average about a 20 minute bus ride) but it's a pretty active little place.
Timetable is all over the shop, lots of early starts and one or two hour gaps, but can't do too much about that.
Met the first aussie doing engineering the other day from SA. Have met lost of northerners and a few from out west but no one from near canberra and no one as far south as Vic yet.
Will update the blog again soon, though blogger does seem to be making it hard...

Anonymous said...

Hi Ash,

Great photos. I'm not entirely sure why the statues are wearing traffic cones on their heads but it's pretty funny looking.

Enjoy the warmer weather while it lasts. I don’t envy you having winter starting just as we are going into prime bbq-ing time. Guess you’ll just have to drink lots of warm English beers to keep toasty.

What is the Leeds equivalent of O’Neils?

Jenny