Three weekends ago, I spent several days with an older English couple in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. I met John and Elizabeth Riley through HostUK, a host family program that I had signed up for in September (I filled out in a survey that I liked history, wasn't a picky eater, and preferred not to stay with cats...). We were assigned a weekend, exchanged emails, and then it was November and time to take the train to meet them!
I got VERY lost getting there. I planned to meet another Amelia, another HostUK student, in Euston at the Marks & Spencer's (grocery store). It also turns out that there are two Marks & Spencer's in Euston; the station is that big!  |
| For navigation: screenshots of everything from emails to Google maps. This has helped me to be more prepared in advance, but I am definitely looking forward to having cell data back soon! |
A woman at the ticket both gave me directions to the wrong store, and against my instincts I followed her advice...then worried Amelia had left without me...then got on the train without her... and then realized I was on the wrong train. But I found my way to another information booth and was able to pull myself together when the Brit there said, "Love, it's gonna be okay. I promise."
I made it to the station around eight. There was no internet access, so I was left with one option: turn my phone off airplane mode (sorry, Dad!) and call John, the man who planned to pick me up. Elizabeth had dinner waiting when we arrived:
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| Waiting to be served a (REAL) English meal! |
John and Elizabeth didn't seem to mind our over-excitement about the three course meals. Liz said "you should see the Chinese [exchange students] who come...they are always taking pictures to send back home to their families." I suppose this is because their food differs a lot more to the British than ours do, but an over-generalization of this statement might not be accurate. :)
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| Gooseberry crumble is almost as good as apple crisp. ..but not quite. |
I learned a lot about the Rileys over dinner; we talked at the table for over two hours, then washed and dried the dishes together. By the end of the weekend, I knew which way to set the table, where the salt and pepper went, and where to put the towels out to dry. (I didn't realize how much I crave this kind of routine until I experienced it again!) After dinner, Amelia had a play to write (she's majoring in play writing at NYU), and I had two Sociology assignments to submit before midnight. It's a blessing we both had solo train journeys because we got a lot of work finished! All I had to do was rent a hotspot for an hour to connect to the wifi and turn them in. Then I was able to fully focus on enjoying my stay.
John added way too many books to my "To Read" list!
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning, we headed out to explore the town:
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| John and Amelia |
After our weekend together, I told John it was nice to have a "built-in tour guide". He really was! He knew so much about architectural quirks in the buildings and gave us all kinds of fun facts about the history of the town. Liz kept telling him to "stop boring us" but I loved every minute of it!
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| Different marks on the pillars of these medieval buildings helped early carpenters know how to assemble. |
John and Elizabeth picked up some groceries from Shrewsbury Market Hall, and then we checked out these handmade sweaters. (I am going to miss local markets!!)
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| Al, if I had taken cash with me, these would've been for you :) |
John planned to take us inside St. Mary's Church (below), and then we saw that they were hosting a chocolate festival inside it to raise money for charity. We went anyway:
When my London Crucible class went to the Peace and Reconciliation center, we talked about how old churches have started to transform into buildings for other purposes. This is certainly one example! It kind of lost the serenity of a church for me in this way, but it was a neat building to look at.
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| Another use of the building: art therapy :) |
The main stained glass window (left) has an interesting story. It is one of the few completely intact/original stain glass windows from medieval times still around. As a whole, it shows a "family tree" of biblical people (sort of like a timeline of a part of the Bible). The stained glass was taken down and moved for restoration purposes (according to John, anyway) and reassembled. But the people who put it back together did not know enough about the Bible and placed in pieces in the wrong order. He said that going in there is a "test to see how well you know the Bible" (I will be honest...I could not tell who was who at all!).
I sampled only one piece of chocolate on the way out-100% cocoa. The bitter taste stayed in my mouth for the entire car ride back to the Riley's for lunch.
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| I know this picture has something to do with Charles Darwin but it's been three weeks and I honestly don't remember... :/ |
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| John took his tour guide role very seriously. |
We left and went to a more countryside view of Shrewsbury. It was refreshing to see a non-London side of England (in other words, no skyscrapers!)
Poppies for Remembrance Day:
After admiring this bridge (middle), we dropped Amelia off at a bookstore and John, Liz, and I went to explore around the "Olympic Trail". The first modern Olympic games were constructed by a man from Shrewsbury:
(Above left: Olympic trail mark; middle and right: In this picture you can sort of see marks from militia men who sharpened their swords and knives on the exterior of the building. John was so excited to find these...he knew of them but had never seen it until the three of us went exploring.)
Then we went back and had dinner and dessert at the house :)
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| So rich. So creamy. So good. |
John and I spent the evening together while Amelia finished a play. We talked journalism (he shared his Guardian issues with me and was very impressed I got to visit their offices!), politics (see post-election British coverage below), and art (I was able to find the artist of some of their family heirlooms. They were impressed with what Google could do!) while watching rugby on their TV.
Stay tuned for Day 2 in Shropshire :)
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