Waking up on the other side of the world

Today was my first full (and fully coherent) day in Leeds. I woke up after a solid 13 hour sleep ready for a day of adventure, exploration, and errands. At noon, Alysha and I met up with my friend Celeste, a student from McMaster who is attending Leeds on a full year exchange. After we enjoyed lunch and my first taste of English cider (i.e. liquid candy alcohol), Celeste showed us around Leeds. The city is absolutely beautiful with its cobblestone walkways, vintage clothing shops, and old British architecture. The setting was completed by typical English weather which consisted of chilled temperatures and a damp, dense fog that hovered over the city. Though I was warned that I would hate the climate here at Leeds, the chilling air was just cool enough to be refreshing without being painful. I think I might even like it.

Photo credit: Celeste Orr

After we left Celeste, Alysha and I went to some of the local convenience stores to get some more essentials. I decided that it was high time that I stopped attacking my food with my hands, so I stopped into Wilkinsons, a local cross between Walmart and Dolorama, for some cutlery. When I reached the front of the queue, the clerk surprisingly asked me to hand over my ID rather than my money. Apparently in the UK, you must be at least 18 to buy a knife, or as the clerk put it, "Ya hafta look 21 but be over 18" (*insert English accent of your choice).

End of story: Everyone beware because I am now legally armed with a butter knife.