Week of Feb 4-11
So my time in Norwich has been interesting. It’s not been my favorite time or town but I’m glad I came here because it’s definitely not on the beaten path of lots of tourists. However, there are some tourist attractions, and even in the middle of February there were some tourists out and about.
I got here Saturday, February 4 and stayed through Saturday, February 11. My first accommodation was an Airbnb and unfortunately it was very smoky in there. Meaning there was third-hand smoke from it being clearly a smoker’s home who allows smokers to stay there.. And she does list it as such on Airbnb, but when I went back to look at it, it is not overt it in the least! She has checked off 57 amenities and one of them is that of smoking. Ugh! She does not write anything about it in the description of the place and it’s quite misleading. I’m still mad about it. So, I overlooked the fact that it was a smoking accommodation and booked it accidentally, quite frankly. I only realized it when I got there, and the smell of smoke was overwhelming when I walked in. But I thought I would just soldier through because I don’t like being a high maintenance guest, number one, and number two, the hassle of changing out and fighting with Airbnb about a refund was not appealing either. So, I stayed there for as long as I could take it. By Tuesday morning when I was supposed to go to Diss school for the first time, I had a headache and was feeling nauseous. Throughout the day I was feeling more and more anxious about going back to the house, so I messaged the host and got the ball rolling on seeing about getting a refund and trying to find a new accommodation. Unfortunately, the host was less than honest about the fact that she’s buried the lead when it comes to it being a smoking accommodation. What ultimately ended up happening was Tuesday afternoon I quickly packed all my things, booked another place, and left that accommodation without really having a clear understanding of whether or not I was going to get my money back. But I knew I couldn’t stay there any longer. So, I moved to a hotel across town, which is closer to the train station anyway, which was another positive thing. This new accommodation was called the Revado Hotel and it has a vegetarian Indian restaurant connected to it. I enjoyed my stay here and the food was good as well!
Anyway, Saturday and Sunday when I got into town, I didn’t do much. I did want to get a feel for my new town but I also wanted to just relax at home. So, I walked around the area near my accommodation a bit and found a cute little downtown part of Norwich. Other than that, I stayed home and watched TV and talked with a lot of friends on Sunday. That was a great way to spend my Sunday! (except for the lingering cigarette smoke).
Monday I went and found a coffee shop to work in which was super cute in the downtown area. I was super productive on Monday, which felt good. But I did not do as much exploration as I probably should have because I simply didn’t know what Norwich had to offer and had not done my research on it. But I was OK with it.
Tuesday was my first day at Diss High School, which you can read about in a separate posting. But Tuesday afternoon when I came back, I was supposed to have several different meetings over Zoom. But I ultimately ended up moving things around because I had to deal with my housing situation, which was a whole thing and kind of stressful. So that was what I did Tuesday afternoon with my free time.
Wednesday afternoon, was lovely! Alison and I went into town and met Fiona, who I was supposed to originally be working with at her high school, for dinner. We ate at this lovely Greek restaurant right down the street from where I was staying called The Gem of Norwich. Fiona is a wonderful person, as well as Alison of course, and I’m really glad I’ve gotten to make these connections with these lovely folks and great music teachers. I love this part of my trip, that I get to establish these connections all around the UK, for hopefully further collaboration in the future! But we had a lovely time of just talking about life and music education, of course. Then I walked home and was very tired because it had been a long few days. I’m also not used to waking up so early!
There’s some really beautiful architecture in Norwich. I visited the Norwich Cathedral while I was here which is free entrance which is cool. It’s really beautiful, like most cathedrals that were built at that time in England. So I just walked around and saw the sites on the campus. There’s a labyrinth in the middle, which, of course I thought of Dr. Stauffer (IYKYK). There’s also a library, which was closed at that hour, and a gift shop, as well as a coffee shop. If I had more time here, I would definitely come to the coffee shop to sit and work. It’s a great space. The upkeep of the Cathedral is really great and it’s a beautiful church to walk through.
Friday afternoon after school I decided I would try to go and see the Norwich Market, the Millennium Library, the Royal Arcade, and the Norwich Castle. The Market and Arcade were..just ok. The Aracade is a mall but in an old beautiful building. The Market is a bunch of stalls that are probably really cool when they are all open, but on Friday afternoon, most were not. And I did not make it to the Castle. Oddly, it seems that it’s not that much of a tourist attraction – most people have told me to check out the Cathedral over the Castle, so that is what I prioritized. My favorite thing of all of those was the library. It is a beautiful structure! Though it’s a public library, it has two restaurants in it, and I actually was able to grab a beer and look out at an amazing old church and just sit and enjoy my Friday afternoon. I wish I had been able to come here more often while I was here, but this week has been very busy. I also really just enjoy the overcast-ness of the weather that is here a lot. I know that most people would disagree, but for some reason I enjoy that.
Transportation
The way I am getting around in Norwich and to and from Diss has been probably the most challenging so far, but I have managed to make it work which I feel proud of! Once you figure it out, it does feel easier, but figuring it out can be anxiety inducing, at least for me. I was initially worried about walking 15 minutes from my original accommodation to the train station because I was going to have to leave the house at 7 AM when it is still pretty dark outside. I don’t know the town very well so I wasn’t sure how safe it would feel. Luckily, I didn’t have to do that because I moved accommodations before I had to walk to the train station. So when I moved, I felt much better about the walk because it was very close to the station and it did feel safe. I have taken to just asking people who work at the train station the things I need. I asked a person at the train station what ticket I would need to go to and from Norwich to Diss every day, and again they were very helpful. It cost me about 13 pounds for a round-trip ticket each day. And every train station works a bit differently. There are main train stations and there are the stops along the way. The Norwich station is big and pretty easy to manage and there are a lot of people around to help. But the Diss station is just one small stop and I and luckily there are people who work there that I had to ask some questions as well. So, I had to figure that out and ask a lot of questions about which way the trains are going which platform I should be on in all of that. But again, once you do it once you pretty well know what to do. And I will say the train stations in these towns are generally either close to the town center or an easy walk or bus ride to where you need to go. They’ve got public transportation more figured out here than they do in the US by far. And lots of people don’t drive and, therefore, rely on public transit. But it just feels safer and more the norm here than in the US.
Anyway, that was my time in Norwich. Next week is the mid-semester break, so I am on vacation as well. I’m off to visit a colleague, who is also on sabbatical this year, and his wife in Berlin for the first half of the week. Then I’m going to visit a high school friend who now lives in Belgium for the second half of the week!
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