So I'm in Leeds

It's been far too long, I know. When we last left our hero, he was still in America. A place where, as I understand it, there are states.

The uni is a city campus, so the old and graceful architecture of the university is entirely indistinguishable from the old and graceful architecture of the city of Leeds. In fact, there is at least one libary here which has since been converted into a bar. Called, oddly enough, "The Library."

On one side of the city are a number of very large and ill-lit (in the perpetual night of northern England) parks. These parks are gorgeous if solely for the matter of their cleanliness, a fact which remains a mystery to me. It has nothing, I've decided, to do with the CCTV cameras which now number 1 for every 14 people living in the country, nor the 500 pound (that's more than 900 US Dollars for those keeping track at home) fine levied for the egregious infraction of littering.

I've compared the fashion-obsessed city of Leeds to sort of an English Montreal. Only, the city is quite old, and the persons therein tend to speak English, rather than French. Indeed, this confused me utterly (and still does occasionally), as I am now present in a foreign place, and I am able to understand the native inhabitants. It often surprises me, sometimes mid-conversation, that listening to the words being spoken will produce understanding. The idea that I would be able to conversate in the common tongue, while sound in theory, becomes further alien to me whenever I hear the jarring tone of my own accent being produced.

Communicative issues aside, the city is beautiful and I'm loving every moment of being here. Expect further updates from the front line in the very, very near future.

:)