Brits, male and female

It is hard to stop the habit that I developed as we went around the world of observing gender roles.  So the first day in Southampton, the waitress was having the hotel manager ring something up or make a correction in the accounts -- she said to us that he did a pretty good job, "for a bloke".

Then we learned more about the construction of the original stone walls around Southampton.  These were put up in response to an attach that stole most of the royal supplies of wine, wool, and grain -- that had been obtained by tithing.  Men and women both worked in the construction -- women were paid 4, men were paid 6 of whatever the money unit was.

Still in Southampton, we saw a couple of women around town with pink sashes that said "Hen Party."  Later in our hotel, we saw several women, of assorted ages with the sashes.  Finally when we were having a drink in the pub, we saw two more having a cigarette out front, and a handful in the lobby with a 3 or 4 foot inflatable penis.

Small Brits

As a developmental psychologist, I am always observing babies, parents, and small children.  First day in Southampton, I saw two toddler-types on leashes.  I have occasionally seen this at home, but never two in one day.  I have seen a few more since then, but it clearly is not the every-day-way to handle toddlers.

From the first days, I saw lots of babies and small children in prams with pacifiers.  What is a pram anyway?  There have been a few old-fashioned buggies, but mostly I see extravagant high-end strollers.

Actually, I have seen lots of babies.  At first I thought there might be some sort of mini-baby boom.  But I know that the data indicates otherwise.  I think that there are two explanations – first, mothers get a year parental leave with partial pay, so they are able to be out and about with their infants.  And second, getting out seems to be usual – whether it is to “air” the baby, or to run nearby errands on foot. 

Since then I have seen babies in front and back packs, facing front and facing back, on moms and dads.  But mostly, babies are in prams pushed by mothers. 

We saw a mother on the bus today with a pram and a child of about 4.  She kept telling the 4-year-old not to sit on the steps up to the second level, and he kept going back to do so.  Her penultimate strategy was to point to the on-board surveillance camera and tell him that he needed to behave because the camera was watching.  And for the final strategy, as parents everywhere, she let him play with her phone.

Wales

We put one foot in front of another, starting in Southampton and find ourselves in Wales.  The first night in Southampton we stayed at a brand name hotel (ane will be reimbursed), then we stayed in a small local hotel where Ben Franklin had stayed. 

After that we spent a couple of nights with a Servas host.  When we arrived, I complemented him on his fantastic flower-filled yard.  Not a yard. We are learning British English -- a yard is plain gravel or pavement like, perhaps, a school yard.  It is a garden.

The second night, we went along to a pub with a few of his friends.  Will thinks he is living in the middle of every British novel he has read over the last 40 years, and the pub clinched it.  Actually, it was reminiscent of the Laurel Tavern on Monroe Street in Madison.

After that we went to Bradford-on-Avon and stayed in a lovely very old B&B for a couple of nights.  And from there we stayed with a Servas family in Bath -- great bikers and outdoors people.  In order to see a wonderful outdoor living museum in Cardiff, we took the train to Wales and have just spent two nights in a "youth" hostel. 

In Bradford-on-Avon, we went into the library to get out of the rain.  We ended up going through the small town museum that was upstairs.  Downstairs, I picked up a used guidebook (Lonely Planet) that they had de-accessioned, and found that the path we have been taking by following our whims was more or less following a "classical" 2-week tour plan for the UK.

The Romans in Wales

Today was a day for exploring Roman ruins near Newport, Wales in the small town of Caerleon.  As we approached the amphitheater/stadium, it was filled with school children in blue uniforms being marched enthusiastically around the field by their teacher.  The Stadium originally had additional wooden seating areas -- to hold 6000!  That would include the 5000 soldier stationed in this area and some of the locals who were also serving.

The stadium was just outside the wall.  Just inside the wall are the foundations of the barracks that held the soldiers.  I wonder about the math -- the museum shows 4 bunkbeds per room, and I counted around 150 rooms -- that would never add up to 5000.  We will have to ask.

The baths were amazing -- we walked along on platforms looking down on part of the outdoor swimming pool and several of the rooms.  A soldier would start by exercising outdoors, swimming in the outdoor pool, or exercising indoors.  Then they would disrobe in the heated room before rinsing off in cold water.  Next, in the warm room (tepidarium) they could rub olive oil on their skin.  Then they went into the hot room, followed by a return to the warm room to scrape off the gunky oil.  A dunk in the cold pool was followed by dressing and playing games like dice.  The order of events was somewhat different for different individuals. 

The museum (free, public museum) had great interpretation.  They had a huge collection of carved carnelian stones from rings -- that they pulled up out of the drains!  They also had a large hoard of coins found nearby in 2007 -- including one with a Pegasus, and one with an elephant.

So, when was this?  They arrived in about 43 AD, build a more temporary set of buildings a few miles away, and began constructing the baths in 79 AD when they arrived here in Caerleon.

Southampton

Who knew all the history here?  This has been a significant port forever -- King Henry V and his troops were stationed here before they set sail for the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.  The Mayflower and Speedwell set sail for America from here.  The Speedwell was not really seaworthy, and they put everything and everyone onto the Mayflower.  The Titanic set sail from here, and Southampton was a communications hub during the recovery efforts.

More than just a port for high profile voyages, Southampton was a merchant and trade crossroads.  St Micheal's church was built in 1070 and spared in WWII because the steeple was a helpful navigation point in air raids.  The Bargate was constructed by the Normans in 1180 and served as the main point of land entry into the city.  A good bit of the Medieval walls remain.

The Tudor house and gardens have been restored into a state of the art museum, while retaining the 15th century timber framed building and brick side buildings that were its essence.  Public lottery money went into this restoration.  I took lots of garden pictures, and it is spring here with iris, columbine, borage, and peonies in bloom.  It will be hard to decide what parts of the yard are going to be Japanese, and what will be English formal garden, and what will be English cottage garden.

More recent history is here too.  Jane Austin lived in Southampton a couple of years, and Ben Franklin stayed a few nights in the hotel we are in -- because his ship was a few days late arriving to take him back to America.

Will has spent his life reading historical novels about England, and is constantly seeing things that are familiar, and explaining the historical references.

A 14-year-old

Will's phone has not worked for quite a while as a phone.  It gets a lot of use as his reading devise, and we did not really need a phone.  But now that we are traveling on our own and hoping to make some arrangements, a phone would be good -- even if calls are expensive.

So what we needed was a "14-year-old" to help get it straightened out.  We went to the mall in Southampton to look for a guidebook.  I was overwhelmed with the number of guidebooks.  There were books for each possible small region, as well as one overall book for the whole of Europe.  Since we do not know what we are going to do, and we are carrying our gear, I ended up not buying any books.  I guess it is all on line today anyway....

But we did find an Apple store, and a young lady who looked to be 14, with 3 facial piercings, helped Will for a considerable time with his phone.  She was getting ready to give up -- and tried rebooting the SIM.  Now we are carrying a working phone.

Disembarkation

After 4 months as an essentially closed community, it was pretty poignant to bring it all to the end.  Being on the ship had the feeling of being at summer camp -- those intense relationships that build in a closed community over a defined period of time are hard to bring to a close.  For the students, this was particularly intense; but even the grown-ups found it poignant to bring the journey to a close.  We have new friends in assorted places from Moab Utah, to Ashville NC, to Poughkepsie NY, to Charlottesville VA.

Ship friends and their 3 small kids had been in Iowa for his school; then, when he got his PhD, moved back in with parents in California, looking for a job.  Semester at Sea was what came along.  The whole ship cheered him along through a long distance job application process that included a Skype interview from India and a quick trip back to the US while we were in South Africa. And now we have new friends moving to Switzerland.

Before every port on the Semester at Sea voyage, there was a mandatory "Pre-port" session on health and safety, cultural information, and logistics of embarking and disembarking.  The session on England was hysterically funny -- including a language session on how to speak British.  Biscuit, not cookie; crisps, not chips; chips, not fries; pudding means desert, and how to pronounce aluminium.  We were also instructed about British food, and told TO drink the water (and beer).

We are all changed by the experience of our voyage, and we will all have a round of reverse culture shock.  I participated in a "re-entry" program and spoke about service as a way to continue the journey and manage the feelings of boredom/stress/loneliness.   Why lonely?  No one will really understand the experience.  As one of my students said, "there is no way that they will think of us as anything other than spoiled brats."  And who really wants to see 4 MONTHS of photos?  And breakfast will be with the same people every day at home.....