Hello Everyone! Things on my end are getting quite hectic with the semester starting to wrap up. Lots of deadlines and work needing to get done! I’m sure things on your end is just as busy, especially with Thanksgiving coming up! As you probably already figured, England does not celebrate Thanksgiving (its a US holiday), but no worries! Our Nottingham program is doing our own Thanksgiving dinner that will include 30 guest! There will be Nottingham program friends, us 10 students and our guests. And guess who will be making the food? Us of course! It’s a huge project to take on, but I personally think it is going to be such a great dinner for everyone. My guest is a teammate here at UoN and she had never experienced an American Thanksgiving dinner before, so she is ecstatic about it!
Steph (my roommate) and I decided to do a day trip to Leeds and a nice, stress relieving break. It originally was suppose to be a weekend trip, but all the hostels were booked. I’m glad we did a day trip because we were able to get everything we wanted to do checked of our list. The day we went just happened to have lots of events going on (how lucky we were)! Leeds University was holding a Christmas arts and crafts events, so we spent a few hours hopping from one stand to the next making christmas ornaments. You shall see them on our Christmas tree once that comes up (after Thanksgiving of course).
After that, we went to grab lunch at the local German Christmas markets. We tried German sausage with potatoes and pickled cabbage (aka sauerkraut). It was delicious! We hopped around the different stands see what they offered. There were a variety of christmas decorations and gifts that you could buy and also lots of stands full of sweets.
Since the Leeds City Museum was right behind the market, we took a trip through there. Leeds is a city with a long history of migrants that have made great, lasting impact of the city you see today. There is also a variety of religious beliefs being followed and you can see that through the many churches, mosques, and temples. A arts and crafts market was happening in the museum so we went to check that out. As I talked to the various artist, the message I got from them was creativity allows us to be unique. They strive to develop and design things that are different and unique, instead of making another thing you can buy at the store. That really speaks volumes because today, it is just more convenient to mass produce the same style on products. That does not give room for creativity to flourish. I get a sense that customers who purchase their products at these markets not only go away with something unique that they will only have, but it also help spread creative idea.
Leeds was a fun getaway and I hope to get another one in before break! It so nice that each city is only a short train ride away, allowing us the chance to explore other parts of the UK.
This is going to be a busy busy week! Getting things prep for Thanksgiving, cookings, and enjoying the company of wonderful people. We all have so much to be thankful for and I hope you all take a moment to reflect on them. I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving break and day! š
Nottingham Adventures 