So, after the somewhat rushed tour around Poland I then popped up in England.

Ah, England. Finally a country where they speak my native tongue and drive on the correct side of the road - the left one. After 3 months of traipsing about, I'm not surprised that it felt more like home than all the other places put together.

Have some ramblings I wrote up a few days after I arrived:

It 's the last day of a swing weekend (Swing Jam) here in London. Not quite in central London yet - I came here directly from the airport, but I'm already amused by all the stereotypically British things I've seen and heard, such as red double-decker buses, black cabs and people saying "blimey". I'm staying in one of the dorm rooms at Brunel University, Runnymede.

A few days ago I had a chat with the receptionist of the hostel I stayed at in Prague and she had a good laugh at all the words and euphemisms we have in English for 'toilet', such as loo, washroom, bathroom, restroom - when she heard this one she asked if we go there for a lie-down. Funnily enough, the dorm bathrooms here at Brunel actually have baths in them, as well as showers to choose from for all your bathing needs. That genuinely took me by surprise. To me, that's like actually using a figure-eight egg timer with sand in it to time your eggs as they cook. Sure, you can do it, but that's not what usually happens and it's odd to see it done because it seems so old-fashioned.

Anyway, I'm getting off track.

The campus itself is very pretty, and between the old castle-like looking buildings, the rampant British accent, and the 12 year old British boy in my dance classes I keep thinking I'm living in a Harry Potter novel. But that may have something to do with me polishing off the latest HP book on the train through Poland. Nevertheless, I constantly seem to be half expecting someone to fly past my room on a broom.

But yes, I've come to yet another swing dance camp. You'd have to be crazy to come to these, and at least this camp is being honest about that point. They give out little plastic bracelets, which look suspiciously like the ones issued in mental hospitals. Red for the outpatients, and white for those who are seriously committed. I've got a white one, of course.

My room is up on the 4th level of the building closest to the hall where all the nighttime dancing goes on. Given the 5-6 hours of dancing done during the day, I tend to pass out for a brief nap in the evenings before heading out for more dancing into the night. But being so close to the dance hall means I can hear each word of each song perfectly, even with the windows closed. This brings a bit more of a challenge, but it seems I'm up to it. I see to be now able to sleep in the daylight (as being at Herrang and turning nocturnal has shown), or with music or snoring blaring in the area. I never thought that would really be something I'd be tested at. Oh well, it seems I succeed, and after a shower and a nap I head back out onto the dancefloor.

The crowd here is a bit older on average than at Herrang. And things seem much more formal; the emcee is frequently dresssed in a suit and bow-tie in the evenings. Plus, there's a live band each night of the weekend, which is pretty cool.

In true British fashion, we've been regularly updated (even throughout the evenings of dancing) on the latest cricket scores while the test match has been going on. And as England had been kicking Australia's butt in the Ashes, the Brits were having a lovely time poking fun at the Aussies.

Something had to be done. I was one of two people from Australia there, and we felt compelled to show support for the Aussies. And so a rousing chorus of Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! was performed by the two of us and a sympathetic Canadian. Don't worry Australia, we still love you!

It's quite interesting, actually. For the entire time I've been in the UK, every time a native finds out I'm from Australia they point out how England beat Australia in the Ashes.
I'd be concerned or irritated or something about how they all rub it in, but, well, I've never been the biggest follower of cricket. So er... I don't really care. :)

In fact, the most striking thing was watching all the people who don't usually give a stuff about cricket suddenly find it enormously interesting. The whole country was struck with cricket-fever now that England didn't suck quite as much as usual. :)

I suppose we have to let them win occasionally so they can keep their hopes up. :P