Margo's Observations
I have to agree with much of what Mike said in the previous post. It has been very difficult to get used to driving here, and every new town is a new headache until I figure out what the main routes and roundabouts are.
The biggest problems for a US driver are 1)The lack of a grid system 2)The lack of street names on major routes and 3)The difficulty presented in trying to get back on track once you have made a wrong turn. (This of course, is AFTER one gets used to driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car.)
Without a grid, and with much of my driving passing through hard-to-differentiate countryside, and with the sky being grey much of the time, when lost I usually can not even figure out what direction I am traveling.
This is complicated by the lack of signage and/or street names on major routes, especially in the countryside. One might be on, for example, the Harwich Rd (That is, the road leading to Harwich), but once you have navigated the roundabout and entered the road, there will be no signs telling you where you are. The road might be named something entirely unrelated to Harwich, or might might not be named at all. Until you hit another crossroads or roundabout you have no way at all of figuring out where you are. Consequently, it is possible to drive miles out of your way before being able to get turned around. (Needless to say, given that I am directionally challenged at the best of times, I do this frequently.) At least it is usually a lovely drive...
As for how long it can take to rectify an error ... if, just as an example, someone were to miss the correct exit from a dual carraigeway (i.e. freeway), it will not only be quite a while before one can exit the highway to attempt and turn around, but there might not be any access to the carriageway in the opposite direction, and that is assuming that one can figure out how to navigate to the other side of the carriageway to begin with. It is all very frustrating!
As my job requires multiple daily trips to client homes, probation offices, schools etc., every day seems like a big adventure and I am most relieved when I finally arrive at my destination. I am getting much more familiar with Colchester, so I usually can correct my route quickly if I find myself off course, but everywhere else, including Ipswich, is a challenge. Last week I set out from Tiptree to Kelvedon and drove 13 miles before finding myself back in Tiptree, with no idea how I had managed to drive in a circle completely unawares ... and little idea where I had been for those 13 miles. At least I am usually alone in the car when this happens, so my embarrasment is usually a private affair.
Other observations
England is quite beautiful in a quiet and unassuming way. There are no stunning visitas like the southwestern desert, the Rocky Mountains etc. but the countryside is uniformly lovely. We've had nice weather this fall, so my drive to work in the morning is often a georgeous palette of greens and golds across the countryside, with dark shadows rippling across the plowed fields. The distant vista is often wreathed in mist rising from the woods and the sillhouettes of church towers are visible in the distance. Altogether a pleasing start to my day. Of course then I get to the office and find myself in the world of child protection and the peaceful beginning to my day sort of slips away.
England is a funny sort of place. It is part of Europe, but not really European, and that is just fine with the British, thank-you-very-much. I am reading a book about food in Great Britain that is titled "The Land that Thyme Forgot". Enough said.
I have enjoyed creating a Sunday roast dinner every weekend. Today I made duck, with an olive and fennel stuffing and a wine gravy ... which was a lot of work and not a whole lot of meat, and nobody liked it all that much, so there was 3 hours gone and not much to show for it. We'll have dessert in a bit and with the luck the apple/hazelnut cake will be more successful.
Essex where I work, has a shoddy reputation in England. Known as the haunting grounds of the "Essex Girl" (Think Tanya Harding with a lower-class British accent (i.e avoiding the pronunciation of any consonants whatsoever) and you'll have an idea ...) It is, I have observed, the land of unfortunate hair colouring experiments. The fashion, it seems, is to have lots of brassy blond hair with either dark roots, or with the lower layers of hair left dark and the surface blond. It is a bit strange...
That is all for today. If I get back on the computer this evening, I will post some photos I took of the house.
Miss all of you.
Love,Margo
The biggest problems for a US driver are 1)The lack of a grid system 2)The lack of street names on major routes and 3)The difficulty presented in trying to get back on track once you have made a wrong turn. (This of course, is AFTER one gets used to driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car.)
Without a grid, and with much of my driving passing through hard-to-differentiate countryside, and with the sky being grey much of the time, when lost I usually can not even figure out what direction I am traveling.
This is complicated by the lack of signage and/or street names on major routes, especially in the countryside. One might be on, for example, the Harwich Rd (That is, the road leading to Harwich), but once you have navigated the roundabout and entered the road, there will be no signs telling you where you are. The road might be named something entirely unrelated to Harwich, or might might not be named at all. Until you hit another crossroads or roundabout you have no way at all of figuring out where you are. Consequently, it is possible to drive miles out of your way before being able to get turned around. (Needless to say, given that I am directionally challenged at the best of times, I do this frequently.) At least it is usually a lovely drive...
As for how long it can take to rectify an error ... if, just as an example, someone were to miss the correct exit from a dual carraigeway (i.e. freeway), it will not only be quite a while before one can exit the highway to attempt and turn around, but there might not be any access to the carriageway in the opposite direction, and that is assuming that one can figure out how to navigate to the other side of the carriageway to begin with. It is all very frustrating!
As my job requires multiple daily trips to client homes, probation offices, schools etc., every day seems like a big adventure and I am most relieved when I finally arrive at my destination. I am getting much more familiar with Colchester, so I usually can correct my route quickly if I find myself off course, but everywhere else, including Ipswich, is a challenge. Last week I set out from Tiptree to Kelvedon and drove 13 miles before finding myself back in Tiptree, with no idea how I had managed to drive in a circle completely unawares ... and little idea where I had been for those 13 miles. At least I am usually alone in the car when this happens, so my embarrasment is usually a private affair.
Other observations
England is quite beautiful in a quiet and unassuming way. There are no stunning visitas like the southwestern desert, the Rocky Mountains etc. but the countryside is uniformly lovely. We've had nice weather this fall, so my drive to work in the morning is often a georgeous palette of greens and golds across the countryside, with dark shadows rippling across the plowed fields. The distant vista is often wreathed in mist rising from the woods and the sillhouettes of church towers are visible in the distance. Altogether a pleasing start to my day. Of course then I get to the office and find myself in the world of child protection and the peaceful beginning to my day sort of slips away.
England is a funny sort of place. It is part of Europe, but not really European, and that is just fine with the British, thank-you-very-much. I am reading a book about food in Great Britain that is titled "The Land that Thyme Forgot". Enough said.
I have enjoyed creating a Sunday roast dinner every weekend. Today I made duck, with an olive and fennel stuffing and a wine gravy ... which was a lot of work and not a whole lot of meat, and nobody liked it all that much, so there was 3 hours gone and not much to show for it. We'll have dessert in a bit and with the luck the apple/hazelnut cake will be more successful.
Essex where I work, has a shoddy reputation in England. Known as the haunting grounds of the "Essex Girl" (Think Tanya Harding with a lower-class British accent (i.e avoiding the pronunciation of any consonants whatsoever) and you'll have an idea ...) It is, I have observed, the land of unfortunate hair colouring experiments. The fashion, it seems, is to have lots of brassy blond hair with either dark roots, or with the lower layers of hair left dark and the surface blond. It is a bit strange...
That is all for today. If I get back on the computer this evening, I will post some photos I took of the house.
Miss all of you.
Love,Margo
posted by Margo Nelson at 9:38 am
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