I was thinking about this this afternoon as I was walking around manchester city centre,doing a spot of shopping and taking a lot of pictures. Yes,it is what people call AN ADVENTURE.
Over the past two weeks that I've been here,I've seen a lot of things that seen to be having an impact on me and my new life in manchester,so i may as well give you a list.
1. You get excited by the sight of a tram/Manchester bus. Last week I decided to go to Salford Quays on the tram for a Socialist stall,only to find out from one of my fellow comrades that I was about 10 minutes from Salford precinct and that I was on the wrong tram/form of transport. But did I care? Not a jot! Though tomorrow I'll have to catch the train from Oxford Road...no worry however,that may be even more exciting.
2. When you pass through Ardwick on the train into Manchester,you know you're in Manchester. I get that feeling everytime I come on the train from Shropshire,and it's a brilliant one. Plus it's the hometown of Johnny Marr. GET IN.
3. You spend your Saturdays shopping in Afflecks'. Or is that just me? Today I went in on a budget,and managed to pick out two rather amazing skirts,a pair of pearl earrings,a belt,a 10CC badge,some beads,a hair comb,some sweets, a Smiths poster and a Stone Roses postcard-ALL for £17. I live in that place...
4. The Queen of Hearts pub in Fallowfield/5th Avenue and The Footage,MCR city centre, are the places to be and vodka lemon and lime is your new poison.
5. Your sense of humour changes. You become accustomed to the northern sense of humour and the bonhomie of the city's inhabitants,namely one in a cow suit and chanting City fans,who ask to pose in your photo,even though you wanted to take a picture of the Manchester Central Library for prosperity.
6. You take pictures of anything to do with Manchester (e.g the aforementioned MCR Library,the now defunct Dutch Pancake House,the Cornerhouse,a Manchester bus next to the Cornerhouse,your own university,the rival university (Man Uni) and ''The City of Manchester'' sign. Oh,and the tram going to Victoria.)
7. You pick up the accent. Quite an obvious one here,but I found myself yesterday speaking to someone in a Salford accent after my English lecture,and today when I was in Milner and Webb in Afflecks',I found myself talking to the stall owner in a rather adenoidal sounding accent. Yet he didn't even tell me off,unlike when my cousin did when I was 10 for speaking in a Merthyr accent.
8. After a night out on the sauce,you ask the bus driver to stop off at the Rusholme Chippy. The chips are good value,even better with yogurt sauce,and the people working there will always ask you if you had a good night.
9. The guy in the flat next to you at uni is from Preston.
10. You meet a fellow northerner and adopt his/her accent. (Same as 7 in a way,but different). My best friend back home says ''I knerr'' instead of ''I know''*,and I met a guy from Huddersfield in Freshers' week at the MMUnion (long story there) but as I got to know him a bit more,I realised that he did the same thing. And before I knew it,so was I. My best friend noticed it when I came back home and she commented on it. I then went on to jokingly blame this guy,and he seemed to agree that my accent would change.
11.Furthermore, your friends back home start to notice that you are becoming a Mancunian.
12. You get quite excited when you see a Joy Division/Smiths/Stone Roses poster.
13. You meet a guy called Dildo Dave,from Droylsden. Nothing wrong with that,the guy is actually a legend,but his name is pure alliteration,and being an English student,I think that's even better! But be careful if the guy you're hanging around with at that moment is also called Dave. It made quite awkward work for me introducing both of them to each other last week...
14. Your room in your flat becomes the equivalent of Hiroshima. Nevertheless,being a student with absolutely no time on your hands of a weekend,you decide to tidy it.
15. You meet likeminded people.
16. Aleef becomes your temple.
17. You start reading the Manchester Evening News more.
That's pretty much it for the moment,not that exhaustive,but I seem to be getting accustomed to the student/northern life.
*Her mum comes from Helmsley.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment