A trip to lovely Corswold

It was lovely day today. My host mother took her mother, ant, and me to the lovely villages and town in Cotswold, which named Bibury, Arlington, and Budford. These were not so far from Swindon by a car. At first, we visited an old and lovely hotel which looked a school and another hotel called Swan Hotel. These two hotels were full because wedding ceremonies were held there. Luckily, we could have a tea and scorns in Swan Hotel.

After that we walked around the village and bought some goods in a souvenir shop. There are lovely tea clothes, post cards, and lavender goods. Following it, we moved to Budford(?) town and enjoyed shopping. There were many tourists including many Japanese, so it was hard to find a parking space. Many lovely shops such as a cooking tool shop, wool cloth shop, sweets shop were there, all lovely. We had a good meal at a old hotel. I ordered a bowl of soup called butter squash and baguette. The soup was so delicious.

Any way, how many times I used “lovely”? Some women in England including my host mother often use this word. She explained me the reason, and it seems because they weren’t allowed to use a lot of “nice”. It is interesting because almost the same thing can be said in Japan. I think many Japanese people including me often use “Sugoi!” (or “Yabai!” by young people) when they are surprised, impressed, moved, happy, sometimes sad. Is it interesting, isn’t it?

A short trip to London

I went to London to meet my friend and enjoyed talking and shopping with her (She was so kind).
At first, I planned to go there and return in a day. My host father gave me an advice to stay one night there, because if I go & return in a day by a reasonable price, I could be only 4 hour in London.
Anyway, thanks to his advice, I could spend a good time there with her!
The train to London was not busy at noon, and the return train started at 13:00 also not busy. One of the most surprising things in England is the unstable train fare! It depends on the time, and a morning ticket to London will require double or triple fare of an unbusy time one.

This trip included my first experience to use a subwey alone in London. I heard that many Japanese people often encounter a pick-pocket in the underground.  I was so scared at first, but I didn't use Underground when it was busy, so it was relatively safe.
We walked from King's Cross station to Russel Square to look the way I will use to go to school later.
This way was good because there is a shopping centre, a supermarket, and no dangerous road to walk.
(many tourists were walking)
The next day, we got on the Circle Line and off at Ocford Circus Station. After that, we had a gorgeous lunch in a restraunt in Fortnm & Mason. Following that, we went shopping in Regent street, where are a lot of brand shops. Liberty, a department store, was so cute.

    
  

A trip to Bath

Bath is old and beautiful city! Iwent there with my host mother's ants. They were really healthy and friendly. It took only 25 or 30 min. from Swindon by train with no exchange.

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I am suffering from a cold...

In these days, I've played around all the time.
On Monday, I went to two supermarkets to buy Japanese ingredients and enjoyed cooking a dinner.
On Tuesday, I visited a museaum, STEAM and big outlet mall and purchased many goods.
On Wednesday, I went to Bath and enjoy sightseeing.
Today, I'm going to go to London to meet my senior friends at a university in Tokyo.

Although I spent time playing less than studying, I caught a cold...
After arriving in England, I've taken care not to catch a cold. I knowthat the climate and tempreture are very different between here and Tokyo.

Anyway, I got some cold medicine from my host mother. The medicine's name is PANADOL advance.
I heard that medicine in England is stronger than one in Japan so I asked it to her. Then she brought me this medicine and explained it was not so strong.
I brought some medicine from Japan, but I almost finished up them. So it was so helpful.

A big outlet shopping mall & STEAM

Hi. I went to a big outlet mall in Swindon, which is really famous in England, and I heard many Japanese tourists visit there. The interesting thing was the buildings. I showed previously that Swindon was famous for railway factory. Some buildings there used to be used as factories where many workers were making train cars.

Anyway, I could purchased a lot of stuff. In order to start living in London, I need some towels, stationery, clothes... There were many nice shops, so I'd like to show some of them and the goods I bought there. Firstly, L.K.Bennett to find a good thing for my black hair. In England, we can see a lot of shampoo or treatment at a supermarket, but it is difficult for me to find the goods which match for Asian black hair. So I asked it to the staff there, and she recommended one treatment which can be used after a shampoo. I try to use it, and if it is good I will show you...  Secondly, I visited John Lewin Home Outlet, where a lot of set of funiture displayed. These products are so nice and lovely but I gave up them because I cannot bring them by a train to London.  Thirdly, I try to find a swim wear at Nike Factory Store. The reason why I was looking for a swim wear is that I need it to wear in Roman Bath in Bath. I will go to Bath tomorrow. At Nike Store,  they didn't have good swimming clothes. There were some wear which showed too much, but I couldn't find favorite one. So I visited  finally Donnay, which was a kind of sports and outdoor shop. There were a few clothes for a swimming race, and I bought one of them.
And then, I visited STEAM, a museum of the Great Western Railway next to the outlet mall. I paid only 4.25 pounds for the admission fee because the staff made a student discount when I showed my student Visa. The museum was quite a big one, and there were real railway trains and some buildings which used to be used. I found it dangerous to work inside the railway factory because they needed to process metals to make a big train...and also it was tremendous hard to move a railway train since they needed to move heavy levers.

Making Japanese dinner

Today, I am going to make 2 Japanese dishes, Chirashi Sushi & Chikuzen Ni.
When I went to go shopping, I found something interesting at a supermarket here.
So I will tell you about it today.

I needed for cooking, 1) Shrimps, 2)Chicken, 3)eggs, 4)shiitake, 5)Konnyaku, 6) Carrots, 7)Soy souse, 8)Rice, 9)Mirin, 10)Vegetable Oil, 11) Renkon(lotus) and so on.

At a supermarket called Sainsbury, I went firstly to the Vegetable department, where I could find Carrots and Shiitake very easily, but I couldn’t find Lotus. Next, I moved to the meats & seafood area. There are so many meats in the big refrigerators, and it was a bit difficult to find a desired chicken. As for Shrimps, several packages of boiled shrimps were displayed there, but no raw one. After that, my host father showed me a small corner where were some kinds of Japanese ingredients. I thought the selection of goods was enough to make Japanese foods, although it was a quite expensive.

I couldn’t get lotus there, so I was taken for another supermarket. Even the next store, they also don’t have lotus, but I could find Eddos (Sato Imo) alternatively.

Anyway, walking around a big supermarket in England is so fun and enjoyable because I have a lot of discoveries.

A short trip tp Sheffield

I came back to Swindon from Sheffield. I went there to meet my senior friend, Y, who went to the same university in Tokyo. She and I talked a lot of things in Japanese and English. She was so helpful because she showed me the university student life in England such as an accommodation, foods, research, teachers...
We went to the Peak District where are small villages. It was beautiful, and people living there were friendly.
We also went to the Botanical Garden,