Now for a bit about campus and Norwich...my flatmate's name is Tahmina and she's from
Bangladesh. We get along really well and she seems like she'll be very easy to live with. The student body here at UEA is very active in green issues, so there are recycling facilities everywhere and every food product sold on campus is Fairtrade, meaning that it is produced and purchased ethically. What's more, many of the products UEA buys are from non-profit agencies that pump 100% of profits back into the international communities where they're purchased. Pretty cool.
On to Norwich...I took one of those open top sightseeing bus tours today and rode all over the city. The city center is only 1 square mile, so it's easy to see on foot. The perimeter of the city is bordered by a river that the Vikings used 1000 years ago, and it remained an important river for commerce and trade into the last century. Our guide told us that Norwich has the largest concentration of medieval churches (32 in a square mile) of any European city north of Italy! Many of these are still used for worship, although a number have been converted for other uses, such as a puppet theater. He also pointed out the oldest pub (11th century), the oldest dwelling (11th century), and the oldest hotel (13th century) the Maids Head Hotel, where it is believed the Elizabeth I once slept. The cathedral (visible in the panoramic photo) was also built in the 11th century! I'm surrounded by history here!
By the way, there are rabbits everywhere. Big, fat, brown rabbits. I think they have eaten all the squirrels that normally dominate college campuses. They don't even run away when you approach. The best they can do is hop a bit, nibble some more grass, and then hop a bit more. At dusk from my bedroom window I can see where they congregate in a big grassy field. I counted 43 on the night of my arrival. Yesterday they were joined by a few quails. I felt oddly reminded of something out of the Velveteen Rabbit...
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