HOST UK

I mentioned in previous blog posts that I had the opportunity to participate in HOST UK, a programme where British families host international students for a weekend and learn more about British culture. And I'm here to tell you that if you have the opportunity in whatever country you're travelling in to stay with a host family, DO IT!!! It's seriously the only way to experience the way that real people live in whatever culture you're in. I absolutely loved my time in Todmorden, and I hope I can keep this post short since I could go on for ages about it!

I stayed with Anne and Colin in Todmorden, a lovely little town in the Pennine hills, which is an area of England I haven't been to before. It wasn't too far from York, but it was a nice change of scenery. The area was historically the big textile manufacturing economy, so there are tons of old mills and paths around the area from trading textiles. I had heard about the history a bit on the coach tour I'd been on in March (who even knows if I'll ever get around to writing a post about that trip haha), but it was really great to get to see the area firsthand.

Todmorden

After a little mix up about which station I was arriving at, I met Anne and Colin and they were beyond wonderful! They were super welcoming, and I don't think HOST could have come up with a better match if they tried. Seriously, somehow we meshed amazingly. Our interests overlapped quite a lot, and I think our general outlooks on life and the universe were pretty in sync. Not to mention vegetarian cooking! Some of my favourite parts of my visit were our conversations about British culture and American culture, education, travel, and languages. I learned so much from them, and hopefully they learned something from me (beyond what homecoming is haha). Since they were so interested in languages, we spent a lot of time discussing the differences between American and British English, which was really fun. We also talked a lot about how tv shows and films depict such idealised images of cultures on both sides- I grew up with British comedies and British mysteries, most of which are centred on the more well off classes, which is similar to many US shows they've watched- so you get this unreal view of how life really works in other countries.

The canal through the town which connects it to other mill towns

One of the Incredible Edible gardens- they also have places for bees and butterflies to live!

I told Anne and Colin early on that I was working on a paper for Arcadia about British food and culture, so they made an extra effort to help me see it in their local area. Todmorden is especially interesting for my topic since it has a market and a newly founded programme called Incredible Edible Todmorden, where there are vegetables, fruits, and herbs planted all over town that are free for the taking, anyone can have them! It's pretty cool. So part of my second day with them was spent in the market and walking around town to see these little garden patches, which was really cool! We got some amazing feta cheese in the market as well, and there is a really fantastic Mediterranean food shop, although that doesn't fit in with my topic as much haha. Totally wonderful!

Shibden Hall

We also spent time exploring other cities and towns around Todmorden. First, we went to Shibden Hall in Halifax, a house that was originally built in the 15th century but Anne Lister (check out this really cool lady!) refurbished it in the 19th century to its current appearance, and it's quite something. We went on a day where they had "Secret Shibden," where many of the panels covering the original structure were opened up, so you could see the original fire places, staircases, wall paintings, beams, etc., as well as go up into the tower which is usually closed to visitors! The Lister family is quite interesting as well, and we got to hear about some of their history during our visit. While we were in Halifax, we also went to Dean Clough, which was once the largest textile mill in the world, but now houses offices, art galleries, and a cooking school! We had some tea in the cooking school's café, and then looked at some of the art galleries, which had some interesting modern art from some local artists. We had dinner at a lovely Indian restaurant in Todmorden, I do love a curry! And then I was exposed to the British equivalent of ER, Casualty haha.

The ruins of the church and the graveyards

Sunday we went to Heptonstall, a village up on the moors above Hebden Bridge, the next town over. It was really lovely, although a bit grey and windy. The village has retained a lot of its historic buildings and ambiance, which I really enjoyed. Our first stop was the old ruins of a church, originally built in the 13th century which was destroyed in a storm in the 19th century. However, instead of fixing it up or reusing the stone to build the new church, they left the ruins right next to the new church, which is pretty unique. The town's cemetery also houses the grave a familiar name- Sylvia Plath! We had a bit of an adventure searching for her tombstone, but we found it! There's a cup of pens and poems people have left on their visits. The town also houses an octagonal Methodist chapel, which is the oldest one in continuous use. And I had a nice surprise when I watched the newest Doctor Who episode this week- it's set in Victorian Yorkshire in the mill area, and they filmed a church scene in the chapel! So that's pretty cool. We visited the local history museum, which had connections to my artefacts module- a lot of coiners (people who clipped the edges off coins to mint new coins and inherently decreased the value of coins) worked in this area, and I've seen their handiwork while looking at medieval coins!
 

Sylvia Plath's grave

Very old houses that used to be family textile production workshops

The octagonal chapel

Watch Doctor Who and see if you recognise that organ :-p

Anne and I walked down the hill to Hebden Bridge (Colin drove the car down), and we spent the afternoon looking around the town. Their market was open, as well as a flea market where I bought a lovely necklace from a local artist. And the best part was having tea in The Blitz teahouse- how perfect for me! It was super cute and everything was 1940s themed, including the dress of the workers. The shop downstairs was full of old fashioned soaps and shaving supplies, and the tea room upstairs was very quaint. There were original newspapers on the table from the time, and the menu was printed on a ration booklet. I was geeking out!! And our tea was very lovely, in fancy china with very scrumptious cakes (although those weren't so historically accurate- they would not have had rich chocolate cakes with cream with rationing in place!) Check out this video to get a sense of the atmosphere :-)

View during the walk down- England, you're looking gooooddd

Hebden Bridge, with one of the old mills!

Inside the Blitz tea room

Lovely tea!

We also spent some time solving word puzzles- they were doing the cryptic crossword and I was working on a Shakespeare themed puzzle book I found in Hebden Bridge- and that was quite fun. There was one clue that had us all stumped  and I would not give up on it, so even while Colin and I were waiting for my train, I was working at it, and I finally figured it out minutes before I left! I also watched Snooker for the first time, as the championship was this weekend and Colin was following it. It seems quite complicated, but the guy who was reigning champion made it seem like the easiest thing in the world, it was ridiculous!

So long, Tod! Still puzzling out crossword clues at the train station

Overall, I'm so, so glad I did HOST. It was so nice to be in a house, not a dorm, and have home cooked meals, and get a break from university life for a little while. And I learned so much about the culture and politics and such, and was exposed to new perspectives on things, that I would never have just from my hallmates (not that I haven't learned TONS living with British students haha). Anne and Colin were so welcoming and made sure I was comfortable and we did things I'd enjoy, and it was just so lovely, I can't put it into words! They reminded me a bit of my parents, in their interests and even in some of their mannerisms, which was probably part of what made me feel so comfortable coming into their home. I certainly was nervous before I got there, but it was so worth the nerves, which dissolved in my first cup of tea in their living room.