LIYSF Day 1: The Aussies (P)

Hi everyone,

I’m Perrin, and I’m one of UFV’s representatives at LIYSF. First day has already been crazy. I haven’t slept in effectively two days, but have managed to arrive at Imperial College London with minimal scratches and bruises. Word of advice to future LIYSF attendees – fly to Heathrow, not Gatwick. To get to LIYSF from Gatwick, you need to purchase a pair of tickets totalling ~$50. You get to see more of the London countryside, but it comes at a price.

Once I escaped the Tube and made it to streets of London (in South Kensington), I marvelled at how different it was from life in North America. Everything is old, stone, and narrow – very different from the wide-open steel and concrete of Vancouver. I trekked across uneven paving stones, and adjusted to traffic approaching from the other side, eventually arriving at the LIYSF campus. There, I introduced myself to people, played a few rounds of Dutch Blitz, and discovered the sheer number of Australians attending LIYSF.

After throwing my belongings in my room, I joined a group of Aussies (and a couple of other miscellaneous representatives of other nationalities) on a trip to Hyde park. We engaged in a friendly debate about the pronunciation of certain words or the use of certain nouns ; ‘eh’ being one example and ”band-aid” vs “plaster” being another. I produced a frisbee, and soon a game of Ultimate broke out.  We ended the match and ate dinner after I was cut on the forehead by an errant elbow and another player was hit in the face with a frisbee.

Following dinner, we were taken on a tour of the surrounding area and given directions to a few important locations. The group continued to be dominated by Australians, and they taught me the difference between “yeanaw” and “nahyea” (the last syllable dictates the meaning of the word).

I need to go to sleep or tomorrow will not be fun. Goodnight!