Apart from the fact that I don't know anyone on TV any more, (well, apart from the Coronation Street cast, that never seems to change), when I left London -
- Charing Cross Station was old and decrepit
- the Docklands was just being developed
- there was no London Eye
- I could still afford to travel on the Tube
- the Eurostar didn't exist
- message bikes were the only way to get documents to another office in a hurry
- the railway system was called British Rail
When I left Tyneside, ten years prior to that, -
- the Quayside still resembled something out of a Dickens novel
- the MetroCentre hadn't been built
- the Metro transport system wasn't around
- there was no ring road, so the A1 went straight through the middle of the city
- Whitley Bay wasn't quite the neglected dump it is now
- Northumbria University was The Poly, and nowhere near as fancy as it is now
- Newcastle University, on the other hand, was due for a major revamp even then
- there were only 5 bridges over the Tyne
Wow. Just wow!
Wow indeed. I thought London had changed a lot in three years. It must seem like a completely alien country to you now!
ReplyDeleteI can second everything listed in that first list about London because I left in 1991.
ReplyDeleteAnd ONLY 5 bridges over the Tyne? Goodness.
ReplyDeleteI have been here in England for 22 years. I left the States when I was 24 so like you,(maybe) I am creeping up on being over her longer then I had lived in my 'home' country. Time flies.
ReplyDeleteI know. I never know who anyone is talking about in England these days!
ReplyDeleteBut the more things change the more they stay the same. I find the Geordie people to be as unique and as interesting as ever. I get more intrigued by them (us) each time I visit.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange, isn't it, how the 'home country' ticks along without us and we get more and more comfortable in the new country. I still don't know all the cultural cues that Bill grew up with and I probably never will. At the same time, I can't really talk about current ideas in the US and am happier chatting with bloggers about our childhoods. I could say that's a sign of age, but I'm going to say it's about being an expat!
ReplyDeleteNo... ring... road...
ReplyDelete