Hello friends! Thank you for following my page. This post is about my first week living in Norwich. The home I'm staying in is on Earlham Road halfway between the UEA campus and the city centre. I've been alternating between a day at campus and a day or two in the city. On my first day, I walked to campus (about 25 minutes). It was a week before welcome week for new students, so not as busy, and I could wander around on my own. I picked up my campus card right away because that's how I'm able to check out books at the library! The campus library is open all hours and has not only a water bottle filling station, but also hot water at all times for tea. It's a good base to have when spending the day on campus. There's a quiet study space for postgraduates on the second floor (that's really the third level) with storage lockers. Buildings on campus are not very attractive and basically all cement, but not far away there is a man-made lake and wooded area with walking trails. Later in the week when I visited again I took a walk around the lake and trails.
Again relying on my mobile phone for Google Maps, I explored the Norwich city centre on Wednesday. I think I went back on Thursday, Friday, and maybe Saturday as well because there was so much to see! My highlights were the Millennium Library at The Forum, Norfolk Yarn, the many, many book stores and thrift shops (including The Book Hive), and Norwich Cathedral. I also visited quite a few grocery stores to find the best places to get food with less packaging. I'm not really big on eating out, so I was tired of that after a few days! Fortunately, there was fine weather for being out all day. One afternoon I had a cream tea at Biddy's Tea Room. Cream tea means a scone served with clotted cream comes with your tea. My favourite!
On Saturday I saw morris dancers performing outside. Morris dancers wear bells on their legs and do dances and steps to traditional music while beating sticks. Over the weekend, my host family took me to see a group called Flánn that plays Irish music and Céilí. They are very good! I really enjoyed it and I'd like to go to more Céilí events.
The best grocery store is actually not too far from my house and my host family recommended it. It's called The Green Grocers. I can get everything I need in bulk with my own containers including cleaners like soap and vinegar. There is a chain store called Co-op that has better prices on milk, cheese, and yoghurt, though I haven't found any place that does bottle returns. At every food place I visited, I looked at their tea selection. Later I will post about different teas I've found! The stalls at Norwich Market are another place to get fresh produce. I like that better than the types they sell at the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Aldi, or Sainsbury's. The cashiers here will ask if you need a bag and most places even charge for their bags. There's also a residential food waste collection service and more things are made with paper or a material that can compost in an industrial composter.
Another quiet spot to walk is the Earlham Cemetery near my house. I was surprised to see that at this time of year there are still ripe blackberries. There's more wildlife in that spot, and I'm keeping watch for hedgehogs and red squirrels. European robins, great tits (chickadees), and chiffchaffs sing outside in the morning. I have also heard jackdaws and magpies. I haven't yet been to explore other surrounding parks because I've been getting enough walking this week—but there are areas I'd like to visit soon!
Thanks for reading.
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