It’s quite hard to write this with the sun shining outside and the temperature rising inside but I will try and recall the thoughts that went through my mind on that wonderful wet Monday.
A couple of weeks ago, in fact it was the week I returned from my holiday, where I had been lying on the beach in 28°C weather, I decided to cycle home. Even though my boyfriend had told me that it was pouring at home, less than 4 miles away (Sorry – I don’t know what that is in kilometres), I decided I would cycle and be home in half an hour rather than get the bus and be sitting in traffic for an hour.
As I started out on my journey, I was able to see the dark, grey, summer sky of London, lurking in the distance. At first there were just a few drops of rain, but with the warm temperature we had had that day it was somewhat refreshing. As I continued in the direction of the cloud, the rain continued to fall. And the closer I got to home, the harder the rain fell. After about ten minutes of cycling through London I was completely soaked and I still had another 20 minutes to go. Now, maybe some sane people would stop and find shelter until the rain stopped. But not me! I was determined to get home, as soon as possible. Don’t forget, by this point I was soaked to my very core, how much wetter could I have got?
I decided to just enjoy it. I cycled through puddles that were knee-deep. I didn’t even care when buses drove through deep puddles, splashing me as they past me. I just laughed. Thinking about it now I must have looked like a complete nutcase. Soaking wet, cycling through puddles and laughing to myself. Anyway, the laughter soon stopped as the hail started to fall. And let me tell you something….Big pieces of ice, falling from the sky, hitting wet, cold skin is painful. VERY painful! That’s when I decided that I had no choice but to stop. I did also have a giggle with a couple of other cyclists who’d stopped too though. The Brits tend to bond better in the rain. Like it’s something we’re all proud of deep down. When you think about it, it is really strange. Hail in June is weird! Even for us. You may think that we’re used to it, but we’re not. We still marvel at the bizarreness of the weather.
I think to sum it all up I’d like to say three things:-
1) If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
You can’t hide or run from the summer rain, so you might as well dance in it. It’s much more fun (just make sure it’s on the way home from school not to!)
2) Regardless of this blog, I do not want you thinking it ALWAYS rains in Britain. It doesn’t. It’s just that the weather is a little unpredictable here…like last Monday!
3) To all of those students who joined EC London on that day, I think the rain was just England’s way of saying “Welcome to London!”
I took a picture of me dripping wet especially for this blog, so I will attach it as soon as I figure out how to do that!