My very first trip on an airplane, flying almost 13 hours away from home - was to England, in 1995. I vaguely remember this trip, its a collection of many short memories all bundled into one long one.
I suppose my childhood was something quite out of the ordinary.
Eastbourne set the stage for the very first International Children's Conference on the Environment. I remember, being cold - it was October. My family came along, it was somewhat a vacation once the conference was over; we spent almost 2 months with my uncle's family in London.
Anyway, back to Eastbourne. We had this budget accomodation, small hotel place by the quayside. What I remember from this hotel stay is just excitement from having a 24 hour cartoon channel (Cartoon Network), two interconnecting rooms, and having to celebrate Deepavali in a foreign country with murukku that my mother had packed from home. There was one day where my sister and I had accidentally locked ourselves out of our room, and had to walk down to the reception, barefoot, to sheepishly ask for assistance.
The conference itself was of its own class. But this isn't about the conference, so I'll skip that bit for now.
The time spent in London was my first brush with what living in a foreign country would ever be like.
Walking around my uncle's neighbourhood, it was as if I was living in some movie. I remember, candidly, constantly using face paints and coming up with silly ideas for themed nights when we were there. My cousin, sister and myself would play dress up for the adults. We tried everything - when Halloween came, I had my first ever (and probably last) experience of trick-or-treat. What fun it was, to be dressed as a vampire, walking from door to door yelling "TRICK OR TREAT!"...coming home with a bag filled with goodies. Yum.
Because I had attended that conference, my cousin made me speak to her 1st grade class at her primary school (I think I was her Show And Tell). Funnily enough, I remember walking down lovely lanes lined with pine trees and falling leaves, almost like a scene from Harry Potter actually. What I spoke to the class in the end, I haven't a clue.
There were some incredibly beautiful places that we saw. Sadly, I can't really remember much of them.
Then, there was France. That was another bridged holiday - we took a coach to France, and stayed with relatives in Paris.
Yes, I've seen the Eiffel Tower. Heck, I've climbed the stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
That's another story though. Would I ever want to go back there? Yes..I suppose I do.
I suppose my childhood was something quite out of the ordinary.
Eastbourne set the stage for the very first International Children's Conference on the Environment. I remember, being cold - it was October. My family came along, it was somewhat a vacation once the conference was over; we spent almost 2 months with my uncle's family in London.
Anyway, back to Eastbourne. We had this budget accomodation, small hotel place by the quayside. What I remember from this hotel stay is just excitement from having a 24 hour cartoon channel (Cartoon Network), two interconnecting rooms, and having to celebrate Deepavali in a foreign country with murukku that my mother had packed from home. There was one day where my sister and I had accidentally locked ourselves out of our room, and had to walk down to the reception, barefoot, to sheepishly ask for assistance.
The conference itself was of its own class. But this isn't about the conference, so I'll skip that bit for now.
The time spent in London was my first brush with what living in a foreign country would ever be like.
Walking around my uncle's neighbourhood, it was as if I was living in some movie. I remember, candidly, constantly using face paints and coming up with silly ideas for themed nights when we were there. My cousin, sister and myself would play dress up for the adults. We tried everything - when Halloween came, I had my first ever (and probably last) experience of trick-or-treat. What fun it was, to be dressed as a vampire, walking from door to door yelling "TRICK OR TREAT!"...coming home with a bag filled with goodies. Yum.
Because I had attended that conference, my cousin made me speak to her 1st grade class at her primary school (I think I was her Show And Tell). Funnily enough, I remember walking down lovely lanes lined with pine trees and falling leaves, almost like a scene from Harry Potter actually. What I spoke to the class in the end, I haven't a clue.
There were some incredibly beautiful places that we saw. Sadly, I can't really remember much of them.
Then, there was France. That was another bridged holiday - we took a coach to France, and stayed with relatives in Paris.
Yes, I've seen the Eiffel Tower. Heck, I've climbed the stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
That's another story though. Would I ever want to go back there? Yes..I suppose I do.
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