Small Town America

Invoked with such wonderful nostalgia, true "small town" America- the real middle America- often seems like part of wishful imagination now, rather than a reality. Gone are the days when quaint towns away from interstates were where people wanted to live; where you could walk down the high street and find a variety of different shops, all locally owned; where everybody knew everybody and where doors were left unlocked. From the 1920s to 1950s, these towns must have been such an incredible place to grow up, places where you knew everyone at the local school, could hang out at the diner and go to the drive in movie theatre, or take a girl to the high school dance. This nostalgia is probably completely tainted however, as we tend to ignore all the negative aspects about these little villages. Inevitably, there was a reason for their decline.

Yet this does not stop me from wanting to visit these places, to hope that I could drift from the beaten track, down the same old highways, and instead travel along a historic route- Route 66 being a classic- to experience these small towns in the heart of America.

Well Thursday, right in the heart of rural Wisconsin, I found myself in such a place.  Out on the campaign trail, canvassing for local votes, we ended up in Pardeevillee. Population 1,982. For a long time I thought we were going to some Party city, the way the locals were saying it. Even a guy from Wisconsin thought that too. But instead, we ended up in a town with just two main streets, where the highlight of the year is a watermelon festival. Alas, we missed this by a few days. Unfortunately, Pardeeville was a sad little town, with very little non-local traffic. It did however offer an insight into small town America, as we wandered up and down the streets. Many houses were run-down, with old broken porch doors, and dirty windows, however others still retained a cosy local feel. I regularly found doors unlocked and open too, and at one point was almost stumbling up the stairs in someone's house after knocking on doors that swung open!

Though Pardeeville might be lost to history, the next local town, Portage, still retained some of the good ol' ways. There was a much livelier high street here, with a variety of different shops, and not a single Subway or Starbucks to be found. Instead, you find yourself in the diner of Portage Cafe, or in Norm's Pit Stop. Or you could check out the local convenience store and get a hot dog, potato salad and soda fountain for $1.99. Yes that was the price in 2010, not 50 years ago!

Portage restored my faith in small town America, and made me want to see more places like it, where the twenty first century is kept just enough at bay, so that locality and uniqueness remain of the utmost importance. So here's to travelling.

How to Waste Time Effectively

Every school kid, college student, and office worker knows how to procrastinate. Finding fun and unique ways to avoid that deadline is what we do best. I even resort to cleaning and tidying when I don't want to do something really boring and annoying. And it comes at no surprise to me, that I have not forgotten how, now that I have graduated.

Thankfully, when I return from work these days, I do not have homework to do, or essays to write. I can come home, relax and recline in our electric sofa, and just do whatever I feel like.

Take today for example, I came home from work, and instead of doing something useful, I ended up looking at Lego online, finding an awesome online lego game, and spent the rest of the evening playing that.

I love little online games, they are so much fun, and you get a great satisfaction when you have completed them.

Here's two such games, if you ever feel the need to have some fun, and waste some time.

Lego Star Wars- http://starwars.lego.com/en-us/funandgames/clonewars-quest-for-r2d2.aspx

Bloons- (A fun strategy game)- http://www.ninjakiwi.com/Games/Bloons-Games/Bloons.html

I plan on posting more of these timewasters in the future... so if you are easily distracted, steer clear of this section.

Am I Mancunian?

Why the name of this blog? I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory, but why did I choose Mancunian? I come from a little town called Stalybridge, on the border with Derbyshire, not from the City of Manchester. Therefore, is it wrong of me to consider myself a Mancunian?

At the end of the day, whether I am a Mancunian or not, is just a label. A label, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, assigned to anyone from Manchester the city, Greater Manchester, or a supporter of Manchester United or Manchester City. Well, on those terms, I am a Mancunian as I hail from Greater Manchester.

"But you're address is Cheshire!" says Nicole. Well yes, but though we still use that in the address, my home is part of the Greater Manchester community, albeit right at the edge of that district.

But being a Mancunian is more than just where you live. Sure, it's a label you can adopt to easily tell people where you are from, but just because I live in Greater Manchester does not make me a Mancunian. I am a Mancunian because I love Manchester, because I was brought up with Manchester, and all its wonders, good and bad, at my doorstep. I am Mancunian because all my family are Mancunians, almost as far back as my family tree goes. For better or for worse, we -Hampsons, Spratts and Stringers- are ultimately Mancunians.

And so when people here ask me where I am from, I tell them I am from Manchester. Not because its easy to name a big city. Not because the entire world knows about Manchester United. But because I love Manchester, and it will always be my home city. It gives me so much to celebrate, bemoan, and talk about; from the superb music which enriches the nightlife, to the rundown council estates which are so much a part of the atmosphere of Manchester.

Though rather crude, I end with a definition of Mancunians from Urban Dictionary, which as is often the case, defines us in terms of our arch enemies. There is no Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader, no white without black, no Doctor Who without the Daleks, no Manc without a Scouser. (Someone from Liverpool).

• Mancunian- Definition- A fine person who was born in or currently resides in the most majestic city of Manchester. Unfortunately, they live not 40 miles away from the utter bastard scum of Liverpool but in their brilliance, continue to prosper as the Capital of the North, even if the scousers come up the East Lancs to nick more tyres.

Spare a thought for poor Mike Byrne, who lives right in between these two warring factions, in Warrington.

Snail Mail

While we live in a electronic age, nothing beats receiving a good old fashioned letter in the post. There is something so satisfying about waiting for an envelope or package to arrive through the letterbox and land on the doormat. Or in our case now, to rush home and open the mail box, and then maybe leap down the 4 steps to the office where parcels are kept.

It was with great pleasure that I came home on Tuesday to find 2 letters, hand delivered (via aeroplane) from England, one from my Dad, and one from my Gran. At the earliest, my Dad's letter was posted on Friday 3rd, and even with the Labor Day holiday weekend, it was here by Tuesday! Travelling 5000 miles is nothing for mail as it is nothing for people it seems, for the boxes I shipped from England left the warehouse on on the evening of the 1st of September, and were in Madison, having gone through customs and shipped across the US, by the morning of September 3rd, even with the time difference!

It may be then, that if your email is down, it is faster after all to send a good old fashioned letter. I for one could certainly do with the handwriting practice!

Living the West Wing... Kind Of

A new country, a new apartment.. that also means a new job. And though sadly the job I am currently doing is unpaid, I have to say it certainly is a great one. Having returned now from my second day at work, I am confident I am really going to enjoy my time here in Madison, even if I do have to scrounge around for money.

I jumped right in on day one, practising my American accent with tech support, as I set up my computer access via the phone. The guy on the phone did the crazy big brother thing, taking over control of my computer, which though I am sure is actually quite simple, still really amazes me. As an intern, I thought I'd get ordered around left right and centre, told to fetch this, grab that, restock this, bring coffee here etc. etc. But they have a whole paid staff to do that at the Capitol, the Sargent-At-Arms and the page staff. So instead I find myself with a lot of freedom to do meaningful stuff. And the time to research things I don't know, and get clued up; getting up-to-date on politics being a necessity, as the primaries (elections to establish candidates for the general election) take place next week, September 14th.

I haven't really had many jobs, but I am sure everyone shares the same nervous feeling as they enter a new work place for the first time. There are established rules and ethics that you just don't know about. "Should I sit there, or is that someone's place," "Do I just grab this, or should I ask." I even think about things like "Do I need to ask to go to the toilet!" Then of course, you get told everyone's name once, and are expected to remember it.

Anyhow, my first day went well, after learning the ropes of the office. I met the Representative I was working for briefly as he rushed past to get to a hearing, and then after helping the staff bring his belongings in, I slipped into the hearing and watched Wisconsin politics at work. I was in there for almost 2 hours, and though it sounds boring, it was actually really interesting, learning about the emergency management system in Wisconsin, and what needs to be done to improve it. It was great to see Senators, Lawyers and Representatives in action too, almost exactly like I imagined it, except that it was a little more relaxed, with people coming and going as they please.

I did learn a great fact about Wisconsin... this summer they have had 40 tornados... the annual average is 21! Roll on the winter weather :)

After the hearing, I made a quick stop at a fundraiser to meet some more people. It was in an upstairs room of a bar, and it was exactly like something out of a West-Wing campaign... I swear there were Toby and Josh lookalikes everywhere.

Day two consisted of me largely observing the office workings, while watching the guy I am working for run around everywhere, hopping from meeting to phone call to meeting. No wonder it is hard to get him standing still in one place for 5 minutes. While I observed everything, I also worked on my Wisconsin geography, as I found addresses for various people Peter wanted to send comments to, usually about an article he had seen about them in news. Today I also took a tour of my workplace, which is truly incredible. Walking up to the building everyday, it really is beautiful, and I cannot believe I am actually working in there. I will post pictures of it soon. Its huge inside, and actually has the largest (in terms of volume) dome in the United States... bigger even than the Capitol in Washington D.C.

Perhaps I will get to work as a tour guide as part of my internship here, in which case, I am sure more random facts will follow.

Tomorrow, we're out on the campagin trail, something entirely different once again!