Life's ups and downs
Post categories: Staff blog
| 12:00 UK time, Friday, 3 December 2010
Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't blogged for ages (goodness, it's actually over 3 months). My excuse is that I was waiting for Andrew to blog. ;-)
Anyway, yesterday I had no excuse as I was at home on a "snow day". Basically this means that I couldn't get in to the office because of the snow. Britain is not very good at dealing with snow - I guess it's because we don't have it very often. So when it starts to snow, the country kind of shuts down. Yesterday there were some trains running, so I made it in to work. But today, nothing....and I only live about 10 miles from the centre of London. Andrew is also snowed in - I've just sent him a message to see if he will do a blog, so you never know, you may have 2 of them to read!
I started thinking about this blog a few weeks ago, when I visited two theme parks: kind of like a small British version of Disneyland. I must say, I'm a bit of a scaredy cat on the very big roller coasters. I don't like rides that turn you upside down or whizz round in small circles. Even watching other people on them makes me feel sick. I do like bumper cars and the merry-go-round, though. But my favourite rides are the water rides. This is very strange, because I get very seasick. I only have to get on a boat for a couple of minutes before I start feeling queasy! But on water rides in a theme park, I seem to be fine.
On this ride, the riders sit in a giant tyre and travel down a man-made river, with rapids and spray everywhere. You get very wet.
On this ride, the aim is to get onlookers wet by firing water cannons at them. The trouble is, they can squirt water back at you! You get very, very wet!
My absolute favourite ride, though, is the log flume. Riders sit in an artificial tree trunk and float along an artificial river. At the very end of the ride, the log goes over a tall "waterfall" and lands at the bottom with a huge splash. You get very, very, very wet! This is of me and my Goddaughter going over the edge - and if you're wondering why we have coloured faces, we've just had our faces painted!
Do you like roller coasters? What about other fairground rides?
And talking (or rather writing) about going up and down: how about this for a job? I spotted these 2 men a couple of weeks ago, working on the windows of a new building near London Bridge station, called the Shard. When it's completed, it will be the tallest buidling in the European Union. It will stand over 300m tall. Can you imagine doing this every day?
Take care everyone,
Carrie
snowed in: to be stuck somewhere because there is so much snow
theme park: a park where there are rides and activties
scaredy cat: a very informal way to describe someone who is easily frightened
bumper cars: also called dodgems, these are small electric cars that are driven round a fenced area - the aim is to dodge or bump in to other cars!
merry-go-round: also called a carousel - a rotating platform with horses that go up and down
queasy: to feel as if you are going to be sick
onlookers: people standing and watching
Comment number 1.
At 3rd Dec 2010, Carota wrote:Hi Carrie, I'm Carota from Italy. I was looking arount the bbc site and the other blog sites when I came across your post. How nice it is! I don't know if this blog is for students too, anyway we are here to learn, so I decided to reply. I was in London at the beginning of this week...you can't imagine how lucky I had been when I arrived on monday in the middle of the Tube strike(//ironic). On tuesday I had a job appointment but when I woke up in the morning, it was snowing! Fortunately the Tube was working regularly despite the bad weather and I reached Pimlico with no effort. On the way back (I left on tuesday evening)I had just the time to take off before they decided to close Gatwick airport! During my stay I was hosted by a friend of mine who has been living in London for years. She lives near London Bridge, so I saw the building you were writing about! How tall it is!
Finally a few lines about fairground rides: here in Italy we have to main theme parks that are Gardaland (near Milan) and Mirabilandia (near Rimini). I've never been to none of them, but I went to Disneyland Paris some (to tell you the truth...more than some! ;-) ) years ago. I'm not really interested in this kind of entertainment, but in that occasion I went with a group of friends, so I couldn't avoid trying some rides. I surprisingly enjoyed so much! I felt just a little bit stupid (at my age...I'm not a kid any more) but as soon as I realized that it was quite a common feeling in place like that I let myself go and I had a very great time! Amazing!
It's all for today, I hope to read about you soon, you seem very nice.
Have a good day.
C.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 3rd Dec 2010, hadjer wrote:hi Carrie frankly i have no idea about these rides coz here in our country we don t have such rides and activities perhaps other towns have but i ve never seen they looks wonderful i hope to visit them one day i m keen on such places i m sure i ll not be of scaredy cat nor feel queasy!amazing building that if i come in and see the street from up i ll feel queasy hehe
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 4th Dec 2010, Filippo wrote:Hi Carrie! How have you been? It is so good to hear from you again. I have not been to an amusement park in a while. I think they are mainly closed over here now cause daylights are shorter and it is pretty cold. Bye for now!!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 5th Dec 2010, Carossi wrote:Dear Carrie,
Nice to meet you.
As it is said than one image is worth more than a thousand words. Your photos show how scary some games in theme parks could be, but at the same time it shows how wonderful experiences we can have there.
I love high places because there you can feel that you are above everything and problems and hardship seem too small.
Warm regards,
Carossi
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 5th Dec 2010, Pary wrote:Hi dear Carrie How long no see no hear ! I really had missed you . Thank you so much for your this recent Blog about theme parks .At least we benefit from your snow in . I live in a city which used to had heavy snow falls in winters but in recent few years we have been experienced mild weather In autumn and less and less snow falls in winter :(
I hadn't been to any of theme parks yet but I must confess I 'm a bit scaredy cat , too . I have the same feeling for roller coasters as well but Riding boat in artificial river seems so amazing !
About the tall building it seems too scary for me . I never wish to have such a stressful Job .
Please keep going the good Job of Blogging . It 's always too nice to read your entries .
Take care
Pary from Iran
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)
Comment number 6.
At 5th Dec 2010, Carrie4 wrote:Hi there!
Carota: Welcome to the staff blog! Of course, it's open to everyone - the more the merrier! It's a chance for you to see what we are up to at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ LE when we are not working (of course we work most of the time ;-) ). Tomorrow there should be a blog from Rob - he lives in the country and has had 3 snow days!
Hadjer: which country do you come from? I wish I wasn't a scaredy cat - but I think I'm too old to change my ways now!
Filippo: yes, our theme parks are closed now too - the one I went to closed at the beginning of November, right after Halloween. They had a special event at Halloween, where the staff dressed up as ghosts and witches and jumped out of bushes and from behind buildings to frighten the visitors!
Carossi: what a great thought about high places. I feel the same when I'm sitting on a beach watching the waves.
Pary: it's nice to be back. I don't know why I left it so long! In England we seem to have the reverse of your weather - in the south we haven't had heavy snow for years. But last year and now this year it's been bad. However, today the snow has more or less melted in London - so no snow day tomorrow!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)
Comment number 7.
At 6th Dec 2010, hadjer wrote:hii thank dear carrie i m from algeria (mascara city)very far from algiers the capital for about 365! waiting for more blogs see you
Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)
Comment number 8.
At 8th Dec 2010, Naheed wrote:Hello Carrie!
It's really good to read from you. You have written about the theme parks at the right time. A visit to the theme park makes it more fun in winter especially, when you are on a water ride.
It's been quite a long since I visited a theme park. I like a number of rides like cup cattle, bus which is similar to log flume however merry-go-round makes me feel a bit queasy. It's so fun on bumper car which is called dodging car here and when I am with my cousins, it's absolute fun to dodge them:).
I wish you and the whole team of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Le a great festive month!
Naheed
Complain about this comment (Comment number 8)
Comment number 9.
At 14th Dec 2010, Anita wrote:Dear Carrie,
I have missed you too. Nice to hear from you after so long. And what a nice topic again.
Summer 2002 was the last time I was in a theme park in Spain, approximately an hour south of Barcelona. The park is called PortAventura. My children were small and they enjoyed it a lot. It was a perfect family program and without a shadow of a doubt we had a ball.
My village does not offer a lot of shopping and entertainment facilities but has some cultural tradition. Every summer there is a fun fair, village days or sport days. At the fun fairs there are machines for riding on and games that can be played for prices. When I was a child I enjoyed taking a ride on boat swing so much.
And talking about going up and down and cleaning windows... hmmm... I think, this job is not for me, really. One of the house chores I do not like doing is cleaning windows. But I do appreciate everyone who does it.
Have a nice day! Take care,
Anita from Slovakia
Complain about this comment (Comment number 9)
Comment number 10.
At 8th Jan 2011, Ye Shiwei wrote:Hi,carrie,do u remember ysw502320030,I apply for a student blogger,the very mail you've replied is my first mail received from forginers!!!Ha,ha.Thank you very much.~_~
I really admire your courage that you're so brave to take these adventurous activities in such age.You're excellent!!!But in my country,it is almost impossible for women who are above 25 years old to go to fairground.Because people in our country are relatively shy and fogyish.
All the best
Complain about this comment (Comment number 10)