United Kingdom Adventures

Hello and greetings from Birmingham, UK!

It's been an adventure exploring Birmingham over the past few days, and I've learned a lot -- about myself, the UK, and tradeshows abroad. A few random observations:

Smoking. Those of us from the West coast of the United States, and more precisely from Washington State, don't know how good we have it. Seems that those smoke-free public areas aren't something tha we should take for granted. Fresh air is good. (Not that there isn't fresh air here, it's just that smoking is a lot more sociable here, which is not so grand for people like me who are allergic to it...)

Pure green beauty. The English countryside is beautiful. I can't say enough about the great green stretches of land that I've observed, and the beautiful flowers in Birmingham and Solihull. I could only wish for such lush flower gardens!

Trains rule. I definitely have an appreciation for the public transit set-up here, and love that I can hop a train between the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) and downtown at any given time. Convenience is a wonderful thing!

Tradeshows are definitely different here. It's a different atmosphere on the tradeshow floor than in the States. I'm not used to having hired beauties walking around giving out handbills, nor am I used to having performers dancing down the aisles to get people to go to a vendor's stand. I can't completely put my finger on it, but it's different than I'm used to, that's for sure.

Starbucks. Current sighting count = 6. Current number of times I've gone in and purchased anything = 0. Yep, so far, I've gone Starbucks free. Don't worry, I will breakdown before long! :-)

I'm having fun. But don't worry, friends and family, not too much fun. I'll be home soon, I promise. :-)

Cheers!