To start our journey today we walked to a close bus stop and caught the coach to get to Black Country. I still cannot believe how clean and well taken care of the public transportation is here in the UK. The seats are comfortable and it had two levels. It could probably seat approximately 100 people at a time. Clean and comfortable public transportation creates more efficiency and accessibility to the people of the UK. The states should vastly upgrade their standards of public transportation to make transit more accessible and effective.
Once we arrived at our bus stop, we walked the rest of the way until we entered black country. As we were walking, I observed the first fast food chains besides Starbucks in the UK which goes to show how much fresh made food is important for the people of the UK.
Our first stop in Black Country was a living tour of a mining cave for coal. The sounds, real-looking mannequins and complete darkness and structure of the cave reminded me of a ride at Disney world. The special effects were incredible and made me feel as though I was working in the cave. We even had to were construction hard hats when touring the cave because the roof of the cave tunnels were so low. We also all got low level flashlights to simulate candle light in the cave. This was a surreal experience and it gave me a deeper understanding of the brutal working conditions coal miners in the UK had to tolerate in order to work and survive.
After exiting the deep, dark, and cold coal mine, our eyes fully adjusted back to broad daylight. It was a gorgeous day to visit Black country. Our next stop was in a 1950s classroom. There was a teacher acting and we were all his students. Classroom rules were extremely strict. Those who had painted nails had to be publicly shamed in front of the class. There was a huge sign on the chalk board stating “silence is golden.” Unfortunately I was pointed out as the most noisy student so I ended my 1950s learning experience by being fake whipped on my left hand in front of the class. The worst part was that the majority of my fellow classmates voted that as my punishment — traitors! However, after the fact, I heard that it was the British natives that mostly voted for it. I guess it symbolizes the never-ending love-hate relationship between the UK and the U.S.
Once class was dismissed, we went to the fish and chip shop for lunch. It was so delicious. I sat on a picnic table with my friends and took in the sun and our delightful fish and chips. While eating we saw the workers walk past in their 1950s uniforms with curled hair and poodle skirts. I love how all the workers were apart of contributing to the atmosphere. We then visited some of the 50s themed shops and saw the music, candy bars, and poultry of that time. Our day at Black Country ended with tasty ice cream.
Black Country cleverly showed me the ways of life in the UK during the 50s. As with everything between the UK and the states, there are a lot of similarities and some differences, but at the end of day we are directly related to one another.