Today, we started off the day a little later than usual. We met up as a group at 9 am, which was amazing because we all got an extra hour of sleep! Then, we took a bus to visit the Black Country Living Museum. The bus ride to the museum was nearly 45 minutes, making it the longest bus ride we’ve had in the UK so far. But, it was also the first bus ride out of the city. It was very pretty and scenic as we moved further and further away from the big city of Birmingham.
On the way there, I was imagining how this museum would be. I imagined it to be just like any other museum I’ve gone to in the US: one big building with a bunch of history and facts spread throughout. However, I quickly came to realize that I was entirely wrong. This museum was set up as a little cute town, with numerous buildings and activities, all filled with history and facts. In fact, the experience in the town/museum was extremely fun, interesting, and even interactive! This was probably the first time I really enjoyed a museum because I’m usually not into museums that much.
One thing I learned was that there are similarities between Pittsburgh and Birmingham in a way. One similarity is that both places claim to have made the first steam engine. I found this super interesting. In addition, there was just so much coal lying around in certain areas of the museum. I just thought it was rocks until I was told that they are not just rocks and it was coal. Surprisingly, the coal was much lighter in weight than I expected!
My most favorite part of the day was visiting an old-fashioned schoolhouse. The experience there was so cool because it was interactive and funny. We were given a feel for how it would have been in 1965 and it was very interesting to see school in a different perspective. For example, nail polish or anything related to color on nails were not allowed and students were given punishments for activities like this. I learned this because the teacher went around the classroom doing a cleanliness check to see if all the students had clean hands, faces, and neat clothing. Unfortunately, many students of our group, including myself, got caught and were told to stand in front of the classroom because this was inappropriate behavior at that time. With all this, I realized that school back in the days were much more stricter with punishments, such as beatings. This is something that is considered illegal today. Through this neat experience, I was able to see school from a new viewpoint.
After “class” ended in the schoolhouse, we talked around for a little bit, exploring possible food options for lunch. As we walked, we saw many old vehicles, like scooters, cars, police cars, etc. It was very cool to compare how different they have evolved since the 1960s. Another part I liked was seeing carnival rides in the museum. Although I didn’t go on them myself, it was interesting and nostalgic to see different rides!
Then, we got lunch. I brought myself a loaded 3 cheese sandwich and a caramel brownie donut. Although it took super long for my food to come out, it was absolutely delicious. I quite enjoyed it!
After exploring the Black Country Living Museum, we took a bus back to the hotel, where I decided I needed to completely rest up in preparation for a big fun day tomorrow!