wednesday dec 7: michal had told me about an art gallery at the university of birmingham so i went there first thing that morning. they had very nice paintings, mostly religious from the 14th-early 20th century. the newest ones were the ugliest. there was also a small egyptian exhibit. so i stayed there till like 3:30 and then i went to the student union to do some planning for the london trip in a few days. god i forgot how annoying college students are. just being loud and talking about the dumbest things. and prying into each others business. i was trying to ignore them but these two girls sitting across from me where just so loud! so i finally left like 2 hours later and i went back to michals and we had some dinner together and just hung out until it was bed time. he is originally from poland but hes lived in the UK for 9 years, so he speaks both languages perfectly. so he has a job as an interpretor for criminal cases and other things (these business companies ask him to translate some documents..i dont really know much about that because he didnt talk about it too much). he is studying law but actually wants to do maritime law, not criminal. but in any case he was telling me about some of the cases he has to translate for. one guy murdered his ex's friend because the friend persuaded her to break up with him! well obviously for good reason! and he was telling me all about the case. and he told me that sometimes when the cops dont have enough evidence for a criminal to be convicted, they ask him if that person really did the crime..and he tells them! but that cant be construed as evidence, its just for the cops' own curiosity. so he went on about that for a long while, until i went to sleep. this time around i was pretty warm, maybe i was just more tired than the night before. so thursday dec 8: i went to cadbury world. i had a 2 for 1 but because i couldnt find anyone on the line to split it with me, i just paid the concession. so that was a bummer. but nonetheless i enjoyed it very much despite the neverending stream of annoying little school brats. i got 3 chocolate bars along the way (there were 14 zones to see) and i ate those right up!! and there were a few free samples too! the factory started with the origins of chocolate, about the aztecs and how they discovered the cocoa bean and made chocolate drinks, and then the conquistadors conquered them and destroyed their empire and brought the idea of chocolate back to spain (the shmucks). then there was the history of the cadbury family and the origins of Cadbury, which was also a little movie. i swear the kids really pissed me off at this point because they were pushing me to get into the room to watch the movie first. i was thinking of saying something to their teacher but i didnt, but i may write to cadbury world cause they were realllly getting on my nerves and it took away from my fun experience! but anyway there was also the factory which showed how everything was made and packaged. there was a cute little ride where you follow 3 beans through a world of chocolate (kind of like its a small world). then there was an advertising section which showed all old (and some new) commercials for cadburys. and they had a little music room where there was a mechanical gorlla playing the drums! then around the back of the factory was the bourneville experience which gives the breakdown of the village and how the cadbury family built it as homes for their workers. and then there was essence, which was another little movie about the cadburys and their invention of the "glass and a half" and at the end you could sample some chocolate on top of whatever you wanted. so i had toffee popcorn =) then there was a factory trail outside the factory where you follow the info boards and it points out the old factory rooms. so all in all it was awesome! i was sooo full after all the chocolate! oh and there also was a small zone for kids to play but they also had some computers that talked about the future of the cadbury company and their promise for sustainable factory working and for fair pay for workers in africa. ok gotta jet now!
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