Despite the pains of walking around for two days and going on Summer Time, this weekend was a bowl of pasta swimming in awesomesauce. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed and experienced this weekend, and I don’t think even pictures do it justice. Mostly because it wasn’t the sights or sounds, but the people I got to meet. Birmingham (that’s Birmingham, UK; not Birmingham, AL) has to be the first “real” city – in the American sense of a densely populated community with many tall buildings – that I’ve been to in the UK. The city centre is filled with skyscrapers and the population is quite ethnically diverse. The city has a lively feel, and I didn’t find it terribly touristy – the streets were crowded with people, but they were people who live here. I only had a couple hours on Saturday to walk around, but I managed to see some of the amazing architecture – both new and old – and get a taste of the buzzing city life.

Birmingham Town Hall in Victoria Square

Selfridges building and St. Martin’s Church at Bull Ring, a contrast of the old and new

The cube-like Library of Birmingham (It extends underneath the plaza, making it the largest regional library in Europe.)

Sunset over one of the many canals off Broad Street

And Sunday was spectacular. I spent the day at EGX Rezzed, a UK gaming conference. I had a special pass to attend a panel session with a few of the YOGSCAST members, including Martyn “Inthelittlewood” (his YouTube channel). YOGSCAST is a group of video game commentators stationed in Bristol. I got an autographed poster and a special T-Shirt, both signed by Martyn and the other YOGSCAST members and handbag, all of which I will hopefully have room for when I come back home… But celebrities and swag aside, the best part was spending hours in “Leftfield”, the section of the expo floor where all the indie games were. I got to play some really cool and innovative games – some of which aren’t even released yet. A few that stood out: Tri, Private Eye (which uses the Occulus Rift), and Salvaged. This was also a great opportunity for me to talk and network with the developers who made the games, which was really great because I’m actually an dev for an indie game (called facade, if you’re curious), and I was able to meet the community of British (and international) developers. (And found out that I’m a 5-minute train ride from many of them! So, I might just return to Bristol… which is also where the YOGSCAST office is… In the end, I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience the indie game scene in the UK, which I wasn’t terribly surprised to find is similar to the indie games in the US, courtesy of the Internet. (In fact, the dev team I’m on consists of people from all over the world. Our team exists on Skype, not in a physical office location.)

Upon entering the main expo floor

YOGSCAST @ EGX Rezzed – before the panel session (Martyn is on the left in green)

So as I write this, I’m just leaving Birmingham on “the 20.12 service to Bristol Temple Meads”. I am tired and a bit stuffy, and I’m not really looking forward to returning to Bath and going to class tomorrow morning, especially since the train arrives at 23:32 and I’m already exhausted. Though a few of the devs I met are on the same train so I get yet another chance to chat so that will help keep me awake. (I feel I need to rant about the potential 1-hour layover between trains. Sunday evening train service is comparatively infrequent. I really hope I can make an earlier train to Bath… If I can find free WiFi in Bristol Temple Meads, though, that will help because I haven’t had reliable WiFi in over 12 hours- I am such a spoiled techie.)

But, that being said, there’s always more exciting things to come! And speaking of which, I will be hosting a special mid-study abroad Q&A Panel Video Blog entry! I invite you to leave any questions you have about my study abroad or the UK in general in the comments below – a few have already asked about tea and the grading system here, for example. Some of friends (from several different countries) and I answer your questions and give our unique perspectives on our experiences in the UK. Anyway, not only will it be informative, it will be a metric tonne of fun!

Addendum: So the train is passing along the Welsh border, which is always really interesting because all the signs are written in both Welsh and English.

Addendum 2: My train arrived late and I missed my connection. Fortunately, there was still one more train going to Bath Spa, so I eventually got back and got some sleep…

Location: Birmingham, UK