I\u2019ll admit that I have not been to a wide variety of pubs, so I\u2019ll have to do my best to draw conclusions from the experience I do have.\u00a0 I have genuinely enjoyed the ones I have been to, we\u2019ve just been so darn busy here and I\u2019m always so tired that I don\u2019t go out very often.\u00a0 I disagree with some of my classmates who have been arguing that pubs are overpriced and that the food isn\u2019t worth it.\u00a0 I actually think some of the pubs have pretty good deals.\u00a0 At some you can get a sandwich and chips or a sandwich and a drink for under four pounds, which is more than you can say for Pret or Sainsbury\u2019s, depending on what you get there.\u00a0 The food might not be the best, and certainly not the healthiest, but on occasion I enjoy a bit of grease, and I especially like the part where you order and they bring you the food and you don\u2019t have to do anything.\u00a0 Also there are chips (fries) which are my favorite food in the world.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll start by comparing pubs at lunch and pubs at dinner.\u00a0 I\u2019ve found that it\u2019s a lot easier to get into pubs at lunchtime; it\u2019s a lot less crowded.\u00a0 When it isn\u2019t crowded, I feel sure that I\u2019m not intruding or bothering anyone.\u00a0 Walking into a crowded pub at dinnertime or at night can be awkward because you\u2019re unsure if all the people there already know each other or if you\u2019ll be taking someone\u2019s regular table or chair.\u00a0 It can be a bit unwelcoming.<\/p>\n
The exception to this that I\u2019ve found is the Court.\u00a0 The Court seems to cater specifically to a young, student crowd with their meal deals and discount card.\u00a0 Everyone seems to go there with their own group of friends and doesn\u2019t really pay anyone else any mind.\u00a0 I don\u2019t get the impression that there are \u201cregulars\u201d there.\u00a0 Students can be a bit transient.\u00a0 The consequences of this younger crowd, however, are extra loud American pop music, questionable wardrobes, and general drunken disorderliness.\u00a0 The times I\u2019ve gone there I\u2019ve had a good time, despite the fact that I have to shout to be heard and worry that I\u2019m going to get beer spilled on me at any moment.<\/p>\n
I agree with George Orwell that pubs where it is quiet and you can hear yourself talk are preferable.\u00a0 The Marlborough Arms has this advantage over the Court.\u00a0 The music is softer and there is less drunkenness.\u00a0 I feel generally welcome there too, although the crowd is a bit older and I do get the feeling that there are regulars, most of whom are British.\u00a0 I think the regular thing contributes to the different level of classiness, though.\u00a0 However, I also agree with Orwell that you can\u2019t win on all counts \u2013 the food at the Marlborough Arms is more expensive.<\/p>\n
I think as a group we are beginning to get the hang of the buying drinks in rounds thing, and some people remember to ask to buy the bartender a drink, although they usually refuse.\u00a0 Still, I\u2019m not sure that we will ever fully be able to pass for being English in a pub, and I think that although we have knowledge of the general pub rules, each individual pub has its own hidden rules and traditions.\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping that perhaps this will get easier when we go out with our roommates at UEA who are actually British.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ll admit that I have not been to a wide variety of pubs, so I\u2019ll have to do my best to draw conclusions from the experience I do have.\u00a0 I have genuinely enjoyed the ones I have been to, we\u2019ve just been so darn busy here and I\u2019m always so tired that I don\u2019t go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6679],"tags":[15241,1369,1378],"class_list":["post-3548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2010-kaitlin","tag-pubs","tag-the-court","tag-the-marlborough-arms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}