Report from the Clouds: Manchester Edition
Observations and notes from my favorite city in the UK, courtesy of my little notebook.
Two months ago, I started carrying a little notebook around with me. Everything was fair game—Snippets of overhead conversations, lines in a book that made me pause, jokes that made me laugh, descriptions of strangers that could one day become descriptions of characters.
I started this project as a way to recapture my imagination and try to make sense of this messy and beautiful world.
My first post about this project included observations of Manchester. Now, with only two more days left living in this city, I want to share more with you all, so that you can fall in love with Manchester as I have…
2-14-24: Things I wish America did that the UK does: “Hiya” for greetings, “Cheers” for thanks, and calling strangers “Love”
2-24-24: Manchester Airport sights:
The connected couple—Her arms clasped around his waist, his arm slung around her shoulders as they wait, unmoving.
So. Many. Flowers.
The two young kids look up at their new guest with sparkling eyes. If you told them he hung the moon, they’d believe it.
Teenage girl stands by the arrival door, her eyes glued to her book. She only has a few pages left and nothing is going to stop her from finishing.
Passengers step through the arrivals door, their faces scanning left and right, left and right. Then there’s that perfect moment when they spot their person. Their eyes light up, their faces breaking into wide grins. I know you, I’m here, I’ve missed you, I’ve missed you.
2-25-24: “sun-blushed tomatoes” on the menu
3-5-24: STORY TIME. A certain dumb dumb by the name of Smaige Smardner leaves the library and quickly realizes on her walk home she doesn’t have her wallet! She hurries back and tries not to look like a tiny helpless baby bird as she flocks to every staff member for help. One staff member really takes his time to help her, and they go all around the building talking to different departments. He takes her to one last place, their last ditch effort, but no luck. Just then, his phone rings. The pink wallet has been found! It was on a cabinet with a sticky note attached to it. Some kind stranger must have found it and taken the time to write the note. All cards and cash and American IDs are inside. “You’re lucky!” says one of the library workers. “When you play the lottery tonight, remember to divide your winnings amongst all of us!”
This is why my stories often highlight the goodness of people. Because people are SO GOOD!
3-5-24: A classmate in my German class passes his workbook across the table to me. “Did this strike you as odd, too?” The answers to the questions could only be ‘P’ or ‘O’ and when strung together it read ‘P O O P O P'.’ I laughed much harder than I should’ve.
3-11-24: When talking about Ramadan during my one ESOL class, we talked about the word compassion:
“What does ‘compassion’ mean?”
Sudanese student: “When your heart is good.”❤️
3-19-24: A classmate in my German class opens Duolingo during our break. “Die Leute lieben Currywurst.” The people love curry sausage. “Liebst du Mayonnaise oder liebst du mich?” Do you love mayonnaise or do you love me?
3-20-24: A man boards the tram with his dog, adorned in a pink raincoat. She’s one of those dogs with the long snout, made perfectly to fit inside a Pringle can. “Good girl, good girl,” the man coos to her as she stands there like a very good girl. When she looks at me, I smile. When she looks at another woman sitting nearby, she smiles. I realize, then, that dogs are magic. All they have to do is point their face towards you and you’re happy. Little happiness fairies, they are.
3-20-24: A young woman sits on the tram. Her hair teeters between bright red and bright orange, depending on if the sun is shining on it. She wears cowboy boots with big star explosions that remind me of the graphics in comic books when the hero is punching the villain. Her dress is a mishmash of different colors and designs, hidden mostly under her oversized leather jacket. Multiple rings sit on her red french-tipped manicured fingers. It’s one of the first times I understand why some people put so much effort into what they wear: it’s fun.
3-20-24: A writer-friend describes herself as “socially clumsy.” I’m convinced nothing will ever be as endearing as that.
3-25-24: It’s my last night with my writing group. They’ve been a constant source of support and happiness during my time in Manchester. We meet in the upstairs at a pub for the meeting, then always go downstairs for drinks after. One writer says to me, “I’ll get your beer this week if you’ll get mine next week.” Cue my heart breaking into a million pieces.
