When Things Change Yet Remain the Same

The author enjoys a pint in the Three Tuns pub. Photo by Gregory Pearson, used with permission.

Some things change a lot in just under thirty years. Some things remain the same.

York is the same as it was yet incredibly different. (Far more good ethnic restaurants, for one thing).

But when you go back somewhere, it’s inevitable that you seek out the things that haven’t changed.

Lunchtime Drink. With the Prof

College culture in the U.K. is a bit different from in the U.S. And one key difference is that you don’t go to college until you are 18 (19 if you are privileged and can afford a gap year). You spend two years in “sixth form,” which is a kind of junior college, first.

The drinking age in the U.K. is also 18.

So, college students in the U.K. can legally drink. In fact, college campuses often have places alcohol can be purchased. It’s usually crappy alcohol.

Our department, though, wasn’t on campus. At the time, the University of York Archaeology Department was here:

Micklegate House, photo by author

As you can see, it’s now a hotel. Sadly, a hotel with no rooms available or it would have been very tempting. The university put the property…