Autumn in London '06

Colchester

Hey Everyone,

So what an interesting weekend it’s been. Since Brendan is here, and one of the principal hobbies that we both share is a love of the card game Magic: The Gathering, we decided to experience the British Magic scene. It started Friday night, when we went into central London and participated in a small event near Russell Square. This was alright, it was low-key, and it was fun in the end. But the main event was the next day. There was a much larger tournament in a town Northeast of London called Colchester, and we decided to go. After a short train journey from Liverpool Street, we arrived in the quaint little Essex town of Colchester. Situated on a hugely steep hill, Colchester is the sort of place you likely think of when you think of towns in the English countryside. Whilst there were certainly signs of the modern world there (an ASDA, a Pizza Hut, etc.), most of the houses and other buildings looked like they had been there for some time. And some of the churches there looked to be close to 700 years old, if not older. Shame is that we didn’t bring a camera, but trust me when I say that it was a nice little place.

Anyway, after some searching and a bit of getting lost, we found the tournament’s locations hidden behind a larger building in a hall that looked as though it was the home base of the UK equivalent of the Boy Scouts. The Hall was decked out in pictures of the Queen and other British things, and there were all sorts of “scout” paraphernalia about as well. I won’t bore you with the details of the tournament itself, but I’ll just skip to right near the end. I had long been out of the running, but Brendan (who is much better at Magic than I am) had just won his semi-final match and was waiting to play in the final. The time was about 10:15 pm, and we knew that the last train to London left at 11:03. If this was just some random tournament, we would have surely just gone, but this wasn’t. This was a Pro Tour Qualifier, a tournament that grants the winner a free trip to play in a Pro Tour Magic tournament, the top prize for which is usually something in the neighbourhood of $40,000. Yes, people can make a living playing Magic. So it was important that Brendan try to win, and not rush, in the finals. As it turns out, Brendan did win at about 10:55, and after finalising the paperwork and such, we booked it to the train station. Of course, we got there at 11:05 or so, and the train had left (damn the punctuality of British trains!!!). We were informed that the next train would leave at 7:00 the next morning. So we set out looking for a hotel to stay the night in Colchester. To make a long story short, there are none…so that meant that we would simply have to wander the streets overnight.

Actually, looking back on it now, it was one of those experiences that will stick with me for the rest of my life. But whilst living it, it was a nightmare. First of all, it was a chilly night, and I was not properly dressed to be outdoors the whole night. Second of all, there isn’t much open in Colchester past 1 or 2 am, so the time passed very very slowly at fir st. But after some wandering around (which included an exhaustive search for a hotel, moving from Kabab shop to kabab shop, trying at all costs to avoid having to talk to drunk college kids, and a failed attempt to hand out in the 24-hour ASDA, which is apparently only open 10-7…yeah, go figure), we did eventually, at about 4 am, find a 24-hour convenience store with a bus stop bench outside it. Here we spent the rest of the night, which included a riveting chat with a boy from Essex who “didn’t speak no blood yeh, cuz he’s the king yeh, an he doan caer if his fly’s down yeh cuz he’s the king yeh,” trying to fend off some drunk girls looking for cab money in exchange for being pretty, and having a nice chat with the guy tending the store. Apparently, he’s a minister during the day, but it doesn’t pay well enough. Good man, very kind.

Anyway, at 7 we finally boarded the train to London, got back to my dorm, and slept all day. It was great, but the thing I think that has stuck with me the most is now having some sort of idea of what it might be like to be homeless. I mean, I had a coat, and money to buy coffee, and was allowed into shops with no question and I was still miserable. I can’t even imagine how it would be to have no coat, no proper clothes, no money, and to be so stinky and dirty that no one will help you. Never again can I take my life for granted, because I have it so good that if I were the type to have a guilty conscious I’d be ashamed to be alive. Really, life is very, very, very, very good.

posted by Zachary Nicholson @ 1:41 PM