Greetings, dear readers!👋
It's me, your friendly neighbourhood book enthusiast😎! I’m here to share even more tidbits from our English adventure. So grab a cuppa and get cozy, because this time your favourite English teachers are going to see the sea—Mersea.
Before we get into all the fun and funny stuff that happened, I have to insert a little linguistic window—my students will know exactly what I mean. A little bit of context: when mum told me where we were going, I was more confused than a chameleon in a bag of Skittles. My confusion was caused by the pronunciation of the place, Mersea. You say it almost the same way as the French word for "thank you"—just swap the French "r" for an English one—or the little chocolates, "Merci". It is coincidentally also pronounced almost the same way as "mercy"- depending on the accent. So I think I was justified in my confusion.
The other part of my absolute bewilderment was the actual name itself, Mersea, because the first part, mer, is the French word for sea. The place is called "Seasea"! The actual etymology of the name is a derivation of the Anglo-Saxon word "Meresig", which dates from the early 10th century and means "island of the pool or mere." Isn’t that crazy?
Do you know any fun words, puns, or maybe some fun facts? Let us know in the comments! Don’t be shy; it’s a safe space here, and I’d love to learn more fun facts!
Now, our adventure started off strong with the transport. We spent what felt like an eternity trying to find the right bus stop, only to realise that here they drive on the left. So, the right stop was the left stop—oops, happens. After an hour or so of closely watching cars drive round and round the roundabout—Mum was shaking her head so rigorously at the drivers’ lack of use of signal lights that I thought she might get a concussion—we finally got on the bus, and off we went.
Once there, we decided to immediately make a beeline to the beach. Yes, you read that right—a beach, in November. True to our nature, we went exploring—a lovely walk; what could possibly go wrong? Now, we were properly warned about the natural phenomenon called "high tide," the rising water level and all that. Funnily enough, I’m surprised we didn’t meet Friday, as we almost got stranded on a little shingle island. I’d like to point out that when we got there, it was not an island; it was a peninsula. Slightly wet shoes and a good laugh later, we were once again exploring and taking photos of cool shells and smooth rocks.
Deciding we’d had enough salt water for the day, we turned around to walk some more and catch a bus before we got stranded on that island—Mersea is a small island during high tide.
Before embarking on the journey home, we decided to give the local fish-and-chips shop a chance. After all, we were so close to the see, it’d be a crime not to eat some fish. It did not disappoint. Inside, they were playing Shark Tale -very fitting, in my opinion- and the haddock we had was delicious 🤤, yum!
When we got back to Colchester, we expertly navigated the streets. You’d think we were locals at this point! We checked in at the most awe-inspiring hotel, with so much character we were properly shocked and astonished. But that, dear readers, is a tale for another time.
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next episode of English adventures! Don’t forget to write a comment—we’d love to read your thoughts and answer any burning questions you might have!
Yours truly,
Adrien ✨
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