Leaving Norwich

Hello Readers,

This week I am leaving Norwich (where I have lived for the past year) to return to America. As such, I thought it would be good idea to reflect on some of the things from the past year that I've really enjoyed.

Thing 1: Korfball

In the out'n'out fun category, Korfball immediately leaps to mind. If you haven't heard of Korf before, you are not alone. I would suspect 99.999% of the world population hasn't heard of it either. Before I arrived at UEA this year, I hadn't heard of it either. By random happenstance, I decided to join the UEA Korfball Club, and it was an excellent decision.

The sport itself is a bizarre twist on basketball. Legend has it that at the turn of the 20th century a Dutch gym teacher learned about basketball, but decided that he need the sport to be playable by his male and female students at the same time. The end result: Korfball, which has a hoop on a pole in the middle of each half of the court and requires 4 girls and 4 boys on each team. To loosely tie this into the sustainability theme of this blog... it is a great low-carbon (i.e. very little equipment needed), community-building experience. By forcing co-ed teams (and making it so that boys can only guard boys and girls can only guard girls) the sport tends to be very sociable and promotes a non-threatening environment for physical activity.

Thing 2: The Greenhouse

Another random happenstance led to me volunteering at the Greenhouse Cafe this year. It turned out to be another great experience. The staff and other volunteers became very good friends of mine. I was introduced to vegetarian cooking/baking, which I will be sure to continue when I return to the US. In fact, when I get the chance, I may post some of the my own recipes on this website.

In addition to the lessons in the cafe kitchen, the Greenhouse Trust introduced me to an excellent 'business model' for a sustainable, community-based non-profit organization. Their facilities (and good food) provided a place for green-minded people in Norwich to congregate, and the volunteers in the cafe and shop helped to support the sustainable living campaigns put on by the trust.

Thing 3: The City and Countryside

The physical layout of Norwich and the surrounding suburbs and countryside helped to make this year great. By having a compact, walkable city center with loads of restaurants, pubs, music venues, dance clubs, etc., there always seemed to be plenty to do. Also, when I felt like getting away from hectic-ness or just getting some exercise, the miles and miles of running/bike paths through parks and fields were the perfect answer.

Thing 4: My Course and Coursemates

Last but not least, my climate change course and all of my coursemates definitely made my year-long experience in Norwich worthwhile. I learned enough about climate change science to confidently hold an intellectual conversation (or debate) about the topic. Somewhat surprisingly, my most memorable and influential module in my degree was certainly Sustainable Consumption (the instigation for this blog). The subject matter and the interactive nature of the seminars were well designed.

To any of my coursemates that happen to be reading this... well, it was a great year! Let me know if you find yourself in America!

Cheers,

Sean Diamond