In the York university library (which is constructed like Maslow's hierarchy of needs: arts and music at the top, then humanities on the floor below, then sciences, then vending machines and toilets). On the next desk over someone is reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", which seems to suggest that everyone else here is a highly-paid actor pretending to be a student. Either that or they're taking a break, or studying it for serious purposes. Behind me a stony-looking guy in a vest and tie kicks off his black patent-leather shoes under the desk. Next to me Victoria (another engling) impatiently highlights the title of the text she's read four times now, "What is Enlightenment?". "If I find out, I'll tell you," she promises. In front of me are my books, and above me is a skylight full of cool, white sky.

More on York soon. It's actually awesome here.