Tethairwen's Archives

I'm back in the States now, and the flight was fairly uneventful... though I think the airline should have a better movie selection. I ended up watching Disney animated movies because there was nothing else worth watching, and my laptop battery was low. But other than that, the flight went fine. I drove home from the airport, and was surprised at how short the trip was... I guess after getting used to 5-hour trips to London, a 50-minute drive is nothing.

It's going to take a while to get used to being back in the States, and I keep saying English words and phrases that my family doesn't know, so I have to explain. And I'm afraid I've given the kids more things to imitate when I started to tell them about Doctor Who. Now they've added "EX-TER-MIN-ATE" and "Prepare to be deleted" to their constant movie quoting list.

Today is my last day in Leeds. I'm packing the last of my stuff, cleaning the room, and doing other last-minute things.

I'm rather at a loss for words. I can't really describe this experience in a way that could convey even a small part of what it's been like. It hasn't been just an experience, it's been something more; it's changed me so much. I've seen and done so many things that I never dreamed of, made wonderful friends, and so much more.

I've been insanely busy for the past week or so... exams, deadlines, travel... it all just seems to pile up at once.

The condensed version: finished and turned in 2600-word paper, survived very difficult exam, finished and turned in set of problems, 3 hours in a park to unwind, slightly easier exam, laundry, cooking, packing, flying to Paris for two days, flying back to London, and catching a coach back to Leeds.

I'm playing catch-up in a big way, especially since I have the last exam on Thursday and need to pack a couple of suitcases to leave in London with a friend so I don't have so much to carry next week when I move out. Time has gone way too fast.

On Monday, I caught a coach back to Leeds, and just after we'd left the coach station, we came up to an intersection where there was a police officer on his motorbike, flashing lights and all, waving traffic out of the way. Behind him were more bikes and a police car, escorting several black vehicles. Our bus driver was the first to realize what it was, and called out that the Queen was coming. I thought about fishing out my camera, and immediately discarded the idea, because there was no way I could get it out, turn it on, zoom in, and focus in time to catch it. So I just examined the cars as they drove past, and got a glimpse of the Queen herself sitting in the back seat of one of the black cars. Someone on the coach seemed to know where she was coming from, but I couldn't quite catch what they said. I suppose if I dug into the BBC news I could find out, but I've not had much time today, so never got round to it.

Regarding Paris, it was quite an experience. I think I took a good 600 pictures total over the weekend, and saw lots of famous buildings and such, most of which I've forgotten their names. I'll have to go through my pictures when I have more time to remember exactly where we went. Saturday was bright and sunny (and my face got quite burned), and Sunday was rather rainy. I learned how to pronounce a few French words, and crepes with nutella are to die for.

Last weekend, I was back in London for Stee's birthday. We went to a park in Kingston and played ultimate frisbee, which left me stiff and sore for several days. Also, while I made a run to the hostel, since I'd gotten in early that morning and hadn't checked in, they played football as well. Then that evening, we had a group of about 26 people go to a restaurant for supper. We took up one long table, and at least two booths. I was in one of the booths with five other people, and it was a lot of fun.

Sunday was church, open home, evening service, and cinema that night. One of the guys was making a run to the ticket office before open home, and invited me to go with the group that night, so I accepted, and that night after we had all the tables and chairs put back where they belonged, I hung out with a few people (and played tennis on a Wii) until it was time for us all to meet at the cinema. The movie was Spiderman 3, which was quite interesting, since I've not seen too many comic-adaptation films. It was a fun experience, especially since it's only the second time I've really been to the cinema... I've been to a movie theatre three times, but though the IMAX theatre was amazing, we only saw documentaries there, so I'm not sure that really counts as the cinema. And then I ended up taking the night buses back to the hostel, and not getting in until 3am. But it was worth it.

Monday I headed back to Leeds, and have been doing coursework (and procrastinating) ever since. I have a paper due on Monday, which I'm working on now, that set of problems still isn't quite finished, and I have exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, I'll be free til the 24th, when I have my last exam. Time flies way, way, way too fast. There's so much I haven't seen and done, and I know I won't be able to fit it all in the short time I have left here. But on the bright side, I guess that means I'll be back someday. Sooner, rather than later, if at all possible... because England is amazing, and I just love it here.

I survived the presentation and the exam on Monday, and after giving myself all of Tuesday to sit round and be a lazy bum (though I did do some laundry and tidied my room a bit), it was back to the grind on Wednesday, working on a set of problems. And Thursday and Friday were the last tutorials, so as of today I'm done with all the lectures.

I wanted to finish the problems by today, but I didn't quite get them finished. So this weekend I'll try to do that, as well as get some reading done and put together a rough outline for my 3,000-word paper. The problems and paper aren't due til a week from this coming Monday, but I want them out of the way, since I have an exam each day for the two days after the assignments are due. After that, I only have one more exam on the 24th, and then I'll be done with all the work for this semester. w00t!

I also booked my flight to Paris tonight... I'll be there on the 19th and 20th of May. That'll make three new countries I've visited... and another couple of stamps in my passport. Also, it'll be another couple of new airports, since I've not been to Luton yet, only Gatwick. And of course Paris CDG. Yay travel!

And I'm leaving for the coach station in two hours... it takes 20 minutes to walk, though I might be able to catch a bus, since I have a day pass from my trip to campus this afternoon. But I'm not sure how late the 18 and 50 buses run on Fridays, so I'll probably end up walking anyway. My coach leaves for London at 12:30am, overnight travel again this weekend, so I'll be sleeping most of the way.

I just got back tonight from two days in Scotland. It was amazing, and I had an absolute blast! I have so many pictures, but I decided to write the update before posting the pictures to my album for once.

So, ever since I got here, I've been meaning to go up to Scotland but never got round to it. I just found out last week that a friend of mine who has been studying in Scotland for a year is leaving to head back to the States in a couple of weeks, and we'd been planning on meeting up and going on a tour, but never actually set a time. So we finally scheduled a couple of days when we were both free, and on Tuesday, at 7:10am, I boarded a train to Edinburgh. The trip took a bit over 3 hours, and my train ran along the coast for a while, which I really enjoyed, but was annoyed that the windows threw a glare, so I didn't get any pictures.

Jon's train was delayed, so I spent a couple of hours wandering a nearby park, and then hunting down a Sainsbury's (to get scones, yogurt, and the like for lunch) and a bank (I'd forgotten to get cash the day before, and we ended up going back the next day because I'd not gotten enough out and because it cost more than I expected to get into the castle). I got some nice pictures (over 200, fyi) and started to figure out where things were near the hostel that we'd be staying at. This hostel, by the way, was very nice, though you did have to pay a bit for the internet. It's also the biggest I've seen, with the largest room holding 38 beds. When Jon arrived around 2:30, we immediately headed up to the Edinburgh Castle, and spent several hours walking round, enjoying the lovely view, checking out the museums and such, and exploring all the different areas of the castle (and going in more than one exit by accident). There was so much to see, and I think we could have spent a lot more time there, but we also wanted to see the Salisbury Crags before dark, so once we had seen everything in the castle, we headed down the Royal Mile, crossed a busy street, and started up a steep path that wound round the Crags and up to Arthur's Seat. It was a very long and very tiring trek, but the view both along the way and at the top was definitely worth it. (We also enjoyed seeing the "diehard dude" who was jogging up the mountain... crazy man!... and I showed Jon how to whistle with a blade of grass on one of our many breaks during the long climb... muchly fun indeed.)

Once we made it back down to the city, we found a pub near the hostel where we both had haggis, neeps, and tatties, a very traditional Scottish meal, and Jon had a Coke, while I had lemonade. Lemonade here, by the way, is quite different from lemonade at home. Instead of being more like orange juice, with pulp and such, it's more like extra-lemony Sprite, and very fizzy. Coke here is the same as Coke in the States. After that, we found a Tesco Express, where we bought millionaire shortbread, which I'd never had, and also the closest thing to sticky toffee pudding, which Jon hadn't had before. Back at the hostel, we ate them (my pudding exploded in the microwave because I didn't take the cover all the way off... what a mess!) while looking at pictures and videos on my laptop. We finally decided to get some much-needed sleep, which was annoyingly interrupted in the middle of the night by the fire alarm going off in part of the building. Fortunately nothing serious was wrong, a fire truck arrived shortly, and the alarm was shut back off, so we all were able to stay in the building. And it was especially fortunate since, after a wonderfully sunny day, it'd begun to pour rain sometime before the alarm went off.

On Wednesday morning, we were up early, and after a breakfast of fruit scones and half an apple each, we checked out. We left our bags in the luggage room, since the hostel allows you to store luggage the day you check out, which was very nice indeed, considering all the walking we did once again. Our first stop was the Starbucks on Princes Street, which has an awesome view of the castle from the front windows. We had coffee - I had cappuccino with caramel syrup... so good! - and chatted a while, waiting until the bank opened so I could get a bit more cash out. (I am annoyed with my card, because it doesn't work in the cash points here, so I have to go into the bank if I need cash... but it's really just a hassle, nothing serious.) Then we walked all the way down to the coast, which took us a good hour. And by the time we got there the rain, which had been spritzing all morning, turned into a downpour. We both got pretty soaked by the time we dashed into a nearby car park to wait it out, passing the time by eating more scones. When the rain let up, we caught a bus back to the city centre, and found another pub for lunch (pub food is delicious... you really get hearty meal), where we had steak pies and chips.

After that, we headed off to search for Greyfriar's Cemetery. It took us quite a while, because it wasn't on the map we'd been given, and Jon couldn't remember exactly where it was. We did find it eventually though, and we got to see some cool parts of the city along the way. There's one area where there are three levels of streets. It's fascinating to see how the city is built in layers almost. We took a snack break in the cemetery and had macaroons: chocolate-covered coconut bars that are simply scrumptious. We had about an hour before we needed to head back to get our luggage, since my train was scheduled to leave at 5:30pm, so we started to wander round, when we stumbled across the National Museum of Scotland, which happened to be hosting a Pixar display. We went inside, and while the Pixar display didn't take long (it wasn't all that large), what we saw of the rest of the museum was amazing. We only had time to wander through a few sections, but among other things, we saw a massive chest with an impossibly intricate locking system, a robot that would arrange blocks to spell your name, a silver quaich (look that one up on wikipedia), and Dolly the cloned sheep (stuffed).

By then it was time to get our luggage and head off to the rail station, and since we ended up getting there a bit early, we got a chocolate orange and some jaffa cakes and ate them while we waited. Jaffa cakes are round, spongey wafers topped with orange-flavoured chocolate. And the chocolate orange was actually made from slices of orange-flavoured chocolate, stuck together to look like an orange. When you take it out of the packaging, you bang it on a hard surface, and when you unwrap the layer of foil, it comes apart into slices. Quite fascinating... and yummy too, very yummy indeed.

Finally it was time to leave, and once on the train, I promptly fell asleep for a good hour. All that walking sure tires you out! So my Scotland trip was a smashing success, and I will try to get the pictures up soon, though coursework is more important, as I have meetings most nights this week, lectures tomorrow and Friday, and a presentation and an exam on Monday.

I've really gotten to like wandering aimlessly through London. There really is so much to see, and not enough time. Parks, especially the out-of-the-way ones, are fascinating, and usually lovely places. One of the parks I visited the first weekend of holiday was one of those... a small grassy area between the river and the road, with no name on the map, though I've got my book open to the right page, and can see it there, just south of Pimlico station. I also walked through Battersea Park, a large and seemingly fairly popular one, judging by the crowds moving through it that day.

Monday evening's English dinner was a lot of fun, both preparing and eating. We made roast potatoes, boiled carrots and some vegetable whose name I forget (but looked for all the world like a gigantic turnip without a tail), beef roast and guinea fowl, tiny little potpies, sliced two kinds of cheeses, and Yorkshire pudding, black pudding, and haggis. That last is actually Scottish, but Rob served it anyway because he likes it.

Tuesday really wasn't that interesting. My last entry pretty much covered it all. Though that night, in the Cologne/Bonn airport, I swear the bar/cafe I was sitting near had the same 5 or 6 songs playing for the entire time I was there. I got quite tired of them.

Wednesday was overcast and quite chilly in the morning when Katy met me at the station, but the afternoon warmed up nicely. We went into Mannheim and, among other things, saw the watertower, rode the Strassenbahn (street train), and had doener at a Turkish sandwich shop. The doener were very interesting... they're made of large buns, squashed and heated in a machine that looks like a waffle maker, then slit and filled with shredded meat and vegetables, and a dash of some delicious sauce. Finally they're wrapped in something like tinfoil. And they're very good indeed.

Later we stopped by the church to fax some information that Katy needed, and we took some time to play piano and cello, or what passed for piano on my part... I'm terribly out of practice, and only one song really sounded decent. I fell asleep on the floor by the entrance, where the sun was shining on the carpet, and Katy took a nap in one of the rooms further back. Just that short nap really helped, since I'd only gotten about an hour total the night before. For supper, we met Sandy and Lois at Milano's, where we got some eis as well as a good meal. I guess it's Italian-style ice cream. It tastes like a mix between normal ice cream, softserve ice cream, and sorbet. And it came in tall, fancy glasses. I had erdbeere eis, which is strawberry flavoured ice cream. So delicious... and very photogenic, as you'll see if you can find that picture in my photo album amongst the rest of my recent additions. The evening was spent back at church for the Wednesday evening service, which was very good.

On Thursday, we went to Heidelburg, where we stopped by Katy's uni for a few errands before touring the town a bit. We went down along the river and took some pictures on the bridge, then went to Bier Bretzel, a restaurant that served flammkuchen, a delicious German food that resembles pizza to some extent. The bread is nearly as thin as flatbread, though not so brittle, and they put chunks of vegetables and/or meat on top, with a bit of cheese over that. I had one called Oma's Garden, which had corn, mushrooms, and mild peppers on it, and was really good. When we finished, we found the way up to the Heidelburg Castle, where we wandered and took pictures until it was time to meet Sandy and Lois. We stopped by the house quickly to pack, and then we drove off for the Black Forest, where we stayed at a hotel on a lake called Titisee. We got there late in the evening, and I got some nice sunset pictures, and we had a very posh dinner in the hotel's restaurant.

The next morning, we started off to see the shops around the hotel, and somehow we all got separated. I spent time along the lakeshore, taking pictures of ducks, geese, and boats, and along the street, listening to a couple of street musicians. We finally all met up again when it was time to drive over to a clock shop not too far away. It was fascinating, and we even got to go up to the clock maker's workshop and see some partially-finished clocks. When we finished there, we went to a small restaurant across the street for supper. I ordered a very traditional German meal, of bratwurst, sauerkraut, and potatoes. While we waited for the food to come, I went off across the stream to get some pictures of various things before it got too dark, and when I got back, we had fun killing the fizzy water with sugar, which I geekily photographed as well.

Saturday morning we were up early and ate breakfast quickly before driving back to pick up my luggage from the house and heading off to the train station. We stopped by a tiny ice cream shop for one last eis before I headed off for the airport. The flight back, as I mentioned earlier, didn't go too smoothly. While going through security, I set off the alarm somehow, and had to get wanded down. They also poked about through my hand luggage a bit before allowing me through. Then once on the airplane, we were pushed back from the gate and then just sat there for half an hour. Finally they announced that the brand-spanking-new plane had a computer malfunction, and that we'd be delayed. After a bit they pulled us back to the gate, where technicians boarded and tinkered round in the cockpit for quite a while, doing some computer resets and such. Finally they got it working properly, and we taxied out an hour late. The rest of the flight, thankfully, went quite well, and I managed to get to my hostel with plenty of time to spare despite the delay.

After such a busy and stressful week, it completely slipped my mind that church had not only moved location, but time as well, for Easter Sunday. Long story short, I ended up in Kingston with no clue what to do with myself. The failed attempt at finding Bushy Park and the long walk round to Hampton Court left me hot, tired, and frustrated, though I was very glad that the weather was warm rather than cold, or I'd have been even more miserable. The evening at Stee's really cheered me up. It's amazingly relaxing to hang out with a good friend and not have any deadlines to meet or places to be, even when you're still busy tidying and washing up and doing other such housework.

On Monday I made my way back to Leeds, and other than a meeting during the week, I generally took it easy and didn't do much other than the bit of coursework that I could do without my presentation teammate.

I was back in London from Friday to Monday, and spend a good deal of time, especially Saturday, wandering London. I finally got round to seeing the London Eye, though I didn't get on it, and went through several large parks, a very posh shopping area, and other such interesting things. Sunday was church, a second failed attempt at finding Bushy Park, and evening service. And finally, this week, at least so far, has been fairly profitable, with getting my room tidy at last, washing clothes, and getting a bit more coursework done.

I caught my bus down to London early Saturday morning, arrived around noon, and checked into my hostel. The afternoon I spent along the Thames, at various parks and such. Sunday was church, open home, and evening service. Monday was more wandering in the morning, and then I went to Stee's for the afternoon to help him and Rob get ready for the English dinner they were making for the American students. It was a very good meal, and I even liked the "scary" food that not everyone tried. Tuesday I repacked my suitcases so I'd be ready to fly out that evening. I didn't want to be walking much with two suitcases, so I hopped on the tube and checked out some new lines that I'd not been on before. District line to Richmond takes ages, so I won't be going that way again. Then I made my way to Victoria and from there to Gatwick. The flight went smoothly, and once at the Cologne/Bonn airport I got a 5-day rail pass. Then I had to wait 6 hours for my train... from 9pm to 3am. And there was nowhere to sit except the floor. That was a long 6 hours.

At 3:14am on Wednesday, I got on a train from the airport, and after 3 changes, I arrived in Speyer, an hour after I was supposed to get in. Katy was there to meet me, and we headed back to hers. That day we visited Mannheim, and went to church in the evening. Thursday we went to Heidelburg, and then Sandy, Lois, Katy, and I headed off to the Black Forest. We planned to spend only one night, but it was so lovely there that we stayed an extra night, and left very early on Saturday, stopped by the house to pick up my luggage, and I hurried off to the airport. The flight back didn't go as smoothly... I had a little trouble with security, and once on the plane we backed away from the gate and just sat there for a long time. Then they had to pull us back to the gate because the plane (delivered only the day before from the factory) had a computer malfunction. And hour and several computer resets later, we finally taxied out to the runway, and the rest of the time went smoothly. I got to London with still enough time to check into the hostel before office hours were over, and simply crashed.

The next morning I was stupid enough to think that everything was back to normal... I was back in England, where everything is familiar, and completely forgot that church was at a different place for Easter Sunday. I even went through Wimbledon station, where I was supposed to meet someone to show me the way, and it never hit me until I walked up to the church and suddenly remembered. It was too late... the service was planned to be a half hour earlier that normal as well, and I didn't have a clue where to go, so I was completely on my own for the day. After some severe self-berating, I finally headed in the direction of Bushy Park, took a wrong turn, and ended up along the Thames. I had the wrong boots on for walking, and my feet where killing me by the time I reached Hampton Court and could catch a bus. I also got sunburned. But the evening cheered me up quite a bit. Stee had just gotten back from home, and invited me over. I washed dishes while he packed for a week away, and afterward we had some good conversation and then watched part of a motorbike film about the Dakar Rally before I headed back to my hostel for the night.

I've also learned my lesson about English holidays. Not only were all the grocery stores closed, and I had to resort to fast food (blech), but the tube quit running a good hour before normal, and they kicked us out of Green Park station because we were the last train to go through, and I had to get off there to change lines. So after much angst, I finally caught a series of night buses and got to my hostel safely. Monday was a trip back to Leeds, and some mad preparations for the meeting tonight. I meant to do some of the work during my trip, but it didn't get done, mostly because I seemed to be constantly low on computer battery, and all the work had to be done on my laptop.

I'm leaving at 6:10am tomorrow for London, and I won't be back to Leeds for about 10 days. Big adventure, but I'm worried that I'm forgetting something, as usual.

Basically the plan is to spend Saturday through Tuesday in London, fly to Germany on Tuesday evening, spend 4 days there, and fly back to London that Saturday, and head back to Leeds on Monday. Fun times, but travelling to new places is always nervousing for me.

In other news, I pwnd my broken suitcase last night. I haven't got it fixed, really, but I can use the extendable handle now, which will be really nice. I was bored and not at all sleepy, so I got it out and started removing every screw that I could. The handle itself (which I did put back on the wrong way, I found... and fixed, so it's on the right way now) works fine, but there's something missing in the extended part... probably a metal rod or something... and I can hear the spring for the other side rattling round inside the case somewhere that I can't get to. But the good news is that as long as I don't collapse the handle all the way, I can manually extend it without having to unzip the inside of the case to get at the second button. Which means that I'll be stowing my duffel bag, and using the smaller hard suitcase as my carry-on... which will work out quite nicely, since I hate stowing bags for fear they'll be lost. I can put the less necessary stuff in the duffel bag, and not worry as much as if I was putting all my clothes under the plane.

And other than that, I'm cooking chips and toast to go with my fish sticks... which, by the way, aren't the type of fish sticks I thought they were, but hey, they're still good.

I haven't really gone anywhere since my last update... due to the unexpected train fare cost, I ended up having to stick close to Leeds for a couple of weeks. I really haven't done much other than keep up with coursework and go for a few wanders round the metro area. I did spend some time this past week mucking about with Photoshop, with the resulting set of desktop wallpapers. You may notice that there is a set of clock pictures... I'd been looking through all of my England pictures, and noticed an inordinate number of timepiece shots. I decided to do something with a few of them, and started playing with various effects. It was so much fun that I spent an entire evening out clock-hunting in Leeds.

I'm going to have a busy end of the semester. Not only will I probably be travelling quite a lot in the three weeks that we have off for Easter break, but I have two presentations and an exam in the week after we get back. I also have a long paper and a set of problems due in the first two weeks of May, as well as three exams that I've not heard dates for yet. However, this also means that I may have a couple of weeks free before I head back to the States, so I just might postpone part of my planned travel until then. It would mean more time to write and revise and practice before the assessments, which is always a good thing.

As far as the Spring break travel is concerned, the only thing that's bee fairly planned is the first week and the accompanying weekends. This Friday night I'll be hopping a bus to London, arriving early Saturday morning. I'll spend about 4 days there, and fly to Germany on Tuesday. I'll have so-far-unplanned adventures there, and fly back to London on Saturday. By Monday I'll be back in Leeds for some presentation preparation and hopefully some sleep, since although I can sleep pretty much anywhere, it is nice to be able to lounge around and sleep in late for a day or so after excessive travel.

Other than that, I've found a delicious dried fruit mix at Somerfield's (the grocer in Headingley), that has raisins, sultanas, orange peel, and currants. An interesting mix, but it tastes really good. Also good, especially before bed, is a mug of hot milk with a spoonful of honey and a few sprinkles of chocolate mix. And fish and chips, of course. I love them.

This weekend was my last trip to London for a while, and I'm going to miss it a lot. I've got some really good friends there.

I did have one major mishap though... I missed my bus back to Leeds on Sunday night. I'd come through Kingston station on Saturday, and they didn't have any signs up to let people know that engineering works would be happening later. So about an hour before my bus was scheduled to leave, I came up to the station to find dark windows and locked doors. It was half an hour to walk to the Surbiton station, and though I did try to catch a bus back along the line, the New Malden station was also shut down. So I was standing at a bus stop at 11pm with no idea of what to do.

I finally managed to get through to a friend from church, the Ginger Ninja, and she graciously let me stay in her flat, where I slept on the softest sofa I've ever encountered. I was up early the next morning, and rushed off to the train station. I decided not to even try catching a bus, because there was no way I'd get back in time for my second lecture, which I simply couldn't afford to miss. I got a train back to Leeds just in time to rush off to the bus station and get up to campus for my second lecture.

I've never missed a train or bus before, and I really hope I never do it again.

I thought it'd be interesting for you all to get an idea of my typical week... not that I really have typical weeks, but in a general sense I do have things I do every week. This past week has been fairly typical, so I'll use it as my example.

Picking a day to begin with, I guess I can start with Saturday. The early morning (around 8:00am) is spent in last minute packing, and usually running to the shops for some hot cross buns and/or croissants to stick in my bag for the weekend. I've found it's much cheaper to bring food along than to eat out over the weekend. I'll catch the train around 10:00, though I usually end up sitting round in the rail station for over half an hour because I get so worried I'll miss the train that I invariably arrive way early. The wait isn't too bad, and I really enjoy watching the people who come and go through the station.

About 15 to 20 minutes before the train is scheduled to leave, I'll make my way through the gate to the platforms, getting my ticket stamped on the way through. The Leeds rail station has 17 platforms, and several of them have multiple sections where shorter trains sit head to tail along the same platform. There's a roof over the beginning of the platforms, but they stick out along the tracks, well beyond the covered area. When the train doors slide open, we're allowed to board, and I'll step up into the end of one of the coaches and make my way to my reserved seat. Or, if it's a train that doesn't reserve specific seats, I'll usually pick a spot near the end of the coach, close to a door. My duffel bag is small enough to fit on the overhead luggage shelf.

The train ride to London can take anywhere from 2 1/2 hours to over 4 hours, depending on how many stops we make and how fast the train is going. When I arrive in London, I'll be at either St. Pancras or King's Cross. Both rail stations are a short walk away from each other, and King's Cross has a link to the underground railway system, aka the tube. From here, I'll purchase tickets for the weekend, and they vary in cost depending on how many zones I need too get to. London is split up into different zones, each one progressively further from the centre of the city. The hostel I normally stay at is in the northern part of Zone 3, so this weekend I only got a travelcard for zones 1-3. Sunday, of course, I need one for zones 1-6, since Kingston is further from the city centre than the hostel.

Plans for Saturday afternoon (after checking into the hostel and leaving my luggage there) will vary. This particular weekend I headed back to the underground and went on some lines I'd not been on before, going on a photo shoot of central London. When I first arrived in England, I was confused by the seeming lack of signposts. I couldn't figure out what road I was on or which direction I was heading. Now I realize that you just need to know where to look. There are no uniform green signs at every intersection, but rather metal plaques hung on the corners of buildings at the more important intersections. Painted signs usually mark the corners of residential streets, and in the city centre, many intersections will have a single signpost at one corner, with a dozen or more arrows pointing in different directions, telling you the way to important buildings (such as the town hall or museums) or locations (such as the river walk or the shopping centres). Using these signs and my shiny new London A to Z map book, I can easily find my way round unfamiliar areas.

In the evening, I'll access the net for a short time, if it's available. If not, I'll usually sit on my bunk bed with a notebook to write whatever is on my mind at the moment. Often it's a short recounting of the day's adventures, occasionally it's a rambling about something that I've been pondering. Other times it's a detailed description of something that I saw or heard that day, which I know I'll forget if I don't write it down.

In the morning, my mobile phone alarm go off, and I fumble round, trying to shut it off before it wakes everyone in the room. I can't figure out how to turn it to vibrate only, since it seems to run on a different volume control than the phone function itself. Then I'll get dressed and head off to the underground again, and hope that there aren't any engineering works on the overground rail system. Weekends are often not the best times to be traveling, because the city plans engineering works then so that it doesn't affect the work week as much. This often means that you have to find a replacement bus for a section of line that's closed, which can double your travel time. I have found a link from the National Rail Services web site that tells you if a certain area is under construction, but I don't like to rely on that just in case it's not entirely up to date.

I know my way round Kingston well enough now to find the church on my own. I like getting there a bit early, because the music group is usually practicing the songs we'll be singing, and since I'm not too familiar with a lot of them, I like getting the chance to hear them before it's time to sing. The service starts at 10:30, and every week I come away with something new to think about. After church, there's tea and coffee in the lunch room, and people stand round and visit for an hour or so.

Around 1:00pm, I wander off to open home, where a family from the church cooks a delicious dinner for the university students, and afterward we play games and chat through the afternoon. This weekend we had rice topped with beef and prune sauce (I know it probably doesn't sound that appetizing, but it really was good) and vegetables on the side. There followed a crazy game of volleyball with a balloon in the tiny alcove off the kitchen, sweets handed out by one of the family's two little boys, and the option of chocolate dessert or sticky toffee pudding (or a little of both, as most of us chose). After dessert, the other little boy invited us upstairs to watch Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. By the time that finished, it was almost time for the evening service, which I was able to attend this week because I managed to book a train late enough to allow me enough time to travel from Kingston back to King's Cross.

By the time I get on the train, it's usually pretty late, and I often try to sleep a little, since I have usually finished what reading I brought with on the ride down. This time, I was able to sleep pretty well, curled up across two seats. The train didn't get back to Leeds until after 2:00am, and I had to walk back to my flat, since none of the buses run that late at night, and taxis are really expensive. I live about 10 minutes from the station, so it's not too far anyway.

Monday morning I have to be at campus before 11:00am for my first lecture. It takes a good 45 minutes by bus, so I like giving myself over an hour to get there. My first lecture is Organizational Behavour, a first-year module. The lecture lasts 2 hours, and then I have an hour break before the second lecture, International Business at 2:00pm. This one is a third-year module, and I just realized that we only have two more lectures, and then it's spring break, and presentations after that. By the time I've made it through both lectures, I'm usually pretty beat. I don't get as much sleep as I really need on the weekends, especially if I take late-night trips there and back. I may get groceries on my way back to my flat, since the bus passes both Somerfield's in Headingley and Morrison's in Leeds city centre along the way. But sometimes I just come straight back to my flat and keep busy in my room until it's a decent time for bed.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays I don't have anything planned, and usually don't set the alarm so I can get caught up on lost sleep. I'll usually do a bit of laundry (in the sink, because I refuse to pay $8 for every load down in the laundry room), cook, do some coursework, and maybe run a couple of errands if I need to. Sometime during these two days I also figure out what I want to do the following weekend and book tickets and make other necessary arrangements. Today being a Tuesday, I ended up going over to the bus station to get tickets for this coming weekend, which will probably be my last trip very far from Leeds until April, when I have three weeks of spring break (which I'm still trying to plan... Germany in the first week, and then possibly a few days in France, depending on how things turn out).

Thursday morning is my early morning, since I have lecture at 10:00am. It's also the one morning that I have to pay more for my bus than normal, since peak hours are before 9:30am and I have to be on the bus before then. Also, beginning this week, they've upped the day passes by 20p. I'm not too happy about that, but unless I feel like walking over an hour to get to campus, I don't have any other choice. The lecture this day is Marketing Dynamics, another first-year class. The lecture itself is an hour, beginning at 10:00am. I then have a break until 12:30, when I go back for the tutorial, which is basically hands-on practice of the things we learned in the lecture the previous week.

Friday morning often includes last-minute laundry, since everything has to have time to hang dry. I don't have lecture until 1:00pm... International Financial Management, my other third-year module, has a 2-hour lecture, and then a 1-hour tutorial directly afterward. I'm often in a rush to get to the bank in Headingley before 5:00pm to get a bit of cash before I leave for the weekend. Then it's back to the flat for a bit of packing, and from here the cycle starts over again.

Some weekends I stick around Leeds, either not traveling or going to places nearby. More weekends are spent in London, hanging out with my new friends from church. Each weekend is slightly different, even if I've been to the place before. I always have my camera with me, and I think I differ from the typical tourist in that I'm not so much interested in the famous buildings and such, as I'm interested in the general architecture. You can find so many good pictures of Big Ben and St. Paul's Cathedral and such... I want to find the things that don't get photographed as much. Like a little church on a side street that has a small bell tower and intricately carved stonework. Or a small café with wrought iron furniture. Or a little park along the river, with flowers and bushes and birds. I don't want to just "see the sights", I want to experience the culture and explore the landscape.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is massive, and I only went to a part of it that isn't too far from where I live. About an hour's train and bus ride will get you to Bolton Abbey, part of an old estate that's been open to the public for a long time. They have footpaths all along the river, and various places to see, including the ruins of the old priory.

The day turned out to be rather rainy, off and on. It was barely sprinkling when I arrived, started to rain in earnest while I was wandering the priory ruins, and then stopped once I got on the trails.

This was my first view of the Priory... it hadn't started raining too hard where I was, but you can see the rain beyond the trees in this picture. Other views of the Priory follow, taken various times from various angles depending on where I was at when I had a clear shot of the remains of the old building.

I took some closeups, as well... the next few pictures should give you an idea of the general architecture style.

Noticing a pattern here? I thought so.

A few more shots of the Priory... and then I headed out to the cemetery that's off to one side of the ruins.

After the cemetery, I crossed the river and headed off down a trail that led upstream. I went about a mile to the next bridge, crossed again, and came back to the Priory ruins.

Finally, a flower from a basket left outside the front of the Priory... this part is still used, and somebody was having a wedding while I was there. (I was disappointed because I couldn't go in to get pictures of the interior, but I can always go back another time.) I got quite a few pictures of the bouquets, but this was one of the best.

I finally had to go back down to the bus stop, so I headed off down the road. While waiting for the bus, I stood under a big tree, because it'd begun to rain again, and I hadn't any umbrella. The trip back was uneventful... I'd planned on wandering round Skipton before catching my train, but I was cold and tired, so I decided to just head straight back.

I got a good taste of the countryside, with its sheep and fields and stone walls and hedges... and mud. Lots of mud. My jeans were splattered and smeared up to my knees. It's so beautiful though; green like I've never seen before. I put more pictures in the gallery, all unedited. A few show that brilliant green when I got the exposure just right.

I've wanted to do a food entry for a while, but always found something else to write about instead. So here are my tales of courage in the face of untold dangers... or what Dad would call "scary new food".

My first real English food was, as I mentioned before, fish and chips. I had them on the London marathon, and haven't got round to getting them again. I just never seem to come across a shop when it's time to eat. Since that maiden voyage into the world of seafood, I've had salmon, cod, trout, prawn (shrimp), sole, and scampies. I cooked the trout and cod myself on two separate occasions. (And hey, when you only have a single pan, two forks, three spoons, a mug, and a Swiss army knife, I'd say cooking meals like that are pretty impressive.) I've also been doing a lot of potato/carrot/parsnip/red onion meals, all sliced up and baked on a buttered pan. I've done more cooking since I got here than I've done the entire time I was at college back in the States. It's healthier stuff too, as I've been trying to get away from the fast, easy, not-so-healthy things I've been relying on. It helps to have more time during the day where I'm not constantly running here and there.

Speaking of healthier foods, I must mention that after successfully avoiding fast food altogether since I arrived in England, I did go to MacDonald's on Saturday while on tour of London again, this time with a couple of friends from back home and some people they know here. I was prepared to deal with excess grease, which never sits well with me for some reason, but it really wasn't that bad. People seem a lot more focused on healthy living over here, and I've noticed that I've begun to watch what I eat a bit more and try to pick stuff that's better for me. I'm not sure on the particulars, but I think I heard that you can't advertise fast food that contains over a certain amount of fat in it. In any event, it was a pleasant surprise.

Other than that, I got to go to an Indian restaurant where I tried curry for the first time. I ended up getting lamb curry, because it wasn't overly spicy, but not extremely mild either. It came with a serving of rice, and a side of some vegetable things with a flaky crust. Also, as the appetizer, we had something that looked for all the world like flatbread, but was more brittle and tasted less like potatoes. It came with four different sauces that you could put on top: some really spicy meat sauce, onions and spices (not as hot), mango something-or-other, and one other that I can't remember.

I had hot cross buns the other day, which weren't hot as the name implies, but did have cool light-coloured X's on top, and had currants and raisins in them, and tasted vaguely of lemon and orange peel. They were really good, and I had a bottle of squash as well. Not squash as in butternut squash or acorn squash, but a fruit juice concentrate. I've tried apple/black current and orange/raspberry, and both were really good. After finishing half the bottle the first time, I noticed that it said "dilute to taste", with a recommended one part squash, four parts water. Oops. No wonder it was so good. I still haven't had properly diluted squash, because I like it this way. I think it's similar to my love for plain lemons.

I really like tea, though I haven't tried it with milk yet, the way most of my friends like it. I'd only ever tried instant tea before this, and you don't find much of that here... most of it comes in the little teabags that I've gotten so used to by now. I often have cappuccino or a latte before lecture, especially on Mondays when I'm still tired from a weekend of traveling. And the little coffee shop at the Surbiton rail station has the best cappuccino I've found yet... nice and rich and chocolaty... and I get to add a sugar to it. Just one, of course. *shifty eyes*

Shopping for groceries is very interesting because, with a few exceptions, all the brand names are different. I didn't realize how much I recognized brand names rather than the actual foods until I came here, and had to study each shelf, looking at the labels to figure out what exactly each container held. And woe of woes, I have looked high and low, and no Lowry's salt can I find. And nothing similar either. How shall I make proper mashed potatoes without Lowry's salt?

Other random differences I've noticed include butter in tubs or pads, rather than the half-cup sticks we normally use at home; referring to canned food as "tinned" food; referring to volume in litres rather than quarts or gallons (I got a funny look once when I mentioned eating a whole pint of sorbet... apparently people think of beer, not ice cream, when a pint is mentioned); and, of course, seeing £1.09 or 49p on the price labels instead of dollars and cents.

All this talk of food is making me hungry... I think I'll eat the last minipack of Maltesers. Back home we'd call them milk duds or malted milk balls.

I've never been one for shopping much, but I took a wander round the shops today with another international student from Germany, and it really was fascinating. Of course, I geeked over the buildings while she checked out what the shops had to offer, but it worked out just fine. I realized just how much German I'd forgotten... she'd occasionally get stuck with a word, and I had to really think about what she was trying to say before I'd remember and be able to tell her what the English word was.

The first place we went through was the Victoria Quarter. The first corridor was the most impressive, with lovely architecture and big glass windows along either side, where the shops were lined up.

I'm not sure what was on first floor, but whatever was up there had nice green railings to keep people from tumbling over the edge.

The designs were so intricate... and colourful too.

There were two fountains in the middle of the corridor, and I got some nice shots while Nadine looked at jewelry nearby.

Our next stop was the Leeds City Markets, a whole building full of little booths where people were selling food, flowers, clothing, even washing machines.

The area just inside the entrance had some more wonderful architecture, including these interesting dragons that supported the overhanging balcony. I never did figure out how people got up to first floor.

An interesting clock in the middle of the main building.

The wings further back of the building looked like ordinary warehouses, nothing special to shoot, but I would like to go back sometime and get some shots of the booths themselves. I was very tempted to take a video clip of some guy rattling off a sales pitch for a sale on chicken (last chance, bargain price, the usual), but by the time I actually located him, we were pretty close, and it seemed rude, so I decided not to.

Our last stop was the Leeds Corn Exchange. I have to read up on it, but I think I recall hearing something about it being the place where grain used to be sold. Now it's a huge building with very weird shops round the inside edge, and all empty in the middle, save for some tables and chairs on a slightly lower level. It doesn't seem all that big until you look up at the ceiling. For some reason, it seems positively monstrous from the middle of the floor.

There's a clock at one end with a sheaf of corn on either side of it. One thing that rather surprised me was the fact that the building looked rather round from outside, but it's really more of an oval shape.

More interesting architecture. What can I say... it just fascinates me.

And finally, a plaque I found on the wall, with the original (I think) bylaws on a framed parchment.

In one place, it says 1920, and in another it says 1908, so I'm not sure what the date really was. It's old, anyway.

Next on my list are several things... some of the more modern shops, the transportation system, and more of Kingston and London next time I'm down there.

I sorted through my scribblings, as promised, and combined them into these general impressions of England. Please bear in mind that this is only my first impression of only two cities, so it may or may not be generally applicable to the rest of the country.

From the moment you see the landscape, you realize just how different it is. At home, the fields, roads, and yards are squared and efficient-looking. Here the landscape is all asymmetrical, with curving fences, scattered trees, and tiny homes with Mary Poppins chimneys. Everything is small, and incredibly old-looking. On the flight in, I saw a real windmill, some sort of stone mansion, and a pasture full of sheep. Also, though I was told it’s the tail end of a drought here, everything is so intensely green. Muddy, but still green. It’s weird not being able to sit in the grass because you’d end up with a very wet rear. The sidewalks are always wet in the mornings, even though I don’t think it really rains every night. The weather is infinitely warmer than at home. There have been a couple of mornings where it wasn’t much above freezing, but most days end up around 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Travel is very different too, with trains, buses, and taxis everywhere you look. Underground trains rush into the station at insane speeds, skid to a halt, open the doors for about 15 seconds, then screech off down the rail again. Overground is even more frightening initially, as the train rushing by in the opposite direction causes a loud whoosh and shudder so suddenly that it’s as if they collided. Although they only stop for a short time, it’s not a big deal to miss a train, because they come as often as every 2 minutes, and you rarely wait more than 10 minutes between arrivals. Standing up is a challenge. Seating is limited, especially on the underground trains, and they have poles for you to hang onto. Mostly, though, it’s all about balance and predicting the train’s swaying and the changes in speed. You do get used to it after a while, and I’ve gotten so that I can just stand there without hanging on at all. I’m still not entirely used to the ubiquitous escalators though. There’s just something wrong about moving stairs. Eeeps. I've seen normal, relatively small buses, as well as huge double-deckers and funny-looking, long bendy buses that flex in the middle and have three sets of wheels, two in front of the bendy part, and one behind it.

The clothing style is different here too. Though I’ve seen a few of the familiar torn jeans and ratty shirts, for the most part people dress neater. My long black coat fits in nicely with all the other fitted, button-down coats. Scarves seem to be just for looks, though on the chillier mornings people look like they’re freezing, and bundle up in long coats and slightly warmer-looking scarves. The people themselves don’t look that much different, other than the fact that the big cities like London and Leeds are so multi-cultural. The main difference is the accents… unless people have a strong foreign accent, they all sound so British. I’m beginning to be able to tell different accents apart… London, Cockney, Yorkshire, Scottish, Irish, Welsh. They’re all similar, yet different.

The architecture is overwhelmingly stone and/or brick. Stone pavements (sidewalks), stone walls and fences, brick houses, cobbled streets in some of the shopping areas. Hedges are everywhere, and creeping vines cover many of the stone walls and wrap themselves around the trees, some climbing as much as 40 feet up the trunk and branches. The English way of calling a yard a “garden” really makes sense once you see them. There isn’t any yard to speak of, because they’re so small, and most are full of little bushes and flowers, well-tended and homey. The most unused grass I’ve seen has been in two places: The Acre, a large empty area in front of the James Graham Building at the Headingley campus, and a park down in Kingston, where we played frisbee at open home the first weekend.

So those are my scribblings, combined and rearranged and lengthened. I'm sure I'll have more to say later on, but this is a good description of the things I've noticed so far.

Well, the long-awaited photo gallery is now up and running, and I've put a link to it in the sidebar. It will be updated frequently, and I will probably be splitting it up into smaller albums as it gets more pictures on it, but for now it's all in one single album.

And the long-awaited written update follows. I have too many pages to type up, and much of it is rather irrelevant, so this will be the concise version, to keep from boring you out of your minds.

On the airplane from Fargo to Minneapolis:

Going through security was surprisingly easy. The guy who ran everything through the scanner said I must be an old pro, and seemed surprised when I told him I'd never done it before. He said I faked it really well. I thought it was rather funny. My flight came in at gate 2 rather than gate 1, as it said on the ticket, but I figured it out in time and boarded with everyone else. Coming down the aisle, the handle on my brand new carry-on popped out, and I frantically wedged it back in place, but I think I got it on backward, because now the button on the top doesn't work, so I have to carry it instead of rolling it behind me. Disappointing, but I can deal with it. Taking off didn't bother my ears as much as I expected, but perhaps that was from chewing gum like mad. The flight has been much shorter than I expected, and we are going to be landing in Minneapolis in a few minutes.

In the Minneapolis airport:

I've rather relaxed now that I found the gate I'm supposed to leave from. I came in gate 1, and leave from gate 4, so I have two hours to sit and people-watch. I feel like finding something to eat, but we're getting dinner on the flight, so I think I'll just wait. I really want to be taking pictures of all the people here, but it seems very rude, so I'm not. It's so interesting to watch all the people and see how different they all are.

On the airplane from Minneapolis to Gatwick:

In flight now to London, and seated next to a nice middle-aged English chap named Gavin. He gave me some tips on the flight and jet lag, etc. I'm hearing accents right and left, and it's so fascinating to hear how they're all just a bit different. Each seat has its own little TV screen, and apparently you can pick a movie from a list and watch it whenever you want. I've not tried mine yet, but I might later on if I get sleepy. The lights over Minneapolis were amazing... splendid yellows and whites against a stark black backdrop, and it's one of the times when I wish my camera went to a lower exposure than it does. I tried a few shots, but they all came out blurry. Just got some orange juice and mini pretzels. The pretzels are so tiny! Everything is a bit cramped, but not nearly as bad as the flight from Fargo to Minneapolis. I have a window seat again, which is really nice, even though it'll be dark most of the way.

Later:

Just south of Greenland now, and finished watching Finding Nemo. Rather cheesy kiddy film, but it was funny too, and better than watching some R-rated film or nothing at all. Really, they need to expand their movie list... they had several dozen to choose from, but the only one that seemed even remotely appealing was this one. Just finishing the cookies from dinner (applesauce cookies... never heard of that kind before, but they're really good). Dinner was a below average TV dinner... nasty frozen, overcooked vegetables (I managed to eat them all except the squishy peas), chewy beef, and moderately tasty mashed potatoes. The lettuce salad was good though, and tasted quite fresh. I can see a glow to the north, and I'm not sure if it's some city or the northern lights or what.

Later:

Caught a short nap, and woke up twitching. It's annoying... I just want to stand up, but Gavin's sleeping, and I don't want to wake him. We're nearly south of Iceland now. It's still dark, and I can still see that glow on the horizon. There's a monitor ahead of us, showing maps of where we are (geekery!), speed, distance, and external temperature. The coldest I've noticed so far was -61C. Yikes. That's like the deep freeze in the lab. Wow! I just noticed the Milky Way... it's really low in the sky, not above us like it is at home... I guess that's because we're much further north.

Later:

Less than an hour left. They just served us breakfast, which consists of an egg-and-cheese English muffin thingy, strawberry-banana yogurt, fruit mix, and more orange juice. Overall better than dinner, though it still tastes fast-foody. Airplane windows are not meant for taking pictures, though I think one or two of them will turn out ok.

At the hostel:

I have traveled by train through London and survived. I don't think I'd have made it if it hadn't been for a really nice guy from Missouri, named Greg, who helped me find my luggage and then showed me the way from the airport to the Gatwick express train, and even took me all the way to King's Cross, where I'll be meeting Stee and Katie later on. It was considerably out of his way, but he said he was here a day or two earlier than he needed to be for his business trip, and had plenty of time to spare. I couldn't thank him enough. All along the way he gave me tips on English ways and what to expect. After we went our separate ways I managed to get to Hendon Central, and from there I found the hostel quite easily, as the directions I'd been given were nice and easy to follow. It's a nice little place, though it could do with a bit of fixing up. I'm now sitting in the TV/sitting/kitchen area, waiting until 1:00 when I can check into my room. Then I need to head back to King's Cross to meet Stee and Katie. I really need to move around a bit... I'm so tired, I just want to go to sleep, but I don't dare. My cell phone doesn't work, which means I have no alarm to wake me up if I do fall asleep.

Back at the hostel after the London marathon:

I found my way back to King's Cross easily enough. I'm already starting to get used to the underground, and it's not as hard to find where you're going because they have maps all over the walls telling you which platform goes where and what stations each train goes through. Once at King's Cross, I almost didn't find Platform 9 3/4, because it was off through a doorway that I'd passed by. I recognized Stee right off, and probably would have recognized Katie too, but she had her back to me. We started right off after I got a cappuchino, in an attempt to stay awake. We passed the Thames and Big Ben first, then headed all over London. The Charing Cross branch was closed for engineering work, so we had to detour through Green Park station so many times that I lost count. The lighting was perfect, but it also meant that we were rushing here and there, trying to see as much as we could before dark. We had supper at a fish and chips shop in one of the stations, but jet lag has somehow affected my appetite, and though it was really delicious, I couldn't finish the fish, and only ate a few of the chips. I've been so tired all day too... I seem to be ok when we're moving around, but anytime I stand still or sit down, I can barely keep my eyes open. Gavin said it'd take three days to get over the jet lag... I hope it's not this bad for three days. During the meal, we all dug in our wallets and they showed me what each of the coins were worth. They use more coins than we do, and it's going to take me a while to get so I recognize them all... £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, and 1p. They each have the Queen on the front. I had to be back to the hostel before 10:00 because I hadn't gotten a key card for the outer door of the hostel (the outer door is locked at night, and each of the inner doors has a code you punch in to open them), and I managed to email home once I got back, to let them know I was safe and sound.

Sunday morning at Surbiton station:

I didn't sleep well last night... slept for two hours, then woke up and tossed and turned for ages, then got another couple of hours, and woke up again. I finally gave up around 6:00 and got dressed, emailed home again, and headed out on the tube again. I'm really getting used to it, and it's actually kind of fun now that I know what I'm doing. I'm at the station early, and I have about an hour to wait.

Back at the hostel Sunday night:

Church was really good, and I met quite a few people that I recognized from pictures. Everyone is so friendly... I really like it here. After church, we went to open home. Open home is where someone in the church invites the uni students to their house for lunch and some fun time. Even though I'm still tired and not hungry from jet lag, I really had a good time. There was general chatting all round and a rhyming game, a really delicious lunch with rice and a vegetable topping and broccoli on the side, and some time in the park across the road with a frisbee. After the park, we came back for apple pie and ice cream. Evening service would have been fun to go to as well, but it would have made it difficult to get back to the hostel before it closed up, so I ended up coming back a bit early. I'm going to get a key card tomorrow morning so I don't have to worry about getting back by a certain time.

Monday morning:

I hate jet lag. I went to bed a bit early last night... sometime around 9:30. I actually slept fairly well, but it's now 3:30, and I simply can't sleep any more. The office doesn't open until 9:00, and apparently somebody accidentally left the computers on yesterday morning, because I've been informed that they are usually unplugged during the night, which means that I have absolutely nothing to do for nearly 6 hours. I have my computer on now, in the TV room, and I'm playing some of my music, because I can't get internet on it, and there's not much else to do. None of the movies they have look even remotely interesting, even if I knew how to run the TV. There's a sign on the window that says, "Please do not throw rubbish out of the window." So English! And the bookcase is annoying me... they have an encyclopedia of travel, but no dictionary. I could actually entertain myself with a dictionary. And none of the other books look very good either.

Monday night:

Another day of walking about, though at a rather slower pace than the London marathon on Saturday. I got to Surbiton station a bit after 10:00, and only waited a few minutes before Katie showed up. We waited a bit longer for Stee, and then we started walking around the shops. Everything is so different here, and it's so hard to describe it in words, that I think pictures will have to do the talking for me. I've taken lots, and will be taking many more. For lunch, I had an egg and prawn sandwich. Prawn is their word for shrimp. (And yes, Dad, it was very good, not scary at all.) We also got to feed the geese, swans, coots, and ducks that were swimming in the Thames. The seagulls were very pesky, and the Stee of Doom was very handy in keeping them away. In the evening, I got to meet Stee's flatmates, and we had some computer time, and chatted quite a bit with Rob. Then we ran to get groceries for supper, and came back to Stee's and cooked a really good meal. Fruit smoothies and juice while we waited for the food to cook, and then we had salmon, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. Later, we walked to Katie's place and had hot chocolate, and by then it was late, and I headed back to the hostel.

Tuesday night:

I checked out of the hostel this morning, and made my way to King's Cross, where I caught a train up to Leeds. The countryside is beautiful, rolling hills with a few trees here and there, and hedges along the roads and fields. Once I got to Leeds, I managed to catch the free city bus, but when I got off the bus at the designated stop, I couldn't find my building, and ended up wandering around, dragging 70 pounds of luggage behind me, the smaller suitcase on the larger one, because the handle still wouldn't work. Exhausted and feeling like a little lost child, I finally found a building to go into, and asked directions. A security guard gave me an apple and a chocolate bar, when I told him I hadn't eaten since the day before... I'd missed breakfast and forgot about lunch... and one of the desk workers said she knew where my hall was, and took me about 5 minutes down the road to where I was staying. I can't imagine how I was supposed to find it, as the map I'd been given was all out of proportion, now that I look at it knowing where I am. After checking in, they just pointed me in the direction of the entrance to my block, and it was up to me to find the room. I promptly got lost again, and ran into a really nice girl who helped me find my room, and later came by with her flatmates to give me a bag of food. It's so amazing that I keep running into such nice people everywhere I go. The place may seem like a big busy city, but the people here are so friendly and helpful. I'm having trouble getting my internet activated, and apparently it's because the girl who lived here before me didn't get removed from the system, so I have to wait until tomorrow to get the internet running. I went back to the place where I asked directions, because the security guard had said he'd be there late, and told me to come by if I needed to email home. So I did, and we had a cuppa tea and chatted a bit before I headed back to my flat.

Wednesday night:

I spent the night freezing, curled up under my black coat because I couldn't get the heater to turn on, and I haven't any sheets or blankets for the bed yet. Finally got the internet working today, and solved the heater problem as well. Had a meeting up on the other campus, and ended up walking for an hour to get there because I couldn't figure out what bus I was supposed to get on. At least this time I had a decent map, and got there without any problem. I'm now all set as far as my modules are concerned... got into all the ones I wanted, which is nice, though I do wish I could have gotten Tuesday Thursday Friday instead of Monday Thursday Friday. I found a grocery shop called Morrisson's right along the free city bus route and got groceries and silverware, and a mug, and such. I'm finally feeling a bit settled in, and I think I'll be used to the buses after a few more days. For now, I'm still rather unsure of where they run and such.

Thursday and Friday were spent mostly running back and forth from the Headingly campus, doing various orientation events and whatnot. I'm more familiar with the bus routes now, and can get where I need to be without much trouble. I'm finally settled in here, and I've bought a mobile phone and some bedding, so I don't have to sleep under my black coat any more.

Saturday I used the return train ticket to go back down to London, checked into the hostel, and promptly panicked because my bank card didn't work in the cash machines. I didn't have enough for the key card deposit, but had enough to get me through the weekend and back to Leeds. Went to Rob's birthday party and had lamb curry... it was rather spicy, but not too... very good, and I'd definitely have it again, though perhaps next time I'll try a different kind of curry. Sunday was church again, and since I'd checked out of the hostel, we had to stop by Stee's place on the way to church to drop off my luggage... I didn't want to be hauling it around all day. Church was really good once again... I just love the way everyone is so on fire for God... you can just tell they want to live their lives for Him. Stee finally figured out why my card wouldn't work in the cash machines... we tried it at a grocery store when we bought stuff for lunch, and apparently it's because all of England is on a "chip and PIN" system, which I don't really understand, other than it's an extra security thing on the cards, and mine doesn't have it... I just have to sign for it, rather than entering the PIN. So at least I can buy things with the card, I just can't use the cash points. I'd gotten an overnight bus ticket, so I was able to go to the evening service as well, and then I headed to the Victoria coach station to catch a bus at 11:30. I got back to Leeds around 5:30am, and managed to get quite a bit of sleep on the bus. I was pretty tired on Monday, but managed to stay awake during my two lectures, and got about 11 hours of sleep Monday night. Tuesday was back to campus to try to sort the bank card, and I got groceries again, but didn't really do much else. Wednesday was walking to campus because I hadn't enough cash for a bus ride, and tried to get the bank card sorted. I will be able to get cash directly from the bank if I show my passport, and I tried to set up a bank account, but for some silly red tape reasons, it's not going to work. Annoying, but I can live with it. Today I went back to campus for a bit, but was generally lazy, enjoying a day of not having to do much. I've been on the run for so long now, that it's kind of nice to have a day where I don't have to be anywhere.

That brings me up to tonight, and several hours of condensing notes and uploading pictures, and I'll soon have an update with more pictures of Leeds so you can see the city I'm living in now. It really is a nice place, though having streets that can come from any direction gets me all turned around, and I've been lost more than once. I'll hopefully have a bike soon, which will be faster than taking the buses, as well as cheaper in the long run, as I'm getting a used bike, to sell when I leave. Buses can get very expensive.

Also sometime I will type up my "impressions of England" scribbles... little sketches of things I've observed since I came over here. I think this monster update is long enough though, so I'll do the scribbles later.

Well, I finally have internet, so there will be a monster update in the near future. For now, pictures will have to suffice, as I've got pages upon pages of notes, and I really wish I had a good picture of Dad's face when I started talking to him in my English/American accent. Three days of hanging out with Londoners and my odd tendency to pick up accents of people I'm around have created a rather interesting mix of the two.

So, pictures... they're resized muchly, and the full-size ones will soon be in a Photobucket album that I'll link to when it's up and running.

Here are the three stooges... or at least two Londoners and one very jet-lagged American. Took me three days before I got a decent night's sleep.

Stee, Katie, and me, in front of Buckingham Palace during the London tour on Saturday afternoon and evening. I'd had one hour of sleep on the plane, and had been on my feet ever since we landed. I was tired.

This was taken out the plane window when we landed in Minneapolis. I had a two-hour layover, during which I wrote lots and watched people lots. There wasn't much else to do, really.

Sunrise over Ireland. I tried a few shots of the city lights, but they were too dark and blurry.

Big Ben was our first stop on the London marathon, as we started calling it... we took the tube (underground train system) all over, and ended going through Green Park station a dozen times or so, because the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line was down for repairs. Green Park is now our inside joke. That and a certain third helping of fish and chips that somebody wanted. Fish and chips, by the way, are very good. The fish is rolled in some sort of batter, not too thick, and cooked just right, then served with potatoes cut like really thick french fries, called chips. Chips, by the way, are called crisps here.

The Houses of Parliament. The lighting was so perfect... it was close to sunset, and everything had a glow to it. It also meant it was almost literally a marathon, as we had so many things to see in such a short time before dark. Tower Bridge had to wait until a later date, as it was simply too dark, and I had to be back to the hostel before 10:00pm or I'd have been locked out.

Another shot of Big Ben, from a rather artsy point of view.

A Buckingham Palace guard walking his beat, while two London bobbies (police officers with positively spiffing helmets) strolled around inside the gate.

St. Paul's Cathedral at night. It was well-lit, so the pictures actually turned out decently. It was nearly the last thing we saw on Saturday night.

Fountain in front of some random museum... somebody had a massive projector shining green light designs on the front of the building, so it really did look green, though I might have liked to take credit for a kewl Photoshop job.

Sunday was busy with finding one of the London suburbs where I went to church with my friends. Frisbee in the park, rhyming games in the sitting room, and a home-cooked meal were all part of the afternoon's open home, and I would have stayed for the evening service, but needed to get back because I didn't have a door key for the hostel.

Monday, my last day in London, was spent in the suburb again, going around to shops and such. I also made sure to get a door key, so I'd not have to rush back by a certain time.

Benches along the Thames River. We fed the ducks, geese, swans, and coots, and tried to keep the pesky seagulls away. We discovered that we had a Stee of Doom, because when he swung the plastic bag with bread, all the seagulls would fly away for a bit. We also ended up shouting every time we saw Katie's little green man, which they have over here at intersections and crosswalks instead of the white "walk" signal.

After the river walk, we headed around to different shops. Borders, pictured above, is a charming bookshop, with a coffee house on the first floor. First floor is the one above ground floor. We'd call it second floor. And yes, I walked right through the middle of the fountain, and didn't get wet. Wheee!

Open market in the street. Certain areas are blocked off from traffic, and are strictly walking and biking areas. There are stands like this in many places, and it's quite odd to hear people shouting out what they're selling.

Another example of the architecture. Everything is so old-looking. And not run-down looking, just a lot of history behind it all. Borders had a staircase 300 years old, which I was informed was "older than your country", a running joke amongst us.

Another example of the English buildings. This one, if I recall correctly, was a sort of residence, probably flats (apartments). I liked the bunch of grass in front, because it reminded me of something similar in front of Loftsgard Hall.

One more example of architecture... stone walls. This one's along the Thames, and like so much of the architecture, it's covered in green moss and lichens. I wondered if it was mostly because it's so damp here... it rains a lot, though we have had some beautiful sunny days.

And finally, my cuppa. I had a whole, tiny, bright yellow pot of apple mango tea, and the first cup was really pale pink, and darkened to red the more it sat. It was my first cuppa tea in England, in a little cafe in London, and it was really good.

In the evening, we all cooked supper at Stee's place, then went over to Katie's and had hot chocolate, and by then it was late, and I had to get back to the hostel for a decent night's sleep before I left for Leeds.

I haven't gotten many good pictures of Leeds yet, because I've been running around like crazy, trying to get sorted for the semester. Lectures start next week, and I'll be gone over the weekend, so I have to get everything done this week.

Well, as the title suggests, this has been a week of lasts... last Sunday at church, last day of work, last time to ride in to town with Dad, last time to see friends and relatives, last full day at home. It's very odd having everything in two suitcases, with everything else packed away. I won't even have keys to haul around and worry about losing.

It's also been a week of "very"s... I'm very excited about my adventure, very nervous about traveling, and I'm going to miss my family very much.

Not much else to say at the moment, other than 23 hours until I fly out, and 36 hours until I arrive in England. w00t!

Well, it's getting so close now that I wonder where the time went. I have six days left of work, and everything seems to be winding down. I'm passing the old equine club records to the new treasurer tomorrow night at the club meeting, and we'll be going to the bank to switch the account to her name on Tuesday.

My suitcases are packed, and I have my ISIC card picked up, a reservation at a London hostel for the three days I'm there, and all of my stuff at home fairly organized and packed away. I feel as though there must be something I need to do yet, but I can't think of anything other than last-minute things that I can't start yet.

I was up too late last night backing up the home computer. Over 100GB just in pictures and movies, and it had never been backed up before. I got a lot of cross-stitching done while I waited for it though, so the time wasn't wasted. Today I listened to some of my old soundtracks and choral music. Wonderful stuff, and it's really nice to just sit and listen.