and a very Happy Christmas to you all...

These past few days have been very close to the stereotypical British end of term time...
Courses finally demanded work to be turned in and I followed British Uni student practice with vigor. I had a paper due on Thursday (50% of my grade) and on Friday (25% of my grade). Needless to say, I procrastinated just enough to get very little sleep the two nights before. On Thursday, I biked to campus in the pouring rain, turned in my paper and biked home to work on homework for Mark and Carol. After a good dinner, we headed out with the Juggins to attend a Panto .

{Pantomime... Apparently, every organization in Britain, from schools and churches to professional acting companies, puts on a pantomime every year around Christmas. Each Panto tells a traditional fairytale with humorous bits inserted... some is slap-stick and the favoured bit is the part called the "dame" which is the middle aged man playing a female's part. The sparkling and gaudy costumes entertain and distract the young children just enough to prevent them from catching on to the political and other inappropriate jokes (which are much appreciated by the adults who are quick enough to catch up on them). For a month surrounding Christmas, large theatres close their doors to the normal performances and have six performances a week of a certain panto...}

We ended up seeing Cinderella and it was quite enjoyable. As the show was designed for children, it was split into three acts, so the intervals provided the opportunity to purchase chocolates, ice cream or drinks... between the little children screaming with delight and the elderly women giggling uncontrollably, it was a great night to watch the people and the show.

On Friday, I biked to campus again to turn in another paper, made it home in time for a nap so I could go back to campus for my last class of the semester for Islam and came home to watch a movie and nap a bit more. Friday night, the flatmates just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. The project of the evening was a competition between Mary & Kevin and Brandon & myself creating a mix of our favorite music. We ended up with a great collection of music and ended up staying up late just chatting.

Saturday proved to be a relatively lazy day, but I did make it down to the city centre to take care of some Christmas shopping. The Christmas market, although the market square is still under construction, is really fun. Vendors selling crafts, jewelry, small gifts, candies and pretzels and other various foods lined the edges of the square. Small children caroled under the towering Christmas tree and despite the lack of snow, I felt quite in the spirit of the Holiday. After finding the perfect gift for the Secret Santa we are having in the flat, I made my way home in the dark (it was 4:30 and pitch black outside). The group headed back into town to see the movie "The Holiday". Despite the star studded cast, it was not all it was cracked up to be. Fortunately, Emily, Kate and myself had discovered the candy selection prior to the movie. Apparently, it is rather common for theatre's to have bins of all types of candy which may be mixed and matched and purchased by weight. After carefully choosing from the selection (which included licorice allsorts, white mice, fizzing boomerangs, and the like), I understood that the idea of Willy Wonka's candy shops and Hogsmeade's Honeydukes is not all that extreme. Post movie, we made our way to a new pub/bar/club that Brandon had heard about. Although there wasn't any live music by the time we got there, we enjoyed a pint before heading home on the last tram. It was a great weekend day in Nottingham, I look forward to more of those in the spring.

Today somehow managed to slip by without me noticing. I talked to everyone in my family, finalized most of my itinerary, skyped with both my Dad and Joel and ... well, I'm not quite sure what else I did. Well, Aaron, Emily, Ryan, Kevin and myself made our way out for dinner... it turns out that it was the first time any of us had actually eaten out in Nottingham on our own. We went out with Mark and Carol when we first got here and I have been out with Kim and Mom, but that is it. Sad, I know. I will work on that. We went to a noodle place just downtown called Wagamama. It was excellent food and gave me a refresher course on how to use chopsticks. Anyway, it is now much too late for my own good, but I suppose I am just too excited about break. I leave in less than 72 hours.

In the event that the next few days are too crazy for my own good, Happy Christmas and have a wonderful New Year. I miss you all and will be thinking of you - no matter where I am.

...I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white...