charles dickens' dad...

Charles Dickens' father was a clerk for a naval payroll office. Unfortunately, he was unable to stay out of debt which led to his imprisonment. Due to the Charles' father's bad luck, Charles was forced to work in a blackening factory. Charles educated himself and worked his way up the proverbial ladder and began publishing serial works in newspapers, much to the surprise of his publishers. Much of Dickens' work was inspired by the difficult years of his life and the experiences that he had working and surviving. After much success, Mr. Dickens went on to write novels which were incredibly famous with his contemporaries and still are today.

My dad has been an engineer for decades. After retiring from his own engineering firm, he created his own business, but later got bored and decided to go back to work for an architecture firm and currently enjoys the challenges of his work there. Due to my parents' good parenting and ability to provide me with everything that I could ever need, I have ended up in England, studying for the year. Currently, my dad is on an airplane, flying over to visit me. I am thrilled. We are going to Wales for a brief tour of Snowdonia and the northern coast. Although I may not go onto write great novels, by one o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow I will have seen all of my immediate family members, two cousins, and several friends over the past five and a half months that I have spent in Europe. Despite the lack of good writing on my part, I think I like my life a little better than Charles Dickens' life. Especially because I am done reading Hard Times.

ahhh internet...

Fortunately, after three horrible days without any internet at all, the internet came back to life. I have almost caught up on all of the things that pile up when you are without internet access, but not quite. As far as blogging goes, I think I need to backtrack a bit...

Our flat trip went well... the weather was cold, snowy (actually wet slush-y is a better descriptor) and we trudged through it. Our first stop was to the National Coal Mining Museum. We actually descended 500 feet into the ground to learn all about mining and miners' lives. It was pretty cool. Our tour guide was a true Yorkshireman and we honestly missed at least half of the tour because of his heavy accent. Later that day, we visited the Bronte home in Haworth which is actually a pretty good museum. After tramping through the damp town, we went back to our hostel (which was incredible - it was the home of a mill owner - and was all carved oak...

...bad picture, but you get the idea). It was so cold and damp outside, that we all stayed in for the night and had an excellent dinner and played Scrabble until the wee hours of the morning instead of reading Wuthering Heights...

The next morning we woke up for a good solid full English breakfast and dressed ourselves for a tramp through the moors. Just like Wuthering Heights... how appropriate. Despite our best attempts, after an hour all of our feet were soaked (except Aaron who has gortex hiking boots) and pretty cold. We had a picnic at Top Withens (which according to the Bronte Society's rather rude sign is NOT the inspiration for the building Wuthering Heights in Bronte's novel). The moors are deceiving and the weather is certainly temperamental. Most of the day was spent under cloud cover, but the sun decided to peek out once the moors had revealed a shallow canyon and led us onto a waterfall that was quite beautiful...

...we made it back to the cars, changed out of our soaking socks and headed towards Saltaire. Saltaire was a community built by Sir Titus Salt to accommodate his mill factory workers. The only thing he left out when creating this utopia was hospitals and pubs... it wasn't successful for too long due to the lack of those community staples. The stone buildings are still very much intact and really interesting. The whole town has recently become a World Heritage site... which is pretty impressive. The mill has been turned into galleries for David Hockney's work in addition to shops, restaurants and cafes. A bit of a ride home and we were back from our last group trip - sad.

The next week was good, busy as usual, but good. Valentines day was relatively uneventful (aside from Brandon being ridiculously cute for Mary). Mary and I went downtown and had a good lunch out at Cafe Rouge - good French cuisine that has impressed both my mom and my sister, now I just have to take my dad there to complete the family tradition. A bit of shopping and then back to cook dinner. I actually got pretty domestic and made the traditional Laura Ingalls-Wilder heart cakes. Mom, you should be proud...

...a nice dinner and a night of homework was all we had to show for the day. The next day, I discovered that my nutrition course involved excess amounts of biochemistry (which I have never taken) and after the professor told me I would be able to teach myself BioChem from a lovely book he particularly enjoyed, I decided to drop the course. After a hectic Friday of dropping that module and signing up for another module (Christian Thought in the Modern World... thank you Mary for recommending it!) I was ready for the weekend. Kevin's grandparents came up for the day and Kevin headed down to London with them for the weekend. On Saturday, Emily brought her parents back from London and we hung out with them. It was really fun to see more family from the states. The weekend was filled with homework and, well, that's about it. This week has been busy with classes as usual and flat drama... worse than usual. Hopefully it will all smooth out soon.

Oh, and Kim sent me pictures from Paris (thank you very much). Just so you know, when we were there, we didn't go see any of the typical touristy things... I have been there enough times to get my fill of the Eiffle Tower, L'Arc de Triumphe, et le Moulin Rouge, etc. So, the only pictures we took were of us in random places... I can honestly say that I enjoy the residential Paris much more than the touristy Paris. The small shops, the hidden walkways and pedestrian walkways, the endless ancient churches and the little old men with their shopping carts rolling behind them. It was wonderful... but you've already heard about all of that.

That's about all I have for now. Oh, well I have met a foreign exchange student from Holland (through NUAC) and we have been running together the past few weeks. She is really nice and we train well together. I am excited to have a girl who actually trains! I am currently trying to get all of Charles Dickens' Hard Times read before class on Friday... speaking of Friday, my Dad arrives on Friday!!! I am so excited to see him for the first time since September. We have a few days in Wales (wohoo Conwy, Harlech, Snowdonia, Canaerfon, and Llandudno!! try and pronounce that last one... give up? it is said Kclon-dude-no). So, have a great week and good luck to the NORSE who have the Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at Cornell. Bleed Blue!!

so frustrated right now...

so i just took half an hour away from reading ms. emily bronte to write a great blog and did so.
it was amazing.
i would venture to say epic.
unfortunately the internet is spastic and i just lost it.
gone.
had even saved it, but apparently that didn't work either.
fine.
just know that i am alive and things are fine.
i will update hopefully this weekend.
hugs all around.

a quick note before bed...

The paper is finally done (it really didn't take that long, I just enjoy drawing out the procrastination aspect of writing papers), it pretended to snow some more today, and my lunch is packed for our trip ... we are headed to Haworth and Saltaire for the weekend. We are done with Persuasion and have started on Wuthering Heights just in time to visit the Bronte home... and hike around in freezing cold weather for hours on end. It will be an adventure, that's for sure.

Mom, good luck with your MacBook, I am officially jealous and I'll be around to answer questions when I get back... in the meantime, just ask Kim.

Dad, the Wales plans are going well, and we'll chat again when I get back. Kim, enjoy getting back to work and SEND ME PICTURES FROM PARIS!!! I want them before you delete them or something horrible like that... (I don't want a replay of Paris pictures from four years ago...) Luther friends, stay warm and track buddies, good luck at Carleton this weekend!

That's all for now...

... procrastina..ti..o... you know how it goes

Well, it's official, our paper for Mark and Carol is due in less than 48 hours and there are still several of us that have not started writing. I am proud to say that I have all of my resources and have perused them with some attentiveness and even accomplished some research, but have yet to staple down my thesis. What's new? Anyway, the past few days have been relatively uneventful. Classes are still fine, we have started our new class ("The British Novel") with Mark and Carol and I have completed Jane Austen's Persuasion, it was good, different from anything I have read before, yet intriguing. I can't say that I will soon be tackling many of her other novels, but that is partially because I have almost a novel a week to read, on top of my study for my courses at Uni.

In flat news, Eda and Katie made it back safely from Dublin... spent a night here... and then headed back to Granada. It was nice to have them pass through again. I hope to see them later in the spring in Spain! Kevin has secured a job at a cob shop... if you haven't already read about it in his blog... most of his time will be spent chopping veg and making salads, but it is a job none the less. Good for Kev. Aaron is back into baseball with his team, regardless of how few people show up to practice in the mud each day and he is also busy with trombone things... such as band and orchestra and wind ensemble. Mary and Brandon are busy with classes. Em and Kate are all doing well... a bit overwhelmed by classes, but good. Ryan and Anna are doing fine as well, actually they went on a huge shopping trip today. It is official, Ryan knows how to dress himself and has new jeans, 'slacks', and smart shoes to prove it (along with countless other items of apparel). So, boring, but it is nice to have a bit of a break from the hectic lifestyle of ... well... let's just say we are settling into our own schedules and things are going well. I have been catching up on blogs from around the world, South America, France, Spain, Malta... and all the while trying to keep up with the Norsewomen and Norsemen back in Decorah. The first track meet was successful and I hope to see more great performances from everyone. I have started running more seriously myself and am already excited for the xc and track seasons of the 07/08 year. However, before I get too ahead of myself, I should probably get to this paper... or maybe some additional emails ... or whatever...

a week slipped by...

So, I still don't have pictures from Kim, so I will just wait until I have hers before I put up any from Paris. This week was the first week of second semester classes and it was a little crazy. On Sunday, Mary went to London to pick up her friend Caroline (who was studying for the month of January in Greece and Turkey) at the airport and came back on the same day. Kevin also went to London, except he went with UNott to pick up some study abroad students from the airport and then came back to help them move into their spring accommodations... The flat was once again full and people were excited for classes to start. OK, so excited isn't the right word, we were ready to do something other than stay in the flat. I actually only have classes this semester on Tuesday and Thursday, so on the other days I entertain myself with homework, running and who knows what else. This Monday, we decided to show Caroline a bit of Nottingham and that night we went out to show her the biggest club in town. An early night in (after a long walk back) provided good conversation and fun.

My first day of classes proved to be quite interesting. My Cognitive psych class is much the same, but from there I have to run across campus to get to my other psych course on time... Social Psychology of Exercise and Sport. I was pleasantly surprised to find a room full of people actually my age. It is a third (final) year course for psych majors and it should be really good. Our convener is a young professor who actually wrote the book for the course, because of the lack of good texts in the field. Although it is an upper level course, I feel as though Luther has actually prepared me for it well enough that I should be able to enjoy it... especially because it is PERFECT for my major and minor. With a successful day of classes behind me, I came home just in time to run out the door with Kevin to go to the bus station. Two of our friends from Luther who are studying in Grenada, Spain are travelling during their break and made it up to Nottingham. We met Eda and Katie and came back to the flat for a nice dinner (which Brandon had been making by himself in the kitchen from 1:30 until 7... what a dedicated kid). Mark and Carol were still gone on a weekend trip of their own... so it was very strange to have twelve people sitting at our table, and all of them our age.... no adults, no lecturers, no directors... anyway, it was a fun dinner. That night, Kev and I showed Katie and Eda a bit of Nottingham and we visited the Lion and 'Pitcher and Piano' and had a relatively early night in.

Wednesday I didn't have class as usual, so I went to the city centre with the girls (it is great to have visitors from Luther, but especially female visitors... it was nice having John here, but it is always good to have girls here too). Eda found some boots, she has been looking for ever, and we showed the girls TopShop... after about an hour inside the store, Em and I left to come home and cook while Kev stayed with the girls. After hours of failed attempts at using British charcoal, we convinced Ryan to let us cook the pork in the oven. Even though it wasn't grilled, the pork tenderloin turned out very, very well. Eda and Katie were nice enough to point out that we really do eat like royalty here ... and that we have all turned into gourmet chefs. I'm not sure about the gourmet chef claim, but it is true, we always eat well... we have been lucky to have Mark and Carol buy us good ingredients and encourage good meals. That night, we just stayed in and entertained ourselves...

Thursday, I ventured to the Sutton-Bonnington Campus to take my first Nutrition class. When I got there, the lecture room was filled with first year students... the professor came in and it seemed as though it would be a reasonable course. Five minutes into the lecture, I realized I was in for way more than I bargained for... apparently, I am going to have to remember everything I learned in AP Chem, my one semester of Luther Chem and then teach myself some more... all for INTRO to nutrition... who knew? oh well, it will be a challenge, that's for sure. Katie and Eda headed off to Dublin and will be back on Monday for one last night. I hope it's a good one :)

Friday was nothing too terribly exciting. I went for a looong run in the beautiful weather (it is sunny and warm and perfect... the crocuses are blooming... in the beginning of February... what's going on?) and had tea with Mark and Carol to chat about the trip to Wales I am taking with my dad in a few weeks. Last night, I headed out with Aaron and Emily to see the Moscow State Orchestra. It was an excellent concert, but a little strange. After the scheduled pieces, the applause went on for several minutes. The conductor came back out on stage and they played an encore... how odd. It was enjoyable and we all applauded again. AGAIN they played an encore.... I was beginning to feel a little odd about the whole thing while we were applauding again, when they began to play a THIRD ENCORE. The music was wonderful, but the whole audience was very uneasy... heaven forbid someone break tradition... especially in the music world. It was actually a little amusing. Hurray for easy access to amazing cultural experiences!

Today is another beautiful day, I am waiting for a phone call from my dad and then am off for another perfect run. More later, I'm sure ;)