One wonderful week left

Well, Friday wrapped up well. After welcoming some flatmates back home, we had a good dinner and a few of us went out with Mark and Carol to explore. Our newsagent has been working on a new Hindu temple all year and he invited us to come see it. We walked up the tram line and a bit beyond the Lion to what looked like nineteenth century factory buildings. The old brick buildings had been well maintained on the outside, and little did we know that the insides had been entirely refurbished to look like a Hindu temple. We saw part of a service and then got the grand tour. While not all of the work had been completed yet, it was really cool to learn a bit about the traditions and all of the plans for this temple. Apparently it is the third temple in Notts. I knew this city was diverse, but I had no idea it would be able to support three Hindu temples. Anyway, it was fun to talk to some of the elders (who didn't try to convert us, bc that isn't what Hindu's believe in... what a novel concept!) and to join some of the congregation for traditional snacks.

I realize that this is incredibly chronological, but my creative juices have been spent on papers for IS135 and creatively answering essay questions on Uni exams. Bleh. Saturday was another fast day, but we spent the evening hours attending Brandon's concert at St. Mary's. The performance opened with Copeland's clarinet concerto which was performed by a phenomenal clarinetist. After all of my nine years of playing, which included band camps, workshops, and opportunities to hear many excellent musicians, I can honestly say that this was the most talented clarinet player I have ever heard. She was young, perhaps a bit dramatic in her movements, but amazing. Even better than Dr. Beasley, if I am allowed to say so. I was quite impressed. A full orchestra with loads of talent and the choir made for a solid Chichester Psalms. I will have to admit that I enjoyed it more this time than the Christmas at Luther version. Because we purchased student tickets, our view was obstructed by the pillars... but this was the best picture I could finagle. Oh, and while we are on that subject... the last time we attended a choir concert at St. Mary's we noticed a young man who looked a great deal like our Luther friend Mr. Lucas Reidenbach. This time, I came armed with my camera and documented his presence. So, Luke... here is your British look alike. Just thought I would share (this is for Kev's sake... he would have taken a pic, but as his camera has gone to a better place...). After the concert, I finally went to the Kean's Head (a pub that is directly next to the church and is frequented by the choristers). A pint of mild ale and then we met Kate and Aaron for another drink at one of Kate's favourite places. It was an early night in, but we began the celebration at midnight for Ryan's birthday. The last of the Notters to turn 21 in England (Anna is on Sept 7 when we are back at Luther).

Sunday was an early day for Kev, Mar, Aaron and myself. We headed out at 9:30 (hey, that is early for me!) with Mark and Carol to Southwell. Southwell - don't pronounce it 'south well' because the locals would think you were putting on airs, it should be said 'suthel' or something like that anyway. We traipsed through the rain and went to a lovely service in the church (a grand norman and gothic church - not a cathedral because it is lacking a cathedra...) and even got to witness a baptism. From there, we stopped by the refectory to enjoy some warm food. Who knew it could be so cold in May? Soup and a roll followed by hot puddings. I had bread and butter pudding, and the rest of the group enjoyed treacle pudding or spotted dick. With custard, of course. Afterwards, we made our way to a workhouse that is now owned by the National Trust. It was interesting, but as I did not take advantage of the audio guide (to be fair, Mark didn't either), I am sure I missed out on all sorts of fun historical facts. I decided that since this was an optional trip, I would just as soon not have a dry old voice telling me what each scratch in the wall meant. No, I kid. Not all of the audio guides have been bad, just enough to put me off the idea of audio guides. When we returned home, the flat was freezing. What was there to do, but curl up with tea and watch Lord of the Rings. We finally finished the extended version trilogy and Ryan celebrated his real birthday.

However, as Ryan's birthday fell on a Sunday, we decided we should celebrate on Monday... for whatever reason. It just so happened that Monday was a Bank Holiday, so nothing was different, but that's how we did it. We made our way to the Lion and then on to the Vernon Arms. We had a few pints and enjoyed pub culture at its best. A few pictures of the evening...

Of course there was Guinness, so the pic on the left is of a pint with a shamrock drawn in the top by the spigot. I suppose it wasn't all that impressive to others, but we were impressed by our bar tender's skill and friendliness. Smiles all around and a fun walk back made a pretty good birthday for Ryan in the end. Even though his birthday was on Sunday, we dragged out the celebration even further and Carol made a wonderful cake (piano shaped of course) tonight. I am happy to say that this session of exams has proven to be much more interesting that the one in January. The group has been more involved and has accomplished much more than before. At first I thought it was because of the warm weather, but when it began to rain we just plowed right through. It must be the fact that our time is running out...

Whether we are ready or not, we officially have less than one week left. Actually, in exactly 168 hours, seven of us will be landing in the Minneapolis-St.Paul Airport. Tears will flow as we part our flatmates and more will come as we are greeted by our family. It is a very strange concept after being away for an academic year.

Well, today brought more rain, but it cleared up in time for me to bike to campus for my last psych final. It was not horrible, but it was not my most eloquent bit of writing. Fortunately, I don't have to get a first class mark in this module. Oh, and Mark took Emily and I to mail packages. Let me just say that Royal Mail has made off with my bank account. If any one sees it, please let me know.

Tomorrow will hopefully be sunny. I will go to my last training session with NUAC and will cook my last meal for the flat. After a year of cooking and a year of training, it will be hard knowing that it is the last time.

Don't get me wrong, I am excited to come home and see family and friends, but it will be impossible being away from England. Just a few of the things I will miss include: Kevin always playing good music (in the basement, in the kitchen, the bathroom, the coach... wherever), pub culture, my running mates, sleeping on the top bunk, chatting with my roomies before bed, biking to campus, and the unpredictable weather. The list is pages longer, but those are what I was thinking about today. Good night, sleep tight, see you in less than a week.