back to notts for the last time...

after a month long adventure across the continent and other random islands (ireland and santorini) five of the nine are back in the flat. tomorrow we await the return of the rest of our flatmates and prepare ourselves for the next six weeks. the planes, trains and automobiles (and boats and hiking) of break are not to be forgotten and i will be sure to document it all once i get the chance to breathe and dabble through my pictures. as for now, i have been up since 5am greece time (3am gmt) and it is nearing eleven o'clock here, so i need a bit of sleep. let me just say this...

as mary and i traveled from santorini to athens last night and then from athens to london and up to notts this morning, there was a common theme in our thoughts. we could not help, but dwell on the fact that this is the last 'homecoming' for us to nottingham. the past seven months have streaked past us. we have missed those at home and missed many happenings of trivial and meaningful nature, but what we realized is that the biggest change has actually occurred in ourselves. although it is hard to pinpoint just what is different, our outlook on life, how we will live the rest of it, and how we interact with people - it has all been forever altered, for the better as far as we can tell. we have seen more of the world in the last year that i ever thought i would get the chance to. i have had the opportunity to look at my home nation from many different perspectives and going back to that culture which seems so far removed, and yet so close in this globalized world, will be an experience in itself. the next six weeks will be challenging academically and emotionally. it seems as thought i am already caught up in the year to come. from housemates and jobs to classes and training for xc - it can be difficult to consciously soak up every last bit of nottingham. i refuse to start an official countdown, but in my head, i keep thinking to myself... only six weeks... two of classes, a few of exams and papers, and then a week to say goodbye to the place that i have called home for a year. i will miss nottingham and the friends i have made here, but perhaps the more devastating part is leaving my eight other flatmates, knowing that i will not see the people that became my friends/family/colleagues for months... separation from those that can understand the experience only as a notter can. i struggle to imagine what this summer will really be like, not being able to share every moment, emotion, and wandering thought with one of eight of my closest people. and that is merely my flatmates. to be separated from a mentor/parental figure once again will certainly be different. mark and carol are our adoptive parents for the year. we have griped about them in regards to classwork and early departures for trips, but in the end, they have been there, guiding us through a challenging year, helping us to make the most of something that we could not grasp as naive 20 year olds coming to england in september. while i cannot stop thinking and obsessing over my return on june fifth, part of the obsession is wondering how we will go off to different cities and states to live our summer lives separately - for me theoretically, this summer will be much the same as last, but how can it be? after a year of travel abroad and a year of change, life in decorah will be welcomed, but yet i know i cannot imagine how small luther's home town will feel once i return. needless to say i am anxious to see family and friends, but undoubtedly apprehensive. perhaps walking up to the flat this afternoon to find all of our trees in full bloom and being welcomed back by three flatmates and mark and carol made all of these thoughts a bit more intense... that and a lack of sleep. either way, those are my musings on life as it stands now. i hope all is well in the states and more is to come about break... and pictures too.

good night, sleep tight, talk to you all soon...

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter from Florence :)

All is well and tomorrow brings Rome and then later onto Sorrento.

Enjoy the weather (where it is warm) and eat lots of chocolate eggs for me.

Hugs and Love.

Ciao!

Southern France and London too I suppose...

After Ireland, seeing Molly was great and Dublin was fun (I got to see the Guiness factory) I headed to London by myself for a few days. The weather was beautiful so I spent a lot of time walking around the city. I saw all of the major tourist attractions that I had not seen yet and even got to hear an evensong service at Westminster, which was beautiful.

I am now in Nice and have been here for the past four days with Aaron, Brandon and Kevin. We have been staying in a really cute apartment close to the beach, going out for coffee and gelato, and eating wonderful food in our flat from the grocery store and the market in Old Nice. We made it to Monaco yesterday for a bit (it was neat to go to such a small country) and this afternoon we laid on the beach to soak up some rays. Tomorrow I am headed to Florence and then on to Rome. This has been a good holiday so far... and I haven't even used my Eurail pass yet! I hope all is well. Keep in touch! Au revoir.

Irish roommates...

The past five days have been an excellent start to this holiday. I arrived safely with Mary on Saturday and Molly met us at the bus station. It was wonderful to see her again and we had a great time catching up into the wee hours of the morning. Brandon arrived very late on Sunday (actually early on Monday) and the next few days just slipped by. We met a surprising number of American students who are studying here in Galway - about 300 through Butler's program - and some really fun Irish students (three of which live with Molly in her flat). It was fun exploring the surrounding area - the rivers, canals, beaches and shops were all quite entertaining. Molly showed us around her University... which they call college here instead... and took us to all of the best restaurants within our price range. We took full advantage of shopping for groceries and made our own lunches and dinners when we could and had plenty of downtime and caught up on some sleep... almost. On Tuesday while Molly was in classes Mary, Brandon and I headed to the Cliffs of Moher which were breathtaking. It was surprising to see such dramatic landscapes in Ireland... I really enjoyed the day out. Last night Molly 'took us out properly' and showed us around some of her favorite clubs and pubs and we met some more of her Irish and American friends who study here. Today we slept in late and Brandon and I are headed to Dublin for the next few days. I hope Molly gets her essays and studying in before her parents arrive in the next week.... It was wonderful to see her and to have some Molly time. There might not be more details on Galway to come, but eventually there will be another post on some adventures of this holiday... maybe from London... or Nice... or Sorrento....

I hope everyone is well - xoxo

Off we go, into the wild, blue, yonder...

Well I am all packed; I have all of the paperwork for flights, hostels, apartments, and class registration for senior year at Luther, my address book, running shoes, not enough clothes to last a month and whatever else I could cram into my hiking pack. I am happy to say that my backpack is not as heavy as it was over Christmas Holiday, but it is still a sizable pack. I am anxious to get out the door, to get the whole break started. This is the last big event of the year... all nine of us are heading out into the world, better traveled, effectively prepared, and perhaps even a bit more mature... once we get back from this month long adventure, we have two weeks of classes, a few weeks of finals and then we are done. That's it. Somehow the past six and a half months have flown by... obviously time flies when you are having fun, but time also flies when you are traveling, studying, being homesick, growing up, and living life. I had no idea that the years really would keep speeding up as I got older - I cannot imagine how quickly my last year at Luther will pass by. However, enough sentimentality, I need to go eat a more substantial breakfast before I head off to the airport to fly to Shannon, Ireland. This morning at 1am Ryan left, Aaron and Emily at 5am and Kevin was gone on Thursday. Today Mary, Kate and I head out and finally Brandon and Anna leave tomorrow. Safe travels to all of my flatmates who I will miss over the next month! I hope everyone is enjoying their spring breaks in the states, whether they are over, yet to come or somewhere in the middle. I will try to keep in touch and update when I get the chance...

Today I fly to Shannon, IRE to meet Molly (my roommate from sophomore year at Luther) and then spend the next couple days in Galway with her (and Mary and Brandon). From Galway I head to Dublin with Brandon for a couple nights and then onto London on my own for a few days. On April 2nd I will fly directly to Nice, France and meet up with Mary, Emily, Kevin, Brandon, and Aaron for some time in Provence...

More later, I'm sure.

Love to you all!

the lion of march...

Well today brought a plethera of precipitation. There was sun with beautifully illuminated white clouds, sleet and horizontal rain, hail, fluffy snow, pellets of snow, and horrific wind accompanied by black skies. However, the best part was that the day could not decide itself, the weather would be fine one minute and blizzarding the next and threatening to bring in a tornado the next. It was actually quite amusing. After a day of Christian Thought lecture and seminar and a lovely stint in the library followed by a good lunch in the Art History building with Mary and Emily, I headed home. Fortunately, the electrician was done working so we had electricity and I did a bit of homework before battling the elements on the way to training. It turned out that I was the only girl to brave the weather, but I got a great run in and headed back home. The bike ride home was so cold that I was forced to put an extra pair of socks over my hands (which already had gloves on them) so that I could hold onto the handlebars. Despite the less than fantastic weather, it was a good day which finished with a great meal (Thanks Mark and Carol) and a relaxing evening. The flat came together to watch, get ready, The Little Mermaid. It has been years since I have seen that movie and it was wonderful. We all basically had the whole thing memorized - the boys even sang along to their favorite songs. After a bit more reading, several emails to admins at Luther about registering for senior classes from a Greek isle, I am headed to bed. Have a wonderful evening and I hope to talk to most of you before spring holiday... good night!

rushing towards spring holiday...

It certainly has been a while since I have written... ten days... I know, but it is getting harder to think of what to write about. Life here is pretty much just normal now and the everyday events that you want to hear about aren't exactly events... they are just life to me. However, I will do my best to recap a few of the goings on of the past week or so in a few words... we took a flat trip (split into two groups) to Eastwood on a weekday to see the home of D.H. Lawrence and to see where the book Sons and Lovers was set. We have been immersed in the book and homework and spring holiday planning... and whatnot. Oh, and at long last, the housing deal at Luther for next year is somewhat resolved. Lisa and Marissa have worked their magic and we were granted off-campus. Hopefully I will know before I leave on break which house they are going to sign the lease for... either way, I am ecstatic that we finally had something go our way.

Yesterday was the Ed Prickett Inter-Uni Relays at UNott and it was my second time racing for NUAC. The weather wasn't too bad, a bit windy, but quite sunny. The only real problem with the course was the monstrous hill in the middle, not that I am complaining, just pointing it out. The teams did pretty well and it was a good day of racing... followed by an excellent evening out. I met one of my teammates in city centre and we met up with some other teammates for dinner at a pub. We moved to a different pub and met up with more NUAC people and some NUAC alumni or 'old boys' as they like to be called. We moved, yet again to a pub called The Irish, rather appropriate for the day, don't you think? I guess it is tradition to end the evening there after the Ed Prickett Relays, so there we were. The scene was a little different from the pubs and clubs that I am used to, which are filled with Uni students, but it was fun none the less. Within an hour of arriving, the place was filled with St. Patty's day celebrators and lively music. I wasn't exactly in the mood to watch the rest of the bar get any drunker than it already was, so I left with some of the underclassmen and we went to a new club that had live music and was filled with less ridiculous Uni students and, thankfully, no 'friendly' old men. We stayed out quite late listening to music, chatting, and dancing and then I caught a taxi home. It was a great evening overall. On a side note, I texted home to let my flatmates know I would be home late, but I guess they missed that text, because I got a call from Mary checking to see where I was. When I left the club, my teammates demanded that I text when I got home. It was great to know that my friends here are just as overprotective as all of my Luther buds.

The weather today was interesting to say the least. There was horizontal rain, snow, sleet, crazy wind, lots of sun, and puffy white clouds... all within a few hours. I have been reading and putting off booking the final touches for my spring holiday and I hope to get a bit more coursework done this evening. I hope everyone at home is healthy (Kaiser... no more pneumonia) and the weather is warm-ish. Enjoy your spring breaks whenever they may be and keep in touch... my mailbox is still open while I am gone for a month over spring holiday, and it would be wonderful to come home to bunches of mail :) hint... hint. Oh yeah, spring holiday, six days and counting and then a month of traveling... a week in Ireland and then three weeks of Mediterranean sun. While on break, I do have some work to do though. I need to revise for my ridiculous exams, prepare for writing essays when I get back, and read a novel for Mark and Carol. I also have to figure out my classes for senior year, pre-register, and find a way to actually register while I am on a Greek Isle. Thanks Study Abroad for being so lenient with us... I am sure there are Internet Cafes open at all times of night in Santorini... oh well, I am sure it will work out somehow. Well, I'm off to read another LONG chapter of S&L by Mr. Lawrence. Enjoy the rest of your weekend...

oxford relays (yes relays, instead of races, just like training instead of practice)

Yesterday I woke up before seven to see the sun shining brightly and the daffodils blooming cheerily, I made my way to campus and met some of my 'NUAC mates' and we piled into a small British car and started driving to Oxford. The trip was uneventful, I got to know my teammates better and enjoyed viewing the countryside. When we arrived in Oxford, we finagled our way into the last parking spot in the Oxford University Sports Centre parking lot and made it to registration on time. The men's team arrived just in time for a short warm up and we all donned our University of Nottingham vests and went to the starting line. The first leg of the cross country relay was off. For the men there were four legs and for the women only three...each competitor ran 6k (3.6 miles) and looped back onto the starting line (the University track) to tag off the next leg of their team. The races went well and it was good to get back into the racing mentality. The 6k loop went through part of the city centre, the new part of campus, and the old part of campus...

... it was incredible to run through somewhere I have heard about and revered for so many years. The only problem was that I was racing so I couldn't quite take in as much of the scenery as I would have liked to, but I suppose I will survive. The loop curved into the park land that is adjacent to the campus and we ran along the river which was quite flooded. Part of the river was so flooded that the raised path was submerged, so we all had to literally run through part of the river. It brought back memories of the Living History Farms race in Urbandale last year... but much less muddy, it was sunny and warm, and I was in England, not Iowa... anyway... So, the day was great. The weather could not have been more perfect, the driving was safe and good, and I got back to Nottingham for a delicious dinner by 6ish. I know I am bragging, but it was such an amazing experience. I am so glad that I decided to come here. Even though I have been here for six months (as Aaron just said, "That's half a YEAR! Wow.") I keep having moments that are simply me realizing that I am in England and I live here. I am not just visiting, but I actually live here. I have an NHS card, I know my way around Nottingham, London, and Paris like none other, I qualify for a different kind of Eurail pass because I have lived here for long enough, and I have had friends and family come visit me several times. I knew this year would be a growing and learning experience, but I had no idea. None. Last year at this time I was probably sitting in Dieseth working on a paper for some Psych class, thinking about my spring break trip to Disney World with Kev, John, Megs, Eds, Linds, Zach, and Lucas. Today the sun was shining and the daffodils were blooming everywhere as I walked to class at UNott Park Campus, I came back to the flat to have dinner with Kev's Mom and Stepdad, after washing up and cleaning the kitchen, I spent the next couple of hours booking flights from Athens to Santorini, finding apartments and hostels along the Mediterranean and dreaming of my upcoming holiday on volcanic beaches. Next year, it will be a rude shock to actually have snow and to be in a town that is a fraction of the size of the University that I am attending this year. Although I am excited to return to the States to see friends and family and for my final year of classes and running for Luther, I will miss England. I will miss the Nottingham, the university, and I will miss most of all the flat and my flatmates. As for now, I am content. I am happy. Classes are hard and running is slowly getting better, but I am content. I have accomplished most things I wanted to this year and plan to keep on traveling and exploring the United Kingdom. What an amazing year. After that long bit of sentimental-ness, I am headed off to book a villa in Santorini and then a few more chapters of 'Howards End' before bed. I heard that the sun began to show its face in the Midwest today... I hope that continues and the snow finally leaves. Have a great night. xoxo

an affair to remember...

This weekend proved to be quite enjoyable. Although I spent most of Friday afternoon doing paperwork, taxes, and other unenjoyable things, the evening brightened up after training at NUAC. I have made a new friend, shocking I know, at training... her name is Ana and she is from Holland. We have both been running together, getting back into shape (or fit as they would say it here) and generally enjoying ourselves. Anyway, a good training and a relaxing bike ride home, and a good long chat with Mom, I went down to the great hall to see the remains of a makeshift bonfire in the courtyard. The flat stayed up, chatted, and just the nine of us had a good evening. Early, but not too early, the next morning, I got up and went to Lincoln with Mary, Emily and Kate... as all of us could not go with the group last weekend for various travel reasons... We took the train there and meandered through the city. It was a cute city early on a Saturday morning. As we walked through the pedestrian streets the bakeries and pastry shops were opening up, the market was in full swing, and the swans lazily perusing the canal. We hiked up the big hill and made our way to the cathedral.

The imposing cathedral was beautiful, as we knew it would be, but even better than a regular floor tour, we managed to get into a roof tour. We were led through all of the tightly spiraling staircases, through the roof, out onto the roof, and into secret passageways and hidden rooms. I am certainly grateful that I am not afraid of heights. (Yes Mom I did think of you and I was careful... just remember, they wouldn't give unsafe tours...)

Our tour guide was windy at times, but the history of the building and city were really interesting. We whiled away the last few minutes of our brief visit to Lincoln eating our packed lunches as we walked through the streets and ended up in a bookshop looking at cookery books. The train ride home brought with it the reading of Barchester Towers, which led to sleep. As usual. I was so tired, apparently, that even though the sun was brightly shinning, I slept through the conductor coming through and checking our tickets. It was a good thing Mary was still awake since Kate, Emily and I ALL slept through that...

We got home to find the boys had been busy all day preparing for our 'Black and White Affair' which we had been planning for some time. It all started with the idea of us surprising Aaron for his birthday dinner and being all classy and what not, but it turned into a flat party (just the nine of us) in which we went all out. We had hors d'oeuvres, champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries, delectable main courses, wine and cheese, and ingredients for fancy cocktails. The music was all classic Jazz and we even got to watch the moon become fully eclipsed. It was a great night of flat bonding...

Sunday was a day of cleaning and attempted studying, fine in the end. Today was full of classes and online business. After many good chats with Mary and a much more successful seminar than two weeks ago, I came home for a few minutes to ... do ... something. Anyway, I lost an hour magically and then was biking to campus for training. There was a large turnout and the run went really well. I ran with Ana and several other girls... surprisingly we all kept together for the most part and then for the last mile four of us took off. It was a great finish to a good run. Another bike ride and I was home for a great dinner. Kev and I cleaned up and now I am off to read for the next couple hours. Mom and Dad, I hope you're feeling better and I love you. Kim, I would call and chat, but I have a bunch to read... I love you too. Have a great night...

sine language...

A few pictures before I unload a long entry...

The first is of Conwy from the flatemates favorite latenight hangout while on our trip there. Although my Dad and I didn't "hang out" there, I walked the city walls with him and showed him our favorite spot...

In Telford (named after the guy who constructed the Ironbridge in the town and later went on to design and construct other impressive bridges throughout England and Wales) we went for a walk after an excellent tea and scones - with clotted cream of course- break. Incase you can't put two and two together... this is my dad (fannypack included - although he did hide it under his jacket...)

And this is just classic. All of the castles we visited were partially in ruins, and therefore not particularly as safe as a walk in the park would be. At the entrance of Canaerfon, or maybe Harlech... not it was Conwy, this sign told all visitors that all of these horrific things (depicted by the cartoons below) could happen to YOU if you did not proceed with caution. Of course, the sign was in Welsh and English, as always. My favorite was the "Please let your eyes adjust to the darkness" ... which is shown by the middle charachter who seems to be suffering severely...

The trip to Wales with my Dad was wonderful. We enjoyed hiking the base of Mt. Snowdon, walking through sand dunes and along the North Sea coast (yes I said hi to Molly across the way) and walking through some great medieval castles. The driving was a bit stressful, but we got along just fine and didn't get lost too many times... I'm just glad my Dad had five years of practice of driving on the left side of the road in Australia... It was a great weekend overall. I really enjoyed spending time with my Dad, exploring Wales a bit more than I had the chance to on our flat trip weekend and getting away from Uni life for a bit. We came back to Notts after a heroing three hour delay only twenty miles away from the city and enjoyed a good meal out. I showed my Dad a few of Nottingham's "must see" spots... if you can call them that, and we turned in for an early night. My next day was full of classes, not all of which I made an appearance in, and then I spent the last few hours with my Dad walking around UNott's campus. After a long weekend, which seemed quite short, I took my Dad to the train station and we said our goodbyes. Dad made it safely back to Manchester and after a quick night there, a long flight, he made it safely back to Freeport.

The slightly upsetting feeling that accompanies any goodbye always gets to me even before the time to say goodbye comes because I have had to see so many people off at that station. That is perhaps one of the only negative associations that I have with something in Nottingham so far, but it is a relatively strong one. I really have been lucky to see all of my family and some of my friends while abroad. It is also strange to realize that now that I have seen my sister (twice), Mom, Dad, a cousin from each side of the family, John, Eda, and soon Molly and Megan, that the year is quickly drawing to a close. With about ninety days left in Europe, which includes almost a month of that traveling, I struggle to comprehend just how the time has elapsed. The group has become, as Kevin pointed out in his blog, closer than we have realized and closer than we ever could have imagined. Aaron turned 21 on Wednesday and we headed out to a pub/bar and instead of the awkward silences that were so incredibly common those first few weeks and even months, we chatted away, laughed hysterically, and realized that of the eight of us that were out (sorry Kate, you were still in France...) on the two couches one was filled with those of us who had turned 21 (and coincidentally within those four are the two couples in the group) and then the rest of us who are still twenty (and not dating one of our flatmates - or anyone as the case may be for three of us... yes, Anna, we will not forget CJ back in the States). If you had asked any of us at the beginning of the year if we could foresee a relationship among the flatmates... any one of us would have burst out laughing, and yet here we are with two budding relationships. It really does strike me as quite odd. It is official, everyone (excluding Anna) has dated someone in the flat at sometime (two couples here, one last year, and one freshman year). Truly, what are the odds of that? But enough on random reflections...

Really, I'm done.

Tonight, after yet another delicious dinner (we are also becoming excellent cooks, bakers, and pretty snobbish about any food that we eat. I quite enjoy it, every night of the week), some of us piled into the car with Mark and Carol to head to yet another opening of Hetain Patel's work. (For those of you that don't remember, he was one of our lecturers for our fall course with Mark and Carol - we have kept in contact and attend his performances and galleries when we can) The showing, entitles 'Sine Language' was preceded by drinks and hors d'oeuvres and small talk. We were all closed into a large gallery and the visual/audio artwork began. It was a fascinating combination of traditional Indian drumming with vocal commands for said drumming which was paired with a beat boxer who was also mimicking the drum sounds with his turntable... it was a great show.

Unfortunately, the room was a bit warm and several people who were getting on in years were also in attendance. Midway through the performance I noticed an elderly couple moving towards the door and then a few people suddenly congregating towards the rear of the room. I rushed back to realize that an elderly man had collapsed. Thanks to my training for lifeguarding (First Aid, CPR, AED, etc.) it turned out that no one else was a doctor or knew what to do, so all of the practices which were ingrained into me during training sprung back to the surface. Someone called the paramedics, I had several people help get the man into recovery position while talking to his wife, and as I was checking vitals he began to breathe normally again. It turned out that he had just overheated and lost consciousness because his knees were locked as he was standing. He was lucid as soon as he came to and was made comfortable and I handed him off to the paramedics who arrived a few minutes later. The gentleman was fine, but was still taken to the nearby Queen's Medical Centre for a routine checkup. I returned to watch the last few moments of the performance and attempted to get my own adrenaline levels back under control. It has been a while since I have had to do anything of that nature and I was rather flustered - it always seems to happen when you are least expecting it.

That seems to be nearly everything I can think of at the moment... so I am off to read another hundred or so pages in Barchester Towers for Mark and Carol's class tomorrow. I hope everyone in the Midwest is surviving the frightening weather. Let me know how you are all doing. Much Love...

oh yeah, and I just added all sorts of pictures to Picasa, so be sure to look at those...

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 ;)

sisters are cool...

I don't have a great deal of time, but I think it is necessary to say that these past few days in Paris with Kim (and Stephen and David and some of David's friends) were some of the best days I have spent in Paris. Instead of doing the traditional touristy-business in Paris, these few days were spent eating wonderful food... in the appt, it was wine, bread, cheese, and litchis... when we went out, David shared his wonderful knowledge of the best hidden places to eat in Paris. I enjoyed the conversation, the cooking, shopping at the cheese shop, the wine shop, the fresh fruit places, and of course the patisseries. The chunnel was fine, nothing too special, only twenty mintues in the tunnel itself, but I was glad to check that off my list of to do's. More to follow and pictures as well.

Paris, pour le cinquième temps

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Paris via the Chunnel! I can't wait to see Kim :) I will be sure to take more pictures of the two of us than the last time I saw her. Have a wonderful week and I will update when I get back from France.

P.S. My Islamic Tradition final went well enough and everyone in the flat is doing well with finals as well. I also got to talk to my dad's mom (Nano) tonight and she is planning to visit in the middle of May with Arthur, Joanie and my cousin Cynthia... how fun!

another week gone...

First of all, if you didn't get the chance to peruse my entry about break, look below this one to see a few pics and read a bit about each city if you want. And of course, all of the other pictures from break are still on my Picasa page (link on the left as usual).

What is there to say? This week has flown by... much like the first four months of this trip have flown by. I was able to organize some things, get second semester classes figured out and started (very briefly) to look over my notes for Islamic Tradition as I have a final on Tuesday. Next semester I will be taking an Introduction to Human and Animal Nutrition, Social Psychology of Exercise and Sport, and the continuation of my Cognitive Psychology course. I am excited for all of the courses as they should be very interesting, but a little scared as well... all three will prove to be very study, reading, work intensive classes.

Second semester doesn't actually start until 29 January because finals are still taking place. Lucky for me, I only have one final exam this semester because my sociology course grade was based entirely upon a final paper and the psych course is year long (we turned in a paper in December and have a cumulative exam in June). After my final on Tuesday night, I am going to come home, pack and head off early the next morning for London, hop onto a train to Paris (I am excited for the Chunnel) and then I will get to see Kim!! I really do feel luck that I get to see so much family while I am over here for the year. I got to see Kim for a day in September while she was in London, my mom for a long weekend in November, two of my cousins over break, Kim in Paris (and I get to meet Stephen - her bf that has already met my parents, my grandparents, and some of my aunts and cousins - this is a big deal and about time I met him), and then my dad is coming in late February. I will also hopefully get to see my cousin when I go to Norway in the spring and my dad's mom hopes to visit in May sometime. I am really lucky!

As for now, I think I will study a bit of Islamic tradition and then have another relaxed night in the flatmates. I hope all is well, whether you are in the US, Chile, New Zealand, France, Spain, Norway, Malta, Ireland... or anywhere else you may be traveling, living or studying abroad. Much love!

let's start at the very beginning...

...a very good place to start.

No matter how hard I try, every time I think of break and Salzburg comes to mind, the music from The Sound of Music becomes ingrained in my brain for a solid three days. Needless to say I am rather bored with the music.

I will attempt to recap a few of the more memorable moments from each city and a few in between. So, here goes nothing...

Dec 13 - Kate and I got all of our things together and were ready to walk out the door when we picked up our packs for the first time fully packed. A sense of dread filled me as I envisioned hauling it all across the Continent. I hurriedly removed several things and slung the not much lighter pack on my back. An easy ride from the Nott'm bus station to Stansted, just outside London, gave us an easy start to the trip. We caught our first Ryan air flight without a hitch and safely arrived in Bratislava a few hours later. After trying to remember the ridiculous conversion rate and taking out money, we decided on a taxi instead of navigating a non existent bus system to our hostel. Our driver spoke about as much English as we did Slovakian, but he was very friendly and took us right to our hostel. We made our way into the hostel and were greeted by a quadrilingual receptionist who gave us all the info we needed about Bratislava. An early night in (after calling and emailing) was relatively uneventful.

Dec 14 - We woke early enough and checked out of our hostel. We began walking around the city, with our packs (we had yet to figure out that luggage storage was our friend) and did a bit of sight seeing. The castle was impressive, even in the mist, but was mysteriously closed... or so we thought until we trekked all the way to the other side and by that time we were too tired to check it out... we stopped by the Christmas market and looked a some interesting food and admired the craftsmanship on all of the goods being sold. After some churches and traversing the old city streets, we hopped on a tram to the train station. A bit of a queue and we caught an hourly train to Vienna... using our Eurail passes even though they aren't technically valid in Slovakia. Thankfully the language barrier played to our advantage. We arrived in Vienna and eventually figured out which station was that we wanted and got off, much refreshed from a nap on the train which was induced by the gently lolling rock of the train. Immediately, the city felt less foreign to me, even though I still didn't understand the language, and somehow I felt safer. Perhaps it was the fact I had heard German before or perhaps because there was no prominent evidence of semi-recent wars. Either way, I was excited for the city. Our hostel proved to be fantastic (it was called the Wombat... and ended up being the best hostel of the whole trip) so Kate and I set out for the night to see what there was to see. After an hour or so of night wandering through Christmas markets and whatnot, we stumbled upon the magnificent Vienna Opera House. We popped in and discovered that the opera Don Carlos was on that evening and we managed to finagle tickets for 3.50 Euro. The inside of the Opera house was exquisite and the performance was beyond worthy of its venue. A walk back through the city to our hostel in the chilly night was interesting as everything had shut down while we were in the performance. Although the streets were a bit darker and the shops were all closed, countless couples and groups still walked through the streets, enjoying the Christmas lights.

Dec 15... who am I kidding... if anyone is still reading I am amazed... I will do this by city now to speed things up a bit. Vienna became one of my new favorite cities. After Don Carlos the next night Kate and I went to see Der Nusscraker aka the Nutcracker which was only 2Euro this time and possibly the best ballet I have ever seen... excluding Barishnikov of course. We visited at least four museums (only two of which were actually worth our time and money) and basically had a great time. Oh yeah, we also visited on of the largest palaces in Europe casually known as Sisi's palace. Another simple train connection to Budapest and we were in Hungary.

After wandering the streets, useless map in hand, we got to our hostel. It was more like a big flat than a hostel... different, but very friendly. Kate and I wandered the city that night for hours. The palaces and cathedrals and parliament buildings along the Danube were beautiful...
... the next day we explore the city more in depth, went back to the famed Gerbaud patisserie and reveled in the goodness of real hot chocolate and fine pastries.

That evening we spent time in the amazing baths. The indoor pools and steam rooms were filled with older people and the water was... cloudy green at best. Needless to say Kate and I spent little time there and were grateful when we discovered the inner courtyard. The pools were immense and elaborate. Fountains, waterfalls, currents and jets in the steamy water shimmered in the steam rising from the pools into the cold night air. Thankfully this water was lightly chlorinated and the company was much younger. We met several nice Americans and Canadians and before we knew it, it had been over two hours and our fingers were rather shriveled. After the baths, we treated ourselves to a nice meal out in a cute French Cafe. Back in our hostel I stayed up late chatting with some Aussies while we watched a movie while Kate slept to ward off illness. Early the next day we caught a train to somewhere, changed again, and made it to Salzburg. Salzburg was great because we met up with Mary and Kevin (and later Emily and Anna who got separated bc of tickets). It was wonderful to have the group somewhat back together. We visited Festung Hohensalzburg, the Christmas market several times (I had the best Austrian butter Crescent cookies of my life there) and had a meal of pretzels (ham and cheese, cheese, chocolate, cinnamon and sugar, you name it, they had it...) It was strange to be back in Salzburg after seven years, but I really enjoyed recognizing all of the old places... the Wolf Hotel... the H&M... the castle... meeting cousin George there... Anyway, it was a good city. Many trains and hours later, Kevin, Mary, Anna, Emily and I arrived in Prague. Again, the Eastern European atmosphere was slightly unnerving (especially when seen from the train track view) but we safely arrived, luckily met Aaron at the train station, and made our way to the hostel. We searched for a restaurant reccommended to us, but never found it. We ended up at this restaurant that served excellent food, the only slightly odd thing about the place was the waitress walking around with black pants, nice shoes, a nice shrug shoulder sweater... and nothing else. Incase you aren't getting my drift, she was pretty exposed... no one paid her any extra attention and everyone acted as if everything was normal...everyone except the six sheltered American students who were incredibly awkward and uncomfortable everytime she walked by our table. We never figured out any reason for her manner of dress as the restaurant seemed to be a respectable place... The next day we explored the city (churches, cathedrals, castles, christmas markets, cool clocks... same old, same old) and celebrated Emily's 21st birthday by going out to a great restaurant in downtown Prague. Thank goodness for the week Czech koruna, everything was expensive by their standards, but pretty affordable for us. An early night in, due to early departures and that was all we had of Prague.

A long train ride into Germany and we were safely in Munich. We decided to spend only one night in Munich so that we wouldn't have to travel on Christmas Eve. We checked into our hostel, walked to the Christmas market for dinner (brats and crepes... yum!) and then headed on to the Haufbrauhaus. We all enjoyed the beer and pretzels there and met some intersting people. Although this was considered the most 'touristy' brew house of them all, we met a group of older men who have been going to that place, once a week, for twenty years. It was neat to talk to some of them, those that spoke English and especially the Bavarian that we (and his doctor friend who was trying to translate) had absolutely no idea what he was saying... we had a fun walk back to the hostel and an early night in. The next morning we left for Geneva.

In Geneva, we spent quite a few happy hours in Starbucks, just chatting, reading, and journaling. On Christmas Eve, Kate and Brandon arrived and we enjoyed all being together. On a long night walk through a beautiful park with cool statues and the old part of town, some of us stumbled upon a church that was having a late service. We attended the eleven o'clock service in the beautiful cathedral and sang carols in French. After midnight we walked back to our hotel and went to sleep, dreaming of the snowy midwest. The next morning we awoke late and had a nice breakfast to send Kate off to meet her mother. We entertained ourselves all day and at night attended an orchestral and choral concert in the same cathedral we attended the night before. After excellent music, we went to a great Italian restaurant and had a relaxed dinner. Good food, excellent wine and friends made for a different, but good Christmas abroad. The day after Christmas, Mary, Kev, Brandon and I headed to Cologne.

Cologne (aka Koln) was an interesting city, but by the time we got there, we were all a bit tired of traveling. We spent two days there and the boys enjoyed the brew houses (sampling the house brew at several establishments) and Mary and I went off for some girl time. We met up with the boys back at the hostel and went out to dinner... at another brew house. Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of soup, so Mary and I ordered something that we had no idea what it was...

...needless to say, we ended up sharing with the boys. That night, night wanderings provided good conversation and bonding. It was a beautiful night and I thoroughly enjoyed it... From Koln, I was to leave a day early to meet my cousin (my dad's nephew) in Paris. The rest of the group decided to come as well, so I had some travel buddies on the incredibly full train ride there. I still had a hotel room to myself for the night, so I waded into the crowd in the metro and sent the other three off to their hotel. I checked into my hotel and took a nap and grabbed some dinner before meeting Mary, Kev and Brandon. It was WONDERFUL to have a hotel room all to myself... that night we walked around the city. It was great to be back in Paris and to be a semi-knowledgeable tour guide. {side note, if anyone is still reading, you are truly amazing, this is the post to end all posts... good job}The next day, we met for breakfast and I headed off to meet my cousin George. We had a good day together: a great lunch out, going up to the Eiffle Tower for George's first time, and later, a phenomenal dance performance at La Theatre de la Champs Elysees. It was good to see George again (he lives and works in Norway and I hadn't seen him in years). The next day was fun with Friends. We walked all over and did the Eiffle Tower again. Somewhere in there, we went to the Louvre which was more crowded than I have ever seen it before and a good dinner of bread, cheese, wine and chocolate in the hotel. Kevin's friend Alex was there and so was Emily's friend Keri. New Year's Eve was fun... we had a dinner of Mona Lisa pizza and Hagen Daz icecream. We stayed in Kev and Alex's hotel room until around ten and then headed down to the Seine. It was a fun night with friends... New Years in Paris... what could be better?... entirely too early the next morning, I got onto a high speed train to Spain. I got safely into Barcelona and checked into my hostel. I had a relaxed evening and waited for Kate to arrive. After sharing stories from the previous week, we went to bed. Barcelona was a beautiful city with amazing weather... blue skies, sun, and balmy breezes. I especially enjoyed visiting the Olympic grounds. It was quite surreal to be there... fifteen years after the even. Anyway, Kate and I enjoyed our time there and headed to Madrid after two nights in Barcelona.

Madrid was also enjoyable. We stayed in a nice hotel right across from the Atocha train station... I later learned that my friend who studied in Madrid for the fall semester stayed near there and his parents actually stayed in that same hotel... small world. While in Madrid, we visited three wonderful museums, had great tapas and met up with Ryan a couple times. On the last night in Madrid, I met up with and went out with my cousin Brent (my mom's nephew who is living in Madrid for the year teaching English), his girlfriend, and his friend from home. It was a really fun night and great to see Brent and Ginger again.

That was it... after three and half weeks, it was time to go back to England. At 4:20 the next morning, Kate and I caught a taxi to the airport and flew directly into Nottingham. A short bus and tram ride later, we were back in the flat. It was silent, Anna and Kevin were still asleep, so we napped a bit. Over the next 48 hours, the rest of our flatmates arrived home, excited to sleep in their own beds. It was a whirlwind tour and a lifechanging experience with countless memories created. I can't wait to do it all over again in the spring.