Photo recap... {take 3}

So a little more time elapsed...

the weather here has gone from a bit cloudy and warm to today's warm, breezy, sun-filled day. All of the blooming trees were bursting with colour and the occasional gust would make the petals flutter through the air like snow. After an early dinner, a few of my flatmates and I walked to campus in the nice weather to see Brandon's play. It was a well directed and artistically performed piece - it was fun to go see a performance in which there was someone I knew... (it will be fun next year to go see all of the concerts, recitals and other various performances at Luther). We stepped out to walk home and it was raining a bit - we called a cab. Today, I also finally figured out my academic to-do list for the next month or so. To say the least - it is depressing. So, with all of that in mind I am choosing to reminisce about break... here are a few glimpses of the phenomenal last few days of break in Greece with Mary...

This was the sky. It was blue. And completely cloudless. We arrived safely in Greece late one night after flying into our island as the sun was setting... which was nice to see from several thousand feet up in the air... and we fell asleep as soon as we had checked into our little place. We spent the next day getting a feel for the island and exploring the beaches near by. We went grocery shopping so we could eat our meals on one of our two balconies overlooking the Aegean Sea in the distance. The owner of our 'villa' was young, incredibly friendly, and very knowledgeable about the area. We enjoyed talking with her and appreciated her advice.

The second full day we were in Santorini, we took a guided tour of the island and the surrounding area. Our means of transportation was a large wooden sailboat and we went from the port, to the half sunken volcano in the center of the island, climbed the volcano, then to the hot springs (where I jumped off the boat and swam to the hot springs with just one other adventuresome girl), and then to the town on the far side of the island called Oia for the sunset.

This is a view of Oia from our lovely boat...
Once there, Mary and I had a few hours to waste before the sunset, so after wandering through some dangerously cute shops, we decided to do what better way to spend time than eat excellent food with an unbeatable view... We found just the right restaurant and had a long, relaxed, Greek meal. We started with two simple, but incredible appetizers, split a wonderful salad with all kinds of good things on it (feta, olives, pine nuts, REAL tomatoes, etc.), and then we each had a fish dish. Mary devoured her prawns and I enjoyed my sea bass immensely. The view looked something like this:

...the manager was jovial and kind, yet professional, and at the end of our two hour meal, he came out to offer us a complimentary local wine to 'warm you up for the setting of the sun'. Satisfied and happy, we made our way back to the top of the hill, through the friendly stray cats and dogs, to watch the sunset. Watching the sun sink below the sea on the horizon while mountainous islands appeared out of the ocean in the distance was really something - but there were quite a few people around. None the less, the sunset was a great end to a wonderful day.

The next day, Mary and I were well rested, so we decided we needed a more independent way to explore the island. We rented a four-wheeler (because they are safer than scooters and we wouldn't want our parents to worry and all sorts of good reasons). Anyway, we discovered a red lava beach, a light house and countless beautiful views from the cliffs and coast of Santorini. And it was fun to ride and drive the four wheeler... it has been over 7 months since I have driven anything.

In case you can't tell, that it is me. The cliffs at the base of the lighthouse proved to be a great place to relax and a perfect place to watch the sun set. We returned later that night and took countless photos of the sun, the cliffs, the islands, and everything in between.

After much exploration, sunbathing, good food and beautiful sunsets, our five days in Greece were almost up. Mary and I were lucky enough to have a late flight back to Athens on the last day, so we took full advantage of our final day on the island. We ventured to the main city on the other side of the island to do a bit of shopping and get a gyro... somehow we had not eaten one yet, and it was on Mary's to-do list... so we took care of that. We returned to Perissa Beach, ate the last of our fresh produce and groceries for an early dinner, read on our black lava beach for a few hours, packed up and left. And that was that. Although we were only in Santorini for four nights, it was enough for me to fall in love with Greece. The people were the friendliest that I have met in Europe, the weather was beautiful (even in early April), the food was simple, but good and it was overall a wonderful experience. I would love to go back and explore more of the islands, spend time in Athens (I suppose it should be done...) and see some of the rural mainland as well. The list of places to go and things to see in the future just keeps getting longer.

This weekend I am going to start a few research papers and take care of some preliminary revising... I hope. Megan is coming from Nantes to visit Notts (and Kev and I), so we will be busy showing her around. Another late night has snuck up on me, so I'm off to bed. Good night, good luck Norse at Drake and Loras, and happy spring!

Photo recap... {take 2}

The first day there, we stripped off our socks, wore flip flops all day, and walked in the med...

The market was amazing, the spices were fragrant and beautiful...

The views were beautiful in Monaco, even if it wasn't my favorite place...

As soon as we got to Italy, we began the consumption of gelato...

Florence from the Michelangelo's Piazza... I have this thing for sunsets as you will later see...

Our first night in Rome, we stumbled upon an Irish pub showing the Twins game - Aaron insisted we stay and watch and inning. The game began at 1:30 am. We walked home much later and we found the colosseum on accident. it was a nice surprise.

One of the ceilings within the vatican museum - almost every ceiling was better than the last.

This was the BEST gelato that I had during my stay in Italy. I can't remember the name of the flavour, just the wonderfulness that it was. Thanks Primavera, Sorrento!

The rest of the group from Sorrento with their delicious flavours...


Part of the ruins at Pompeii, it was a day full of education, awe, and sun...

The view of Mt. Vesuvius from Sorrento... Naples was visible on clear days too...

As I flew into Nice, the Mediterranean was as blue as could be and the weather was sunny and warm. I found our cosy little apartment without too much trouble and met up with three of my flatmates. Mary and Em were just stopping by for the night, so we went grocery shopping and then cooked a big family meal. It was great to catch up with eachother - it seemed longer than only a week and a half apart. The girls left early the next morning and I spent the next three days with the boys exploring the markets of Nice (amazing produce, spices, olives, you name it!), the parks (with mosaics of Odysseus...)and even a day trip to Monaco. We sunbathed on the rocky beaches, actually carried our dinner to the beach in bowls one night for a picnic, and chucked rocks into the Med for entertainment. It was another place that I have decided that I will return to in the future... that list is growing longer and longer...

From Nice, I took the train with the three boys to Florence. Brando went off to meet up with Mary and Kevin, Aaron and I found our B&B on the edges of the city. We enjoyed taking it easy in Florence, that seemed to be the theme of this break - relaxing, sun, and gelato. The food was great - we had a wonderful meal of true Italian pizza, gelato every day and actually a meal of kebabs was in there somewhere too. We waited for hours to get into the Uffizi galleries and the Academia was a long wait as well, but it was worth it. The art was incredible, but the number of tourists was not appreciated. I suppose it was our own fault going there over Easter holiday. On Easter, the three of us opened our lone easter egg on a bridge while looking at the pontevecchio and thought longingly of our Easter baskets of years past... we soon got over our lack of chocolate when the church service provided fireworks and rocket powered doves. It was quite the experience.

From Florence, we headed to Rome by train. We settled into our B&B there and forged through the crowds. We saw the Pantheon, the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica, and all kinds of other important and famous things (Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Piazza di Popolo, Spanish Steps... etc). The gelato was good again and it was beautiful weather. We cooked a few simple meals in our B&B (fresh pasta of course) and before we knew it we were off to the train station again. We met Kate in the train station and then met Mary and Emily in the Naples train station and headed to Sorrento.

Sorrento is on the southwestern coast of Italy, not far from Naples, on a peninsula. We spent a day in Pompeii... the ruins are incredible and much more extensive than I had ever known or imagined before. It was worth out 11 Euro - with out a doubt. At somepoint, every day, we all made a point of getting gelato - it never got old - and we found time to cook family meals in our great flat. We did go out for dinner one night... there was live piano music, candlelight, and phenomenal food. The beaches of Sorrento weren't all that great, but the nearly intoxicating scent of orange blossoms that was always in the air, plus the fun markets made up for the lack of good beaches. With one day left, Em and Aaron headed out to make their way to Athens and then Istanbul... on the last day in Italy, Mary and I were on a train before 7am to begin our trek to Greece... Kate left later in the day to meander her way to Istanbul as well and Kev left last to spend some time on the sandy beaches of Northeastern Italy.

It is officially way past my bedtime (funny how that happens with internet allowing you to talk with friends at home so easily), so I will just have to finish the last post about break tomorrow...

Just incase you couldn't tell from the pictures on Picasa, I loved Greece... so it may turn into an epic post. Good night, sleep tight, and thanks for all of the love from the States - it is great to hear from you all.

Photo recap... {take 1}

At long last, all of my photos are up on Picasa, so please go watch all 219 of them on the lovely slideshow feature. I am proud to say that I was gone for a full month and I only posted 219 of the 400 some photos I took - which is MUCH better than the 278 out of 700-ish photos from Christmas holiday (it was a full week shorter). Granted I went to eleven cities in eight countries over those three weeks and this time it was only eight cities in five countries this time... and yes, I did just say ONLY... Anyway, it was the perfect vacation in my mind, I can't think of what I would change. To give you a taste of the massive slideshow here are a few good ones...

Galway harbor...

The dramatic Cliffs of Moher - a lovely day trip showed us these

the cute afraid of heights couple peering over a cliff

Guiness factory - fresh pint overlooking the city of Dublin

Trinity College in Dublin...

To recap, Ireland was a good start to the break. It was wonderful to see Molly again and get to see where she is studying, living and learning. Galway was beautiful and relaxed. Mary, Brandon and I gave Mol a chance to write some papers and headed out to see the Cliffs of Moher and some other neat sights around Galway. Mary left from there to see her parents in Paris and then Brandon and I moved onto Dublin (via non traditional transportation... ). Brandon and I saw all of the main sights and avoided the heaviest rains. It was neat to finally see to Ireland. We even got to go on a musical pub crawl to hear traditional Irish music and drink a bit of Guiness and Bulmers (cider... for those of you that have never had English or Irish cider... put it on your to do list). However, after only three days in Dublin, I was ready for something less touristy...

Fortunately, I headed to London for a few days... by MYSELF. While it was not new territory or anything special, I really enjoyed travelling alone. I stayed in a nice place we had stayed in before and spent my time walking along the Thames, having picnic lunches in parks, seeing the monuments I had not yet seen, and reading in random sunny spots.

Well rested and happy with my alone travel, I headed back to the airport to fly to Southern France.

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.