Norwichristmas!

Today is my last full day in Norwich (HUGE sigh). I'm going downtown in a little bit to finish up my Christmas shopping. My flat is doing a Secret Santa tonight and I still have to get my person a present (no sense in waiting until the last minute, I always say). I'll probably wander a little bit too.

So Norwichristmas is what they call their Christmas festivities (catchy, right?) I have pictures of the lights downtown, but I haven't put them on my computer yet, so I'll just have to add that later. It's pretty crazy though..they start celebrating in early November in earnest. I had my first mince pie yesterday, which was tasty but I think would have been a bit better if I liked raisins. All the buildings on campus have full Christmas trees in them. Even the grocery store! And the library, accomodations, the art building...that one even has fake presents under it. So that is exciting.

I'm heading to London tomorrow morning and spending the night. I'm excited to see the M&M Tour at JFK, but I'm not too excited for the blast of winter that will greet me. See most of you soon!

P.S. Happy St. Lucia Day to all you crazy Scandinavians out there.

Come on City, Come on City

The Canaries won their match, 2-1. Pretty impressive since we're at the bottom of the league and Plymouth was rated 6th. I've never been really into soccer (excuse me: football) but it was actually pretty interesting. The games I watched in high school didn't have as much heading, flipping over people, and sliding. There is a really long Norwich City Football Club song/chant, which people would break out in, but mainly they just yelled, "come on city! come on city!" The kid next to me was probably about 10, and knew all the names of all the players. It was a lot of dad's and their kids. We had good seats in the 4th row (for 5 pounds! Not bad).

English sports fans are nuts in general and take this stuff really seriously. Considering this, they were actually pretty tame, I thought. A lot of insulting the ref took place (are you BLIND, ref?, maybe you should go to spec-savers, ref), but nothing too bad. My flatmates wanted to know if I'd picked up any good Norfolk swearing, but I hadn't. They said the Ipswich/Norwich game would be crazy.

I went for what will probably be my final walk around the UEA broad this morning. Writing about Norwich now makes me sad, because I'm trying to remember everything about it. I'll be pretty busy for the next few days, so I'm not sure how much I'll be posting. I am very excited to see you all, even if I don't want to leave here!

"The Good American"

I was sitting out in the hall with one of my flatmates last week (this is what we do, it's either that or sit in the kitchen) and I forget what we were talking about, but she said, "you are a good kind of American. We could use more Americans like you." Which is pretty nice. My Canadian flatmate and I are both leaving at the end of the semester, and the other flatmates are not happy about this. I was talking to two of them yesterday, and they were trying to figure out how to get us to stay the full year. I said that someone nice would probably take my room, and one of them gave me a dark look. "I doubt it. They'll probably be a confederate or something. And they won't give us popcorn." This last point might be true. When my 'rents and godmothers came to visit, they brought me enough microwave popcorn to last me about a year, so I've been leaving bags in the kitchen for the general flat enjoyment.

So this brings up an interesting idea...what is a "Good American"? Is it because I'm critical of the current administration? And I think gun control is good? I think the general view here is that Americans (read: Southern Americans) all have guns and hate gays and are super-religious and don't care about anything that happens out of the country. And to be fair, there are certainly people like that! But not as many as everyone outside the US seems to think. But anyway, you can rest assured that I'm saving our country's reputation one person at a time. :)

I just had some cornflakes for dinner and now have to bundle up for the Canaries match. The Canaries are the Norwich Football team (their uniforms are bright green with a yellow canary on them). I'm planning on wearing long underwear, I already have on a tank top and sweater, plus a vest, coat, scarf, and this knit hat I got in Scotland that makes me look like I herd yaks. I'll report back on the score.

My Sweet Little City

So in the three days that I've been gone, Norwich has about doubled its amount of Christmas lights and decorations. Edinburgh was amazing, and pretty, and exciting, and tiring, but I'm glad to be back here. I got back to my flat and one of my flatmates had gone and got a bunch of garlands and little Santa's, so our hall and kitchen are decorated. I missed my flatmates. I don't know what I'm going to do in two weeks when I fly out. I'm excited, I can't wait to see my friends and family, and Christmas planning and stuff, but...I'm really not ready to leave. I don't want to do work these next two weeks, I want to visit with people and walk around downtown and get ready to leave. Ahhhh.

Two American friends and I went tonight and saw Fred Claus, which was really goofy but good. I cried quite a few times (DON'T ask me why) and actually one of my friends did too. It was cheering, holiday movies always get to me anyway, especially if they involve little kids who might not be getting presents, things like that. We went to Wagamama after...I don't know if you all have heard of it, but it's a noodle restaurant. I had ramen with this coconut milk/chili/lemongrass soup and chicken, and we all got ginger cheesecake and split a thing of sake. It came to 41 pounds for the three of us! But it was a good "good-bye Norwich" kind of dinner, since I will probably be eating potatoes for the next two weeks, as my budget allows. So I'm glad to be back. And I'm really full and really sleepy, so I'm going to bed.

Scotland = Damp Pants

Hello! I'm in my hostel for the night (there is free internet, sweet). I've had an eventful two days. I got into Edinburgh yesterday at about 8:30, and my friend met my shuttle from the airport. We walked around for awhile, got some falafels (YUM) and then she left to write a paper. I went to the Royal Museum and the National Gallery, and walked up and down the Royal Mile. I went to bed really early last night (I got up at 4, so I was pretty out of it).

I went to St. Andrews today...it's a little over an hour train ride from here. You take a train to the town over, and then take a bus to St. Andrews. It's a beautiful ride; it goes all the way along the coast, so I saw a lot of very blue water and a bunch of sheep. St. Andrews was pretty too, and COLD, but they've got an awesome ruin Cathedral, and a huge cemetary. Even though it was cold, it was really sunny, so that was nice. I walked around the University for awhile too, and saw some people playing golf.

When I got back to Edinburgh, I went to the pub where JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter...it's called The Elephants Head, and it's full of elephant related things. The shortbread I got was shaped like an elephant. I met my friend again and we went and walked around the Christmas market which is by the Ferris wheel/arcade in the center of town. We got crepes and watched people ice skate on the outdoor rink (and when I say "watched", I mean "watched people fall over and mocked them"). It was starting to get really cold, so we went to a pub for awhile, and I just got back here. I think I'm going to knit for awhile and turn in...I think I'm going to the Castle tomorrow, and maybe another museum, but I'm not sure yet.

The only downside...I lost an earring, and (as the post title suggests) my pants have been dragging in puddles since I got here.

I'll let you know when I re-enter Norwich. I hope you all are having a good week!

The Land of Scots

Gin a body meet a body
Comin' thro' the rye
Gin a body kiss a body
Need a body cry?
Ilka lassie has her laddie
Nane, they say, hae I
Yet a' the lads they smile at me
When comin' thro' the rye.

Gin a body meet a body
Comin' frae the town
Gin a body kiss a body
Need a body frown?
Ilka lassie has her laddie
Nane, they say, hae I
Yet a' the lads they smile at me
When comin' thro' the rye.

'Mang the train there is a swain
I dearly lo'e myself
But what his name or whaur his hame
I dinna care to tell
Ilka lassie has her laddie
Nane, they say, hae I
Yet a' the lads they smile at me
When comin' thro' the rye.

I'm off to Edinburgh tomorrow (very early in the morning!) until Saturday. I kind of wish I had planned this for earlier in the term, but I am getting excited. One of my friends is at the University of Edinburgh for the term, so I get to hang out with her which should be fun. I'll try and get online at some point and let you all know what I'm up to.

P.S. I picked this song specifically for it's Catcher in the Rye significance. It turns out all my flatmates love that book too, which makes me really happy with life.

Holkham Hall

Hi all, sorry I've been bad at blogging over the past few days...I had a Country House presentation today (my last one! wheee!), I have an African Art one next week and then 3 papers right at the end, so I'll be pretty busy from here on out.

But talking about Country Houses, my class went to Holkham Hall last week, and it was CRAZY. I've been to biggish houses, like the Vanderbilt Mansion in NY, but this was the biggest "house" I've ever seen. It took 10 minutes of driving through the estate to even get to the house. I think it has something like 25,000 acres, and it used to have it's own railway station, but that has since flooded.

This is the main hall. If you go up the stairs, you can look out the window and see a monument to one of the Earl's that lived there. If you turn around and look out the stateroom window, you can see an obelisk on the exact same axis...they apparently planned this out! The ceiling is pretty dramatic too, we walked in and gaped at it for awhile.

We also got to go in the guest rooms, which the public can't normally see. We couldn't go in the chapel because Keira Knightley was filming a movie there; they use the house a lot for movies (a lot of times they shoot at a bunch of different houses and then stick them all together as one country house). This guest bedroom is the "Red Parrot room" and it has an AMAZING bathroom with probably a six foot long bathtub. One of my friends asked, and it's only 1500 pounds a night (that's 3000ish dollars for you American currency fans), so you can keep that in mind for your next holiday. It's used mostly when they have hunting parties there on the weekends.

The library was also really cool, it reminded me a lot of Beauty and the Beast. It was empty of tables and things because they were filming in there too, so we got to see the secret passage behind one of the bookcases! It was used by servants if they had to get upstairs quickly; you just pull part of the bookcase away from the wall. The house is closed to visitors for the winter, so it was really nice that it was just us so we could see a lot more.

I'm kind of skipping the staterooms and state bedrooms, but this is the main state bedroom...if they had royalty staying, this is where they would stay. That's why there is a crown on top of the bed; the bed is SO tall, too. And lastly, this is the kitchen, I love all the copper pots. The current Earl (he and his family still live in one of the wings) had all the staff members painted and these all hang in the kitchen. So there is a housekeeping painting, and a gardeners painting, etc. I thought that was kind of cool.

We talked about the gardens a bit, but it was too cold to really do much out there. The best part was their man made lake with a lot of ducks, and a herd of deer that hang out on the lawn. We all kind of walked around in shock...looking at these buildings in books is one thing, but they don't seem as massive as they really are. So my new life plan is to marry a lord/earl/duke and manage his art collection. My American friend in the class wants to marry a lord/earl/duke so she can use his stables and horses. It's nice to know we have goals.

Giving Thanks...with Waffles

I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
~Jon Stewart

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!

What a weird day it's been. A friend and I went and got waffles this morning at Norwich's own Waffle House. It was really tasty, they have both savory and dessert waffles. We went with dessert: I got a pecan one (sort of a substitute for Gram's pecan pie). And then we decided to go crazy and get chocolate mousse too. You can get it on a waffle or just in a bowl with Norwich whipped cream, which is what we did. It came with a warning, because it had raw egg in it...it tasted like brownie batter that had been whipped. It was delicious. And incredibly filling; I had about 2 bites left and couldn't finish it. So you will all be happy to know that I stuffed myself in a good Thanksgiving way. I'm still really full.

I walked around downtown for awhile after that. I went to one of the Oxfam shops, did some Christmas shopping, bought myself a black beret which has a little glitter on it, went by the river, and then back up by the Cathedral. I noticed there were a lot of soldiers around taking donations (if you gave money you got a balloon). When I got back to the market there were all these people lining up, so I stayed to see what was going on. There was a big sign on the Newsagents that said "Welcome home, well done". What I found out was that the Anglian Regiment had just gotten back from their tour of duty in Afghanistan and people from all over had come to see them (the people in front of me were from Cambridge). It was really packed and getting really cold, but then they started playing Rule Brittania, and the soldiers all marched down with their guns and swords and everything. And the man behind me yelled, "that's my son!" so everyone started cheering for him. The old woman next to me (why am I always next to old women at these events?) said kind of to herself, "oh my, they are barely more than boys" and I started crying and could not stop. I think it was a combination of things...I cry at most anything, this was my first Thanksgiving without my family, the fact that everyone I know who is not in England was just getting ready to eat dinner with their families, that people who are younger than me go to war and sometimes die, the ones who do come back don't get the right treatment from the government that sent them there, and that the soldiers marching by were supposed to look serious but you could tell they were so happy to be back. And that's a pretty good thing to be thankful about.

Ely

I've been doing work all day (another Country House presentation on Monday, eek!) so I thought I'd take a break and do this. It is also 4:30 and completely dark out--I just checked on weather.com and the sunrise this morning was 7:29 am, and sunset at 3:54. This can be compared to Jtown, where the sunrise was 7:14 and sunset was 4:51...effectively, you people get almost 1 1/2 more hours of daylight a day there. Depressing.

Anyway...this post is about Ely, where I went last Friday. No complaining about weather then, because it was beautiful out, if a bit cold. It started with a typical Anna adventure: I got to the train station late, got my day pass, and knew that the train left at 9:57. I swear to you, when I looked at the monitor I saw one leaving then, as well as a bus. So I ran for the train. Once it was moving and the conductor read off the list of stops I realized it was definitely not the right train. I checked the map in the car, and I was heading toward the coast, not the midlands where I was supposed to be going. Now, two months ago I would have had a minor stroke at this, but it didn't even faze me (of course, two months ago I wouldn't have just hopped on a random train without checking the rail timetable more than once). So I ended up in Reedham, where I had 40 minutes to kill before getting the train BACK to Norwich. I walked around for awhile, and it was one of the smallest towns I've ever seen...it had no sidewalks, and I almost got hit by a lorry whilst walking in the road, but it was really pretty. The picture is from my walk. The conductor probably thought I was a total lunatic.

I went to Ely mainly to see the Cathedral (my parents went there when they were here, and my advisor told me to go there too) and it was worth it. Ely is a fairly small town too (one of my flatmates described it as "really pretty, but a little inbred") and it's got a good riverwalk and a few downtown streets with shops. I followed signs to the Cathedral, and had to go through this little gate and through a green field and then there was this view of it, with the horses in the front. I wanted to move there, really.

I walked around in there for awhile and then went on a tour. All my cathedral tour guides have been old women and hilarious, and this one was no exception. She was excited I was American, because she had just gotten back from "holiday" at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. I had to tell her that I haven't actually been to either place. It's a really interesting building (I won't go into the history too much here) but the coolest part is the octagonal lantern. It was built in the 14th century (the tower that was there collapsed) but the rest of the building is mostly 11th century. The picture doesn't really do it justice; it's pretty elaborately painted, which you can't really tell. They do have one stone that dates from the first building on the site, so that is 7th century. I know that's not very old in the grand scheme of life on earth, but it seems pretty old to me!!

The lady chapel is also interesting; it's the largest dedicated to the Virgin Mary in England. The statue is from there; my dad referred to it as a Touchdown Virgin, but apparently she is "supplicating". You could also see traces of Medieval paint on the walls, and all the people carved on the walls had their heads whacked off during the dissolution of the monarchies. I think that stuff is pretty cool (not defacing art, the history behind it). They also have a lot of side chapels, one completely dedicated to the soldiers in the World Wars from that area (that seems to be coming up a lot, doesn't it?) Since this area of the country is sooo flat, it was used as a major air field; there is a stained glass window commemorating that.

I walked around Ely for a little after that, stopped in a used book store and went down by the river. I got the train back to Norwich with no problem, although this one was much more crowded than my earlier ones. Still, I got a seat, and read some Alice in Wonderland which was nice. That probably deserves an explanation...one of my friends discovered that the UEA library has a HUGE collection of children's books (she currently has Mary Poppins out). I got it because I like children's books (especially British ones!) and also because I can't read The Kite Runner before I go to sleep without having nightmares, but I've realized that I've been having really weird dreams after reading Alice in Wonderland. For example, last night I had a dream that involved my Economics professor from last semester giving me Greek olives, and then I was in a pizza place, but they had cheesecake instead, and I was knitting, and someone who worked there kept trying to steal my knitting and cast off for me, and I woke up in a panic thinking that my knitting had been messed up. Maybe I should just read the "Queen Anne Revival Architecture" book I checked out today, because I'm pretty sure that'll put me right to sleep...

Long tangent aside, Ely was really good, I am going to go find dinner, and for those of you on break, I hope you are having fun!

East Anglian Escapades

This title could actually apply to the next few posts...I've been doing a few fun/exciting things in this area recently. I might go back to London/Paris posts after this (sorry, I'm not very chronological!)

Anyway, this is Cromer and Sheringham. I went there with my parents and godmothers, and two friends and I are going back this Saturday. The return tickets are pretty cheap, and there is a cute tea place in Cromer. Plus, it's the North Sea. When we went it was raining, but that made it feel more English coast-like, if that makes any sense. We also went the day after their flood, and even though it didn't hit them quite as hard, some of the railings were broken and there was a hole smashed in the pier. The sea was also looking really brown; I think from all the stuff it must have dragged up.

We also stopped in the cathedral in Cromer, mostly to dry out. I was looking around in one of the rooms, and they had a plaque for the men of Cromer who died in the World Wars, and then a list of civilians, either from air bombings or from shooting off the sea. It was so strange...we never really have civilian deaths, do we?

And we met this old Welsh man, who told me his "American joke": A nurse was answering phones in an American hospital, and got a call from a woman asking about Minnie Brown in Room 413. The nurse checked her records and said, "Minnie Brown is doing much better, her cholesterol is down, and her blood pressure is back to normal, we can actually release her tomorrow."
"Oh," said the woman on the phone, "that is good news."
"So are you related to Minnie Brown?" asked the nurse. "You seem very concerned for how she is."
"This IS Minnie Brown in 413", said the woman on the phone. "And none of you tell me a damn thing!"
There is some Welsh humor for ya.

So I like Cromer and Sheringham; I bet in the summer they are packed with people going to the seaside on holiday. It's kind of a forbidding view though...it's not friendly water like a lake or even what I've seen of the Atlantic, but I still like it. It makes you think about how much we don't know about the seas and oceans and how we really shouldn't mess with them, because they will always ultimately be more powerful than people. What a good philosophical thought for the day.

The Green Bits of London

Wow, this really is a filthy city!
~Gonzo, The Muppet Christmas Carol

You always hear about London being foggy, but I didn't really think it was. Maybe we just hit it when it was exceptionally clear (it only rained a tiny bit the three days we were there) but the other times I've been it seemed fairly clear too. And there are LOTS of parks. I think it just got voted one of the worlds Greenest Cities, but I could be making that up. I did see a lot of people sweeping the sidewalks and picking up leaves.

Anyway, here are some park pictures for your viewing pleasure. I should have taken some of the parks in Bloomsbury, since that's where we were staying, but I didn't. The two on the bottom are St. James Park. In the right one, you can kind of see two tiny people holding hands.

So we crashed the Remembrance Day Service at Westminster Abbey

As many of you know, my life often has elements of, shall we say, ridiculousness. Sometimes this works out to my advantage, however. We headed to Westminster Abbey early-ish on Thursday morning, and there was a line when we got there, but not too bad. As we're standing in line, I started to realize that 1) everyone looks over the age of 65, and 2) everyone is wearing war medals. We all had on poppies (they have paper poppies sold by I think the British Legion on the street, you give a donation for them and then pin them to your coat, it's a great thing) so we kind of blended in. We had to pass through a metal detector which seemed kind of strange to me, but I didn't really think much about it. When we got through this is what we saw. It was crazy. All the little plots were for different battalions/sections of the Navy, Air Force, Army, etc. They do have different names for them, but I'm not quite sure what they are.

So it was packed with Veterans, and we weren't quite sure what to do. A man came over and told us to "get to our plot, because he would be here soon." Rather cryptic. We just picked a spot that seemed fairly uncrowded. I started talking to the old woman next to me about the different medals people had on. Apparently this one woman had on a larger medal that you were only supposed to wear at night for state dinners, but as it was her husband's medal she must not have known any better. It was crazy to look around and see all the people who had come. They do so much more in honoring their Veterans than we do.


The doors swung open and the clergy came out. They did a few prayers and then the trumpeters played reveille from the roof. All I could see was the bells of the trumpets. It was so cool. And then they read part of a Churchill speech which is now part of the service, and everyone in unison said "we will remember them", and I got shivers. They view the World Wars so much differently then we do. We did have civilian deaths in Hawaii, but for them it was people in so many different cities being bombed. I can't even imagine.

A bunch of camera people started moving out on to the walkway. "It figures," said my new old woman friend, "they let those people out from behind the railings but they don't let the Veterans." And then they announced the Duke of Edinburgh, and there he was. I mean, granted, he's not the coolest member of the royal family you could get. But he does have a military history, and as my godmother pointed out, he does look pretty good for being 86 years old. My old woman was not impressed though. "Is the Queen not here?" she said to Ken the Veteran from Birmingham behind me. "Well, she wasn't here last year, was she?" he replied. "So she wasn't," said my old woman. "Her back's been playing up." So I guess that is that.

Prince Phillip circled all the Veterans and shook hands with people. He was accompanied out with some of the clergy, hopped into his Rolls Royce (is that what they use?) and drove off. What a weird experience. And all these British people were standing outside the gates taking pictures of him, I think if we had arrived just a little bit later we wouldn't have been able to get in. So sometimes being a farce has it's advantages.

Cross Continental Visitors

I went to London last Wednesday and my parents and godmothers came to visit! We all came back to Norwich later on Friday, and my godmothers headed back to the states yesterday. I have a bunch of stuff to write about, so I'll be spreading that out. I think I'm actually going to bed soon...they wore me out!

In other local news, the coast flooded on Friday by Great Yarmouth and Caister-on-Sea, but Norwich is far enough inland that only the river swelled. It was the worst North Sea flood in this area in 50 years. And I just saw on the news that Diss, which is the stop closest to Norwich, has an outbreak of bird flu. Crazy goings on in East Anglia.

Done!

My first British paper is finished, and 200 words over the minimum it is. I have a feeling when I reread it in the morning it might not make much sense, but that's the way it always is when I write late-ish at night. I even started watching clips from "Spice World" to keep myself focused, so that is a sad state of affairs (for those of you who are interested...I think most of the movie is on youtube!)

And I took an hour or so break tonight and went to the Pub Quiz with my flat. Here was my contribution: the question was "what is Michelangelo's first name?" (answer, that is his first name, it was a trick question). Glad to see my education is helping me out. AND, for a bonus round, we had to list all fifty states. I still remembered them in order from this song we had to learn in middle school, so my flatmate was running up with them and another team just beat us, so that was sad. I walked over with an American friend who met up with people in one of her classes and she got 48 down. So well done us.

I'm going to go to bed now, and I'll try and dig up a more exciting post for next time.

Andy Patmore

One of my friends calculated, and today is the exact half-way point between when we arrived in England and when we leave. It sometimes seems like I've been here for 6 months, and sometimes like a week. My concept of time is very messed up at the moment.

So about the title of this post--I am researching a paper and a presentation for Andy Patmore, and I'm procrastinating on here. Andy Patmore is my US Foreign Policy professor, or "tutor". He's a strange man...he has crazy hair, and he always wears the same sweatshirt, and a "Norfolk Pub Run" t-shirt, and he chain smokes, but he is the nicest of my professors. And he genuinely loves American History. Loves it in the way my 7th and 8th grade history teacher Mr. Kresge does. So that he REALLY wants you to know about it. I've learned a ton so far in this class.

However, this doesn't mean that I want to write Andy Patmore's paper. Most of the books that I need (I'm doing the CNN effect on the public and policy, and how president's manipulate the
media for their own gains) have been checked out of the library. I went to his office hours last week and he was on his smoke break, so I ended up talking to him out there. In the rain. And then today, he was in the coffee bar instead of his office, so I found him there. We ended up talking about various things for 20 minutes: my hometown, and how my classes are, and future career ideas (or in this case, serious lack thereof). He was wearing a poppy on his sweatshirt so I asked about that. I started seeing them on a lot of people yesterday, too. It's leading up to their Veteran's day (Nov 11, like ours), and it's for the British who have died in war. Or as he put it, "I'm wearing it for all those who die in war, not just the bloody British."

So I will miss Andy Patmore. He says "crikey", and he points excitedly at you if you are saying something worthwhile. I'm the only American in my class which is a strange feeling, but I think I'm doing well.

All Hallows Eve

Happy Hallowe'en, all! They don't do anything for it here, really, so it's been quiet which is a bit sad. I went to a pub called the Mad Moose last night, and on the bus I saw some Oompa Loompas, and a bloody nun (actually a man dressed as a bloody nun, how does that work?), and a bunch of grapes, and a few more. So that was something. But all the parties seemed to be last night.

And my flatmates told me that kids don't trick or treat anymore, because their parents are worried about them getting abducted. They said they sometimes have parties, but that's it. And they asked me if I've ever done anything "demonic" on Hallowe'en, because they've heard that's what happens in America! It must be Hollywood that does this. I told them that egging people's cars is usually as demonic as people get.

So I'm doing some quality reading, and I have no candy, and that is a little distressing.

Addendum: I just went in the kitchen, and my flatmates had carved a pumpkin (called Orangie) and they had party poppers and a bunch of cheap candy. So that was a good time. And we listened to "Thriller", and then some more quality Michael Jackson tunes.

Nice Night

I just finished playing 2 hours of cards with my flatmates. I went and had a good pub dinner with two American friends, and then we went and saw "The Tempest" at the Maddermarket Theatre. It was good; I kind of knew the plot, but mainly from seeing it in an episode of Wishbone. I kept expecting Ariel to be a dog...

The director made it a mostly female cast--I think there were two men. He said a few of the women had complained about the lack of good female parts in Shakespeare, so he thought he'd give it a try. Prospero was really good. And he set it on an iceberg type Antarctica island instead of a tropical one, so everyone was wearing big fur hats. I got some Norfolk ice cream during intermission: butterscotch and almond.

I turn my clock back tonight (end of British Summer time) but according to my calender you don't do yours until next week. Does that mean it's only a 4 hour time difference now? I'm not really sure.

Holy Cathedrals Batman

I went to three cathedrals while in Paris: Notre Dame, St. Sulpice, and Sacre Coeur. They were all pretty different. Notre Dame was HUGE and tourist packed. For spending almost a day on it in one of my intro classes, I don't really know much about it (as I've mentioned, my architectural retention is BAD) but it was still so cool. You could spend days there. I also had no idea that it was in the middle of the Seine. Except there were too many people. I don't really consider myself a tourist--which is really snobby of me--so I get mad when I go places where a lot of tourists are. I don't like looking at things over the heads of so many people. But it was sweet to see the rose window, and I really liked all the different side chapels. I thought the devotional candles (and there were a lot) were cool.

St. Sulpice was farther along our walk and was smaller and less packed, so that was nice. They were doing some outside reconstruction, but there was a neat dome on the inside, which I always like. The panel carvings are from there; they were right outside the door and all over the porch (would that be the right word for it?)

Sacre Coeur was my favorite. It was also crowded with tourists, and I had my backpack and everything with me since we'd checked out of the hotel by that point. But for some reason it was the most serene, maybe because you couldn't take pictures inside. We got there around noon and the nun's were starting their service. We sat in the visitors gallery and listened to them sing. It was so, so pretty.

I have a strange relationship with religious buildings and religious works of art. They normally don't have much spiritual significance for me. If I look at a painting of Jesus, say, I think about the light on his face, and how his eyes look. The way the cuts on his side are drawn. Where he is on the canvas compared to other people, things like that. It doesn't strike me any more than a painting of a field or a bowl of fruit or a courtesan would. Ditto religious buildings. It would never cross my mind to go on a pilgrimage to one for a spiritual reason. I climbed the San Francisco-like hills of Montmartre to Sacre Coeur because 1) it's in Amelie, and I like Amelie, and 2) because the painting on the altar dome is beautiful. It was so weird to me when I saw people crossing themselves and lighting candles and praying before the altar. The fact that they had traveled to these buildings because of devotion and not in search of flying buttresses and interesting carvings seemed so alien to me. However, in Sacre Coeur when the nuns were singing, I could see why people would travel for that. I would, too. It was so peaceful.

Strike!

To think, I was there for history in the making! I went to the library before class today, and the headline on Friday's "International Herald Tribune" was about the strike. They had a good picture of people crammed into the Metro, which I had to do on Friday. It was pretty scary. I literally had to push the man in front of me in the back multiple times and yell "pardon" in order to get out. Those Metro cars are small anyway, even without a bunch of disgruntled commuters stuffed on them. There were all these police with riot gear down by the tracks as well...it was kind of surreal. I didn't know that Sarkozy and his wife announced their divorce on the same day--I'm thinking he had a rather bad day?

For a Monday after a vacation, today was pretty good. I only had my Foreign Policy seminar, which is my favorite class anyway, so that was good. I got 4 letters/cards which made me sooo happy. And I had guacamole and broccoli for dinner which was pretty delicious. Apparently they don't eat much raw broccoli here; my flatmates all thought it was really strange. No more strange than dipping all your food in mayonnaise...but maybe that's just me.

So this one time I went to Paris and everyone was on Strike

I'm not really sure where to start with this!

Paris was awesome, and exhausting. I walked a crazy amount. I saw a lot of tourist-y things. The weather was sunny and the patisseries were plentiful. Here was the deal with the strike: when we checked into the hotel on Wednesday, the desk man told us that the metro would be shut on Thursday. That was okay, because we were planning on just walking anyway. We went to the Palais Garnier on Thursday night because La Traviata was playing, and if you go an hour early sometimes they have leftover opera tickets. The opera was cancelled because of the strike. The next morning, we tried to take a bus to Versailles. The bus service was cancelled because of the strike, so Versailles was out. We went to the Musee d'Orsay instead, which was really cool. The second floor was closed (you can guess why). We went to the Louvre that night. The top floor was closed; not that it would have really mattered, since it would have taken about 3 days to see everything there anyway.

I do sympathize with the people on strike--I think they were doing it to keep their existing pension benefits. So I hope something comes of it. And in the case of museum workers, well, I might be one of them doing that one day! I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't go to Versailles, but it'll just give me something to plan to do another time. It makes for a good story. And those of you that know me know that my life often has farcical elements to it, so it kind of makes sense that there would be a major transportation strike on the two days that I go somewhere.

The French people were, on the whole, really nice. My French is not great (okay, it's pretty bad) but as long as you tried, they appreciated it. A lot of the time, they'd say what I'd said back to me in French, and make me "repete". I'm okay with listening to it, like in the EuroStar station I could figure out what the people on the loudspeaker were saying. I also know enough to read museum signs, which was helpful.

Getting back to England was interesting as well. We had an hour and a half to get from Waterloo (where the EuroStar arrives) to Liverpool St. where the Norwich train departs. I don't know if we were just tired or what, but we got on the Westbound loop of our tube line instead of the Eastbound. We saw that it looped around, so we just decided to stay on since we had enough time. Big mistake. The tube line stopped about 5 stops before it was supposed to, because of track construction. We had to take about 3 different lines, the final one being severely delayed due to an earlier problem. People were so packed on it, it was actually hard to breathe. A similar thing happened on the Paris Metro, but this was even worse. I'm not claustrophobic or anything, but when I got off I never wanted to go on public transport again. We missed our train back to Norwich by 5 minutes, and had to wait an hour for the next one. I got back here in the early hours this morning.

I'll keep doing posts, because I have a lot of pictures to put up and it's going to take me awhile to process everything! I am used to coming back from a vacation and going home, so it's kind of weird to be back here, since it's almost like I'm on vacation here too.

Bonjour

It's taken me awhile to figure out this keyboard, so I will just say that we made it to Paris with no problems and today are wandering around (we've been to Notre Dame so far). We're planning on Versailles and the Louvre tomorrow. And I ordered my breakfast in French this morning...success.

Au revoir, probably until I reenter England.

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they've seen Pa-ree?

I'm going to Paris tomorrow morning until Saturday, with one of my friends from H & WS. We're taking the train to London and then the EuroStar the rest of the way. Two months ago this would have freaked me out, and now it doesn't seem like a big deal. I'm getting pretty excited!! I do still need to pack though...oops.

I'm going to hunt out an Internet Cafe, so I'll let you all know how things are going. We have an idea of plans, but nothing definite yet.

Oh, and I now have Pink Eye as well, apparently because my karma is disastrous. C'est la vie, or something like that.

Today

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I just talked to her on the phone, which always makes me feel better with life, but homesick, too...it's funny how that works.

And, today is also my half birthday!

For the rest of yous...a very merry unbirthday to you all.

This semester is starting to rival last Fall, when I was in the health center every other day, but no knee injuries so far (knock on wood.) The best part of the past few days was that I went to my first Pub Quiz last night. Some of my flatmates put together a team. It's a very competitive thing here, especially with the guys on my flat. I only went for about an hour (all that standing wore me out). By the time I got there, they had picked a team name: Don't Call me Shirley. The people doing the questions would read out two rounds at once, then you'd have to swap answers with another team and they'd read the answers off. You then had to have them taken up to the people running it and have your totals entered into the computer. It was all pretty complicated, and there were something like 10 rounds, so it took awhile. Each round was a topic like General Knowledge, Name that Phobia, Current Events, Politics, Pop Culture, etc.

Rugby was on while this was going on, so there would be occasionally shouting from people taking the quiz. I don't know anything about Rugby, but at one point someone got tripped (that much I could tell) and nearly everyone got out of their seats and started yelling at the TV's. It was pretty crazy.

I did get three questions that no one else in my flat knew: Who plays Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives? (good thing I watch cheesy TV), What state was Mitt Romney the governor of?, and Which head of state just learned that there might be a possible assassination attempt on his visit to Iran? (Putin, I fortunately checked the BBCNews right before I left). We ended up coming in third, which resulted in a five pound drink voucher and squishy mini rugby balls. Too bad I missed that being handed out!

Well, I am going to go and take about six medicines and try to sleep. Night! (or good afternoon, for most of you).

Wanted: Anna's Immune System Returned

Well, apparently I was more sick than I thought.

I went to Wroxham yesterday, which was a lot of fun. It's a tiny, tiny town about a 15 minutes train ride up from Norwich. We went there for a tour of the broads. We were the only ones on the boat besides a senior citizen bus group--the man giving the tour went on for awhile about how "kiddies need to come to the broads to get away from the telly and their video games", which we thought was pretty funny, seeing as how we were by far the youngest ones on board. I want to live on the broads, as you can see from the pictures. So Wroxham has a little tourist market, but it's for British tourists, not American ones, which was nice.

We had our one large meal a week, and starting walking to the Wroxham barns, which are a bunch of little shops. It turned out they were 1 1/2 miles outside Wroxham; we had to walk through a field lined with hedgerows to get there. By the time we made it, I was feeling decidedly sick to my stomach. I spent the whole time there lying on a park bench. On the plus side, I did get some good people watching in. My friends inquired about a bus back to the village, but no luck. I spent last night and today, so far, in a state of miserable coughing and boredom. Most of my flatmates have been sick too, but not as sick. Their theory is that I'm not used to British Bacteria, so it's hitting me harder. The Romanian girl was sicker than the rest of them too, so there could be something in that.

The thing is, these past few days would have been the perfect opportunity to get a lot of work done, but who wants to do work when they feel sick?? No one. So I've been wasting my time on youtube (last night: School House Rock. My favorite will always be How a Bill becomes a Law; feel free to discuss. Today: the Vicar of Dibley, most of the first season). I also like to read books that don't require much thinking, but I don't have any of them. I did start Crime and Punishment (thanks Melis!) and that's good so far; it's not really light reading, though.

Behind all this is the sneaking suspicion that I am not, and never will be, very capable of taking care of myself. I didn't like getting sick in Geneva, either, but there my mom was in the same time zone and I could just call her. Here, I can't. I don't know if that changes for people who have been away from home for awhile. And I can't register with the Health Service on campus, so I don't even have that option. I bought some Chesty Cough (the name cracks me up everytime I use it) and some Sudafed, so we'll see how that goes. I miss you all like crazy, and I'm especially jealous of those on Fall Break; I hope you are having fun!

Shops, Freshers Flu, and Pity Parties

Today was not much fun, and you lucky people get to hear about it!

I now officially have Freshers Flu (I'm blaming my next door flatmate, but most of them have had it so far). So I'm not sick sick, but I'm still annoyed. I didn't have class today, so I thought I would sleep in. I was wide awake at 7. Fine, I thought, I'll be productive. I couldn't concentrate. I ended up going for a walk for awhile. I came back and before going in the shower, checked my UEA email. I had one from the library saying that I had an overdue book. I completely forgot to return the short loan I had gotten on Monday, which was due on Tuesday. I ran over there. The fine amounted to 7.80. 7 pounds and 80 pence. I almost had a stroke. All I had was a ten, which I needed for groceries. So I still haven't paid it, but they said since I returned the book at least the fine wouldn't get any worse.

I came back to my cement palace and fell asleep for awhile. I staggered out to go to office hours for my Foreign Policy Professor (or Tutor as they're called here). Most profs here have office hours maybe once a week, so it's kind of tricky to track them down. I got there and he had a note on his door--"In The Blend having a coffee, you can come and look for me there." The whole point of office hours is to be in your sodding office. I muttered a few choice phrases and decided to just go shopping and forget about it. I just made it onto the bus as it was leaving (what good luck, thought I) until it turned out that there were no seats on either deck. I ended up gripping a pole and practically standing on top of a nun. We all know that I get bus sick in the best of times, which was currently compounded by the fact that I felt dizzy today every time I stood up.

I decided to get off the bus at the City Centre instead of staying on to my usual grocery store. I found the downtown shop finally and proceeded to shop fast. I was going through some papers from school over the summer, and found two Wegmans receipts. One was for: Nyquil, Ibuprofen, ice pack, and instant Oatmeal. Sounds like a girl with a cold and in knee therapy. The other one was: Ben & Jerry's Phish Food, tampons, and a People magazine...I think we can guess what kind of day I was having. Here was my receipt today: baking potatoes, cheese, cup of soup, juice, plain yogurt, bran flakes. I sound so mature, or so boring. I went to check out, and the woman in front of me no lie had 8 boxes of kleenex, 9 things of biscuits, and 6 cans of beans, amongst other things. She wanted them checked out in two groups, because she wanted to pay for half with cash and half with cheque. She was the cutest old woman, too ("ooohh my dear girl, I am so sorry that I'm holding you up") but I did want to throttle her a little bit.

Things are starting to look up a bit now. I had some soup, and I'm going to make a jacket potato (my new found love). I really like it here. I do. Sometimes though, on days where I feel gross, I want a TV, or movies, and some type of food that I don't have to cook, as well as people who I've known for longer than 3 weeks. I put the picture on here because it makes me happy; I took it in Cambridge. It reminds me of the good stuff about here, and there is plenty. Yesterday I bought a pot, so I can make pasta. I heard "Jump for your Love" (the song Hugh Grant dances to in Love Actually) when I was in the store, and it made me so happy. I got a scone and a mocha yesterday, and read in a cafe. Once I get some cold meds, things will be much improved.

So, ready...let's have a Pity Party, one two three awwwww. You can thank my mother for teaching me that.

Procrastinator Me

It's inching toward 1 am here, and I am maniacally gathering images of Asante art online for my presentation tomorrow. I just forced down my fourth straight cup of tea; this is one of those moments when I miss ol' American gigantic coffees. I could use some.

It's not helping that I keep checking my email, and going on youtube to watch clips of musicals. I've seen "Shall we Dance" from the King and I an unhealthy amount of times in the last few hours. Ditto for "If I were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof. My flatmates are distracting, as usual. I have gone through my Beatles playlist already, and am nearing the end of my Opera one.

I do have good plans for when this is finally done tomorrow. We are celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving tomorrow night, even though it is today. None of us wanted to cook tonight, not even the girl from Vancouver on my flat whose idea it was! I am contributing cranberry sauce. I'm also planning on going with one of my American friends to try another pub tomorrow night.

I had my English Country House presentation today, and it actually wasn't too bad. The other William Smith-er in the class went before me and she did well too. And speaking of William Smith...Take Back the Night is starting soon! Tonight!! If you are on campus you should go!! I couldn't walk it last year (stupid knee) but even if you just go to the vigil after it is sooo worth it, trust me.

There wasn't much point to this post, except that I want to go to bed, and I'd rather be on here than do work. Even if it is pretty interesting.

P.S. Happy Columbus day to all you Yanks, try and avoid finding a smallpox blanket. :)
Here's my only story about Columbus day: when I was in the third grade, every other third grade class got to a have a party, but we couldn't, because Mrs. Rasmussen told us she hadn't taught us about Leif Erickson yet, and seeing as how he was truly before Columbus then we couldn't celebrate. I was so mad. I think now she had a point though.

Update at 1:20 I just realized that I used up all my milk today in hot chocolate (what is with me and hot beverages?) so I can't even have cereal in the morning. Stellar.

Mind the Gap

This is most likely going to be a long post, just a heads up.

Well, I made it to London and back in one piece. I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I managed to navigate two different tube lines AND three different stations, make it to two museums, all which culminated in a minor travel crisis. Let me back up.

I caught the 8:30 train from Norwich, which was rather early considering I didn't have to be in London until noon and the ride takes about 2 hours. I was up pretty late the night before, too--it was my flatmate's birthday, so we had a party for her in our kitchen. I may in fact have moonlighted as a one woman Bon Jovi tribute band (my cousins will be proud to hear) but that's a story for another time. The train got into Liverpool Station and I took the Central Line to Holborn. Those of you who know me well know that I am a) not very graceful, b) tremendously accident prone, and c) directionally challenged, so the subway is usually a danger zone for me. My nervousness was not helped when one of my flatmates informed me that, "the tube has only been bombed once, and the IRA has been really inactive recently". The subway cars here are very small, so I ended up standing each way. I got very close to falling over a few times, but through planting my feet and gripping the pole with both hands I made it. How do people read and stand up on the subway?? It never ceases to amaze me.

I eventually found the British Museum after walking for awhile in the wrong direction. The terracotta army of Chinese soldiers is a special exhibition now (I want to go so, so , so bad!!) so there were masses of people there for that. I found my classmates and the professor with no problem. I mentioned before that he is pompous (if you have watched or read All Creatures Great and Small he is uncannily like Siegfried Farnon), but he is also a big deal at the BM. One of the girls in my class told me that he curated there until retiring a few years ago, and now he lives in London but teaches a few classes at UEA too. I went in the gift shop, and every book on African Art in there was written or edited by him. It was kind of surreal. He showed us around the galleries, which is where the picture above is from. It's by an artist from Ghana named El Anatsui. It is a rendering of Kente cloth (one of the main art forms of the Asante, who I'm doing a presentation on for Tuesday), but he did it in metal instead--you could see where he had cut up Coke cans to use in it. It was really cool, especially when you looked at actual Kente cloth that was also in the gallery. I liked how it was suspended and flow-y; really technical art terminology, I know! We then went down into the reserve collections with one of the archivists. I saw the pressure/moisture controlled room where the Ivories are stored, and also some gold weights and disks (again, Asante), and some brass heads. We had to go through a lot of locked gates to get into the rooms.

After that, I literally jogged through the Egyptian and Greek galleries...I'll have to go back there, because it would probably take about 3 days to see it all. My mission, however, was to make it to the National Gallery, which I did, after another tube ride. This one was easier to find...Trafalgar Square is hard to miss! The view from the museum entrance was pretty crazy; that's where I took the picture. I loved it. I kind of like going to museums alone, because if I have limited time I'm picky about what I want to see, and I feel bad dragging people to things they're not interested in. I've also started trying to get my face really close to paintings, so there is always the chance I'll get yelled at for touching things. Another problem is I always have a strong urge to touch the sculptures; I want to feel how they are carved. Minor digression, but if you do go to a museum with me just realize that you are going with a potential delinquent. The National Gallery is awesome. I took a Painting in Venice class last year, and their collection of Venetian art is crazy. It made me really happy. Total nerd, I know.

I left there right before it closed, and walked up to the Trafalgar Square tube station. It is kind of like Times Square, with a lot of theatres and such on the way. I took the "look left" picture near there, they have them on the street, apparently for tourists. I read that an American in Europe is most likely to die by being hit by a car because they looked the wrong way when crossing the street, so I guess they might have a point.

Here is the scariest thing about the train/tube stations to me: the escalators. They are the longest escalators I have every seen, and steep. Escalators make me nervous anyway...I saw some show when I was little about someone getting their leg caught in one, which I realize never happens, but these escalators were pretty intense nevertheless. I also got asked for directions multiple times, which either means that I look like I could live in London, or I just look as clueless as the people who asked me. I'm going to pretend it's the former.

When I got back to Liverpool Street, there were big signs everywhere, saying that services to Norwich were canceled or severely delayed. There had been a truck carrying an explosive cylinder that had caught fire on the highway next to the tracks in between Manningtree and Colchester (they are in between Norwich and London) and that the tracks there had been closed. It was around 6:15 now, and I was supposed to be on the 7 o'clock train. I asked a Rail Employee what I should do (go to Charing Cross? look for a bus? walk?), who told me that the lines were actually reopening, and that there would be a 6:30 train leaving. I told him I would just wait for the 7 o'clock one, which he said was, "very sensible of you, madam". Except it wasn't because the 7 ended up being cancelled. I managed to get on the 7:30, along with all the people who had missed the 7, so people had to sit and stand in the aisles. We were only delayed about a half an hour so it wasn't too bad.

I picked up a copy of The London Paper, which is free and tabloid-y (headline: Wills and Kate Step out Again), and read it on the train. Here was my horoscope: Aries. Be grateful for the obstacles. Show appreciation for the delays. Both are pointing to avenues you would probably not have pursued. You knew something was not going to happen without a struggle. That would be too easy. What you can expect is the thrill and sheer delight associated with having overcome barriers to a cherished goal.

Hmmm. Appropriate, no?

The Bonnster Monster

This is Bonnie. She died on Tuesday morning, and I found out in an email from my mom last night (their afternoon). She was 11 and had been sick most of the summer. I had been expecting this. It doesn't make it much easier though.

I'm kind of relieved to know, and I'm glad she's not in pain anymore. I'm going to miss her so very much, though. She was a fantastic dog. I preferred her company to a lot of people's, which I think is often the way with pets. It's going to be strange to go home and not have her be there. It seems pretty unreal right now.

I've tried all day to not mope around, but it's hard. I'm sad.

Happy October!

Not too much has happened in the past two days. I had my classes for the week, and today I am going downtown to look for Canaries tickets (the Norwich football team) and do my weekly grocery shopping. Here is something exciting, though--I am going to London on Friday! We're going to the British Museum for my African Art Seminar. The professor used to curate there, so we can go behind the scenes which is pretty cool. The professor is pretty pompous...he's one of the types who assigns his own books as reading, which really bothers me. I keep having to hear stories about all the African leaders he's met, how he showed them around London, how the King of Kuba was "sloshed" the whole time he was with him, etc. I think he just enjoys talking about himself, which I can deal with if it gets me to London! I'm coming back on the 7 train, so I should be able to go to the National Gallery before heading back, yay. This also involves me navigating the tube by myself, which is scary but also makes me feel pretty grown up.

I am giving a lecture next Monday and next Tuesday for my two art classes, the thought of which makes me rather nauseas. I was planning on doing some hefty work for those last night, but I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea at 10:30, and ended up staying in there until 1:30, just talking to my flatmates. So I'm kind of behind now, but it was totally worth it. I had a much better time than reading about architecture would have been.

In other news, I effectively washed my clothes yesterday. The laundrette is waay on the other side of campus, so getting the laundry there is kind of a pain. I have also discovered WNED online (thanks Liz!) and they played "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" a few days ago which made me really happy. And the International Herald Tribune is available in the library, and on Sunday there was an op-ed in it by Garrison Keillor! The excitement never ceases.

Punting on the Cam

I didn't actually go punting, but I did walk along the river, as you can see. Cambridge was really, really pretty. And really, really touristy. There were sooo many people everywhere I went. I took about 2498571324 pictures, and I am still not sure what most of the buildings were. The students were all moving in, so we couldn't go into most of the Colleges, where you normally can. So that was kind of sad, but it was still lots of fun to walk around and people watch.

The train was supposed to go from Norwich to Cambridge, but they had to do rail construction, so we had to transfer to a coach at Brandon (which is about half-way between the two). It took a little longer, but everyone was really helpful about getting you where you had to be. We walked from the train station to the Cambridge Market, which was crazy. There were buskers everywhere, and street bands, which to me was cooler than the buildings. It had a really carnival feel about it. There was a big open air market, too. We headed down to the river, where the punters are there to lure tourists. This one guy ended up talking to us forever about why we should ride in his punt. We declined. Then, it was my brilliant idea to go back by the river later in the afternoon--I wanted to see the fake Bridge of Sighs--and there was our friend the punter again! He followed us for awhile, pleading with us to go in his punt. It was very strange. It was easy enough to walk, and it was free!

AND I had my first fish and chips. Quite tasty, especially with a half-pint of lager. I was going to put a picture of it up, until I realized that I've been writing about food a lot. It was hard for me to decide what pictures to do, since I saw so much. The College pictured is Kings College. I really, really wanted to go in, but no luck...only if you had proof you were a student there. Still, the view from outside was pretty breathtaking. Sometimes, I feel like I'm still in America--I think because I am starting to get used to Norwich and campus. I didn't feel like that yesterday. It was so very different than anything I'd ever seen before, from the huge lots of bicycles (everyone rides bikes!!) to the immaculate green lawns. Some of my flatmates have a grudge against Cambridge, because they applied there and didn't get in. It'd be like someone from the States visiting Harvard (or in my case, Oberlin).

My legs are really, really sore today. I think partially from the walking, and partially from wearing my slammin' new rainboots yesterday. They have butterflies on them! Beautiful. Also, update on my currency problems: I paid for everything yesterday in exact change without taking too long to do it. Hurray for progress.

The Cathedral

For the first time in my life, I got up moderately early on a Sunday morning to go to the library, and it turns out it doesn't open until 11, so I'm doing this instead. The reason I'm going to the library in the first place is because I have done no work this week. None. I don't want to. I had an abnormally long summer vacation, I have a bus pass, and there are things to explore here. But anyway--this is the Norwich Cathedral. It was started in 1096 with a bunch of things changed and added on. The spire was struck by lightning at one point, and a lot of things were destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries in 1530ish/40ish, I can't remember the exact date. However, the spire is now the second highest in England, and the cloisters (that's the picture above) are the largest in England.

We had the cutest old lady Scottish tour guide, and it was helpful to have a guide since there was so much to see! I could've spent hours in there just looking at all the weird carvings and details on things. I just wish my architectural knowledge wasn't so BAD...it's one of those things that I learn and then immediately forget. I did get to see some things that I've read about in art history textbooks, so that was gratifying. I wanted to poke around in the pews a bit more, since a lot of them had misericords underneath, but all of that was roped off. I think I need to ingratiate myself with the Guides, since that might also get me a chance to go up in the clerestory, which would be sweet. I'll have to work on that.

The face picture was on the ceiling of the cloisters, which would have been used when the cathedral was still Catholic and a monastery. He's called the Green Man, and is a symbol of fertility (it seems strange to have that in a monastic building.) I thought he was really cool looking; the ceilings in the cloisters were covered with carvings like that.

It is now almost 11, and the library awaits. Argh. Enough procrastination for me.

My Mad Culinary Skills

Tonight I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and carrot and coriander soup, from a packet. It was the first hot meal I've tried to cook in our kitchen that didn't involve the microwave. It was probably the worst sandwich I've ever made...I am good at grilled cheese in a pan, but I don't have a pan. I tried this in the toaster oven, so it wasn't very crispy. I think if I toast the bread first it'll be good. Live and learn! I was doing this the same time one of my flatmates was making rice and a sauce to go with it while wearing an apron, I was pretty jealous.

The reason I wanted something warm is I seem to have either a proper English cold, or "freshers flu". So I don't feel very sick, but still kind of icky. My dad emailed me today that he was making corn and tomato soup, and I'd much rather have that.

I haven't had any real "British" cuisine, so I can't make a verdict on that yet. The one thing I will definitely miss, however, is their vast selection of yogurt. Every food shop I've been in has a TON of yogurt, in different sizes and flavours, full fat, low fat, no fat. They even have dessert yogurt...I saw one yesterday that had cake pieces in it. I'll also miss the aisles of tea, too.

One thing that I miss from home is New York apples. That is one of the best parts of fall. The apples here are good, but it's not the same.

The strangest food I've seen? Cheese and prawns in a tube; I think it's akin to cheese whiz. They are really big on prawns, I have also seen a lot of prawn mayonnaise sandwiches. The worst thing I've had to eat was macaroni and cheese out of a can. I bought it because I had never seen something like that before. My flatmates warned me when I was heating it up that it would be bad. And so it was.

My fingers are quite cold as my room has no heat, so I am going to drink a final mug of tea and toddle off to bed. I miss the lot of yous.