Two to go...

Well, that's the fifth week of actual camp gone, and it was yet another difficult one...despite the fact that there were only 7-hour days all week. The kids were awesome, just really full of energy and sugar. But that's okay. Next week, it's back to normal camp (except with stilts and juggling!).

I'm kinda done with camp for this summer (in my head, not according to my work schedule). The long hours and never getting to see any friends is really upsetting...and increasingly annoying. Oh well. TWO MORE WEEKS! We can do it, gang!

Honestly, I have little else to tell you, little Norwegian faction that still reads this. As I said, I have no social life. It sucks. See you in Chicago!

The Second Test

This week was incredible! The kids were so amazing and energetic, despite the fact that the directors were making them stay in the sun for 3 hours at a time dancing in kilts. They were such troopers! And so interesting and excited! WHAT A CHANGE!

And next week we get the little goobers...YEA!

The First Week

And only six more to go...

Wow. 14-year olds LOVE the drama. We had our first week of actual camp this week (where the campers actually attended and everything), and it was a doozy. That's the word with which I am sticking.

Most of the kids were awesome, but wow did a few of them hate my guts. They wanted nothing to do with camp and even less to do with me or any of the other counsellors. There was a surplus of attitude, back talk and, most of all, noise. It was crazy.

Also, I hate cell phones. I don't think you understood that entirely, so I'll repeat: I hate cell phones. Not only did they make me lose at least an hour of sleep every night because I had to get up to stop someone keeping everyone else up all night, they caused even more trouble by running off in the middle of the night, which, in turn, made one camper leave for home (among other reasons). Hate them. Stupid mobiles...

Overall, though, camp rules.

Camp

Camp ROCKS! Biffer-Medic is the coolest! Sliding is fun! Knowing things about nature is difficult! Campers are going to be crazy! I can't wait!

Return of the Salvvi

Hey, everyone! As you may have noticed (if you are still foolishly faithful enough to continue reading this disappointment of a blog), I lied. I'm probably going to fail at EVER putting up another update about my awesome travels, even Balquhidder! How tragic! I do know, however, that some of you who are now overseas from me (or vice versa, if you prefer), are still reading this, so I will try to put up an occassional update for you lot.

Quick pointless story that will hopefully nonetheless bring a smile to the faces of some Norwegians: I had asked my sister to grab me some ginger beer from the World Market (awesome store), and she obliged with something a little extra. I am now the proud owner of a RED box of Lakerol with ENGLISH writing! What fun! Also, now I know just what you were using to poison me all that time, Trine. 'Menthol liqorice flavoured'? And anything flavoured 'special' is just not a good idea.

Fin.

Quick Note

Okay, I am leaving again, but when I come back, I promise lots of fun stories, especially the best part of the entire trip...BALQUHIDDER!

Escocia la valiente

Leg Two: SCOTLAND!

Here, I had both my favourite and second-least favourite bit of my holiday!

Step One: Edinburgh

Okay, I got here after the nerve-wracking fiasco with the Flybussen and a three-hour coach ride. I felt queasy the entire time and had no directions to my hostel. Also, it was dark, raining a little, and really cold. (I'm a complainer, what can I say?) Anyway, if you know anything about Edinburgh, you know that it's separated into the Old Town and the New Town. Well, the coach station is in the New Town and my hostel was in the Old Town, so by the time I found it (three failed maps, two instances of no taxis in places marked 'taxis' and four oblivious bartenders later), I was in a right foul mood.



The hostel itself did not help. Remember, I was coming from an orderly, hotel-like environment to this. If ever there was a definitive 'party hostel', Castle Rock Youth Hostel was it. I checked in with a tipsy young man behind the counter, but I could hardly hear him for all the noise coming from the common room (the main one, anyway). It was actually a really neat setup, but I was hardly interested. Everything was painted wildly or set in blacklight, and I got lost about three times just finding the staircase down to my room.

I had signed up for a female dorm. They put me in a 12-bed room for long-termers. It looked like Dresden. It was also swarming with Americans and Canadians that would not stop talking like cheerleaders from films. The rooms were all creatively themed, and as my bed was in the Edinburgh Taverns room it was called The Last Drop. When the man at the desk told me this, I smiled nerously and tried to make like I knew what he was babbling on about. There was no space for my shoes, let alone my suitcase. We were provided lockers less than a quarter of the size of my closet in Bergen, but with a little safe inside that, to me, said, 'Your things aren't really safe locked in the locker, but in the safe...well, they might be okay...' The girl in the bed across from mine, Zelda, was quite nice, though. She was South African and spoke in an extremely quiet voice that made it very difficult to hear her in a room full of booming North Americans.



That night, I tried to settle in one of the many common rooms, but they were all so noisy and meet-people-y (social), that I couldn't settle down (I still wasn't feeling too friendly myself) and had to try to fall asleep with the large florescent lights about 20 feet above my head (they did have really high ceilings).

My first day wasn't much to talk about. I was still upset with the city, so I fell to woman's oldest feel-good standby: shopping. (If you think that's a little sexist...deal with it. Shopping can be fun in moderation.) I walked up and down the Royal Mile, visiting each and every tourist shop on that street. I think I was just fascinated that they were all exactly the same. I kept hoping for something new, but it never came. I did find my very first real purse and some nice gifts for a couple of people and was really excited every time I saw the name 'McLaren' on...anything, really. Good times. The best thing about all these shops? Most of them are run by Asian people in kilts. This was fun in one way (I got to meet a lot of Asians), but depressing in another (I don't think I heard a Scottish accent until my third and final day in Edinburgh). I also found the TIC and discovered that all shopping malls are boring, no matter where you go in the world. Highlight of the evening: watching 'Clear and Present Danger' (and finally not just the end) alone in the hostel's HUGE screening room. Poor Edinburgh, I never even gave you a chance.

Easter Day was much cooler. I went to the 11:30 service at St Giles Cathedral, and it was really nice to see a more traditional service for a change. The sermon was all about travellers and opening your mind to the beliefs and experiences of others, and I really liked it. Also, the building itself is quite beautiful (and accentuated by the choir that sounded like my dad's favourite Christmas album). Later, I was extremely surprised (and pleased) that no shops or museums were closed that day, so I visited the National Museum of Scotland. This had to be one of the biggest, most complete museums I've ever seen. It had everything you could ever want to learn about Scottish history, and it was really entertaining at the same time. I was proud of them.



I also visited the Elephant House cafe to see J.K. Rowling's inspiring view of Edinburgh Castle, but was scared off by the prices, so just settled for a sneaked picture of the castle through the window. Finally, I headed for Holyrood Park and the huge mound at the end of the Royal Mile that had been calling me for two days. It was a lovely little hike up the slopes and fun just hanging out in the rocks and grass. I like nature. Oh! Also, the slopes reminded me of 'Aaaaaaaaaas yoooooooouuuuu wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!' In case you care. I came back with the idea of settling in for the night, but a Polish girl, Sylvia, met me in the internet room and convinced me to go out and hear some live traditional music. We were able to ward off the drunkards by speaking Spanish (she was fluent!) and posing as an Argentine and a Spaniard. It was quite fun. The music was okay, but they really mostly covered rock songs.



On my third and final day in Edinburgh, I got to visit......................................................HOGWARTS! Or Edinburgh Castle...whatever. Needless to say, I went camera-happy and visited all my favourite places three times, wanting to get the most out of the experience before the cold banished me back inside. The Great Hall was so cool looking, but David's Tower had the most interesting stories, I thought.



Toward the end of the day, I tried to take some pictures of the big tourist attractions, but only came out with Greyfriars Bobby pictures and the Scott Memorial. Oh well.



Stirling was much more inviting, and I was more than happy to escape Edinburgh, but more on that later. This post is long enough.

Noruega! Norge! Norway!

The first leg of my journey:


The night before I left, I knew there was NO WAY I was going to meet my 8 o'clock bedtime; I was far too nervous about being on my own for three weeks. Instead, I went to Trine's room to try and settle down and then ended up talking with my-floor-Sophie and her extremely affable and Harry Potter-loving friends. This helped a lot. Not only did I get to blow off some steam, I also realised that when I actually started talking, I could get on quite well with other people (I know I've written about this a few times, but it keeps getting more intense).

Around 11 o'clock, though, I really needed to get to bed in order to be wide awake at 5 next morning. I eventually fell asleep around 2. Anne-Marte, Trine and I walked to the train station and had a pleasant journey discussing the royal families of both England and Norway and met up with Susanne at the aeroport nervous (in my case), but smiling. Anne-Marte and Trine insisted that I take the window seat to get my first glimpse of Norway, and WOW was it cool! Fjords are even more fun than just saying the word!



Los padres de Trine kindly drove me into town, Trine pointing out the mountains and important factories along the way, me hardly listening because I was too excited just to be in NORWAY! (Sorry, Trine.) She and her mother caught up in Norwegian, and I entertained myself by looking at all the mountains! ('Mountains, Gandalf!') Bergen was SO beautiful. There's the industrial side where the aeroport is, but then there's the harbour with the main city, which is surrounded by no less than seven mountains, most of them snow-capped at the time.



Once we arrived in the city, Trine said farewell to her parents and led me to my hostel. She left before I got in, though, and I panicked because I couldn't read the signs and kept thinking it had closed down when no one answered my knocks (I was knocking on an lift shaft's door). Eventuallly I found some stairs that looked promising and made my way up to the hostel where I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and comfort of the room. Everyone had their own half-wardrobe that could be locked, plenty of room to store luggage and a nice little table by the window. I was originally rooming with an older Norwegian woman and a Chilean girl a couple of years older than me, who was extremely nice and energetic (she and I got on quite well, especially because I could try to help her fix her computer, as I could read the Spanish instructions).



I'm glad I had a week here, because there was a LOT to do, even if a lot of it looked a bit stupid at first glance. Bergen was full of pleasant surprises. In my time here, I saw no less than two Sperm Whale jawbones, about four Viking ships, the ancient houses of Bergen (or what was left of them), a slew of wooden buildings that you could (hopefully legally) climb up and explore, a fish market and surrounding vendors ready to rip off foolish travellers like myself, the crappy Al Pacino film '88 Minutes' twice with Norwegian subtitles (I learned lots!), the rocky shores of Trine's home island (which I still can't spell, but always sounded like 'Eragon' to an extent), the fjords IN PERSON (that'd make an interesting band name...), a traditional marching drum band, an aquarium covered in very cold snow, just what brown cheese tastes like (peanut butter, admit it, my Norwegian friends), an awesome tourist hat (that the lady told me wasn't touristy at all! 'The Norwegian people are very proud of their flag'), the ancient and incredible fortress of the Berghaus, weird-looking nobbly trees, the top(ish) of Mount Fløyen, a creepy Japanese spidercrab that made me want to cry in fear and DID make the little British girl cry in fear, houses climbing all the way up a huge moutain, way too much art for someone who admittedly doesn't understand most of it, a pipe-maker's loft that would only take patrons by appointment, a strange, upright stone slab that I'm sure had a great history but just reminded me of '2001: A Space Odyssey', an extremely red church, more statues of Edward Grieg than I thought I would ever see and the nicest tourist information centre I have ever seen (it looked like a museum)!



I think that's the longest sentence I've ever written.



I also got to hang out with Trine a lot and even met two of her friends, Nyl Sare and Camilla (I hope that's right), at a students bar where we were interrupted by an inebriated fisherman who told us that he decidedly did NOT kill whales. Or the other way around...I don't know. He asked us all where we were from, and we all said Norway first, then he asked where we were from again and we all replied 'England'. Then the nice bar lady kicked him out. A good time was had by all.



When I finally had to leave, I bid Marken-Gjestehus (my hostel) a sad farewell. I knew I would miss its comfort and cleanliness once back in the UK. (Oh! And there was this older Norwegian guy in the hostel with a really deep voice who looked exactly like Anton 'Friendo' Chigurh from 'No Country For Old Men', but he was really friendly.) I went down to the Flybussen stop to meet an elderly Newcastle couple waiting to get to the aeroport for my same flight, but we found out about an hour later there was no bus running that day because it was Good Friday. One driver took pity on us, though, and made a special run to carry us and one Norwegian guy to the aeroport, which was nice. We made it, and I assumed a window seat again to say goodbye to those awesome fjords. Hee hee....fjords...

P.S. - Never try salvi Läkerol. Ever.

Wrap-Up

Okay, here's the scoop in thrity seconds:

Norway, Scotland, England, Ireland - all amazing, more details to come.
Schoolwork - getting a little crazy.
Health - not feeling too well at present.
York - awesome! Not only am I actually hanging out with people on a truly regular basis and finally connecting enough that I'll be sad when we all leave, I saw a guy get rescued by helicopter from the top of the Minster!
Travel - New cities, here we come!
Home - still can't wait, despite enjoying myself greatly here, but I am scared about camp coming up...(if I even get it).

Any requests for specific details and/or photos? SORRY IT'S TAKING SO LONG!

Kicked the habit

Well, it's been a really good week, even though a lot of my closest friends have already left for home. I've gotten to hang out with the Norwegians a lot and get to know them better, which is really nice. They're a great group! We went out to the Habit, my absolute favourite pub in York - they have live music and an Ankh-Morpork atmosphere without all the violence! They also shared with me their love of Pride and Prejudice, and I must admit, it was pretty amazing! Even the guys were getting excited about it, haha! I've also been working up the long, LONG overdue courage to actually speak up in the presence of my flatmates, which has been very rewarding. Woo hoo! And now it's off to adventure and discovery! I'm really looking forward to Norway and Scotland especially! Oh! It's going to be great!

No turning back now...

That's it! The plans are set and ready to be put in motion on Friday! I have everything booked and paid and am getting more and more nervous by the minute. Woo hoo! I'll catch you all up when I get back, but there may be some long periods of silence - sorry in advance! EUROPE AWAITS!

I've got to admit, it's getting better...

Sorry for the wait, but there's been lots of ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

First of all, Lidas came to visit, and that was fun. It was really nice to see her and be able to talk with someone I actually know for a change. Other than that, we didn't really do much except try Quiz Night and meet with Laetitia and her family for crepes and my first ever Nutella experience! No one was in the dorms - NO ONE - and walking around York does get quite boring after a while... On the upside, Lidas unwittingly provided me with my newest favourite New Zealand folk parody duo, Flight of the Conchords. (Incidentally, when we were at Quiz Night this week, they played a FotC song, and no one understood my excitement.)


Anyway, she's off having a much better time now in Paris, so all is well. Good new this week is that I actually had a really enthusiastic and more than satisfactory lecture! In Peace Studies, we talked about the role of Europeans in international security. It was really quite invigorating for me! Globalisation, cultural identity, nationalism! It had it all...

ANYWAY, we also discovered that a direct, 2-hour train to London will only run 11 pound 25 each way, so....there's a future trip not-really-planned-but-at-least-mentioned with Lucy and Kirsten. Woo hoo! Well, we'll see.

This morning, I went out into the newly renevated 'wildlife area' outside my dormitory and played the guitar for a good forty-five minutes.

Also, I had decided to stop bothering the folks upstairs, but when I woke up this morning, I was so restless and sick of relying on the internationals, that I had another go. I actually ended up going out with the group on my floor, though, and it was really fun! I spent about an hour and a half just talking with Sophie and Conor in Sophie's room, but then Chris, Nick and Dan joined us when we went out, and it wasn't bad at all. We actually found SEATS this time and could hear each other talking. I wasn't afraid this time and got in on some good conversation, especially with Chris and Conor - they're hilarious!

It's yet another fresh start, and I have a good feeling about this one. (Sorry for all the vacillation...)

'Abandon sea!' shouted the Bursar cheerfully.

Welcome to beautiful York, Perry Olson!

Hi, everyone! How are you? Everything's going just fine here at YSJ. (Although this post will probably be a bit scattered. I can't seem to write well at all today.) I'm talking to someone about volunteering at a local primary school and also trying to figure out if I can join the choir here, but I think it may be on at the same time as my Peace Studies course. Oh well.
I've been keeping myself entertained with a couple of different groups. Laetitia, Agata, Christina and I have been hanging out pretty regularly in the evenings (at least for the last couple of days), and other internationals often join in. Yesterday, for example, about nine of us went to a Chinese restaurant, where I spoke in Spanish with Monica y Marta, and got to brush up on those skills. We also went to the Jorvik Viking Festival and saw a brilliant and stirring 'battle'. It was a little pathetic. And very cold. And full of enthusiastic children. But it was fun, all the same.

I also spent some time with Kirsten's friends from upstairs, and they're extremely nice and friendly. Mark, Kirsten and I watched a film until three in the morning, but the three of us, Dan and Chris all went to play frisbee in the garden outside at around midnight. They've a wonderful sense of humour, and don't actually drink all that much (which is a nice relief).

Tonight's karaoke night, so Christina and I are planning on making fools of ourselves! Woo hoo! She's really fun, and we have a lot of similar music tastes, so it should be a fun time. Also, she and Agata and almost definitely going on the last leg of my Easter trek with me! Hurrah!

Ah, Scotland for Easter...

The Not-So-Jolly Roger! (Remember those books?)

Last night was...interesting. It was Jamie's birthday, so he asked everybody to dress up like cartoon characters and go down to Toff's, a 'fancy-dress' club. What actually ended up happening was this: they all stayed here for about two hours drinking, then we went down to the Students' Union to buy our tickets, and....they went ahead an had some more drinks. At this point, our group multiplied and eventually, we were about 30 cartoons strong. It was madness.

We proceeded to parade through the streets, some of them completely hammered, talking to the older couples eating in the restaurants and competing for high-fives from strangers. We then went to four different pubs, still without any sign of Toff's. It was a bit surreal. Apparently the fancy dress thing is very common here. People were walking around dressed (and painted) as Smurfs, and no one thought anything of it. Very strange.

Anyway, around 23.00, a group of girls (myself included) decided to just go to Toff's as the rest of the group was planning on heading to another three pubs (ugh). Well, we got there (honestly, the path was like a labyrinth), and it was extremely uncomfortable - for me, anyway. My costume was kinda crappy (I went as Linus, which hardly anyone knew, especially since all I had was a striped shirt and a blue blanket [pillowcase, really].), I was there with only one person that I knew, andthere was nothing to do except drink or dance. I had a Pepsi and stood awkwardly next to my new friends as they 'danced' (I honestly don't understand my generation...).

Anyway, after about 45 minutes, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave. It really just wasnt' my kind of scene. So I walked back at midnight alone and talked to Lidas until I arrived safely. At least now I can say I've tried it and clubbing is not my thing. Lesson well learned, I s'pose. Cheers, all!

_____________________________________________________________________

Little update: Apparently, I was on a campus-wide pub crawl and didn't even know it. Haha - what fun! Also, I ran into Jamie (still in his Taz suit and anti-hangover sunglasses) this afternoon, and the poor guy didn't even get into Toff's for his own celebration (apparently he was too drunk). Unfortunately, he admitted that that is about all he can remember about the evening. Hmmmm...

_____________________________________________________________________

Also, all is well. We all had tea together tonight, and they were all really nice and accepting. Way!

Eclectic

Well, I think I've found a very good group. They all always hang out right next door and are very friendly. They don't mind me sitting in, even when I have nothing to add to the conversation and seem to be just all-around nice people. They're from all over the U.K. and today entered into an hour-long debate about which accents sound stupid. It was insanely entertaining. They go out about twice a week and have invited me along, so this is a very good start. Hurrah! Tonight, we just stayed in and watched 'Groundhog Day'. I did not mention my true feelings for Bill Murray, so the night was quite enjoyable thankyouverymuch. I also introduced them to Potter Puppet Pals, and they were quite amused. Good times, is all I need say. It is a bit awkward as about six of them have bought a house for next year together, so they're all pretty tight, but they haven't left yet, so there's still fun to be had. It's a good day, and a good finish with good friends. Cheers till next time!

The Demon Student of Coney Street

Good, fun-filled day, this. I had a great lecture this morning (as well as a really fun and interesting one last night in Peace Studies. The 70-year-old couple is my favourite!) and had lunch with some new people. We went to a film, so that cut down on boredom time, AND I got to really get to know and have dinner with one of my housemates, which is very helpful. We're planning a weekend trip, even. She's very nice and plans on attending my home uni next year, which is awesome. Huzzah! Anyway, United won, and they even showed Solskjaer for a brief moment, so it is, in fact, a good day.

Happy Australia Day!

Not anymore, but still! Good on yer for reading this! Yesterday was Australia Day at the Students' Union, and instead of moping in my room, I decided to try to participate. I ended up standing around and chatting a bit with a couple of people from my floor, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The Extremely Social American congratulated me on being more social, adding that alcohol really does help. I pointed to my lemonade, he smirked and walked away. It was funny.

At any rate, now I'm at least partially into the floor group, and apparently we go to dinner together all the time, so that's good.

Australia! Australia! Australia! Australia! We love you! Amen!

New Places, New Faces

Well, all the new Americans (and one Canadian) are here! It's exciting, but I really wish I could start meeting some Britons. Oh well; I'm sure I'll get there. ('Adopt, adapt and improve.') I really don't know how to socialise with a lot of these people, though. I'm not too good at it to start, and then add the fact that they all drink pretty much every night, and I'm a bit of a lost cause. I hope to find some people soon, though, so I'll keep looking.

Yesterday, all the internationals took a trip to the seaside: Whitby (awesome! what fun!) and Scarborough (...what is that stuck to your shoe?). Anyway, I met a French boy and two students from Cyprus. I also walked and talked with two Norwegians, a Polish girl and a French girl as well. It was...okay. The company was great, but Scarborough really didn't have much to offer on the South end. The North had the castle, but we didn't have time to get to it and back, so we settled for the Ocean City Boardwalk-reminiscent carnival of shops along the shore.

All the new Americans (and one Canadian) are all from the same school and are taking the same class together, so they're pretty tight-knit, which makes it hard to get in with them, but a few have been quite friendly toward the rest of us, so that's nice.

Anyway, the town's becoming more and more familiar, but I'd really like to get into a class that HASN'T been cancelled so that I can start being busy. Way too much free time.

Hope the pictures work! Here's sending all my love back home!

Okay, I REALLY messed up the photos, so here's what they are: 1) the ruins at Whitby, 2) the inside of the (York) Minster, 3) My school!, 4) A weird shot of the back of the Minster and some surrounding homes, 5) the North Yorkshire moors, 6) stone carvings of the faces of beasts and demons from the Whitby museum at the Abbey, 7) the Shambles! Complete with a member of the Assassins Guild, 8) the sea at Scarborough, 9) another shot of the inside of the Minster and 10) Friends! I won't try to spell their names, I'll only dissappoint. Enjoy!

Internationals

Having only achieved about two hours of sleep thanks to the incredibly noisy toilet next door, I went down to the international get-together. My fellow Americans and I mostly talked to each other, one of number's British boyfriend or the International Society's members, but next day we went on campus and city tours with the whole group of internationals and really got to know some new people.

I now know six Norwegians. SIX. At the moment, they outnumber us, though a fresh batch of no less than thirteen Americans should be arriving on the weekend. But that's okay, 'cause we have a Bangladeshi, two French people, a bloke from Pakistan, a Swede, a girl from Belarus, the six Norwegians, two Poles and probably some of whom I am unaware.

We got onto the computers and found out that our German class had been cancelled. This wasn't too big a problem for me, but my friend is now in a bit of a scheduling crisis. Anyway, we got out of the computer lab and off to the city.

Our city tour was guided by a Liverpudlian, which was wonderful. When I told him Liverpool was my favourite city, he took my hand and said, 'You've chosen well, love.' It was hilarious. He was really fun, and when he stood on top of the city walls during our walk, some bloke down on the ground said 'Don't jump!' I love this place.

I went and got my Skype phone and am now connected to la Red otra vez. Being able to communicate home really helps, so the next few days should be easier as far as 'I wanna go home' moments.

Anyway, no worries. We'll all be all right.

My city is beautiful.

This place is amazing. It's Ankh-Morpork and Diagon Alley rolled into one. It's...fantastic.

My flights were not quite so great, but only in places:

<<20 January - 15.26 EST

Great. We're at code 'Orange,' too. And they interrupted 'Maybe I'm Amazed' to tell us so. This part of the travelling fiasco is boring and irksome and uncomfortable. In the immortal words of Inego Montoya, 'I hate waiting.'

I said goodbye to Mum and Dad at the security gate, and there was a bit of crying (in the good and bad way). My sister and her boyfriend got off easy; it still hadn't hit me, but now that's everyone, and it's more than a little frightening. I'll make it all right, but this part is the worst part. No old friends to talk with, no new friends to look forward to quite yet...oi. I miss you guys!

The good news is that I'm tired, so I may get to sleep a bit on the plane. Unfortunately, my plane is also running half an hour late. This is worrisome as I only have an hour and fifteen minutes between flights. The next terminal will be interesting.

Now to read and join the twenty-some people surrounding me in pretending we do not notice each other. Woo hoo! >>

I ended up riding with a young couple and their 16-month-old son whom I decided to call Brandon. (His real name, it turns out was Landon. I was surprised.) Anyway, he was adorable and kept making very interested and polite noises the whole time (the only unpleasant ones between the beginning of take-off and about two minutes into take-off when he became enthralled with the headseats).

Alas, in Chicago, we had to say farewell, and I had to run to my terminal at the ticketman's express direction. Security disagreed. That was fun.

There were about six of us arriving late, but they got us all on the plane. In fact, we had very few passengers on the plane. One bloke spread out across the entire middle section to sleep. I had a window and aisle seat to myself and was able to keep track of our flight and watch my in-flight entertainment at the same time. (Hurrah, The Darjeeling Limited, Michael Palin and G.O.B. on 30 Rock for three minutes!)

When I finally settled down enough to sleep, the small child three rows ahead took it upon herself to start screaming as though Stalin had been named her new nanny. To calm her, her mother offered her a Dora the Explorer touch and hear book. The next two hours were unpleasant.

I did get about and hour and a half's worth of sleep, though, and was able to freak out another five times before landing in Manchester at 7.30 GMT where I met a rather boisterous man who was already pissed. AT 7.30 IN THE MORNING. Anyway, immigration was a breeze, as was avoiding the drunk man, and I got on the train, found a taxi and arrived at school.

This place is incredible. I had quite a time getting over jet lag and am still fighting it, but the nice ladies who clean here heard that I was tired, and by the time I got back from buying an alarm clock, my bed was made and ready for an unconcious person. I applied and was offered a position immediately.

Come again, please?

...I'm leaving the country?!?

The Ever-Emptying Shelves of L-Space

With Lidas already partaking in the brilliance of Great Britain, I had to actually GO to the library to find travel materials (har har). I scoured any and all shelves I could find with any information regarding any European country further north than France. Huzzah for reading up on things!