Ceilidh and double-drip beer
Sorry kids! Haven’t had internet for several days and I know you have all been pining away wondering what in the world could be going on…..and, no. I still have not re-discovered the elf.
So, I am a real student again, with an ID card and everything J My lectures seem like they will be quite interesting and quite more than a little challenging. Our introduction to the Centre for Language and Communication Research included one of the professors telling us several times that, “Yes. It is possible to fail!” Oh dear. Our first day of classes was today (last week was Orientation Week – I ‘went’ to the Pub Crawl with one of my classmates, Katharine, from Iowa, but we kind of turned it into our own pub crawl since we were feeling a little tired of chit-chatting).
Friday morning, 7.00 am, found me walking to the Central train station to catch my train to Derby. The humidity was working hard to make me feel like I was at home, and despite the chill in the air (and the lovely misting rain), I was sweating profusely by the time I arrived at the station. The lined raincoat will probably be appreciated in a month, but at the time I was rather disgruntled with it.
Four hours later, I was in Derby. After having a little indie-pop music party across the aisle interrupt my nap when some vexing first-year students got on the train in Birmingham – errrrrr. I went up early for the LINK Weekend, which was for all of the Rotary Scholars studying in Britain and Ireland this year (150 or so!). My housemates could not leave until after lectures, so they came up with Hiroko’s counselor that evening.
Toodled around Derby, visited the Cathedral and the market and lunched. The Cathedral and the Roman Catholic church, St. Mary’s, were designed by the same architect. (Sadly, I didn’t take a picture of the two towers juxtaposed since I was unaware of this tidbit until later.)
Was hosted by John and Jo Sartin, who live in Duffield, a village just north of the city. They are quite lovely and very interesting to talk with – John is retired from the
Had a lovely half-pint at the Vernon Arms (pictured R) with John and some Rotary
Evening sent all the Scholars to a Barn Dance in Nottinghamshire – and, no, there were no men in green tights. Much entertainment and music and I even braved it out onto the dance floor at the very end – my dance partner was Yaw, from Ghana, and as neither of us knew WHAT we were doing, it was quite amusing. Fortunately, the scholarship is not based upon coordination.
Sunday – quick meeting with Rotary officials. And then off to Cardiff! This time, I drove with my housemates, Mari (the other Scholar in Cardiff) and Hiroko’s host, Steve. After two hours, the stabbing pain behind my knee almost sent me over the edge, but self-control, self-control. How do I always end up in the middle? Oh, and guess what -- I was a big nerd with my map of Great Britain and Ireland (that the Rotary District so fabulously gave us – I do so LOVE maps!) and followed our progress the whole way home. Steve even took me (since the other 3 were crashed out) on a detour driving through the Welsh mountains from Monmouth, south toward Chepstow to drive past Tintern Abbey!!!!!! It was absolutely a gorgeous drive, except for the removing van that had us going 15 mph; and rounding a corner to see the delicate strength of the Abbey ruins was unreal. We only drove by but I will definitely be going back very soon. It was sad not to be able to stop since the day was perfect for pictures. And my camera was in the trunk. And I was monitoring my map. So I got no photographic evidence. But, no regrets, or else one’s neck tenses up and gives one a headache.
Continue to be obsessive-compulsive and have just finished foam-cleaning the carpet in a good portion of the house J hooray! This is not my first official Act of Procrastination, though, I promise!
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