Journey's End

After getting up at 4 AM GMT and doing 30-some hours of traveling, I arrived home at around 2 AM last night. It's so wonderful to be back.

A hearty thanks to everyone who has followed and kept in touch. I really appreciate it. Hope to see around now that I'm home.

With love,
AE

Day Is Done

I think my Film History final went pretty damned well. I wouldn't say I killed it, but I still did fine, I feel.

I came home, watched a movie, then napped a short bit (the previous night had been rather sleepless). Went over to Luke and Rebecca's to finish up me and Luke's game of Gears of War 2 and say my goodbyes. Then at 9, Matt, Tom M and Emma and I went to the Fat Cat one last time. Then we goofed around at a kid's playpark again, and finally came back to my room to watch a zombie movie and I said my goodbyes to them as well.

Things are winding down pretty quickly and summer is officially on. I'm ecstatic, to say the least.

A Rushed Recap of Recent Events

Sorry for the delay in updates, all.

Italy was, in word, beautiful. It was the tail-end of the trip that sucked. I was all set to fly back to the UK from Italy on the 29th. This was all going fine-- Nony and I spent four days in Florence, followed by two in Rome, and all I needed to do was take a short ride from Roma Termine station to Rome Fumicino airport. I got to the terminal, and the flight was progressively delayed until 9-something PM...the scheduled time, by the way, was 4:15.

So I land in Heathrow at 11:30-- the exact time direct trains from Liverpool St. Station to Norwich stop. My only option now is take an hours-long bus ride all the way out to Norwich. So I pay 40 quid for a bus ticket, and make futile attempts to sleep as I wait for the bus to arrive at 1:50. Get off at Gatwick airport at 3:50. Catch another bus an hour or so later, and fade in and out of consciousness all the way to Norwich bus station. At this point, I should mention that half-wakefully listening to Nick Drake's "From the Morning" as the sun rises is really an experience in and of itself.

But anyway, I got to the Norwich bus station at around 9:30 AM and was back in my dorm just before 10 AM. Hopefully I'll have time to post a full trip summary before I leave.

I've spent the past two days typing up a 28-page study guide summarizing of all the chapters we've read for Film History that I highlighted during my first reading. The exam is the day after tomorrow, and while it's not going to be the hardest one I've ever taken, the sheer amount of material to be studied is a little intimidating. With that said, the associate professor has informed me that my paper grade was "exceptionally high."

In related good grade news, I got an A- on my final journalism assignment, worth 25% of the grade. I'm entirely sure this is also my final grade in the class, as I only got a B+ on one small assignment-- everything else was an A-. Awesome! I'm hoping I get my final Creative Writing story back soon-- I leave Thursday!

Meanwhile, I need to print out this study guide and go type up more notes for the exam. I'm excited to get home and get into summer!

Traveling Once More

After twoish weeks of lazing around Norwich, I'm off to Italy tomorrow to meet up with my buddy Nony in Florence. I'll be in the country for six days. Where we go is still up in the air, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Thing is, he doesn't have a working phone and I'm basically going to make it to the hostel he's currently at and track him down from there.

Once I return, it's just a bunch of reading and re-reading my Film History stuff for the exam on May 5th. I fly home two days later. Can't wait.

Shine

Today I took a walk on several of the lengthy trails near the UEA lake. It was gorgeously sunny and I wore shorts for the first time in ages. Alcest proved to be a beautiful, perfectly fitting soundtrack. Summer is hardly far away.

In somewhat sucky news, my workout routine has gone completely down the toilet in the past month or so. I keep procrastinating and it's ridiculous. Time to remedy that...tomorrow. Haha.

All RIIIGHT

So, Poe seminar got snatched up. BUT I'm taking a seminar on Oscar Wilde instead. Not bad at all!

Sari scored me a single in my sophomore-year stomping grounds of Tuttle. It's apparently the biggest single in the building, and faces the quad. So excited right now.

Nail-Biting Doublewhammy

Okay, so Berlin was awesome, photos to come.

Tonight, however, is something I'm fearing. It's both Goucher's room draw AND class registrationfor upcoming seniors. While it's no argument that having both these things on the same night is an idiotic decision, that's not what's aggravating me.

First of all, I'm room draw number 186 out of the entire senior class-- and the college as well, given that seniors draw first. I'm basically guaranteed a single, but am really hoping I can get one in Mary Fisher (one of the nicer campus locations). It all rests on 1) luck and 2) Sari, who was nice enough to be my registration proxy. If you're reading this, dear...thank you kindly!

More important are my classes. Hypothetically, being a senior and able to register before the rest of the college trumps any possibility of not getting the classses you want. Well, I got the last timeslot of the night-- 10 PM, 3 AM here in the UK-- and EIGHT of 15 seats in the Poe seminar I've been stoked on for months are already taken by ongoing seniors. I took another course with the same prof last semester, and emphasized my enthusiasm and interest for the seminar many times after she mentioned it to me. She's covering Lovecraft, too! I've sent her an email asking about possibilities of enrollment even if the class is closed by the time I register (which, according to my advisor, is likely). I wish I had more hands, and therefore more fingers to cross.

I have no food in my pantry/fridge space and better go get on that.

Dawn of Victory

As of five minutes ago, all three of the following huge projects are printed, in my backpack and ready to be timestamped and turned in tomorrow:

-2,700+-word paper on Double Indemnity's marketing campaign (Film History)
-1000-word analysis of three different news documents/clippings (Journalism)
-2000-word final draft of my short story, "Grown-Ups," and an additional 500-word critcal self-commentary (Creative Writing)

Now all I have left is a gigantic final in Film History on May 5th. But that's virtually aeons away at this point...time to head to London, then Germany this weekend! Spring break is officially in full swing!

One of the Better Times of My Life

As I'd mentioned, Tom M, Matt and I made the trek to London by train last Thursday, March 26th, to see Portland, Oregon's Agalloch at the Camden Underworld. I first discovered the band from recommendations and praises from friends back home. In the fall of freshman year, I picked up their then-newest release, 2006's Ashes Against The Grain, and was blown away by the cold atmospheres, brilliant melodies, tasteful composition and the mixture of various genres I enjoyed. This band's sound harnesses the power of the natural environments of the Pacific Northwest. I can listen to them anywhere and teleport my mind home.

I discovered a few months ago that my buddy Aesop-- who I know from the music download blogosophere for his amazing, varied blog Cosmic Hearse (WARNING: NOT NECESSARILY SAFE FOR WORK) has been drumming for the band for over year and is a permanent member at present. He was down to hang out and talk music, and I was stoked because the guy seriously has an encyclopedic knowledge of most genres I enjoy, be it death metal or obscure '70s rock. Add to this that Fen, whose new album The Malediction Fields is already in my top albums of the year, were opening, and the show quickly became the most excited I'd been since seeing Carcass' first US reunion tour last September.

Tom unfortunately forgot his ticket for the show at the guys' flat, so he had to catch the train after Matt and I. Once we arrived at Camden Town after tubing their from Liverpool Street, Matt and I dropped our stuff off at a hostel he'd booked, only a few blocks from the venue. After that? FALAFEL! There's a really good falafel place situated right next to the Camden Underworld, and I indulged for my first of three times in less than 24 hours.

I converted Matt, too.

Happy boy.

Eventually, we met up with Tom and got in line a little late for my liking...and as a result we-- and many other people-- missed a hefty chunk of Fen's set. I met up with Aesop and had just begun to converse when I realized Fen were playing and apologized for having to cut things short. "Go, go!" he chuckled. "We'll talk, man."

The last two songs I caught of Fen's were fantastic. The stage at the Underworld is pretty small and the venue, while not too cramped, is plenty intimate. Good sound for all bands throughout the night, and Fen were playing tightly.

Fen's The Watcher.

Next up were the German Dornenreich ("realm of thorns"), who sounded remarkably full for only being a trio of guitar/vocals, violin and drums. The drummer did some great off-time/folky stuff too.

Dornenreich: German for "muscular posing with awkard facial expressions."

Then, the moment Matt, Tom, myself and several hundred others were waiting for. Agalloch, being not only humble but also on a shoestring budget and touring minimally to acommodate guitarist Don Anderson's collegiate teaching job, had no roadies and set up the entirety of their gear before performing. Oh man. I was cautiously optimistic, especially after reading the reviews on the TrueMetalSeattle forums and the band members themselves openly admitting they don't have much time to rehearse (presently, they all live in different states!). So I remained positive, but wasn't holding my breath.

Then Jason Walton hit the fog machine, John Haughm (vocals/guitars) looped guitar drones and lit incense at the front of the stage, and the band ripped into a chronological set beginning with "Hallways of Enchanted Ebony," from their debut record Pale Folklore. And then "As Embers Dress the Sky." They didn't miss a beat. Aesop slammed. Jason pedaled bass notes steadily kept it all steady and together. Don was incredibly energetic and nailed his leads. And despite internet rabble about his live vocal struggles, Haughm's singing was one-hundred-percent SPOT ON, clean and growled alike. So you can imagine the excitement when he announced the next song in the set was "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion," from their second record, The Mantle, which is some of the band's best and most epic songwriting. They went straight into "I Am the Wooden Doors," from there, then once again looped guitar drones and quickly switched axes to play the drop-tuned Ashes Against the Grain stuff-- "Not Unlike the Waves," "Limbs," and "Bloodbirds," then returning to The Mantle for an encore of "The Lodge."

This shot pretty adequately represents the crowd response throughout the night.

But the fun didn't stop there. Long after the audience had filed out, I got falafel again and met up with Aesop and Jason outside. When the band went to go to a pub with a few other friends and The Watcher from Fen, Aesop beckoned us to come with him. After much wondering, the group of us settled on a rock bar. I had some great conversations and laughs with Don, Jason and Aesop.

Aesop and myself: blog buddies!

A stoked Don, a satisfied Asa, and an uncharacteristically
gruff-looking Jason.

I briefly conversed with Haughm as we all walked back toward the Underworld for the band's bus curfew. He proved to be just as down to earth as the other members and told me about a zine he'd done the design work for. It turned out Aesop had a spare copy with him and he gave it to me. Awesome. Haughm's work with earthy tones never fails, whether in zine form or in Agalloch's record art.

All in all, one of the best music-related experiences I've ever had. Thanks to the Agalloch dudes for not only being fantastic musicans, but also kind people.

Hurdles.

Only a few things stand in the way of my month-long spring break:

• 2,500-word Film History paper (I'm about halfway through)
• 1000-word Journalism assignment where I show and discuss the writing style, mechanics, etc etc of three different news clippings (will finish this weekend)
• Revised final draft of my 2000-word short story for Creative Writing, plus a 500-word critical self-examination (starting on it tonight)
• Annotations of the last round of three classmates' stories for Creative Writing (doing that this weekend)
• Reading 30-some pages for Film History (also doing that this weekend)
  

My spring break starts a week from Friday, when I'll take a train to London, meet up with Raf, and fly to Berlin with him, Sarah and Kellene to meet up with Kevin and check out the country for a week. Can't wait!

This Thursday I'm also headed to London-- Camden, specifically-- with Matt and Tom M to see Agalloch, a metal band from Portland, Oregon that only tours sporadically. I'm looking forward not only to the show, but also to hanging out with the band as I keep in touch with their drummer Aesop via his awesome music blog. One of the opening bands, Fen, also rules-- their recently-released Malediction Fields record is already one of my favorites of the year. It'll be a great night and I'm looking forward to spending a bunch on special tour merch.

This weekend and next week is mostly work, but oh well. Once it's over, the only looming obstacle is my Film History final on May 5th, the day after break is over. After that, it's back to the Northwest, where I have confirmed summer work with Avalara again-- a blessing in the current economy.

Jamming, Part II

Just returned from the rehearsal space, and it was a blast! Vicky (singer) couldn't make it this time, so that left Jon (drums), Tony (guitar/vocals), Ben (guitar) and myself (bass). We jammed a bit, and hadn't really had any cover songs prepared so I asked if it was cool if I taught the guys "Fix Me," one of my favorite songs by the Doughboys. We played through it numerous times-- with me on lead vocals as well as the usual bass duties! I felt my confidence steadily rise-- somehow it was easier to sing over a full group than just myself practicing to the original recording.

Then Tony joined in on backing vocals and the harmonies worked out really well! The only thing we really need to tighten up is John's knowledge of the structure (he improvised it just fine) and Ben tightening up his rhythm. Seriously though, SO much fun! On the ride home Tony-- a longtime veteran of singing and playing from years of church music, band practices and big band ensembles-- told me my vocals perfectly suited the song, and that I kept rhythm on the bass just fine while singing!

Here's the music video of the song. We won't ever sound this good, but the point is that it's a killer, catchy tune.

Further Successes

Got back my last two Journalism assignments today. The one worth 25% of my overall grade was a 65, and the one worth 10 was a 66. That's two A-'s on the British grading scale! Woo woo!!!

In other good news, it looks like I still have work at Avalara this summer when I get home-- a true blessing in this current economy.

This weekend: jamming Saturday during the day, then huge party at night, then lots of work to be done on Film History paper.

Anyway

I'd like to apologize somewhat for the two overdramatic previous post; it's times like those that are one of the reasons why I'll never have a personal blog aside from this one. And even then, this blog will cease to be updated upon my return to the States (duh, right?).

A few good things this week. First, I was updated regarding the UEA-to-Goucher grade conversion scale, and it turns out a 65 and above is an A-. Thus, I got an B+ and an A- on my first and second Journalism assignments, not a B and B+ as thought before. Not too shabby.

Earlier in the week, I banged out my second and final story for Creative Writing. Initially I had this plan to do a serial killer thing, but I couldn't get inspired to write anything but the ending. As I was going to sleep I had this idea about getting in a fistfight with an old gradeschool rival, wondering who would win. And from there I got up the next day and worked the plot out backwards-- some twentysomething guy gets a bizarre invite to an elementary school reunion, has an awkward time, and ends his trip to his old stopming grounds by fighting a former playground nemesis. I don't think it's anything groundbreaking, but it was a lot of fun to write.

Finally, I got to work on the 2,500 word paper for Film History due April 3rd. I already have 800 words from that one night! I'm both amazed and happy. It's on marketing of film noirs and how despite being seen as men's films retrospectively, they were marketed plenty to women as well.

This week: bang out more on paper, secure work, buy tickets for a Memorial Day trip to Maryland for Maryland Deathfest (the annual death metal festival with the most amazing lineup to date). Oh, and get back to the gym.

A small bit of silver lining, and more about why I'm done here

Today I discovered why the mail service here sucks so much. Apparently students are to check the mail room at least once a week on their own time; if your mail is left there for two weeks, it gets forwarded to your cubby in your school's office. So I'd just been getting my mail, a month late, from said cubby in the American Studies office. The mail here still sucks, it just doesn't take as long while doing so.

It turns out I not only had a package from my folks (thanks Mom and Dad), but also from beloved friend Alex. He wrote me a poem, a letter, and made several small custom stickers with his own multilingual phrases and funny characters. It all just fuels my drive to be back in the Northwest.

I began work on my sole Film History paper today by looking through several years' worth of Variety magazaine on microfilm for three hours. My paper concerns the marketing for two prominent noir films, 1944's Double Indemnity and 1947's Out of the Past, and save for a short review on each there was nothing else about either. It's the hardest thing to get myself to work. Whereas at Goucher, once I get started in Julia Rogers library, I'm in there for hours at night, biting my nails and wondering about the quality but working hard nonetheless.

Aside from this paper, it's just an editing of my recently-finished second creative writing story and 500 word accompaniment explaining the revisions, then a few more journalism assignments. Then, break (I still don't know where I'm traveling). Then a huge exam for Film History on May 5th. Then, home.

Here, have a song.

I've been trying to write you a letter
But I just can't help but feel
That the words that are me talking
Don't say anything that's real
I've been going 'round in circles
And it seems it's been a while
Since I've known the real reason
Why I've gone so many miles

I will not begin to tell you
About all the things I've seen
All the people, all the places
All the highways inbetween..
Even these words I'm using
Prove the effort was in vain
All I wanted was to know that
Things would always be the same

Now and then, I might remember
Mostly I try to forget
And right now I'm in the middle
Wondering if it's over yet
And I know it doesn't matter
'Cause the road will never end
So I won't write you a letter
I know I'll be home again.

Okay, time's up.

Just let me go home already. I can't find the motivation/focus to do my work in a timely fashion, I'm not meeting too many folks I like, and it seems I can't even fly thousands of fucking miles without Goucher drama's black tendrils still grabbing ahold of me. Oh yeah, and I'd sell a little finger to be able to play my bass again.

If I could, I'd be working full-time on Bainbridge right now and not have too think to hard about much aside from getting the job done.

Finally, Grades

Today I received the first two Journalsim assignments back. The first was a 250-word article on this Erasmus study/work abroad UK program, and the second was a 400-word "update" of a continuing story from a few years ago where a senior citizen's tour boat capsized. I got a 64 on the first one and a 66 on the second one. Before your jaw drops in dismay, realize that a 70 or above is considered an A in this country. Yeah, it's ridiculous. So basically, I got in the B/B+ range. With that said, more effort could've been put into these, so let's hope the 1000-word ethics opinion piece I turned in today-- worth 25% of my grade-- comes out better. As long as I'm taking only three classes, I'd like to be getting A-'s and A's.

In more straightforwardly good news, I have turned the tide in my battle against chronic tendonitis and repetitive stress injury. For the past month, I've been doing this fantastic lil' exercise program for stretching my wrists, doing hot/cold baths, and squeezing a tennis ball every day (3 sets of 40 per hand) to increase strength. Yesterday I exercised and felt NO wrist pain for the first time since I can remember. I'm very pleased, to say the least.

London Excursion

After my film seminar let out late Friday afternoon, I bussed to the Norwich Rail Station and rode roughly two hours to Liverpool Street station in London, where I met up with Goucher pals Debra (studying at London School of Economics) and Brendan (studying at Westminster). We got pizza, then dropped by Deb's flat in South Kensington. After some deliberation, we decided to take the Tube (subway) to Picadilly Circus, where there was a sweet three-story bar called O'Neill's.

Self in front of horse fountain-- Picadilly.

O'Neill's was a quality establishment and boy was it PACKED. The first floor was a pub, the second floor was more dance-oriented (if I recall correctly) and the top floor featured live music. When we went up there, there was a cover band doing '90s rock songs. The three of us had some fun goofing around to their renditions of tunes by Nirvana, Blink-182 and others. Then they broke out Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name Of" and I sang along to every word. That part was awesome.

Fun fun fun!

The not-so-fun: having short girls marvel at my height, then having two other girls point at and then fondle my hair as I desperately tried to wade through the crowd to the bar for a drink...and the music was so loud in both instances that I couldn't understand a damned word.

We then crashed back at Deb's flat. In the morning-- okay, mid-afternoon, we headed to Portobello Market, where Deb spoke of a fantastic falafel stand. Indeed, it was called the Healthy Vegetarian, and their product had not only delicious made falafel, but oodles of fresh herbs as well. The eating experience was as follows:

First bite...

Stoked!

Needless to say, I bought two.

Needed to be done.

Deb wanted to check out the British Museum and this proved to be a great idea. It's free, camera use is allowed, and the facility is HUGE.

We checked out huge exhibits on Egypt, South America, feudal Japan, Native Americans, and ancient Greece.

Rosetta Stone.

Well, I feel prejudiced against...

I love how the Assyrians did beards.

Philosophers.

This one was on a Wildildlife album cover...

DON'T FUCKING TOUCH SWORDS.

That night I tubed to Covent Garden and met up with Raf, Sarah and Kevin. Kellene was hanging out with her cousin elswhere for the night. The three of us got a reservation at sweet, sizeable Belgian restaurant. As we waited at the bar for a table to open up I realized they would have frambois (Belgian raspberry beer-- the only kind of beer I like) and got my hands on a tasty bottle. The Floris brand seems to be more sweet than Bacchus and whatever brand the Fat Cat (a Norwich pub) had on tap. I wasn't complaining! I also sampled two other Floris fruit beers-- mango and honey. The former was so sweet it barely tasted like alcohol; the latter had a little bit of bitterness in its aftertaste. Good stuff.

After dinner we ordered a white chocolate mousse to share. Barring Mom's ice cream pie and apple crisp and a few select others, this is the best dessert I've ever had.

Deeeee-lishus.

Sarah and Kevin.

Then we headed to a pub to close out the night. Raf and I returned to his dorm and Sarah and Kev to hers at one of Middlesex University's other campuses.

Kevin and Raf indicating how different their time abroad is from that of school.

Kev was flying back to Berlin (where he's studying for the semester) the following afternoon. Raf and I met them at one of the thousands of kebab/pizza places that exist in the UK and had a nice goodbye lunch.

Raf has just bashed Kevin. Note Kev's facial expression.

Raf and I then headed to Camden Market, which is especially populated on Sundays- market day! There were punks, cheap/bootleg merchandise, record stores, tattoo parlors, and t-shirt stands everywhere. We briefly rendezvoused with Deb, who was incredibly generous in bringing along the toiletry bag I'd left at her place the night before. I bought a Sadus "Swallowed in Black" shirt, Voivod's Nothingface on vinyl, and a shirt with a very cool Darth Vader head print on it. We also purchased some gifts for friends back home. We bought a Belgian waffle covered in strawberries and chocolate and it was tasty nugs.

The most humorous moment of the weekend was when I approached one of many generic little shops stalking wares ranging from touristy stuff to bongs, and inspected what I thought to be a Five Hour Energy Shot sorta deal. Then I noticed the big "FLAMMABLE" lettering on the side of the small bottle. The foreign dude who worked at the shop approached me. "How many you want?"

"We're just browsing," I said.
"You want popper?"

Raf and I quickly exited and laughed heartily. Our good friend from school, Peter, had been offered poppers as well when visiting Camden on a high school trip. You can read about them here, if so inclined.

It was time to eat. The solution? Falafel, of course!

Surprise: I bought two again.

I even converted Raf to the cause.

From there, we went to the End of the World pub, another classy establishment. It's gigantic and is connected to/associated with the next door Underworld venue, where I'm going to see Agalloch with Tom M and Mattin a few weeks. Kellene, Sarah, and Kellene's cousin Kelly met up with us there and good times were had.

Afterwards we hung out at Kellene's dorm for a bit, then Raf and I went back to his place, watched the awesome 1990 Night of the Living Dead remake, and crashed. We woke up, tubed to Southgate and decided to eat. The solution? Falafel! I don't have any pictorial proof this time, though.

Raf and I hugged goodbye and I made it back to school around 5:30. What a wonderful trip.

Thanks to Deb and Raf for housing me, and much love to them and everybody else. It was so exciting to see you all.

Tunes and Travels

Today I booked train tickets for this weekend. I'm heading to London to hang out with Goucher friends also abroad in the country-- Debra on Friday night/Saturday, then Kellene, Rafael, Kevin (visiting from his studies in Berlin) and Sarah from Saturday night to Monday afternoon.

I just got back from a rehearsal space, where I jammed with Ben, Tony, Jon and Vicky, a singer Jon discovered through classifieds. All of us except Ben (who was too busy) picked a song last week and after practicing on our own we jammed them together tonight. Jon picked the Pixies "Gigantic," Tony picked the Libertines' "Don't Look Back into the Sun," Vicky picked the Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With the Flow," and I chose Alice in Chains' "Would."

The rehearsal space is in this killer local rental place and was furnished with bass and guitar amps, a loud PA, and most importantly for me a cheapo beginner Yamaha bass. We began just by jamming for a short bit on a little slap lick I came up with on the spot per Jon's prompting and that was a good time. We started with "Go With the Flow," and we all heard Vicky's voice for the first time-- very solid! Then came "Gigantic" which is about as simple as songs get and it came out just fine. After "Don't Look Back into the Sun" came "Would," which I was stoked on because I really wanted to hear a female voice belt that huge chorus. Vicky sounded quite awesome and it's the only song of the four I play bass with a pick on...very fun but easy bassline.

We ended with a 15-minute-ish jam and agreed it was a good time. I need to pick a tune for next week-- I'm torn between the Foo Fighters' "Everlong," Dinosaur Jr's "Raisans," or the Doughboys "Fix Me."

I got good feedback from the dudes and really felt great playing music with other people. It's something I rarely get to do, and I'm quite grateful to be invited into the fold.

GREAT SUCCESS, vol. II

Today I received some work back from my Creative Writing class. My professor enjoyed what I'd written-- an exercise about suffering from stupidity and subsequently, dehydration while climbing Masada this summer, and a short story about an office worker who finds out mid-argument his fly has been open all morning and Cap'n Winkie has been making a subtle appearance (hey, one of the assignment's plot options was "business man in a public setting with his pants' zipper down").

Then I FINALLY got back to the gym and really took my time. As always, it really cleared my head. Shortly before I left school, I benched 180 once and that was my big achievement until today. I benched the kilo equivalent of 176.4 pounds 4 times the first set and then 5 the next! Awesome. One day I'm hoping I can reach 200, and then go beyond.

Lastly, I returned to my room to find an email informing me that yes, my Creative Writing class here can count as a 300-level seminar towards my English major! This really frees up my schedule next year, because otherwise I would have to take three required seminars (one creative, two literature).

Pow! Right in the kisser!

Okay, not exactly.

Tonight we had a much smaller Wing Chun class than normal. Rob was sick and couldn't make it and only me and four others showed, so Ray taught. He and I did footwork/sparring as usual and this time I got to apply the blocks and punches I'd been learning, integrating them with fast foot movement. Several of my punches-- whether meant to or not-- hit home, one of which gave him a small but noticeable mark on his forehead. Ray remarked I had made "massive improvement" by keeping my arms in proper position (elbows low) and moving my feet properly. I'm not exactly a violent person, but sparring is fan.

Meanwhile, my forearms hurt like hell. Ah, well.

Long time, no post.

Plenty has gone on. Friday I cabbed to yet another pub to meet up with the Toms, Matt, Emmsy, Luke and some other friends of theirs. When we moved onto the Wildman Pub, something crazy happened. A heavyset man with long, fringey hair strode quietly in. "That looks like Shane Embury," I said loudly.
"Hah," said Tom N.
Then I noticed the man's friend had a Morbid Angel hoodie on. Hmm. And the possible Shane Embury had a Repulsion patch. Yeah, it had to be him. Suspicions were furthered when a dude looking like Mitch Harris stepped in. So Luke and I went up and very briefly conversed with them. Nice dudes.

Did a whole lot of nothing Saturday, then tonight I interviewed bassist Alex Webster, of famed and controversial death metal band Cannibal Corpse. They came to UEA opening for Children of Bodom. Alex was a class act and a down-to-earth human being...we talked for an hour! Once the interview's properly transcribed, I'll post it on my music blog (which you should check out if you haven't yet).

Bad news: my tendonitis is acting up a bit. I found a great exercise program to help with it, though, so I'm doing that daily and am going to further efforts to keep myself off of the computer.

Wax On, Wax Off

Tonight at Wing Chun, Rob (the instructor) complemented my punching numerous times during drills.

Then, when Ray was going over one-one footwork training drills with Ray and when I was out of breath and couldn't keep up, he popped me one in the mouth.

Another Night in Town

Last night I headed out to Tom's house to hang out with him, his housemate/my other friend Tom (they're of course differentiated by their last name) and a firstyear girl, Alex. We watched Hard Boiled, which was unanimously called badass, and then took a cab to Store's Pub, a tiny lil' establishment with a pool table and a cozy back room.

I'm not amazing at pool, and for my own abilities I did alright. Tom N (Autopsy sweatshirt one) completely slays, as does our friend Jon who met up with us there. Later, Jon's friend Ben came and of course music came up in convsation; turns out Jon drums, Ben has played guitar for eight years, and they're looking for a bass player to jam with. They've invited me to join them Thursday at their practice space in town, which is apparently fully equipped with rental gear and a "loud as fuck" PA system. I'm substantially excited-- I couldn't bring a bass out here, only a Mexican-made Fender guitar, and I've never really had the opportunity to consistently jam with folks in the past few years.

Both Toms also said that yeah, they'd be down to travel some over the month-long spring break we have. The prices out here, so long as you book early, are jawdropping-- most of RyanAir's flight's cost 10 pounds!

Finally, a bit of good stateside news: someone wants to buy my old Hamer Import Standard bass. It served me well as my first practical bass guitar, and I think the shape is quite awesome, but the neck weight and width was just not working out for me. Some dude on Talkbass mentioned in a thread discussing similarly-shaped bass that he missed his old Hamer Import Standard and wished he hadn't sold it, so I got in touch and it turns out he's interested. The only tough part now is that he'll have to wait sevenish months till I get out east for my final year at Goucher, as it currently resides with a friend. Hey Chris, if you're reading this, it means a lot of freed up space under your bed!

Milk

Last night I had the great pleasure of catching the new Harvey Milk biopic, Milk, at Cinema City, a very cozy and well-kept independent theater in downtown Norwich. I'd previously only seen Sean Penn as classic stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and to say this was a step up in performance would be a huge understatement. His portrayal of Harvey Milk is strong, passionate, positive, and so very humorous in the face of incredible adversity. "How does one teach homosexuality?" he asks the homophobic, conservative Senator Briggs, who makes just such an allegation in a public debate. "Is it like French?"

I could go on, but suffice it to say I was crying in the end. What the movie made me truly realize is how much I support freedom of sexual orientation, and also how scary religious fundamentalism can be.

Also, the "Twinkie Defense" could be the biggest crock of a legal move I've ever heard. My goodness.

GREAT SUCCESS

After the teacher didn't email me back I was sweating bullets-- the class meets tomorrow (Thursday) and after that it would be too late. Hell, it's to late already-- 3 weeks into the semester! I popped into the School Office-- an office that serves as an essay turn-in station, a reception area and a mail room for the Schools of Literature & Creative Writing, Film & Media Studies and others-- and left my information and number with one of the women working at the desk, who said she would contact the teacher for me and inquire about my switching in.

I just now got a call from the same receptionist, who informed me that the instructor "would be delighted to have you in the seminar." YES! So long, TV history.

Updated schedule:

Monday: NO CLASS. Wing Chun 7-9 PM.
Tuesday: Film History film screening, 2-5 PM.
Wednesday: Film History lecture, 10-11 AM.
Thursday: Journalism, 10 AM-12 PM. Creative Writing, 4-6 PM.
Friday: Film History seminar, 3-4 PM.

Halfway there

It's so late in the term to switch courses (or modules, as they are referred to here) that the only way for an overseas student would be 1) my Goucher advisor emphasizing the class' importance to my graduation, thus getting the okay from the Taught Programmes Office and 2) the approval of the teacher. So far, part 1 is complete and the answer to part 2 is being anxiously awaited by yours truly in an email back from said teacher. I'm hopeful, but am trying to ready myself for the possibility of sticking it out through TV History for the rest of the semester.

Fingers crossed.

Okay, I'll be real. British TV history is really looking a class that will bore the life out of me. Yes, it's important to British history and culture and blah blah, but I simply have no interest in it or television anywhere else (save for the occasional episode of South Park or It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia).

So per the recommendation of an upper-classman friend, I'm trying to switch into a journalism writing course. I'll have to do all the backwork, obviously, but I'm at the odd point and time where I want some homework. I feel like there's not enough to keep my mind going and I end up wasting time on the internet or watching friends get drunk. Neither is really productive nor entertaining. Oh, and I really like journalism.

In order to pull this last minute switch, I'll have to plead my case to Jeanette Pavey ("I'm an English major, can't you see?!") in the Taught Programmes Office tomorrow morning. Then likely another pleading to the course instructor. Fingers crossed.

Good times, finally.

The whole Deviant Society bit did yield one (well, a few) good outcomes, in the end. A few weeks back I basically browsed through their Facebook group roster, looking for folks with solid taste in tunes, and there was some dude named Tom, wearing an Autopsy shirt. I shot him a message and we got to talking about death metal and the like and last night I met up with him and his two housemates at the Marquee pub. Good guys into good music (Slowdive and Tom Waits also came up in conversation), and I think we're going to go see Agalloch in London in late March. Like me, they expressed their discomfort with the "Deviant" label and the preference that musical influence not define one's lifestyle.

Not much else to report, really. Need to stock up on food today and do laundry soonish as well.

Thank GOODNESS

Otter tours Scotland in postbag

A postman who rescued a baby otter on a Scottish roadside took her on a 220-mile tour in his mailbag.

Kenny Wilson, 50, of Tweedbank, in the Borders, spotted the cub - named Orla - lying on the A7 near Stow on Sunday.

He stopped his car, popped her in his mailbag to keep her warm and then bought her kitten milk and fed her through the tube of a ballpoint pen.

He then took the otter with him on a Mini car enthusiasts' rally before taking it to an animal rescue centre.

The six-week-old otter was said to be doing well at the Arthurshiel centre near St Boswells in Roxburghshire.

Mr Wilson was travelling on the A7 road just north of Stow in the Borders in his 1999 Mini Cooper when he spotted Orla lying at the side of the road.

He explained: "She was frozen and I did not give her much of a chance to be honest.

"It looked as if she had either been abandoned or her mother had been hit by a car."

Mr Wilson said the otter had come from the nearby Gala Water and "looked terrified from the noise of the cars and would soon have been hit".

"I popped her into the mailbag I had in the car and carried on up the A7 and just kept hearing little squeaks and sucking noises to imply she was hungry," he said.

"I stopped at Tesco at Dalkeith and bought some kitten milk and fed it through the tube of a ballpoint pen.

"She seemed happy enough and during our journey she kept crawling up my neck looking for more warmth."

'Doing well'

Mr Wilson said everyone at the car rally was amazed when they saw the animal.

The pup was initially named Ozzie but when it was discovered it was female Mr Wilson's wife, Jayne, came up with Orla.

The postman added: "Orla seemed to enjoy her 220-mile round trip round the Trossachs and when we got home we fed her some crushed chicken and put her in our cat Ebony's basket as she decided to go out for the night.

"Not many otters have been on a tour of central Scotland.

"The next day we contacted Arthurshiel and took her over there where she seems to be doing well."

Shona Middlemas of the rescue centre said the brown European otter was being fed and kept warm.

"We are hand-rearing her just now and she stayed last night in the warmth of our living room," she said.

"I have been taking advice from people on the best way to look after her.

"Kenny did a good job because it sounds as if she would not have survived."

However, she said the rescue had not come without expense.

"At the moment we are feeding her fish every two hours and she has got some appetite," she explained.

"She is going through about £15 worth of salmon each day."

Original story here.

There's not much to presently report, save for

• I'm attempting facial hair out of boredom
• My calves are burning from how long we held stance last night in Wing Chun class
• I have a reading to do for Film History but the temptation to watch a movie again is overwhelming
• DVD region codes are substantially stupid and pointless.
  

An Exercise in Randomness- iTunes Shuffle Free-Throught Association

The Descendents- I'm the One. This song had pretty incredible relevance to a certain situation this fall. It's pretty obvious.

Smashing Pumpkins- Take Me Down. Man. Always kinda dug this one. James Iha is underrated. Dreamy song.

People Under the Stairs- The Breakdown. Reminds me of a certain someone. Need to listen to this compilation more.

Metallica- Whiplash. Me and Dan Robinson. High school. Pretending were cooler and more snide than everyone else at Hebrew High, in our own little world. I wore out the first three Metallica albums freshman and sophomore year, and I hate thinking about those wasted, oft-nihilistic times. So...next song.

Autopsy- Stillborn. This band is everything I love about simple, raw, oldschool death metal and holds the same appeal to me as a fantastic zombie flick.

Camel- The Great Marsh. Rural-sounding. Perfectly narrates the foggy days here in Norwich.

Voivod- Tribal Convictions. A galactic, progressive headrush. I bought this record on a whim one of many times we met up with Aunt Joanie in Tacoma. To this day, I've never heard anything else like it. RIP Piggy.

Iron Maiden- Flight of Icarus (Live). Not my favorite song, but my favorite band of all time. Seventh grade-- Ben McCarty gave me a tape with two of their songs. My hair didn't magically drop to shoulder-length, nor did I immediately get past the unsavory Limp Bizkit shit I was into at the time, but it was a golden moment that indicated a future direction for my musical taste.

Agalloch- A Celebration for the Death of Man. I could listen to Agalloch on Mars and it would still teleport my mind back to the beautiful grays of the Northwest.

Ol' Dirty Bastard- Hippa To Da Hoppa. Chris Weed. I miss you, duder.

Mussorgsky- The Polish Ox-Cart. I'm no classical buff, but this and Holst's Planets are my two favorite classical works.

Cream- Swablr. Mmmm...Clapton's fuzz tone on this, so damned good. Dad saw them for something like three dollars once.

Celtic Frost- Into the Crypts of Rays. Tom, why did you spit on me when I was worshipping the ground you walked on? :(

Catherine Wheel- Show Me Mary. Catherine Wheel? This sounds like Noel Gallagher fronting Husker Du.

Void- Who Are You? It's tied between this and Black Flag's "My War," for which chorus I often want to yell at people.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer- The Barbarian. Bass distortion die for. Most ominous organ sounds ever. Heavy metal, right here.

The Long-Awaited Room Tour

This is my bed, directly to the right when you enter the room. Note the trusty eyemask and the tackboard above it.



The mess of clothes on the left is my attempt to fit all my clothing on the crude shelves that jut out from the wall. The desk is a desk...uh... moving along to the part of the room around the corner--

The closet door is obscuring the wash basin (read: sink and mirror). Spare bed on the right.

My room is also at the top of my flat's block, so I have an amazing view of the campus lake and other wonderful sights. It's like having a sweet wizard tower, only I'm not Christopher Lee.

A Slightly More Eventful Weekend Than Previous

Friday: Got out of class at 5, hit the gym at 6 and then washed up and met up with Shane and his flatmates in Suffolk (the ziggurat dorm area opposite mine) to hit up the town.

Liquid proved to be a better nightclub than Mercy, which isn't exactly a high benchmark in the first place, but come on now. I don't dance and I sure as shit didn't dress properly. Black jeans and a yellow shirt are pretty garish in general, but I'm pretty sure everybody else at the club was wondering if I even knew the meaning of the term "business casual." Pictorial proof:

And no, I'm not drunk here.

On the bright side of things, I discovered Smirnoff Ice actually tastes okay. Back on the downside of things, that's the last time I go into town without ear plugs. Haven't had the "cotton ball effect" in my ears since I saw CoC at the Showbox without any ear protection.

Saturday: Woke up nice and late, but couldn't get ahold of my buddy Mike from Goucher-- we were going to head into town to shop. Phoned Ian, who had just headed there, and took a bus by myself for the first time. It wasn't too difficult, haha. Found a tech store and paid the equivalent of 120 USD for a 1-terabyte external hard drive. Just so you're clear on the math: in summer 2006, I paid 150 for a 250-gig one. Less than three years later, I threw down thirty dollars less for four times the storage space. Awesome.

Also awesome: British-made Rotosound bass strings-- made popular by the mighty John Entwhistle and subsequently used by Chris Squire, Steve Harris and numerous other musicians that I love cost 40-some in the US, but only cost 20 here at a really sweet music shop on St. Benedict street. I snatched up a pack and will probably snag a few more before I go home.

I also bought four used movies because sometimes a guy needs ridiculous entertainment. Let's just say that Steven Seagal's Under Siege is one the best investments of time I've made in the past six months.

After Mike endured my taking my time in the video shop, we went to the Waffle House for some eats. Totally delicious! I had the stir-fry waffle with soy and chili sauce. Thanks, Mike.

Today: Just lazed around, really, but what else is new?

Wednesday, during which nothing fucking works.

Laundry was long overdue today, so I hauled my bags of it to the laundrette in the campus square. The loading/detergent process was difficult enough to do properly even with its written instructions. But the real topper was that the central pay slot started eating my coins-- not processing them, not regurgitating them in the change return, but simply absorbing them. I began to warn other unwary patrons that the thing was ferkakt (sp?) and got pen and paper from the Union Food Outlet next door and posted a sign. Calling the repair number listed on the pay slot proved little help; the guy hesitated and informed me with some reluctance that "we won't get to that for awhile." As I type this I'm sitting in my dorm room with three loads of wet laundry stretched and sprawled in every possible advantageous open space, hoping they'll be dry by morning. Then there's a completely unwashed load that I was about to put in-- and it was then that the slot stopped functioning properly

To add insult to injury, technology is failing me also. My little portable iPod speakers I received for high school graduation, having first lost the ability to charge an iPod, and then to play music from an iPod, are now hardly able to be used simply as auxilliary computer speakers. There's a lot of line hum/white noise going on whenever sound is put through them. Oh well... they lasted almost three years. Time to invest in new ones.

Further adding salt to wound is the slow death of my external hard drive. I love it-- it's an elegant brick that's quite portable and in over three years of owning it I've only filled up 60 of it's 250-gigabyte storage capacity. But now, whenever I open an item from it (usually meaning that I attempt to play a song from iTunes), the damn thing whirs and clanks for a good while "as if there were little men banging mallets inside" as my friend Max has said. It will ten whir down, and repeat the two-step process. Eventually the song will play or the file will be able to be opened, but ultimately the wait time is getting worse. I hope these things don't run too much...I NEED one in order to continue music and music management/playback while abroad. There's simply no room on my laptop's hard drive to hold my music collection.

One spot of good news: about to hit the gym at 3:30.

Societies Follow-Up

Last Thursday, as mentioned, was a Deviant Society social at the Red Pub on campus, so I headed over there hoping to meet folks into similar musical digs. Immediately, someone takes note of my Celtic Frost hoodie and welcomes me over. I chatted with a few people over the course of the night. I'd say I was half-comfortable/half-not...some awkward personalities here and there, but really my fundamental discomfort is this: I don't feel the need to distance myself from others with even the loosest of labels. I don't wish to be labeled "deviant" just because I enjoy some heavier music; similarly, once I thought it through, I didn't want to be called "straightedge" when I didn't do drugs or drink in high school. I also do not consider myself a "dark" person in any sense despite some of the darker influences inherent in some of my musical interests. So yeah, there's that. Let's see how many further Deviant events I attend. Groucho Marx (and eventually, Woody Allen) once said "I'd never want to be part of club that wanted me as a member." Maybe that quote is applicable here.

Tonight was my first Wing Chun lesson. There were about 15 people total, including Rob (the main instructor), Ray (the society head and student instructor) and Dan (the other student instructor-- I think that was his name). We train from 7-9 every Monday. Today we learned the basic stance (which in and of itself is an exercise in muscle endurance-- makes your legs burn), the first part of the first form (a series of basic motions chained together like a kata would be in karate, somewhat), three different basic countering (bong sao, tan sao and fook sao), basic punching and kicking, and a series of counters for a wrist grab. There were also plenty of fitness exercises integrated-- we did ten sets of alternating five punches and five push-ups (they call them "press-ups" here), a painfully long plank, and sit-ups where we did ten punches every time we went up.

Ultimately, I'm beat and this will make for great learning and great exercise! I just need to get all squared away with the gym via an induction session so I can go at least two other times a week and, between that and Wing Chun, keep myself fit this semester. As I was leaving, Dan commended me on doing a great job. I thanked him for his patience...I hard time with a few elements of a particular exercise. Still, fantastic to be commended on my first martial arts class in nearly a decade!

I am so very excited to be returning to martial arts in any form (no pun intended). Some of the best days of my youth were spent sweating away in Sifu Rick Demile's martial arts academy-- and my learning there began at his garage on Madison Avenue, with no mats for the first few months, punching water-filled boat buoys. Years later, between weak cardio endurance from a pubescent growth spurt and looming Bar Mitzvah studies, I quit at the age of twelve. I always regretted it-- especially as childhood friends later ascended to black belt and assistant instructor positions-- and as a result, I've yearned to go back for the past few years, now and again. Buying a lot of old kung-fu films this summer only bolstered my desire. Now that desire is fulfilled. Awesome.

Contrary to Popular Belief, My Cell Phone is NOT a Sex Line

My flatmate Adam approached me at dinner tonight and asked what network I was using for my UK cell phone.

"Orange," I said, "Why?"
"Well, whenever I call you, there's this woman's voice as it rings and she says something about you being busy."
"What?'
"Here, I'll call you and show you what I mean."

And sure enough, over the dial tone, some sexy female voice goes "the person you're trying to reach is busy right now, but he'll call you back later. You see, he's a busy boy. A busy, busy boy!"

If only it were true.

To Bex, if you're reading this

Nicked from Martha C's recent Facebook album:

New Year's Eve.

I think this is the best and funniest picture of us both since that timeless 8th-grade-camping-trip-one. This picture reminded me of all the great laughs we crammed in to what was an unfortunately small winter break. Miss you, buddy.

Books on the Reading Docket

Currently reading: Michael Moorcock's The Chronicles of Corum, a compilation of the second Prince Corum trilogy-- The Bull and the Spear, The Oak and the Ram, and The Sword and the Stallion. On the third book already and loving it. A lot of Celtic/Cornish folkore in the influence, evidently.

In the queue:
Michael Moorcock, The History of the Runestaff. A British compilation of another series of one of Moorcock's characters, Dorian Hawkmoon. Star Wars meets King Arthur. Badass.

Michael Moorcock, The Cornelius Chronicles. Moorcock's cyberpunk, androgenous secret agent/master-of-all-trades Jerry Cornelius.

Robert L. Howard, The Conquering Sword of Conan. The final compilation of all of Howard's work before he committed suicide at a young age. I'm a big fan of his stuff and it's quite interesting to read pre-Tolkien fantasy.

Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The title short story is one of the most amazing, heartbreaking things I've ever read. Can't wait to read more of him.

Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. This one sounds fantastic and profound, to say the least.

Mickey Spillane, One Lonely Night. "Sure I write garbage," Spillane once said, "but it's good garbage." Tough-guy detective fiction. I'd say it's a guilty pleasure, but I don't feel too guilty reading Mike Hammer novels.

Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing. Perhaps my favorite author, giving guidance on the craft. Can't wait.

EDIT: Forgot to mention John Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and His Knights. One of the most popular modern translations of Malory's work. Years ago my Dad tried to get me to read this and brushed him off and now I truly regret it. First, because I loved reading Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath in high school; second, because I loved Arthurian tales as a kid and recently rekindled my this love when I read Morte Darthur for a lit class this fall. Also quite excited for this one.

My possible return to the martial arts, and an early English success

Yesterday was the SocMart-- basically a club rush, but here clubs are called societies. I signed up for the mailing list for two societies.

The Wing Chun society holds a once-a-week martial arts class. The Wing Chun form is the same sort of self-defense techniques I initally learned when I was very young and studying under Sifu Rick DeMile before his curriculum focused more on combined elements. The classes are a pound each session, with a two-pound starting fee. The only catch is that I already have two classes that day, and the martial arts class is another two hours, so...we'll see. Obviously it also involves a lot of independent practice that I'll have to make time for along with the independent research for classes that British teachers are so hep on emphasizing.

The unfortunately-named Deviant Society is an alternative music collective. This seems somewhat hit-or-miss in regards to specific music I like, but they have socials at the on-campus Red Pub every Thursday night at 8-- so I'm headed there in a bit to see what's up. They also book and host gigs in town.

Today my sole class was a 4-6 Creative Writing: Prose Fiction seminar. It went quite well; a fellow Goucher English major, Mike, was in my class. At one point we all had to write for 15 minutes on our first day of school. I immediately wrote about my arrival to UEA rather than the subject instructed, realized it, and furrowed my brow a bit but kept going. After we all finished writing, we read the pieces aloud and recieved brief but straightforward verbal feedback from the the teacher. When it came time for mine, he commented that the ending was a case of telling more than showing, but otherwise the rest was "very concrete writing." Good to hear-- sometime my verbosity gets the best of me.

On an unrelated note, I watched this last night.


If you're one for samurai/kung-fu cinema, gore, or basically wonder what Road to Perdition (based on this film/comic series) would be like if it took place in feudal Japan, this one is for you. It also has four or five sequels.

Classes so far

Monday: TV History lecture/screening, an hour break, and then a small seminar discussion. The lecture outlined the course and we were shown an installment of the British 60s TV program Seven Up, which chronicled the lives of a select sample of children every seven years. Interesting stuff.

Today: Movie screening for Film History course. Given that it's titled "Film History: 1930- Present," I was hoping we'd be covering noir film or, say, Casablanca in short order, but instead we watched Scream. Yes, this Scream.


I'm not a horror film buff, though I do enjoy the genre for most part. It was quite entertaining and very 90s. Guess I'll learn about its relevance to the course tomorrow during the lecture portion of the class.

Class Schedule.

Monday
1-3 PM: TV History lecture

4-5 PM: TV History seminar

Tuesday
2-5 PM: Film History screening

Wednesday
10-11 AM: Film History

Thursday
4-6 PM: Creative Writing- Prose Fiction

Friday
3-4 PM: Film History

Hopefully not a prediction of the future

If for no other reason than not forgetting, I just want to note a pretty funny dream I had the other night-- or at least, funny to me.

Somehow, Bridget and myself were back in Gordon Stenerson's math class-- just the two of us-- and had gotten our recent test results returned. For some reason, I had gotten a B-minus and was bummed out at the fact (which is unrealistic-- I got C's in math during most of highschool, and would've jumped for joy if I'd gotten a B-minus). I felt myself frown and looked at Bridge.

"How'd you do?"

She looked at me really skeptically. "Really, really well."

"Well, shit."

Ups and Downs

+ Got a solid cell phone with pay-as-you-go plan
+ Got classes registered
-I have five days of class a week, while my friends average 2 or 3 days
+Most classes aren't very long
-Need to find source of good, organic food and stop scrimping and subsequently buying bad food
-It's below freezing outside
+I haven't gone outside my dorm hall today

Of the many things I miss while away from home...

I miss this.

New Day Rising.

Today made everything feel a whole lot better. Got up at 9, went to orientation at 10:30ish and met two girls, Casey and Kristy, who know a friend of mine at Dickinson where they go to school. Sat with them for the following lecture, then had lunch and met Jonah and Ian, who both hail from the Bay Area. After a good 36 hours of relative social isolation-- no friends, no cell phone, no communication-- this was all refreshing, to say the least.

Did more grocery shopping in town with the newfound friends, then headed back to the somewhat off-campus area called the Village where Casey, Kristy, Jonah and the girls' friend Anekit live in flats. We made ourselves dinner from the various groceries previously bought and laughed a lot, then headed to the campus pub. Had a little to drink, and confirmed for the umpteenth my dislike for all beer that's not Lambic Framboise (thanks, Bolesta).

After the pub closed down, we all headed into town once more to the Mercy nightclub, a truly refined and flashy joint. Dancing was not my scene, nor was it Anekit's, so we walked around the mostly-empty streets and talked. Good times, really.

I need to sleep so I can meet Jonah and buy a phone tomorrow. Love to all.

Arrival

Got in last night at 7 PM here. It was and is really cold.

The flight Sea-Tac to Cinncinati was fine, as was the flight from Seattle to London, but afterward the busride from London-Gatwick airport to University of East Anglia lasted some sevenish hours. I hadn't eaten since the brief breakfast on the plane because 1) I'm an idiot and 2) I would've had to wheel all my baggage around the airport to find food.

I couldn't and still can't make any expensive international cellphone calls because my cellphone doesn't even get reception. Going to have to find a way to get a plan or new phone or both for such things. I'm also writing this from a library computer because I won't have access to internet from my computer/dorm till Monday or so-- I have to wait to register and get my campus card and other stuff.

Anyway, while on the bus, I befriended a first-year named Jonathan, who hails from Cyprus and was also onboard. He was nice enough to help me with hauling my luggage. There's construction going on on the main roads of campus, so we had to be dropped off the main drive to campus. We then walked some 15-20 minutes to the on-campus hotel thingy, Broadview Lodge, so I could spend the night there-- I called UEA from the airport and they told me I had to find accomodations there as my room wouldn't be accessible yet. But somehow someone in the Accommodations office had forwarded my key to the Lodge's front desk. Even better, the woman working there phoned security and I got a ride to my dorm hall, preventing another tendinitis-inducing luggage haul.

My room is pretty darned huge, which is nice (pictures to come). They provided a set of sheets, which aren't the most cozy but are quite warm. My bed is like a shortened queensize. The showers & toilet are just down the stairs. The shower is like a damned coffin; I can't even stand up straight.

I woke up jet-lagged at 5-something (the only way I can tell is by looking at my computer clock). Then I went back to sleep an hour later, and woke up at 12:50. I just spent £36.50 on food at the campus supermarket and I hope it lasts. Orientation is tomorrow, so hopefully I'll feel a little more secure about things then. For now, I feel very insecure and unsure of things... there's not really anyone I know and I've only now just contacted the outside world, save for a brief call home from an aiport landline.

Thanks and love to any and all who read.