A few questions have come up regarding how to leave comments. I think it's just a matter of going to the bottom of the post and clicking "(number) comments", which is purple, then typing in the box that should eventually load. I believe comments can be left anonymously, meaning that you don't need a blogger or google account.
Until later,
Raeann
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Class, Naps, and Paranoia — Tuesday 27 September
Today was another successful crepe tuesday. I figured out that mixing olive oil into the batter helps make them better.
I went to talk to IT before my noon class (the only one for tuesdays) and was told that my issues with receiving emails were pretty much a mystery. Sigh. I was more successful at the payments desk, where I picked up my stipend cheque to be cashed at one Barclays Bank. Then I went to class, and took some notes before class started. I'll probably sound pretentious. Don't say I didn't warn you.
HIS114, which turned into my first module at the University of Sunderland: So far, really warm and probably full of freshmen. Smelly ones. Although, that might just be the room.
All the british students are up in arms about the heat. It's supposed to get up to 25 ºC (which is around 77 ºF). That's a rather warm room temperature.
I had a strange conversation about study abroad, modules, and the weather with an irate southerner (I suspect London, but I'm not sure). He insisted on calling me "Raeanna".
The classroom was really warm, and no one on the windows would open one. Regarding the outside temperature, I heard someone with a british accent trying to explain the term "Indian Summer" to a german international, so I guess it's one of those terms that forgoes rational cultural identification.
I need to come up with better reasons for going on this trip. "Because I've always wanted to see England" doesn't sound that great, and "I've always wanted to study abroad, and I don't speak any other language fluently" sounds worse. Any thoughts, please let me know.
I was pleased when I didn't end up in the 09:00 seminar group, but then I realised that I wasn't registered for the class and so hadn't been placed in a group. Bummer. I ended up in the 10:00 group.
The first lecture was an overview, and I didn't know most of it. I did know that the world wars aren't in the early modern period, which stretches from approximately 1500 (1453 and the fall of Constantinople and 1492 and Columbus sailing the ocean blue are two academic contenders in the great debate) to 1750 (I don't know why). That made me feel better, because I'm slightly less unknowledgeable than the person behind me. It looks like the class will be over the social events of the period and how they are intertwined with the political and religious events of the period. I'm pretty satisfied with this, since I know a little bit about the religious events as taught in Core 150 (who knew it would be so useful?) and I have a vague impression of English history for that period.
After class, I hunted for Barclays. I was not very successful. I got directions, all conflicting, from three different people. The last one finally landed me at the "fruit and veg stand" across from the bank, but only after I walked all the way up and down three streets and ended up covering the same ground two or three times.
I bought some strawberries, peaches, and pears with some of my £520 in cash that I need to hide around my room in £38 aliquots. On the first day of orientation, Emma told us about a kid who lost £6,000 that he was carrying around in a brown envelope. Stay with me, it's related. When I got my cash, they gave it to me in a brown envelope. I went home pretty quickly, with a tight grip on my bag.
I foolishly didn't buy a pair of slippers at a random shoe store, so I was incredibly footsore with very little to show for it by the time I got home. I heated up a cheese and onion pasty (remind me to look up and test a recipe before I head home), then put on Pride and Prejudice. I updated yesterday's blog, then fell asleep for about five hours, I would say.
When I went downstairs around 20:30, everyone was just getting ready to watch Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey, Jr.), so I had a snack and hung around. "Everyone" here means Jessi, Conor, Josie, James, and Adam, since Micha doesn't hang out with us much and Flo was on a date (tikka chicken chom chom). We had a fun time switching around the seating arrangements every time someone got up, too. Adam's computer doesn't have a very wide angle of viewing, so the people on one end of the "couch" got the slightly inverted colour scheme.
After the movie, I set about arranging a skype date with my family for tomorrow. Now it's time to sleep, which will be aided by some mint tea.
I went to talk to IT before my noon class (the only one for tuesdays) and was told that my issues with receiving emails were pretty much a mystery. Sigh. I was more successful at the payments desk, where I picked up my stipend cheque to be cashed at one Barclays Bank. Then I went to class, and took some notes before class started. I'll probably sound pretentious. Don't say I didn't warn you.
HIS114, which turned into my first module at the University of Sunderland: So far, really warm and probably full of freshmen. Smelly ones. Although, that might just be the room.
All the british students are up in arms about the heat. It's supposed to get up to 25 ºC (which is around 77 ºF). That's a rather warm room temperature.
I had a strange conversation about study abroad, modules, and the weather with an irate southerner (I suspect London, but I'm not sure). He insisted on calling me "Raeanna".
The classroom was really warm, and no one on the windows would open one. Regarding the outside temperature, I heard someone with a british accent trying to explain the term "Indian Summer" to a german international, so I guess it's one of those terms that forgoes rational cultural identification.
I need to come up with better reasons for going on this trip. "Because I've always wanted to see England" doesn't sound that great, and "I've always wanted to study abroad, and I don't speak any other language fluently" sounds worse. Any thoughts, please let me know.
I was pleased when I didn't end up in the 09:00 seminar group, but then I realised that I wasn't registered for the class and so hadn't been placed in a group. Bummer. I ended up in the 10:00 group.
The first lecture was an overview, and I didn't know most of it. I did know that the world wars aren't in the early modern period, which stretches from approximately 1500 (1453 and the fall of Constantinople and 1492 and Columbus sailing the ocean blue are two academic contenders in the great debate) to 1750 (I don't know why). That made me feel better, because I'm slightly less unknowledgeable than the person behind me. It looks like the class will be over the social events of the period and how they are intertwined with the political and religious events of the period. I'm pretty satisfied with this, since I know a little bit about the religious events as taught in Core 150 (who knew it would be so useful?) and I have a vague impression of English history for that period.
After class, I hunted for Barclays. I was not very successful. I got directions, all conflicting, from three different people. The last one finally landed me at the "fruit and veg stand" across from the bank, but only after I walked all the way up and down three streets and ended up covering the same ground two or three times.
I bought some strawberries, peaches, and pears with some of my £520 in cash that I need to hide around my room in £38 aliquots. On the first day of orientation, Emma told us about a kid who lost £6,000 that he was carrying around in a brown envelope. Stay with me, it's related. When I got my cash, they gave it to me in a brown envelope. I went home pretty quickly, with a tight grip on my bag.
I foolishly didn't buy a pair of slippers at a random shoe store, so I was incredibly footsore with very little to show for it by the time I got home. I heated up a cheese and onion pasty (remind me to look up and test a recipe before I head home), then put on Pride and Prejudice. I updated yesterday's blog, then fell asleep for about five hours, I would say.
When I went downstairs around 20:30, everyone was just getting ready to watch Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey, Jr.), so I had a snack and hung around. "Everyone" here means Jessi, Conor, Josie, James, and Adam, since Micha doesn't hang out with us much and Flo was on a date (tikka chicken chom chom). We had a fun time switching around the seating arrangements every time someone got up, too. Adam's computer doesn't have a very wide angle of viewing, so the people on one end of the "couch" got the slightly inverted colour scheme.
After the movie, I set about arranging a skype date with my family for tomorrow. Now it's time to sleep, which will be aided by some mint tea.
The Beach and New Neighbour Part 2 — Monday 26 September
Today, we (Jessi, Conor, Josie, James, and I) went to the beach. There are two in Sunderland, and we ended up at the north one. Unfortunately, we couldn't see Norway, but the North Sea was nice and ocean-y. The beach was great, with clean sand and not very many rocks. This might be partly because when the tide is in, or when "the sea is in" in local parlance, the water comes all the way up to the seawall.
Here's a couple more lighthouse pictures for Mom:
We had lunch at a fish and chips place, and I had what was billed as a "cheese patty". It turned out to be a lump of cheese and potato that had been battered and deep fried. It was kind of weird, but the chips were really good.
I got a picture with someone else's fish for the blog.
After that, I wandered around campus trying to get my computer troubles sorted. I can't check my timetable because I'm not actually registered for any modules, as it turns out. This made me rather irate. The fact that IT was only available from 10 AM to 2 PM today didn't help my mood.
In the end, I skipped my first class in protest of not being able to pick out classes until two business days before they start, not that they'll really know on account of me not being registered. Also, it was at 18:00 and I was reading and didn't want to catch the bus. I need a pair of slippers, because my feet are really taking a beating.
After we all got back from our various errands, Jessi hit a steep downward slope on her W-curve. The flat's common area was really messy, which has been irking her for a few days, and then there was a note on the door telling us to take out the trash and recycling. She stomped around in a bad mood and cleaned the entire common area while muttering that she hates the cleaning lady, the trash can, the vacuum, the floor, the carpet, the sink, the counter, Clanny House, Sunderland, and England. I did try to help, but she was in the sort of mood that doesn't welcome too much help.
She bounced back pretty well once the place was clean and everyone commented on it.
Tonight, we decided to have a subdued welcome party for Tom, the new guy. He didn't get back from class until after 21:00, which was about two hours after we all gathered. I suspect that we share that class, but there could be other 18:00 monday classes.
When Tom finally showed up, we discovered that he is from County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland (so, from the British Isles, but not British as such). He's in what I believe is an education programme, although he says that he's studying history and english. I think it's because he's doing secondary (essentially the same as middle school/high school in the states) education with the intent of teaching english and/or history; he's done a semester of student teaching 14-year-olds (I think he said first years, but I'm really not sure now that I've looked up the English school system on wikipedia). He plays hurling, which is referred to as the fastest game on grass. It's pretty brutal, like a cross between field hockey and rugby. I feel that this should prepare him pretty well for teaching adolescents.
It also appears that Jessi (my roommate) is quite taken with Tom. It's pretty funny, and also induced one of the first gossip-y moments that we had as a flat (sans Jessi and Tom). Thanks to the fairly even mix of genders and wide spectrum of personality types in the flat, there've been almost no snippy, catty little incidents.
We had a fun discussion about accents in general, which occasionally prompted arguments between Adam and James (northern and southern, respectively) in which they mimicked each other's accents.
Around 23:30, a general craving for pizza was discovered, and we hunted frantically through our collection of flyers and takeout menus for a pizza place open after 23:00. Once we found one, Josie called and had a hard time communicating with the pizza person. I'm sure it didn't help that her australian accent isn't very similar at all in any way to the pizza person's Geordie accent. I'm really not sure why Adam didn't call in the first place, because he can actually talk with a Geordie accent.
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| We finally found the beach! |
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| Sneaky water snuck up on me. |
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| I was big on waves crashing, but not very successful in capturing them. |
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| Proof. |
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| The shoreline had impressive curves. |
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| I was also fascinated by this little wall thing and the way the waves crashed into it. |
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| Birds! |
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| It looked cooler in real life. That wall is the seawall, and there's a crisp packet drifting along the little stream of water from further along the beach. |
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| We don't follow rules. |
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| Obligatory cute picture of Josie and James walking on the beach. Jessi is on the left there. |
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| Can you pick and choose? |
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| Those things with white roofs, if you can't tell, are train cars. For Andrew. |
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| Not one, but two lighthouses. For Mom. |
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| The sea came in. The grey in the foreground is the seawall. |
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| I think I walked down those stairs. |
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| Shadow pictures! |
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| More attempts to get sprays of water from crashing waves to follow. |
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| It sounds so fancy, promenade. |
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| The sea promptly started behaving like a huge body of water when it came in. No crashing waves, just big rolling ones. |
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| Bird! |
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| Danger, ha. I laugh in the face of danger. |
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| Sorry about the fuzzy. I thought I had a better one. |
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| Not actually a real light house, but still cool. |
We had lunch at a fish and chips place, and I had what was billed as a "cheese patty". It turned out to be a lump of cheese and potato that had been battered and deep fried. It was kind of weird, but the chips were really good.
I got a picture with someone else's fish for the blog.
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| Another English tradition checked off my list! |
After that, I wandered around campus trying to get my computer troubles sorted. I can't check my timetable because I'm not actually registered for any modules, as it turns out. This made me rather irate. The fact that IT was only available from 10 AM to 2 PM today didn't help my mood.
In the end, I skipped my first class in protest of not being able to pick out classes until two business days before they start, not that they'll really know on account of me not being registered. Also, it was at 18:00 and I was reading and didn't want to catch the bus. I need a pair of slippers, because my feet are really taking a beating.
After we all got back from our various errands, Jessi hit a steep downward slope on her W-curve. The flat's common area was really messy, which has been irking her for a few days, and then there was a note on the door telling us to take out the trash and recycling. She stomped around in a bad mood and cleaned the entire common area while muttering that she hates the cleaning lady, the trash can, the vacuum, the floor, the carpet, the sink, the counter, Clanny House, Sunderland, and England. I did try to help, but she was in the sort of mood that doesn't welcome too much help.
She bounced back pretty well once the place was clean and everyone commented on it.
Tonight, we decided to have a subdued welcome party for Tom, the new guy. He didn't get back from class until after 21:00, which was about two hours after we all gathered. I suspect that we share that class, but there could be other 18:00 monday classes.
When Tom finally showed up, we discovered that he is from County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland (so, from the British Isles, but not British as such). He's in what I believe is an education programme, although he says that he's studying history and english. I think it's because he's doing secondary (essentially the same as middle school/high school in the states) education with the intent of teaching english and/or history; he's done a semester of student teaching 14-year-olds (I think he said first years, but I'm really not sure now that I've looked up the English school system on wikipedia). He plays hurling, which is referred to as the fastest game on grass. It's pretty brutal, like a cross between field hockey and rugby. I feel that this should prepare him pretty well for teaching adolescents.
It also appears that Jessi (my roommate) is quite taken with Tom. It's pretty funny, and also induced one of the first gossip-y moments that we had as a flat (sans Jessi and Tom). Thanks to the fairly even mix of genders and wide spectrum of personality types in the flat, there've been almost no snippy, catty little incidents.
We had a fun discussion about accents in general, which occasionally prompted arguments between Adam and James (northern and southern, respectively) in which they mimicked each other's accents.
Around 23:30, a general craving for pizza was discovered, and we hunted frantically through our collection of flyers and takeout menus for a pizza place open after 23:00. Once we found one, Josie called and had a hard time communicating with the pizza person. I'm sure it didn't help that her australian accent isn't very similar at all in any way to the pizza person's Geordie accent. I'm really not sure why Adam didn't call in the first place, because he can actually talk with a Geordie accent.
Monday 26 September 2011
Jurassic Park and a New Neighbour — Sunday 25 September
Today's will be a short post with no pictures. Sorry.
A bunch of us went to the showing of Jurassic Park at the cinema. I had never seen it, and neither had Jessi. Apparently, we screamed a lot. I didn't really notice... I guess I was too busy being freaked out by freaking velociraptors.
Anyway.
It was very good, but now everyone is making velociraptor jokes and Adam keeps knocking on our door and running away laughing.
Jerk.
Speaking of door knocking, Jessi and I met Thomas, who I believe is british. Up until now, room 5 was empty, which we thought was because of Adam's noisy floor.
Nope. It's because Thomas was having an operation or something that prevented him from getting here any earlier. We're a little nervous, to be honest. He's really big, so he could be either a formidable defense against attackers or a really formidable attacker.
Mostly we hope he doesn't make a mess in the bathroom.
He seems nice enough, but, well, you never know.
I realise, as I put forth my suspicious side about not really trusting people that I've just met, that I feel like I've lived here, with my flatmates (with the exception of Thomas), forever. I feel like I've known these people all my life, and it's been almost exactly a week since I met any of them. We have inside jokes, funny little habits, and honest-to-God relationships, and I don't know how this happened so fast. Not that I'm complaining.
The security informational talk informed us that the vast majority of thefts on campus are perpetrated by students. I can't imagine any of my flatmates stealing from me. We're like a family; how could anyone break that trust? Admittedly, I hardly know anyone, but I can't see any of us stealing from anyone else in part because we share so much. We cover each other's cab fees and don't ask for recompense for edibles consumed; our dishes have glommed into a common cabinet. No one has stolen so much as a spoonful of jam or a single apple because we know that we can just ask. As a mainly international flat, we also have a funny view of life. At home, if my food got eaten or socks got stolen or stain remover and laundry detergent were used up, I would be upset but not devastated. Here, in another country, with limited funds and no chance of a job, I would be thrown adrift. It would be devastating. And I think that all of us have this common view of the world that keeps us from really even considering doing that to someone else.
Besides, I would notice if someone had on a pair of awesome stripey socks that look just like mine that went missing last month.
I realise, as I put forth my suspicious side about not really trusting people that I've just met, that I feel like I've lived here, with my flatmates (with the exception of Thomas), forever. I feel like I've known these people all my life, and it's been almost exactly a week since I met any of them. We have inside jokes, funny little habits, and honest-to-God relationships, and I don't know how this happened so fast. Not that I'm complaining.
The security informational talk informed us that the vast majority of thefts on campus are perpetrated by students. I can't imagine any of my flatmates stealing from me. We're like a family; how could anyone break that trust? Admittedly, I hardly know anyone, but I can't see any of us stealing from anyone else in part because we share so much. We cover each other's cab fees and don't ask for recompense for edibles consumed; our dishes have glommed into a common cabinet. No one has stolen so much as a spoonful of jam or a single apple because we know that we can just ask. As a mainly international flat, we also have a funny view of life. At home, if my food got eaten or socks got stolen or stain remover and laundry detergent were used up, I would be upset but not devastated. Here, in another country, with limited funds and no chance of a job, I would be thrown adrift. It would be devastating. And I think that all of us have this common view of the world that keeps us from really even considering doing that to someone else.
Besides, I would notice if someone had on a pair of awesome stripey socks that look just like mine that went missing last month.
Sunday 25 September 2011
Kinder Egg and Bowling — Saturday 24 September
The most exciting thing that happened to me this morning was sleeping.
The most exciting thing before 14:00 was opening up my Kinder Egg.
Photos!
Now I have a weird little paper balloon that I can't do anything with. It would go up on my ceiling if it was less shoddy.
I also did laundry in the little laundry room all the way across Clanny, next to reception. There are three parking lots inside Clanny, which is like a gated community with no pool. Block 1 is in the farthest parking lot from reception, which is in block 11. Also, there is a code to get into the laundry room, which I suppose is useful for keeping out malicious laundry thieves like students who don't have the code. I now have the code, happily. I also have clean, if damp, laundry. It's still across Clanny in the dryer.
We're going "ten-pin bowling" this afternoon, and I kind of hope that it's pretty much the same as bowling in the Tri Cities. Apparently there are other kinds of bowling; who knew?
Unfortunately, I can't get the code to work. I'll have to try it out again sometime when there's no one around.
Bowling was fun. It was exactly like bowling in the Tri Cities. We played three games, and I only lost miserably on the last one. I blame my fingernail, which was busy being ripped off by the holes in the bowling balls.
Here's how it ended up:
I have provided my other thumbnail as contrast:
I would count today as a success. We had mexican night afterwards, and I need to get ahold of some better beans for next time. Pintos smashed up and heated with a bit of salt do not do the trick. Maybe black beans, with some salt and red spices...
The most exciting thing before 14:00 was opening up my Kinder Egg.
Photos!
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| The Egg itself. Actually just half the egg, because I was so excited that I had eaten half of the other half before I remembered that I wanted pictures. |
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| See? Exciting! It glows! |
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| Aww. Doesn't actually glow. But it still looks delicious. |
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| That yellow thing was inside. That's where the toys go! |
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| Er. Wadded up paper was not quite the toys I was expecting. |
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| Instructions – I appear to have scored a balloon/ball thing. |
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| After unfolding the larger wad of red paper, I inflated a... Well... Fish. Thing. |
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| I think the idea is to bat it around. |
Now I have a weird little paper balloon that I can't do anything with. It would go up on my ceiling if it was less shoddy.
I also did laundry in the little laundry room all the way across Clanny, next to reception. There are three parking lots inside Clanny, which is like a gated community with no pool. Block 1 is in the farthest parking lot from reception, which is in block 11. Also, there is a code to get into the laundry room, which I suppose is useful for keeping out malicious laundry thieves like students who don't have the code. I now have the code, happily. I also have clean, if damp, laundry. It's still across Clanny in the dryer.
We're going "ten-pin bowling" this afternoon, and I kind of hope that it's pretty much the same as bowling in the Tri Cities. Apparently there are other kinds of bowling; who knew?
Unfortunately, I can't get the code to work. I'll have to try it out again sometime when there's no one around.
Bowling was fun. It was exactly like bowling in the Tri Cities. We played three games, and I only lost miserably on the last one. I blame my fingernail, which was busy being ripped off by the holes in the bowling balls.
Here's how it ended up:
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| The nail is gone! |
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| That's how much nail I had before bowling. |
Saturday 24 September 2011
York — Friday 23 September
Today, again, started at what I consider to be an unholy hour. The five of us from flat 1 who are study abroad/exchange (Flo (german guy upstairs), Josie (australian girl downstairs), Conor (american guy downstairs), Jessi (german roommate), and I set off to the bus stop at 8:05-ish, and ended up having to run to catch the 8:14 bus. Almost all the internationals were on the same bus, so it was a little cramped. Falling over wasn't really an option, which was nice.
The coach was in the same spot as it was for the Metrocentre trip, and Jessi and I had taken Dramamine beforehand. It lasted the whole trip.After a much longer ride than to Metrocentre, we arrived in York. As promised by Adam, it was the most british city in England. Of course, I've only seen about two cities, if you count Heathrow terminal 5, but it was still nice.
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| The driver is just out of frame to the right. I'm used to looking for cars from the other direction, but driving is still frightening. |
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| York's Minster Cathedral was the first thing we saw after getting off the bus. |
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| Lovin' the woodcut. I think it's for a haunted house. |
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| It's so... Old. |
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| I kept thinking he was flipping everyone off. |
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| Much prettier from the inside. |
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| See? Very pretty. |
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| It's really frigging tall. |
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| This was across the road. |
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| The bicycles made me think of pre-Colombian schoolbuses and wheelbarrows (inside joke with the second El Salvador mission) |
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| Minster actually had a fire, which resulted in £1m worth of damage. |
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| If you hadn't guessed already, it's catholic. |
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| Even if I disagree in many ways with the catholic church, they're still beautiful. |
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| "A plaque on both your houses." Bonus points for anyone who can tell me the book that quote's in. |
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| Lighting candles- another beautiful, flawed tradition. |
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| Dead guy that wasn't important enough to be behind the pay wall. |
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| Sundial, very useful. It would have been right but for daylight savings. |
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| See? Paywall. Possibly because of the restoration. |
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| More unimportant dead guys. |
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| I could have stood outside, craning my neck, for a long time. This place is huge and gorgeous. |
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| Indolent Roman outside Minster. |
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| I hear that the streets here are very british. |
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| Starbucks... under a building that's probably hundreds of years old. |
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| Every street should have a lady watching over it. |
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| After all the comments about how York looks like a place in Harry Potter, I had to take a picture of this. |
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| I'm at Rohan... Where is Karl Urban with epic armour and flowing blonde hair? |
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| Try taking that home on the plane... |
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| Classic. |
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| Another church. |
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| Random courtyard full of headstones. |
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| Also an owl mosaic. |
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| I think the word I'm looking for is "picturesque" |
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| A house like a poorly-contrived jigsaw puzzle assembled by fifth graders. |
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| This picture tipped on its side gave me the worst vertigo... |
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| Small and cramped... I like to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live there. People do, though... |
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| "Blackbeard's Tea Party" |
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| Bad lighting, pretty building. The silhouette isn't bad. |
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| Better lighting. I think it might be a courthouse or something, because the fire department is attached to it. |
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| It used to be a fortress of some kind, I think. Perfect spot for one... |
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| Big ornate building... for Subway. |
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| A really old river with really old buildings smack up against it. |
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| Classic lampost. I feel like this may have been the one from The Magician's Nephew. |
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| Clock tower. |
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| The gates close at dusk. |
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| All that for a cinema (theatre means live stage) |
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| Aww, random gate. |
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| All that to-do for a couple of holes in the wall... Also known as cash points, also known as ATMs. |
We ate lunch at Castle Tea Rooms, which is basically a tiny little lunch place. I got a huge bowl of roasted parsnip soup with bread and tea for less than £5, which surprised me.
After lunch, we went to see the York Brewery. I wasn't too excited about it, but I hardly wanted to break off from my little group, get lost, and miss the bus.
It was cool to see the brewery, even if it stank of booze, yeast, and chlorine. The tour guide was this man who reminded me of a Rolling Stone with a teensy bit more weight on him. He had an accent kind of like Mr. Beaver from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie. Apparently, he's been working at this brewery for 10 years and hasn't missed a day. Also, if someone's last name is Brewster, they probably lived in England back in the day on a farm. I didn't get any pictures because I don't like beer.
We ended up spending about three hours in the brewery's little pub thing. I still don't like beer or its smell, but it's less offensive to me than it was. The pub was actually a lovely place to sit and talk, once you got used to the smell.
We left the brewery at 4 to get back to the coach by 4:30, our scheduled departure time. On the way, I realised that lunch had been a long time and two long walks away, so we stopped in a little takeaway place. I got a scone with "jam and cream", which turned out to be a polygonal (at least 6 sided) biscuit-thing with jam that turned out to be cherry and what I believe was clotted cream. The cream was like sweetened whipped cream that has been sitting out for a bit – slightly runny, but still really good.
We were among the last to get back to the coach, and I took another Dramamine just in case. On the ride back, my only problem was the crick in my neck and Flo (german guy upstairs) being loud in the back.
Since we got back half an hour before the bus, Josie, Conor, Jessi, and I decided to walk back. We stopped at Aldi along the way, and I got microwave cheese and onion pasties as well as some tomatoes, fun-size apples, and orange juice "with bits" even though it was more expensive.
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| Sunset over Sunderland |
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| They don't believe in street signs, preferring to paint street names on the buildings where you can't see them. |
I made one of my cheese and onion pasties for dinner, and I think the one I had at the Gregg's in the Gateway was better. However, any port in a storm... Around 21:00 (9PM), Josie's boyfriend James finally got here from London, and Jessi mashed the potatoes, to her eternal delight. James, who I believe is named after the shopvac in the second-floor closet, is a really nice guy. He also complimented Jessi's potato-mashing skills, marking him as a good person forever.
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