Learning New Things

I have learned a few things this week.  On Wednesday, I asked Alissa to go to a lecture with me titled 'From a Culture of War to a Culture of Peace' given by Bruce Kent.  The lecture was at Newcastle's other University of Northumbria.  Bruce Kent has been involved for decades in trying to abolish war and promote a peaceful culture.  I was very interested in what he had to say, as I too think we need to move in that direction.  Kent and others are trying to work toward different solutions to conflicts, stating that war is not the only answer.  Another thing I learned that I had not connected before was the potential impending war over climate change.  Apparently forty-six countries have been identified as high risk of war linked to climate change.  Because of limited resources, and the physical consequences of climate change, it will make human habitats less habitable which could create tensions and sharpen existing social divisions.  Makes me think certainly.  So now I want to learn more and potentially do what I can to help.  

I received a package this morning, which was a very welcome way to start my day.  My lovely sister sent me a St. Adrian figurine.  I had no idea there was a St. Adrian, so this excited me.  Apparently (as stated on the box so it must be fact) he is the patron saint of butchers, arms dealer, prison guards and soldiers.  Hmmm, funny how I am against arms, not entirely sure how I feel about prison guards, and although I don't dislike soldiers, I dislike war.  The prayer on the box is to assist with meat preparation, it says, 'Most holy St. Adrian, I ask that you guide my knife as I deftly cut the tender flesh of animals that have been sacrificed to provide sustenance for mankind.  I also ask that you bless all of my meat with superior flavor and texture and protect it from disease and contamination.  Amen.'  I feel that it is pretty awesome.  St. Adrian is apparently a dark haired white man with a dark beard.  He also has a blue robe, an apron splattered with blood, and a butcher's knife.  Clearly a resemblance is there.  So anyhow, I got a little curious, so I googled St. Adrian.  He is real, he was not a baptized Christian, rather he suddenly liked what he heard, was consequently arrested and killed.  He was a Roman guard (cool) and was from/killed in Nicomedia.  He was killed on March 4, 306, so I expect you all to think about him (and me) in a few days time.  For more information on this awesome saint go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_of_Nicomedia  Wikepedia also adds that Adrian protects against plagues in addition to the things already listed.  I can live with that.  I don't care for plagues.

This weekend I am going to Anik's gallery opening.  All of the museum studies people had to do projects, so Anik (who wants to be a curator) and her group have arranged a showing for this evening.  Should be fun.  Tomorrow night, I am going to see The Eels in concert across the river.  A friend had a spare ticket, so why not?  On Sunday I am going to see 'There Will Be Blood' which I am pretty excited about.  In between, I will be writing about death, and of course reading about it.  It can get kind of depressing, especially at night, but I am enjoying the class overall.  I think I am going to write my final paper on dissection.  Cool.  Alissa organized a birthday party for me next Friday.  We are going to an 80s bar to dance and have general merriment.  I am pretty excited.  And then we leave in 16 days!  Wahoo!  

By the way, please check out my friend Jason's newest top ten list here: http://toptenlog.blogspot.com/  it is hilarious, and really makes you think about the people who get a lot of publicity and limelight.  Maybe we shouldn't be looking up to the people we do?  Just a thought...

Earthquake!

Last night there was an earthquake in England.  It happened around 1 in the morning.  I was going to bed around that time and I heard it.  The metro runs under our house, so we can hear the trains when they go underground.  They stop around 11:30 each night.  Around 1 while I am lying in bed, I heard a train.  I thought it was funny because they usually stop before then, but I thought maybe they were just moving one train or something.  Come to find out this morning that it was an earthquake!  It was around a 5.2 on the Richter Scale.  Apparently it was felt up into Scotland, and all the way to the Netherlands!  Crazy!  So now I can say that I have been in an earthquake in England...for more info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm

I just learned that it was England's biggest earthquake in 25 years!  I am now part of history.  :)

Random Stuff

Hello.  Last weekend my pals and I went to South Shields to check out the re-created Roman fort of Arbeia.  South Shields is about a half hour metro ride.  The fort was pretty cool.  They re-created the gate, and there is a bit of excavation done that shows where some of the things may have been.  They also re-created the soldier's barracks.  There was also a little museum that held some artifacts that were found on the site.  Neat stuff.  We then walked into town and down to the beach.  It was the first time that I have actually walked on the sandy beach since I have been here.  It was awesome, I love the beach!  I found a couple of cool shells, cause you know how I love them!  We then walked the pier, almost to the end.  From the beach/pier we could see the Tynemouth Priory and castle, which so far is my favorite place around here.  We then walked back to the town and ate fish and chips, which were amazing.  

This past week was pretty uneventful.  We were supposed to go see 'There Will Be Blood' but it got postponed.  Over the weekend, I went to a classmates house for dinner, which was really nice.  The weather has been pretty good.  Sunny about every other day.  A bit windy, which sucks, but I guess it could be worse.  

Next weekend we are going to celebrate my birthday.  I decided I wanted to go 80s dancing, so Alissa is organizing the night out.  Jamie's birthday is on the 5th, so it is kind of a mutual celebration.  We are going dancing on the 7th, and hopefully we will also get to go see 'The Other Boleyn Girl' since it comes out that weekend.  I have so much work I need to get done in the next couple of weeks.  Alissa and I leave for our big trip on the 17th (only 19 days away!) and I have a small paper due on my birthday.  Lame.  I also want to try to get some other work done because I will be gone just shy of four weeks, and then I come back for a week, then Megan is here for ten days!  Needless to say, won't be getting much work done during that time!  So I am going to buckle down and get motivated!  

Happy Love Day

Hello all!  Although I don't prescribe to the commercialized holiday that is Valentines Day, I do think it is important to share love and happiness with loved ones.  So on this day (because it's convenient!)  I am sending everyone my love.  I hope that whatever you may be doing today, you get to experience love and happiness from someone close to you.  I love you all very much, and can't wait to see your faces in the future!  Oh, and I also just realized that my birthday is in exactly one month!  Woo hoo!  V.D. day is good for something...xoxo

PS, Jaime picked up these cookies at a bake sale.  'Slag' means 'slut' apparently, which is kind of odd.  I think the gingerbread men/women are cute in their undergarments.  :)

Pork Faggots

Thanks to my curious Aunt Beth, I have this link to share with you all: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_%28food%29

Not for the faint of heart, or the queasy, but if you were ever curious about what a pork faggot might be, it is all laid out for you on this site.  Fortunately, I have not had the good fortune of experiencing the pork faggot, but for those of you coming to visit, I am sure I can find some for you ;)  Also located on this particular site is a picture of Mr. Brains Pork Faggots.  Awesome.

Excited!

I don't know if I have mentioned to anyone that some classmates of mine and I are planning a trip to walk Hadrian's Wall.  We had a preliminary meeting last night to try to figure out some of the logistics of the large group.  For those of you who don't know, the Roman emperor Hadrian built a wall in 122 AD in northern England to seperate Roman territory from that of the Picts in the north.  See:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Wall  for more information.  So this wall stretches basically from coast to coast in the north of England.  In June, a bunch of us are going to walk the length of the wall/England from coast to coast.  It will take around 6 days, walking 15 miles per day.  We plan to camp at night, and there are a few campsites that have barns that people can stay in.  Very cool.  We will take the train back from Carlisle after we have finished.  I am super excited about the trip.  We are going to have t-shirts made (I know you're jealous!) and potentially each have Roman names.  Gonna have to get some excercise in so that I don't suffer needlessly on the trip.  It should be a relatively easy walk in most places, but we will be carrying backpacks with all of our stuff in them, and we will be walking everyday for almost a week.  Doesn't matter, my enthusiasm will overshadow any doubts!  

What?

Running to my local grocery store last night for some last minute dinner ingredients, I saw something strange.  In the frozen aisle, I saw: Mr. Brains brand frozen dinner consisting of two Yorkshire puddings with pork faggots.  This raises a couple questions for me: who would title their company 'Mr. Brains', what the hell are pork faggots, and who eats this stuff?  Feel free to ponder this yourselves.  Have a great day!

Happy Chinese New Year!

This weekend was the Chinese New Year, and Newcastle held a celebration in Chinatown.  Rob, Jaime and I headed over to check out the happenings.  It was GORGEOUS outside, sunny and relatively warm, considering its February in England.  Global warming? 

So we got to the festivities, and there was a parade going on down the main street in Chinatown.  I of course could see nothing due to my height, and the massive amount of people there.  But I do know there was fireworks and a dragon.  We then wandered around to the various booths, checking out the wares.  

Chinatown is situated near the football stadium, which also happens to be next to where I used to live, and Chinatown is also adjacent to some parts of the old medieval town wall.  Its a pretty cool area.  There was a jumping castle, tea cups, big slide, and a stage set up for various Chinese performers.  We made our way to a food tent and consumed some noodles.  Apparently it is good luck to eat noodles for Chinese New Years, so I better have some good luck! ;)  It was a lovely afternoon out on the town.  

Last night, Alissa and I headed over to Daniel, Chris and Olivier's for some drinks.  Their French friend was in town for the weekend, so we ended up hanging out with them both nights. Daniel taught us how to play dominoes last night, which was confusing at first, but more fun as we began to play.  Who knew there was so much strategy and thinking in dominoes?  

Now I must get some reading done for class this week, since I procrastinated a bit over the weekend.  Jaime and Rob are making chili tonight, which smells amazing.  Should be good times.  Well a happy Chinese New Year to everyone, and I love you all!  xoxo

Note the Tyneside Irish Centre basically in Chinatown on the right!

Gate leading into Chinatown.  You can see St. James' Park, which is the football stadium, home of Newcastle United football team.

To the right is the main street of Chinatown.  Towards the left leads to the city center.

I'm in the medieval town wall!

A yummy pile of noodles, fried rice and a spring roll.

Close-up of cool fish on gate.

Close-up of dragons on the gate to Chinatown.

Personal Space?

So I know it must be a cultural thing, but there is a serious lack of acknowledgment of personal space here in jolly ol' England.  Seriously, walking down the street, people literally run into you, and its no big deal.  No apologies, and if you don't move out of the way, you collide. While shopping in the grocery store, people block aisles, checkouts, anything, and get upset if you say 'excuse me.'  In fact, I am amazed daily at how close people stand next to me in line.  Little old ladies will stand literally two inches behind me. No big thang, you're just breathing down my neck!  

So anyhow, I attempt to accept this fact of daily life here, however, last night I was severely annoyed.  A few friends and I went to one of our regular places to hang out, Mr. Lynch's.  They usually have a band on the weekends and also a DJ in between sets.  So dancing of course is common.  However, people seriously have no concept that they are like right on top of you, flailing their arms, shaking their booties, swaying into you, etc.  Being a little person, I have come to accept the fact that I am not that noticeable in crowds, yada yada, but its not just me who gets rammed into on the dancefloor.  So I decided that I would return in kind.  I started flailing my arms, shaking my booty into people, etc.  It was quite satisfying, and one or two got the hint.  Although most people out on the town in Newcastle are so drunk they wouldn't even realize getting punched in the face.  I think I might start a revolution!  Quit ramming me on the dancefloor you drunkies!  

On a somewhat related note, I don't know if I have mentioned before how awesome dancing is here.  Basically, no one has rhythm, and they just do whatever the hell they want.  Which makes for some amazing people watching.  I love that no one cares what they look like, it is quite liberating really, except when they are getting up in my space!  I totally fit in with my flailing dance moves.  I showed them!

On a totally unrelated note, the weather here has been amazing!  At least a couple days out of the week, it is sunny and relatively warm.  Today it is in the high 50's!  Although on the days that it is not nice, it is REALLY not nice.  Wind totally sucks.  It sucks so much, I don't even know if I can relay how much it sucks.  One day in fact, there were gust winds up to 70mph.  I was supposed to go meet Alissa for lunch, and I walked less than two blocks and literally couldn't move any further.  It was raining, and my umbrella seriously broke, and the metal things were broken in all different directions.  I turned around and stayed inside the rest of the day.  February is supposed to be the worst month for weather, and I can understand when its windy out.  But when its sunny out its so lovely!  It doesn't help that there are fun spring things in all the stores.  I want to be able to wear sandals and dresses!  But I will be in sunny Morrocco/Spain soon enough where I can!

On an even more unrelated note, we went to lunch at a little cafe yesterday, and they had milkshakes on the menu.  We were all so excited, and of course ordered some.  But apparently milkshake translates to flavored milk here.  I got a chocolate banana 'milkshake' and it contained no ice cream.  It tasted good, but was not a real American milkshake.  Sigh, I suppose I will live...

Update

Not much to report here across the pond.  I started classes last week which so far has been good.  I have settled into my new place, which is also good.  I am trying to get a head start on work, which is somewhat good.  I am very glad to be living in a place where I can cook, and not be worried about the cleanliness of the kitchen, or the pans and utensils I use to cook with.  Last week I made homemade fettuccine alfredo, and it was a big hit.  Yesterday I made Thai red curry from Megan's recipe, and I will definately be making that again.  

Last night Anik coordinated a fundraiser/night out for an exhibition that she is putting on for part of her studies.  So the crew headed down to the quayside for a couple drinks in support of her.  It was fun, but we were all pretty tired so we didn't stay out late.  

This weekend, we might go to the old Roman fort of Arbeia.  If I end up going, I should have some fun pictures to share!  

My death class is going well.  Like I mentioned before, I enjoy the professor because he has a lot of knowledge, and class is strangely fun.  Next week, we are going to look at pictures of people with diseases.  Good times.  We are also going on at least one fieldtrip this semester.  I crack myself up because I write in my diary "11-1 Death" when I have class.  Alissa is also amused by it.  

The other classes are going well too.  Although we had a class scheduled on Tuesday, and the professor never showed up.  Each week a different professor teaches the class on a different topic, and supposedly this particular professor was confused about the time table.  However, he actually has a reputation for missing class, or being late.  My qualitative methods class is pretty interesting.  Right now we are learning about researching museums, galleries and heritage sites, which I never thought much about before.  It is also neat because that is what Alissa is studying, so I get a little taste of her program!  

Money matters are once again a shambles!  I was hoping that I wouldn't experience a repeat of last semester, but I am.  However this time around, I know what to expect, so it's not so shocking.  I signed my checks on Friday, and was told I would get the money next week sometime.  In reality, I probably won't see the money till the following week.  I was supposed to have the checks by Jan. 24, but of course they didn't get here till the 28th.  Such a pain.  Rob didn't get his checks till today, which is like two weeks late.  Basically, the situation is a disaster.  Fortunately, our program director has our back, and is helping us deal with the finance office.  Its probably too late to rectify things for us this year, but it would be nice for future students to not have to go through the same crap!

Alissa and I are going to take a pilates class in two weeks.  Alissa paid for my portion for my birthday, which is super nice.  I think it runs for at least 6 weeks, so I am excited!  We are going to miss three of the classes while we are on our trip, but oh well!  Speaking of my birthday, if anyone is interested in giving me a gift, I wouldn't mind a little money for my trip ;)  I was going to buy a travel backpack, but it looks like I can borrow one of Jaime and Rob's, so I can save some money that way.  I have to grab a few other things, but nothing too big, just a travel towel and maybe one or two other travel type items.  I am so excited for our trip, only a little over a month to go!  Africa and Spain, here I come!

I also got an email from Megan that she found a cheap ticket.  So she should be here in late April.  I am soooo excited for her to come see where I live!  I can't wait to see her and travel around a bit.  And now that I have a pretty sweet abode, it will be a nice visit.  

Hope everyone is doing well back home.  I miss and love you all!