Man, it was windy that day! I am literally fighting the wind, and I am at an angle!

Big waves hitting the pier.

My shadow is super tall!

Santa Maria or St. Mary

St. Cuthbert is holding some other dude's head!

The waves were mesmerizing.

Still fighting the wind.

Random Tidbits from the last week...

In addition to Halloween and Guy Fawkes day, I have been having a lovely time. I stayed in last Friday night due to lack of sleep earlier in the week. But Saturday morning, I met up with Jaime, and we ventured over to Ikea. It is in Gateshead, which is just on the other side of the river Tyne. We took the train to get there, but it's only one stop. The Costco is right next to the Ikea, and there is a big mall there too. So we walked around Ikea, having a good time and talking. I bought some new bedding (yes!) so I finally feel like a real person! I got an extra duvet, which I put over my mattress for padding. I also got some extra sheets, since I only had one fitted sheet before. My bed is ten times more comfortable now, so I sleep better!

Saturday night, Alissa and I went with some new friends to try to find a party. We wandered around Jesmond, with no luck. Finally we were next to a pretty happening bar, so a couple of us went inside, while the others went off to find the party. We had a couple drinks, including one Pimms. We headed in kind of early, but that was ok.

On Sunday, I wanted to be very productive. I met Alissa in the library to get some reading done. However, I was tired, so it was hard not to fall asleep! Alissa, Anik and I went over to Jaime and Rob's for dinner. Rob cooked a delicious roast with vegetables, gravy and a cabbage/apple slaw. It was so delicious, Rob spoils us! (But I am certainly not complaining!) They had also made homemade chocolate chip cookies, and we ate those up! We also watched "V for Vendetta" to prepare ourselves for Guy Fawkes day the following day. We watched the motorcycle show with my boyfriend Ewan McGregor, where he and his friend ride their motorcycles through Europe and Africa down to Cape Town.

Tuesday was eventful in that I bought my plane ticket home for Christmas. I also went to a seminar about Periodization in history, which was quite good.

Wednesday I met with the man who will probably be my dissertation supervisor to discuss possible dissertation topics. He gave me some good ideas, and I am going to the archives tomorrow to look at sources. In the afternoon, I met with the program director to discuss applying for my PhD. I am going to go ahead and apply, because it is something I want to do. He said I am guaranteed a spot, and that the application is a formality. Although I do have to submit a research proposal, which is a little nerve wracking since I don't have an MA dissertation topic yet! But the university and the history department do all they can to help students get funding, plus the guy who will probably be my supervisor is the head of the graduate school, and he gets a lot of funding for students. It certainly won't hurt to apply, and if I change my mind, or something comes up so that I can't do it, it's no big deal. The PhD program is three years, but there are lots of teaching opportunities available, which is something I would like to do while getting my PhD. So I feel really good about it!

I am trying hard to stay focused and get a bunch of my work done before I come home for Christmas. I am going to the Tyne and Wear Archives tomorrow with a fellow classmate, so I hope that will be fruitful.

Alissa is home for the weekend for a wedding. I am a little sad that she isn't here, but I am so glad she gets to go home and see her friends and family! My friend Liz from St. Andrews will be here this weekend, so I will show her around town. Not entirely sure what we will do yet, but I am sure it will be fun. We might do something with Jaime and Rob on Sunday, so hopefully it will work out that we do something together. Other than that, it's work, work, work. My three assessments are due at the end of January, so I feel like I have plenty of time, but I want to get on top of things, especially if I have to start applying for funding for next year. I am also afraid that I won't do much work for the two weeks I am home, but that's fine since I will be so happy to see everyone.

Well I am off to do a little more reading till bedtime!

Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night

On Monday, November 5, Rob, Jamie, Alissa and myself decided we should take part in the festivities surrounding the conspirator Guy Fawkes. We met up in Gosforth, ate some Indian food, and then made our way to Gosforth Park.

For those of you who don't know, I will summarize a bit about Guy Fawkes and why the Brits still celebrate this particular day in history. On November 5, 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught trying to blow up Parliament. He and some fellow Catholics had been devising a plan for some time about blowing up Parliament. Guy Fawkes got a hold of a large amount of explosives that were meant to be put underneath Parliament. This was called the Gunpowder Plot. So the Brits still celebrate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot 400 years later. For those of you who don't know much about British history, England was technically a Protestant country at that time. Henry VIII had dissolved the Roman Catholic church in the 16th century, and claimed himself as the Head of the Church of England. This also would have been the time of the Reformation. So of course, there was a lot of religious confusion during this century, and later. Catholics came to be seen as suspicious, and there was a general prejudice against them. Elizabeth I died in 1603, and her successor was James I. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII, and a Protestant. As was James I. So, the English were happy to foil the plans of Guy Fawkes and his conspirators. Which apparently touched a cord that lasts till this day.

On Bonfire Night, an effigy of Guy Fawkes is burned in the giant bonfire (we didn't see the effigy :( ). There is an atmosphere of revelry and fun. There was also a huge crowd, from little kids, to adults, to older people. After a time, they did fireworks, which were glorious! We were literally right underneath the fireworks, which made for an awesome show. It was just like the 4th of July, only not! It was definitely worth attending!

Who's excited? We are!

Getting ready to see some fire, and fireworks!

Jaime loves Rob...

Oh no! The fire's so big...

Big fires are exciting!

Alissa and I love bonfire night!

Jaime and I want to blow up Parliament too!

The fire was HUGE! It was a very large bonfire for sure.

Fireworks! It's like the 4th of July, but very cold. And in England.

Close up of the remnants of the bonfire.

Nothing much left but coals..

Goodbye Gosforth Park, you've been good to us...

We love Guy Fawkes Day! Burn Parliament, Woo!

Halloween: British Style

For Halloween, I was invited to a house party from a girl in my program. Alissa and I were up for some Halloween cheer, so we decided to go. I ran out real quick to get some cat ears and a tail, while Alissa already had the makings of a Hermione Granger costume from Harry Potter. We were stoked, and got ready in my room. Alissa had to draw my nose and whiskers, and of course we took pictures in my room.

We decided to walk to the party which was in Jesmond. As we left our building, a black cat came up and started rubbing up against me. He was totally cute, and I wanted to take him home with me! We got some more pictures of my brother the black cat, and then headed off. Also along the way, Hermione, aka Alissa conjured up some rabbits with her wand, and fought off some dementors! Too bad I wasn't an orange cat, or I could have gone as Crookshanks!

Once we got to the party, we enjoyed some nice Halloween punch. We were a bit early to arrive, but more people showed up once we got there. A few more of my classmates arrived, and it was fun. Halloween is starting to become a bigger thing here in England, but it has only taken off in recent years. I don't thing the British realize the concept of the funny costume yet, as they mostly went for sexy or scary. But it was good fun. We didn't see any trick or treaters, and a small few actually dressed up. But it was a good time anyway, and totally worth experiencing!

Showing off the Hermione hair.

Hermione is checking her time turner necklace to be sure we can fit a party in...

Rowrrr!

This is my cat tail.

The brightest witch of her age...

Woo hoo! Hermione found her wand!

This is a kitty that came right up to me as we were walking to the party. He was rubbing up on my legs, biting my tail, and he was so cute! He reminded me of Blackie...so of course I had to pet him for awhile, and he liked it! (And take lots of photos of course!)

What would a good spell be...?

Hermione has conjured bunnies using the "accio bunnies" spell!

Hermione is fighting off the dementors! You can't see them cause you are a muggle...

At a party with my fellow classmates.

Halloween: British Style

Top Ten Awesome British Words!

10. Flower. I have come to understand this as a term of endearment. I was called "flower" today by the lady I was buying produce from at the market.

9. Toastie. I probably like this word simply because it means a toasted cheese sandwich.

8. Tatties. OK, I saw this one in Scotland, but I figured it still counts. It means mashed potatoes.

7. Nappys. It sounds nicer than diapers.

6. Spangly. This word I am fascinated by. It is a cross between sparkly and dangly! Glorious!

5. Chav. This sounds like a bad word to me. It is used to describe young men who are a bit of a lout, wear sportswear, and are often of low social status. But I think you can use it more broadly, and pretty much call anyone a chav.

4. They call band aids plasters here.

3. Fannie. It means crotch instead of butt here.

2. Moothy. This is a mouth organ! Ha!

And the number one awesome British word is...

1. Bollocks! It is a universal term that means balls. But the usage varies, and seems to be everyone's favorite cuss word. Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks!

And the alternates:

Snickelways are like alleyways
Cakes mean donuts
Neeps are turnips
Fields of rape. Apparently rape is the same thing as canola, it was changed in America so it wouldn't sound so bad talking about "fields of rape"!

Beautiful Weather in Newcastle!

This week has had amazing weather. It has been sunny for the most part of every day. Which of course makes it harder to sit inside doing reading! It has been in the upper 50's most days, and I am assuming I have acclimated well since that feels warm to me! In fact, I have been getting so hot inside this week that it's ridiculous. I was walking around today, in a short sleeved shirt! I was also tempted to wear sandals! The worst part about the weather here is the wind. It definitely makes it feel colder than it is. But it hasn't been too bad this week as I've said. It's crazy that it's the 2nd of November, and I feel like it's warm. Could global warming have anything to do with it?