elc984

elc984 @ 2007-01-31T23:13:00

2007-02-01T04:13:56Z

As part of my job our directors have asked the front desk staff to try out some of our fitness classes so that we can better explain them to members. It's not required, and we don't pay (we never pay!) but it's just one of those things that we should do if we can.

In general I'm a fan of this, and have been taking a class for 4 weeks now that I really like. I take it with 3 other girls I work with. I can only go 2 out of 3 days a week, but I'm still finding it really enjoyable.

On Mondays we do kick-boxing with this girl named Jennie. She's super and I really enjoy her and her class. We do 45 of cardio and then 15 minutes of fun weights (like looping exercise bands around each others waists and have someone try and hold you in place while you try to run across the room...oh so fun.) and then 15 minutes of abs.

One Wednesdays we have the mean Colombian lady, Imira (I think that's her name) and she teaches us step aerobics. Again we do 45 minutes of cardio and 15 of weights (not fun, though, VERY mean) and 15 of abs (painful!).

So anyway, Jennie is very good at explaining things and she understands well when people don't get what's going on.

Colombian lady, not so much. She just keeps on trucking. It's taken me 4 sessions to finally get an L step right. And I was just starting to feel comfortable in that class and understand what was going on. Coordination? You mean I actually have some! Celebrate good times, c'mon.

And then.

I fell off my freakin' step today! Not even during some tricky jump or turn thing like we were doing before, during a regular step. And my co-worker who was standing behind me thought it was hilarious. It was. I mean that seriously. It was funny. It didn't really hurt at all which made it better!

What's not so funny, however, is that I've actually sprained my ankle! It's not that bad, I can still walk and I only have a small limp but it's mildly painful/

And I've got a bruised ego.

elc984 @ 2007-01-23T19:28:00

2007-01-24T00:29:27Z

This is funny. You should read them.

Things My Boyfriend Says

I promise you'll laugh.

This one made me snort...

A visit to the dentist.

"I think I'll ask the dentist to install tusks in my face so I can fully embrace my orcish heritage."

elc984 @ 2007-01-16T21:24:00

2007-01-17T02:31:15Z

For every African Studies course you take you have to do a map quiz. It's pretty much required, and I hate it. Not because I'm bad but because it's such a tedious task. This time, though, our instructor has given us two online puzzles to practice with and I'm getting good.

This is the first one:

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/africa-puzzle.html

Start with the puzzles with outlines. Just click on the country and drag it to its location. If you get it wrong it will put it at the end of the queue. After you place all the countries it will tell you your time. My best time on the map with outlines is 1:58, and without outlines my best time is 2:49.

This is the second:

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/afrquiz.html

On the right is says "Where is...?" and you then have to click on the correct location. You have 3 tries to get it right, if you get it right on the first try it's 3 points, 2 if it's the 2nd, and 1 on the third attempt. If you don't get it right by then you just have to move on. Note that the islands count too! The total amount of points available is 162 and my best attempt is 159.

If you don't know the geography of Africa I suggest looking over a map first before you try them out!

elc984 @ 2007-01-14T00:31:00

2007-01-14T05:41:01Z

Sorry, but I love sports photography because you get people in the funniest positions. For example:

The short one is Craig Bellamy, and the tall one is Peter Crouch. I do believe that Crouch is jumping a bit off the ground, but he's seriously that tall. I believe he's 6'7". He's ginormous and it's too funny. But I love him so. And if he goes to Newcastle I'm going to be upset because Liverpool is such a good fit for him. When you're 6'7" good fits are hard to come by.

Jiffy Treet follows you everywhere...

2007-01-14T05:22:58Z

So, Jiffy Girls, do you remember Kim who was the teacher at Binford who used to come in all the time to get something made with twist yogurt (either a cyclone with butterfinger or a hot caramel sundae with crushed pecans)? She had a daughter named Lisa who got married during my first summer there, and her daughter was a teacher at St. Charles.

Anyway, my first day working at the YMCA I saw the aquatics director and was like "I know him from somewhere!" and someone told me his name which I didn't recognize at all. Then I had this moment of recognition! He's Lisa's husband! He's related to Kim the yogurt lady! Ryan and Lisa have a new baby named Sophie who was born in August, and Kim has recently gotten married to the man who proposed to her in the M&M bag. Initially he didn't recognize me until his mother-in-law came in for a FitTrip one day, and then Lisa came too and they were like "OMG! It's A Jiffy Reunion!".

Today while I was working Ryan and I had a long and meaningful discussion about Jiffy Treet pre-ghetoization, and how I knew his wife and mother-in-law through their important days that they spent at Jiffy Treet. (On their wedding day Lisa and Kim came in the Jiffy Treet after Lisa got her hair done and she had her veil on too. That, my friends, is dedication to the Jiffy cause.) He said that they haven't been to that store in about a year, but I gave him directions to Dave's store and he and Lisa are going to go and visit with the baby...who, by the way, is possibly the cutest child ever.

Ah, Jiffy Treet.

And on a completely unrelated note Chex Mix Tropical is absolutely divine.

elc984 @ 2006-06-01T13:50:00

2006-06-01T17:58:37Z

Today Simon, Sara, and I went to Nottingham for the day. My mission was to go close my bank account, get an England football shirt, and some lip gloss from Lush (because it's fan-fucking-tastic!). Somehow, though, I've ended up with that all done, and 6 new CDs and a dress too!

Let's concentrate on the dress...I've had my eyes on this gorgeous blue dress from this shop called Monsoon. However, it was 60 pounds ($110) and I couldn't justify spending that money on a dress I had no use for. Anyway, Sara had to go to the bank which was right next to the store and Simon said he wanted to see this dress I'd been talking about. We went in and he said that he really liked the dress and thought I should get it, but I refused to even try it on because I didn't want to spend that much money on it. He persisted about it, but lucky for me the only one in my size had a huge stain on it. I thought we were done and then Simon said that the green, which there were a few of, would look even better on me. Then Sara showed up and said that either she was going to try the dress on or I would so I somehow ended up in the dressing room with this green dress on...and I loved it. But I wasn't going to buy it. Too much money. Then I took it off and was standing near the till and the lady asked me if it worked and I said yes, but no and then Simon took it from me and paid for it.

So now I can justify having this gorgeous green dress that I want to wear, but have no occassion for it because Simon bought it...not me.

elc984 @ 2006-05-23T14:33:00

2006-05-23T13:58:11Z

Wow. My brain is so mushy right now, I'm not even kidding.

I have exams on Thursday, Friday, and Tuesday and I've pretty much been going at it for 8 hours a day for the last week and a half. I did have a day or so off in there, but seriously it's been oh so not fun. It's just that the class topics are so friggin broad and they can't tell you anything about content at all, so there's no narrowing it down. And lectures are so much more broad, they cover everything once so there's no way of picking up on what is more important because we've talked about it already. Then there's the fact that you can't do an essay on the exam that pertains to your essay or seminar topic...so the stuff I DO know is useless! I suppose that the good thing is I'm aiming for somewhere above a 60% because a 60 is a B+ and that's my aspiration right now. If I pull an A out of my ass then it's a friggin miracle, but I'm not really forseeing that right now as I have too much information in my brain.

We went and saw the Da Vinci code on Friday. We went at 2 in the afternoon so it wouldn't be that crowded. I thought it was long movie. I actually had to go pee in the middle of it because I drank too much Diet Coke. Aside from that, I thought it was good. It's been a while since I've read the book, but I still thought it did justice to it. The only thing that annoyed me slightly was the end because the old lady didn't explain it correctly...

The old lady, Sophie's grandmother, says that Saunière was not her real grandfather, but I thought that in the book that he WAS her biological grandfather and that he was the partner/husband of the old lady but when the car accident happened he took Sophie and old lady took Sophie's brother because they didn't want the two heirs of Jesus's bloodline to be together in case someone found them. Therefore, ergo, and theresome the guy who was in the church and called the Priory members in was her brother, but they just kept on pretending like he was dead.

I just don't understand why they would choose to change that. because realistically it seems more plausible to believe that there would be multiple people carrying his bloodline and not just one. But whatever.

We went to London last Tuesday. Simon had his visa appointment at the American Embassy. I wasn't allowed to go, nor did I particularly want to waste a day in London in an office...so instead I mossied my way on over to the Imperial War Museum.

First. On a map Victoria doesn't look THAT far from the museum, but in actuality it's a long friggin' walk. The museum itself is really, really impressive. It's 4 floors of stuff, but I only went to two because that was all I could see in 3.5 hours! The first floor is every conflict/war since WWI. There's this really cool part called 'The Trench Experience' and it scared me shitless. My favorite part was the fourth floor because it was just this huge Holocaust exhibit and it had so much cool stuff. It was a bit creepy because they have the examination table from Auschwitz and one of the carts they used to move the dead bodies in the Warsaw ghetto. It was definitely an emotional place. Especially because all through the exhibit they have video recordings of survivor's stories and they're really touching. I wish I could have sat and watched them all but I didn't have the time.

After the museum I took the tube up to Camden Town to meet Simon. Camden Town is a borough of London, but it's basically like one big street market/vintage store/gothic store/futuristic store. Has anyone ever see Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Winning London? The bit where they go shopping and have their mini-fashion show is in Camden Town. I can't really describe it any better other than saying that there are lots of booths to buy crafts and jewellery and whatnot, then there are hundreds of vintage shops, and some small shops that sell 'new age' clothing that looks like it's from outer space, and then you have stores that are like Hot Topic times 145339493329. It was really fun to walk around, though, because we definitely got to see some very interesting people.

From there Simon decided that I hadn't done enough walking that day (because 2 or 3 miles wasn't enough!) and wanted to walk back to King's Cross/St. Pancras via Regent's Park (that's where the zoo is). All would have been fine and dandy except that the heavens decided to open and unleash on us and we had to walk across this HUGE park under a tiny umbrella. I will say, though, that the park is GORGEOUS and has amazing gardens...but it was really raining.

Anyway, I'm coming him in like a week and a half. That's crazy ridiculous. I get to drive again!!

elc984 @ 2006-05-11T11:26:00

2006-05-11T10:31:05Z

It's 11:25 and I've eaten a whole roll of spearmint Polos...they're just like wintergreen lifesavers, but called Spearmint Polos. Who knew?

Also, I've never been so happy to get a 68 in my whole friggin life! A 70 or above is (a) equivalent to an A+ and (b) impossible because they take grading so ridiculously serious here. Not even kidding. Anyway, that 68 is worth 50% of my grade...so I'm pretty damn pumped about it!

elc984 @ 2006-05-10T09:10:00

2006-05-10T08:35:59Z

We had our program dinner last night at this fantastic Indian restaurant called Mem-Saab.

Seriously.

SO GOOD.

We started of with pompadons, then I split a scallop tandoori starter with Christina, and then came the main course of king prawn korma with three different kinds of naan bread. O. M. G. I think I'm still full.

My mission when I get home is to find a good Indian restaurant in Bloomington to serve me curries whenever I want them.

The socializing at the meal was great. I had a long debate with James, our program director, about the merits of the England World Cup squad. I was only able to do this because James has the same ideas about the ways Sven runs the England team as does Simon so I could easily regurgitate names and figures that I've picked up from my lovely boyfriend.

We also ended up in some debate with the Nottingham staff and James trying to explain to two girls that protesters generally aren't anti-America, they are anti-Bush and we got into this long discussion about how they are two completely separate entities that people often confuse. Honestly, I've never felt threatened or uncomfortable with anti-war/anti-Bush protests. I haven't seen many, and when I did I didn't feel like they were directed at me. I've had nothing but positive experiences with people here and have never felt like anyone was blaming me or singling me out. Others, though, feel like when people criticize Iraq they are criticizing Americans as a whole. We figured it out, though, that the people who feel like they've been mistreated are those who are Bush supporters! That makes sense, I guess, because then you feel like your beliefs are being attacked.

For the record I didn't think going into Iraq was a good idea in the beginning, but right now I think we're too far in to withdraw so the best thing to do is to support the troops and hope they return home safe and soon. Just because I didn't support the war initially doesn't mean I am a bitch. And just because I say we should support the troops now doesn't mean I support the war, it just means that I support them for doing their jobs and helping people. That's all. Please don't tell me that I think otherwise or else I might fling the nasty Punjabi drink in your face.

And yeah, if someone offers you a punjabi drink at an Indian restaurant you might think twice. It was yogurt with cumin and some alcohol. I had a sip and it made me gag and I had to spit it out. AT THE TABLE.

ANYWAY!

Dinner was fantastic. I earned £10 while I was there. I'm not a complete and utter uber-evil bitch. At least not all the time. And I want more Indian food. Now.

elc984 @ 2006-05-09T05:29:00

2006-05-09T09:46:58Z

Loads of stuff to talk about. In no particular order...

1.) On Friday I went to my Politics Seminar and as I was walking in the door the Tutor, Phil, said we were going outside for class. I thought that was a good idea since it was like 80 outside and no where has air conditioning so it was all stuffy inside. But the REAL reason we went outside? The 8 boys in my class had bought a big case of bottled beer and bribed Phil. So we went outside and the boys and Phil each drank 3 beers whilst we had class (the other girl and I didn't want any, but we were offered).

Coming from a dry campus this has to have been one of the weirdest classes I've ever had. Fine, I can handle students drinking...it's what they do...but the Tutor joining in DURING class? That's odd!

2.) Since I've been here I've spent less than half the amount of money I thought I would. I'm kind of happy about that.

3.) I friggin love Deal of No Deal. It's on every day at 4:15 and Simon and I watch it together. On Saturday Morris was offered $101,000 and he only had the $20,000 and the $250,000 left and he didn't take the deal and ended up with $20,000. I almost peed my pants watching that. It was crazy.

4.) This is my last week of classes and then I just have exams. Which I'm not prepared for. At all.

5.) We're going to London on Tuesday (as in a week from today). Simon has a visa appointment so he can work at camp. That means he'll have to sit in the embassy all day long (3-4 hours is the average) and, ironically enough, I'm not allowed in the American embassy. But that's okay because I'm going to do something fun. I thought maybe I'd spend money and buy pretty things for myself, but I don't really have room for more stuff in my bags, so instead I think I'm going to hit up the Imperial War Museum and maybe even Tate Modern too. I have to confess I don't really like looking at art (especially portraits...which is why I'm NOT going to the National Portrait Gallery), but I do like me some modern art and I hear that the Tate is full of it. And I think I'm going to make Simon walk me around Kensington Gardens. It should be warm next week, which would be a good reason to pretend like we live in a castle and can eat swan.

6.) Tonight I have a group 'going away' dinner with my program group and our director, James. He's booked us at this 5 star Indian restaurant in Nottingham and I'm kind of pumped about it. I love me some Chicken Korma (yum, yum!) but I also love me some free food...especially because it's expensive food!

7.) I have to buy another suit case. :( I did not calculate for the fact that I have to fit my coats in my bags to go home, and since I've picked up another one since being here that makes it even more difficult. Since I already have to pay $200 to change my flight I absolutely refuse to pay Delta $50 more for an extra bag on the flight. SO. I'm getting a carry-on sized suitcase and shall put my laptop in there with a bunch of other stuff and just cram and pray that it all fits. Simon can bring some stuff for me, but I really don't want to have him bring loads of winter clothes to me at camp because I have no use for them!

8.) I have really bad gas.

Lions, tigers, and three-wheeled cars oh my!

2006-05-03T08:12:11Z

I've really been meaning to write about this since I got here, but I just keep forgetting.

The strangest looking motor vehicle ever has to be the Robin Reliant...

That's right. It's a three wheeled car. And there are too many of them in this country. They actually aren't very common at all, in fact they're just a weird cult car that they made from 1973-2002...but the cult seems to have it's headquarters near our house so we see them every day.

Firstly, they look like something that should come out of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. You know, with rationing and all they just couldn't afford that fourth wheel.

Secondly, they freak me out. I'm convinced that if you get the balance wrong then it's going to tip over. Simon has told me several times that the engineers work to prevent that from happening, but what if a really heavy person is driving? And every time we get close to one it always seems like there's a driver, front passenger, and back passenger sitting right in the middle of the car. Simon says it's coincidence and you can drive it with any seating configuration and no one will tip over, but I'm highly unconvinced.

Also, what happens if you're driving along and you blow out your front tire? You flip over and die! When my trusty T-1000 broke it's wheel-thingy we didn't flip over and die, we just went off the road.

Third, it's just friggin weird to see a three wheeled car.

4-wheeled cars 4 lyfe.

elc984 @ 2006-05-02T10:46:00

2006-05-02T09:47:45Z

I've just reached that point in an essay when you go 'this is as perfect as it can be' and I went to check the word count and do you know what it said?

EXACTLY 2000!

I'm psychic like that. Supposed to be 2000 and I hit the nail on the head. Now I don't really care what I got on it because I have the satisfaction of knowing that I to it perfect (in terms of words).

elc984 @ 2006-05-02T09:00:00

2006-05-02T08:06:51Z

I've just come to a conclusion.

I'm a water snob.

A friggin water snob.

I only realized this because every morning I wait outside of Boots (the pharmacy) until the doors open at 8:30 (I normally get here at 8:20) and then I go in and get my litre bottle of Volvic water with the easy to open cap and I always have my 95p waiting to pay with.

However, this morning Boots isn't opening until 9:00am and I've got a paper to finish (it's due at 4) and no time to wait 40 minutes outside of Boots so I had to suck up my water pride and go to the Student Union Shop and ponder what kind of crappy water I should drink today.

I settled for Evian, but I just don't like it. It tastes like feet. All the bottled water here tastes like feet except for Volvic which tastes just like Poland Springs water at home, which coincidentally enough I love.

So I admit it, I'm a water snob. And Evian you only won today's water battle because you too have the easy to open sports cap which I am a sucker for.

But there's nothing wrong with not wanting to taste dirty nasty smelly feet every time you take a drink.

elc984 @ 2006-04-28T17:22:00

2006-04-28T21:25:03Z

I finally got my hair cut today! Seriously. 5 months of hair growth. It wasn't nice.

So we need a cheesy photo to celebrate this event...

In other news, it's 10:22pm and I'm home alone!

There's a flood at Loscoe (Simon's dead grandmother's house) so everyone is there trying to get it sorted out, but somehow I got out of going.

elc984 @ 2006-04-27T10:05:00

2006-04-27T09:08:02Z

When I was in kindergarten and first grade I had these jeans which I though were ultra cool. They were light in colour, and tapered at the ankles. My favourtie part, however, was that at the tapered ankles there were little zippers with bows above them so that, if you so wished, you could give yourself more ankle room.

While I loved my jeans then, I wasn't too sad to see them go because they were, after all, a momentary blip on the fashion radar which symbolized a unique moment in time when the youngsters of the world were seemingly saying 'Look at me, I can make the choice as to whether or not I want to have excess ankle room.' I'm sure it had something to do with the end of the Cold War and telling the USSR to take communism and shove it up their left nostril because, by-golly, the youth of America are not only free to do as they please (within their parents rules, of course) but this freedom includes the option of undoing their ankle zippers to let in a nice breeze.

Imagine my surprise today, then, when I was walking into the library and a girl walked by me and she had on tapered jeans (all of the wannabe cool kids are wearing them--so that's obviously not me...I'm a genuine cool kid) but they looked way too tapered to be regular jeans so I looked down towards her feet and what did I see?

Zippers at the ankles.

God must hate us all.

Why?

Because he left out the bows this time.

And because tapered jeans with zippers on the ankles are back.

For fuck's sake, friends!

Do you know what's really funny?

2006-04-25T10:51:16Z

Pushing people down and running away laughing.

I don't mean it in a mean walking-down-the-street-and-pushing-over-an-old-lady kind of way, I mean it in the way that you wait for someone who's sitting near you or standing and not paying attention to their surroundings and then you just push them over (onto something soft, not the cold, hard floor!) and for comedic effect run out of said room giggling.

Trust me.

It will brighten your spirits.

elc984 @ 2006-04-18T10:09:00

2006-04-18T14:45:41Z

So we went to France last week. We left on Monday and got back way late Thursday night (technically very early Friday.)

We took the ferry over. It was an easy trip there. Very calm. You could hardly tell that the boat was moving, which is my kind of boat.

Once we arrived we got our rental car (a very cute little Citroen C2 that we named Cordon Bleu). It was exactly like this one:

We took Cordon all the way to the very south-west corner of Normandy the first day so that we could go to Le-Mont-Saint-Michel...this place:

It's a big Abbey on top of this rocky island. Below the Abbey there is a small town (now mostly touristy stuff) and bazillions of random stair cases that take you to every corner of this island. It is really beautiful and impressive. They used the abbey as a prison and a fortress during battles and wars, and as a consequence found the best use of prisoners ever. There was this medieval elevator that went up the side of the cliff. It was this cart thing that was attached to these huge ropes that they used to pull supplies up to the top. They then attached these ropes to this giant gerbil wheel thing, and made the prisoners get inside of it and walk (more like strain themselves to make it move an inch) so that it would turn and pull the elevator thing up. I was really impressed, particularly because I speak no French at all and managed to read the sign and figure out what it said!

Anyway, that night we went to our hotel. I booked the second cheapest hotel because the first was a bit sketchy looking. We didn't really have high expectations of this one, but we knew it just opened in December. It turns out, though, that our new hotel wasn't really a hotel as much as it was like apartments. We ended up with a kitchen (with a dish washers!), living room, bedroom, and bathroom. It was really nice.

The next day we had our all day tour of the d-day beaches. There was actually only one other person on our tour with us, which was cool, and then we had our nice crazy French tour guide. His name was Alain. He drove like a frickin' maniac. I mean that in the nicest possible way. I would go into the details of the whole tour, but I can't remember them all. I will say that based upon the points that the Allies chose to land, there was no way in hell that we were meant to win this battle. No frickin way. Especially Pont du hoc. It's a cliff. It was a landing point for boats. It's amazing that they got up there! I also was really, really impressed with the American Cemetery. The monument that is there is beautiful. Our guide showed us some specific grave markers, but he also showed us the place where the filmed the start of Saving Private Ryan, and told us the story about that plot and the strange coincidences. I think my favorite place we went, though, was this church in this tiny little hamlet. It don't even know the name if it, but it was really touching. It's shown in Band of Brothers, its the church that is used the first night as a red cross hospital. These two men set it up and would treat anyone who came inside, just as long as they left their weapons outside. That meant that they helped Germans, Allies, and local French people. Because they helped everyone the church itself never was taken by the Germans, even though the hamlet fell 3 or 4 times. These 2 men worked on 80+ injured men during that night, and they only lost 2. The church has remained virtually unchanged since then. The pews are still the original ones, and they have blood stains on them. It was quite eerie. The only thing that has really changed is the windows. The original ones were broken during the war, and were replaced with clear glass, but in honor of the two Americans who ran the hospital they are being replaced one by one with stained glass depicting the night. Right now they have two. One is of the paratroopers coming in (it's been there for 2 years), and the other is of an American flag and an eagle and it has their names (it was put in two or three days before we went to visit). It sounds kind of cheesy, but the truth is that I was really taken with them. I guess it's because as an American I have it in my head that the French hate us, but at least in Normandy they are very appreciative of the Americans and very, very kind to us as well.

Anyway, the tour was really nice. It was a gorgeous day and we saw some really amazing things, and learned a lot.

The next day was our last. The morning was spent waxing our little rental car because it got injured. I'm not going into the story because then I wouldn't know which to tell you, but the long and short of it is that above the back-right wheel there was a dent and lots of scratches and we had to get this scratch-wax stuff and try and make it look better, but in the end we'll have to pay for the damage to the car. It sucks, but whatever.

After that we went to the Caen memorial, but it was ridiculously expensive (almost 20 Euros each, which is an ungodly amount for a museum) so we didn't go in, but we went to the gift shop and bought goodies for my dad.

Then was the ferry ride home. It was AWFUL! A ferry is kind of like a moving airport terminal. It's got lots of shops and restaurants and whatnot. Then on one floor there are private cabins, and on another there's a big seating area with big cozy chairs (like on an airplane, but better because it was only 1/3 of the way full on both trips so you got tons of room to stretch out). We were in the chairs, and all of the parents on board were letting their kids run around like apes. They were running up and down the aisles screaming at the top of their lungs and crawling under our seats. It was ridiculous. There was this kids play area where they were meant to be confined to and while it made loud annoying noises, it would have been better than the kids just running around. I will say, though, that the only funny part about their bad behaviour was that the English kids were playing hide and seek against the French kids and were running around the boat yelling 'France SUCKS!' I thought that was funny.

On top of the kids, the water was choppy as hell. The boat was all over the place and this guy who was sitting somewhere behind us had the most violent seasickness ever and vomited loudly every 20 minutes or so. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO disgusting. Seriously. Gross.

Anyway, all in all we had a great time (minus the ferry ride and the damaged car).

elc984 @ 2006-04-10T08:38:00

2006-04-10T12:38:45Z

We're going to France today!

elc984 @ 2006-04-07T16:30:00

2006-04-07T20:54:28Z

So there's bird flu is in Scotland. I'm not particularly worried, but it's caused me to have to share a geography lesson with several people. Consequently, I'm going to share it here too!

Let's start generally. The biggest unit is that of the British Isles. The British Isles is a geographic term, really, that refers to all of the is islands that make up and surround the United Kingdom and Ireland. It includes the entire island of Ireland (both the Republic and Northern Ireland), England, Scotland, Wales, and several smaller islands like the Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, etc. Here are the British Isles:

Alright. So we started with the British Isles, but that's not the same thing as the United Kingdom. The technical title is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This, then, is the UK (the white parts):

Ignore the fact that it includes Northern Ireland in Great Britain, because they've clearly not paid attention to geography and titles.

Notice, though, that Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain. Northern Ireland is a province of the United Kingdom. Great Britain, however, is made up of three COUNTRIES: England, Wales, and Scotland. All are really countries, and everyone who lives within them is technically 'British' but primarily people think of themselves as English, Welsh, or Scottish. The only time they really claim to be British is when something good happens in another of the countries and they want to claim to be part of it. If you call a Welsh or Scottish person English they WILL get angry. With that said, if you're English you don't need a visa to live in Scotland or Wales or vice versa, and you don't need a passport to travel through.

Great Britain:

They all have their own regional languages. Welsh is by far the most prominent of the local languages as it's still taught in school and a good part of the welsh population can speak it. The other local languages are making a comeback, though, in an attempt to encourage the growth of local culture.

Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England all have representatives elected to parliament, and Scotland, N. Ireland, and Wales all have their own local parliaments too. So they all have a say in the greater government, and in what happens locally.

So when they say that bird flu is in Scotland, that means that it IS in Britain, and it IS in the UK, but it is NOT in England! It's about 7 hours from me, so I'm a-friggin-okay!

elc984 @ 2006-04-04T09:29:00

2006-04-04T08:43:52Z

I have a sty on my eye. It's so not cool. I keep touching it because it hurts, and I'm sure that's doing loads of good for me.

The prune juice has had a lasting effect on me and I feel ill today.

I've come into campus today to do some work. I'm on a month long break but have chosen to come hang at the library. I do have an ulterior motive, though. I am going to go into Nottingham and go shopping this afternoon because I realized I've spent like no money since I've been here, therefore I need to buy something. It's great logic. The only downfall is that my normal bus from Nottingham City Centre to Simon's campus isn't running because of Easter Holidays so I have to try my luck on another one. I know where it goes to, but not quite where it leaves from. However I know my way around Nottingham now and I can read those freaking maps (it sounds easy, but the maps have every street labeled, but in actuality none of the street have any signs on them so it's a maze and this country was not laid out on a grid system so streets randomly diagonally interset and then there are round-a-bouts like WHOA that just throw everything out of wack, yo) and have a good mental picture of the layout of the city.

I really, really need to get my hair cut. It's out of control. It's about 3 inches past my shoulders, which I think is too long. They only believe in haircuts by appointment in this country, though. You can't just walk into somewhere and get it done. This, then, is causing a problem because I don't like to phone places up and Simon won't do it for me. Silly boy.

We're going to France next Monday! I get to practice my French laugh (ha, ha, ha) and order a CWA-SANT. I speak no french at all. I can't even say bonjour right. Simon has an A-level in French so he's supposedly capable of communication, but we're doubting that--though he can tell us all that there is a moneky in the tree that is wearing brown trousers. The good news is that our tours are in Engligh, the car hire place will speak English, and the hotel staff will also speak the English. So basically that leaves us with food that we have to deal with in French, and I've got that covered by my ability to say CWA-SANT. And if all else fails I'll simply sing all the songs I can remember from Beauty and the Beast.

This might seem logical, but...

2006-04-03T19:44:52Z

This might seem logical, but never voluntarily drink prune juice in order to 'take a hit for the team' or 'encourage group bonding' or 'to be supportive'. In fact, don't do it unless you're ordered to do so for medical reasons.

There's a reason the tell you to drink it if you're constipated, and otherwise people don't consume it. Actually there are two: 1.) it's gross 2.) it really does make your ass become a poo faucet.

elc984 @ 2006-03-30T15:29:00

2006-03-30T20:57:19Z

I was really excited today.

First, Simon has been placed at a school for the week to observe math teaching techniques and he just looks so cute when he wears a button down and tie. Granted to get these shirts and ties Sara and I had to accompany Simon on a trip to Sheffield on Monday (he didn't have to school that day) and walk around the mall (the biggest in England) until we could find shirts that he liked. No lie, it took us a good 3 hours. The man is complicated sometimes. But he looks adorable in his new shirts and ties.

Second, Simon and I have officially received our contracts for camp. He's doing evening activities and tennis (mainly EA) and I'm a head counselor (1 of 3). I'm actually quite nervous about this position because it's very much a job that puts me working with the directors and there's a lot of responsibility, and if things go wrong then I can't blame it one anyone else but myself. There are two other head counselors, one is Grippi and this is her 4th summer in this job, and the other is Big D and this is his 2nd summer in this role (3rd total). However, Grippi is 27 and Dave is 29 and I'm only 21. I know that Grippi will be really cool and not treat me like a kid, but I have a feeling that Big D might try and push me around and make it seem like he's higher than I am, even though we have the exact same job. I'm also not only in charge of about 100 kids, but also about 30 staff members directly. I told the directors about my worries, though, and they basically told me that I don't go out and drink and I can be quite stern (read: anti-social bitch) and that they have every confidence in me.

The great part about this job is that I will have private accommodation. I'm going to miss having my own group of kids that you get really close with, but I won't miss living with them and not having any privacy at all. In this accommodation I get a double bed (no more cot sized top bunk!) and my own bathroom (no more pooping parties!) and Simon will be able to live with me 4 nights of the week (he will live in a bunk) so that will be good. I also am kind of happy to have a job with more responsibility. While I do love working with the kids one-on-one, I like the idea that with this job I will be able to interact with both kids and counselors more. As a head counselor I will lead orientation and during that time be a guide to camp and the area for new counselors so that should be fun to share my experiences with other people and help them learn through what I've been through. And, finally, with this job there are times during the day when I will be free to do what I please and I plan on going to different activities every day and trying things out and interacting with kids that way (and also helping teach things if they need it). Either way, I'm nervous, but excited to do it.

The third reason I'm happy is because today was absolutely gorgeous outside. It was sunny and warm ALL DAY! That's a change because lately it's been sunny in the morning and raining all afternoon. It was so nice outside that I walked to the grocery store (about a mile away) instead of asking Sara to drive me. I even wore my flip-flops in this excursion! It was good fun except for the part where I walked down the path to get to the sidewalk and I step on a thorn branch that went all the way through my sandal and then cut my foot! Other than that, though, I enjoyed my walk and the warmth. Unfortunately tomorrow through Monday it's supposed to rain. It will be warm, but it will rain the entire time. Poop on you, weather.

The fourth and final reason why I'm happy is because today I've been searching online for ferries, car hires, hotels, and tours for our trip to Normandy, France. We're going April 10-13, but it's really 11-13 because our ferry will leave from Portsmouth, England at about 5:00PM (that's 1600 if you speak the 24 hour clock language as they like here) and get to La Havre, France at 7:00AM on 11 April. The first day we're picking up our rental car and going to Le-Mont-Saint-Michel. This has nothing to do with WWII. It's actually a big castle on a tiny island. Then the second day we're going on an 8 hour tour of Omaha and Utah beach and several other places. The last day we're going to go to see a few museums and then our ferry will leave at 5:00PM. I'm really happy to be able to travel a bit (but not too much). Also, I'm happy that this will make my father way proud because he has this genetic disorder (that he seems to have passed on to me) that he cannot be relatively near a battle site without going and seeing it. He also doubts that he'll ever go to see the beaches himself and the next best thing is his lovely daughter going. So not only am I making myself happy by going, but I'm allowing him to live vicariously through me. And I promised to grab a handful of sand from the beach. I know it's probably illegal, but I'm going to go and do it anyway.

Okay, well, this has become much longer than anticipated! I must be off to watch some House now, and then go to bed (it's 10PM here). Goodnight!

elc984 @ 2006-03-25T13:06:00

2006-03-25T18:08:48Z

Tonight is the first night of British Summer Time.

That means that for the first time in my life I get to change the clocks!

You'd think that since spring started this week, and we're going to summer time that it would warm up. This morning (by morning I mean about 10:30 when we got up) it was sunny and 75 degrees, but by 3 it was 40, cloudy and raining.

WARM UP, ALREADY AND STOP WITH THE ARTIC WINDS!

Finland, you can't keep sending us your shit winds that you don't want anymore. I can assure you that no one in the British Isles is hoping for more freezing temperatures.

PS--Tomorrow is also the Mother's Day here, so happy mother's day!

elc984 @ 2006-03-23T11:59:00

2006-03-23T12:05:25Z

Simon and I woke up this morning and he said he had a very weird dream where he was visiting a family friend's farm and they went into the pig barn and a stripper came.

Upon learning this I asked a very important question.

How do you tip a stripper in Europe?

In England there is no one pound bill/note, it's only a coin, and I believe it's the same way with the Euros.

That means that the smallest denomination of money in paper form is a £5 (or €5).

How does this work? Does the stripper wear a little cup to collect £1 and £2 coins in, and if she's really good you give her a £5 (or more) note, or are you forced to pay exorbitant rates and put it in her undies like a self-respecting American would.

I'm just so confused and bothered by this. Simon has no answer for me. He says that he doesn't know how it works. But it's one of those things that I feel like I just need to know. Not that it changes anything in the world. But if I ever have to resort to stripping to make a living I need to know whether or not I should do it in America or in England and if English strippers get £5 and above from people then clearly here is the better choice.

elc984 @ 2006-03-21T08:52:00

2006-03-21T09:03:15Z

It's 8:52am and I'm in the library.

Today I have a book review of The British General Election of 2005 due by 4pm. Tomorrow I have two 3,000 words essays to hand in. One is on the role of archaeological research in learning about sex in the early middle ages. The other is about working class housing reform in Victorian England. Thursday I have a 2 hour seminar to teach about crime and the establishment of the police force in Victorian England, and a debate about Northern Irish political parties (the unionists versus the nationalists, I'm apparently a unionist).

The book review is technically finished, but it's shit so I'm working on it either until it's good, or until it's 4pm (one or the other). One essay is done, and the other needs 1,000 more words. And the seminar and the debate? I haven't even started it yet!

However, after Thursday afternoon at 3pm (that's 11am to you kids) I am on Easter holiday and have a month off. Yep. A whole friggin' month. Granted, I'm got shitloads to do in that month, but still I don't HAVE to do anything if I don't want to.

So nanny-nanny-boo-boo, and in your face education.

Edit!!!!! Score: Erin-0, Education 1

Right now, it's 9:29. Education is winnning the battle. I don't understand why people use word counts instead of page limits. For every 1% you go over you lose 2% of your grade (so if you have a 1000 word essay you can go up to 1010, but no more before your grade is deducted). This is a shit idea. 'a' and 'is' and 'the' are not real words! I mean, they are, but they shouldn't COUNT as words. They're at most 3 letters, and using them is preventing me from writing more. The shit part is that if I cut them out I sound like I'm speaking in code and avoiding verbs and nouns. Really, people. You're cramping my style.

Edit! Score: Erin-5, Education-4900

I killed the book review. It's 1003 words. I think it's okay. Now I just have to muster up the energy to walk to the next building over and hand it in. That might take awhile. I'm also given myself 4 points because I just took a break and picked out my classes for next Fall at IU. I need 2 A&H classes, 1 N&M, 2 History seminars, 1 European history class, and 2 anthropology classes to graduate. I'm going to take 1 hist seminar, 1 euro hist, 1 anthro class (about jewish people), and 2 a&H (one american studies and the other gender studies). That means that in the spring semester I just have to take 1 N&M class, 1 anthro class, and 1 seminar.

Now back to my head imploding.

Edit!Score; Erin-20 Education-25
It's 12:41 and I'm finished the final essay! I honestly can't see straight because I've been staring at this computer for so long (and oh-so intently as well) but it's done. Now I shall forfeit my seat in the computer lab (even though I have my laptop here with me, I decided to use the computer lab because I hate the wireless system here, it's awful) and walk over to the Politics building to hand in my book review.

So happy dance on your face, education. But they're still winning as I still have more work to do. I'm just happy I've survived this far without dying or passing out!