First Week of School

It's been a while since I last updated. Sorry bout that!


Picture of a spider outside our house. I'm sure that's what you all were interested in.

I've met all my house mates finally. Josh is a post graduate student who studies British politics. He's also a runner and really likes Chelsea. My kind of guy. He reminds me of this kid I knew in Santa Barbara, Simon. He reminded me of a guy I use to run with back in North Monterey county. Everyone I know just seems to remind me of other people I already know. I need to stop that habit haha. Anyway, he's a nice guy. He's on the same floor as Channing and I. Channing is a fourth year at Leeds Metropolitan (Leeds Met) and she works at a bar. She's nice, but a bit of shut in.

Upstairs is where Fanni and Jim are living. Both of them are Geophysics post graduates. Jim is Scottish and Fanni is from Hungry. Fanni does Tae Kwon Doe, which I find hilarious. Her full name is Fanni Kiss....Make of that what you will. Jim is 29 and I don't know too much beyond that. He likes to drink tea, but that describes basically everyone here except Fanni and I.

On the ground floor is Rick. Rick is a real cool guy. Very outgoing and personable. He seems to be able to talk to anyone for a while about anything. Very friendly. He's a Geochemist post graduate and he also likes football. He also plays a little bit of guitar and use to skate. He's 24 I think. He's from Norwick.

On the first night we were all here, we all went to the pub and had a couple drinks and got to know each other. It was pretty cool. That's where I discovered everyone liked football, when we are all sitting around the TV watching the highlights. There are few things more thrilling than watching football highlights. One of the things that cracked me up is that Rick, Jim and Josh all are annoyed at football commentator's constant chattering. I was instantly reminded of hating Chris Collingsworth. No matter what any player did on a play, Chris always had a criticism of what they did wrong. Nothing is good enough for the mighty Collingsworth. I said that I thought the football's commentators were funny, and I think for the most part, they offer some good insight, especially for people who haven't been following the league really closely. We all went to the pub the other night and watched (at the same time) Man U versus Basel and Bayren Munuch vs Man City. Basel made the game pretty interesting by coming back from a 2-0 deficit to go up 3-2, but then Man U tied in stoppage. Bayren just killed Man City. Fun to watch with all the guys though, including the randoms at the pub (not pup).

So I had my first week school this past week (above is my schedule). I have to say, there's a lot less class, but a lot more assigned reading. They give you this huge list of secondary sources that you should be reading, in addition to the course material. Maybe they don't expect you to read it all, and its just a good list of material, if you choose to go and read outside material. But either way, I kinda really like it. It's like they're encouraging you to learn, rather than just pass the class. That is the ultimate goal of education, right? To learn things. Discuss intellectual material with people who are interested in the same things you are. Because once you get into the real world, finding someone to have a real conversation about, say, Things Fall Apart, is harder to do. Most people, at least in America, just care about America's Next Top Model, or America's Got Talent, or American Idol....or The Office. I feel like in America, we've been conditioned to do do well in class for a good grade, not necessarily for learning, and it's different here.

One of the things I don't miss about America is the awful state of politics over there. It's so frustratingly conservative and slow and panders to idiots. I meet someone at the Rock Social (I'll get to that more later) and we got to talking about politics. He said I'm sorry if I was offending me, and I said I liked talking politics. He pointed out that we are still having debates about creationism, where all of Europe settled that in the 1700s. The pope himself said it was wrong. Yet there are still backwards thinking people who think it could be right in America. He also thought it was hilarious that if I got hit by a bus in America, and had no insurance, that they would treat me until I wasn't dying, then throw me out on the street (but who pays for that if I have no insurance? Taxpayers. So we already have socialized medicine). Here, he was upset because Taxpayers paid to have someone change from a guy to a girl. Which is fair, a little bit. But he did had to convince a bunch of people he was actually a girl in a guys' body. So it wasn't like he just walked in and they gave it to him. But the more we talked, the more I realized that there are just so many ignorant, backwards thinking people who have votes, that hold America back. It's maddening. Obama's healthcare, which is sooo right wing here it ridiculous, was hailed as socialist in America. Our left wingers are crazy right wingers in the UK. When I got done talking to Russ, some of his friends apologized to him about him, saying, "I'm sorry he's so conservative", to which I replied, "I thought he was very reasonable". The fact is that people in the UK seem to just be nicer. They seem to not mind sharing with their neighbor (A CRAZY CONCEPT). They don't mind higher taxes if it means that more people can be happier, which then leads to greater prosperity. The post mortem love that Ronald Reagen gets just infuriates me. I had to hide someone on facebook recently because he kept saying ignorant things about Obama (Nobama. Soooo clever) and Reagen. Yes conservatives, less taxes and less government will lead to greater freedom. For you rich people. The people you've structurally suppressed through government constructed racism will have no chance in hell. Be a decent person. "Only in America could a movie star be President". Here in Britain, they do not pander to idiots. They don't think that they need to be nice to everyone "cause they're just different". They call them out for what they are: idiots who need to learn som basic facts before making any sort of decisions. I'm reading emails I get from Moveon.org and I'm realizing I just don't miss the awful, partisan politics bickering that happens in America. We're going to ruin the world because we can't tell the Sarin Palins to sit down and shut the hell up. End rant.

After this rant, I needed a drink. Not really, but this is a delicious drink they have here called Desperados. It's light beer and Tequila and they usually put a lime in it. It's amazing. And it's 6%, so you feel things from it.

So uh....I went to the Rock Society Social pub meet up this past Friday and met a bunch of really nice people. I met Russ (funny the name Russ always seems to indicate the guy is Conservative), and his housemate Rick. Rick is a very cool guy. He plays guitar in a band Tyrant and is an English study student. He likes heavy metal. He's just generally a very positive guy (if you say you like a band he doesn't, he always responds "oh to each his own!") and always seems to be having fun. He makes the best out of any situation, which is something I should try to emulate. We wandered around for a while on Friday with a pack of people before heading to his pad and having a small kick back. I asked if Rick was going to Between the Buried and Me the next day and he said he was! So Saturday, I got to see one of my favorite bands, and heard this crazy new band Animals as Leaders as the warm up act. Great show. Instrumental music, in my opinion, is the best music to watch if you don't the band. You can still take it in and enjoy it. Music with lyrics is hard to do that with, at least for me. After which, Rick had some friends who were at another concert down the street, so we went there and I heard this really cool band Mishkin. They remind me of Senses Fail, but a little more hardcore. Really enjoyed that. It was really loud in that club though.

Sunday, Rock Society put on their monthly "Two Smoking Barrels" party, so I went to that. I met some guy named Adrian, who is Polish, and has a bunch of the same hobbies as me. He was pretty fun to talk to. Rick DJd a set and it was pretty fun. It's a little hard to dance to metal, but he seemed to make the best of it.

Monday I had my first class: Post Colonial Literature. We're reading Things Fall Apart. I actually already finished it. What a great book. Love it for its simple language, yet very complex meaning behind all of it.

Tuesday I had the frist lecture for my Tragedy: Classical to Neo-Classical module(as they call it). Very interesting. We're reading the Greek tragedy trilogy called "Oresteia", which tells the story of the death of Agamemnon, the subsequent revenge by his son, killing is own mother, and the resulting trial that subjugates the Furies, and moves to a more democratic system of justice, rather a divine mandate. Good stuff, I must say.

I had class Wednesday, but didn't know it until Wednesday night. I refreshed my timetable that night and one just appeared. I blame not being in the course until the Thursday before. I had read Things Fall Apart too! I wanted to discuss it.

Thursday, I had my seminar for Ulysses and my Tragedy course. Seminars are when smaller groups of students get together and discuss the work with the professor, which I think is really cool. We get to bounce ideas off the guy who knows a lot about the subject. It's very effective in my mind. We also get to know the professor, which I really like too. I always miss getting to know them at UCSB, because the lectures are usually so big.

I ordered Goldfish. I can't get Cheez It, Party mix. It's $25 a small box. Hello Christmas Present.

I can't wait to get my Macbook Air. This dang Finical Aid Situation is just such a nightmare. I can't wait to get my money so that I can get rid of this old hunk of junk. If I running itunes at all, I can't do anything without there being a large lag. Lame. I'm going to take all my notes on the Air, so I can save them, and modify them easier. I think in a very sporadic pattern, so writing hinders my ability to effectively take notes. I can't squeeze in notes in between lines on paper. On a computer you can just hit enter.

The weather here had been amazing lately. I've been wearing tank tops cause I know I won't be able to soon.

I've fallen in love with Sandwichs (and food in general) while I've been here. Nothing "Mexican" is either good or spicy, but I can wait the 9 months to get real Mexican food. I bought Quesidilla(like how Napoleon's mom pronounces it) materials, so I can get a fix that way at least.

I've been skating a lot more too. It's been pretty fun.

Here's an okay picture of the City. I figured I needed something else besides this wall of text.

Sorry guys

I haven't written anything recently. I promise I'll get something together tomorrow.

Leeds

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's just been a long time since I've had the internet and the time to write something. Leeds is incredibile. The town itself is a weird cross between a small town and a big city. There are high rises and lots of shopping centers, but the town isn't geographically large.

I moved into my house just fine. When I moved in there were only 2 people moved in, Channing and (what I think her name is) Fanny. When I was leaving today, another person was moving in, but when I went to introduce myself, no one turned around for like 2 or 3 minutes. So I just decided they were busy and left. My house is Headingly, on 168 Ash Road (the corner house. Google Maps thinks its somewhere else for some reason) which is a small suburb of Leeds. It reminds me a lot of IV. It's mostly students and the town itself isn't more than a small strip on a street or two. But that is a good thing. I've been to big cities before. I want something really different. There's a grocery store about 5 minutes walk from my house. I go there to get things for dinner. At about 5:30 (17:30 English time), the place looks like Black Friday.

I figured out why people don't skate here for transportation. It's too wet.

I still have yet to get a bank account. I'm going on Tuesday at 14:00 to set one up. I was able to get a phone however. The best deals are only available to those with bank accounts, but I was about to find a pay as you go TMobile deal for £45. I'll go back when I get my account to get a better deal.

There's a lot of drinking here. I can dig it.

People's style here falls under two categories. One, they have nice style, looking slightly hispterish, but not like they're trying too hard. Two, what the heck are they wearing. People were parachute pants and sweats. People here also have some really dumb tattoos. And people here seem to have kids really young.

I'm trying out for the football club Saturday. It should be interesting. I'm not getting my hopes up as to making it. People here have been playing their whole lives. I guess all I can do is run hard and try hard. My ball handling is not superb, but I feel like I have a good idea on positioning and play making and I can run pretty fast.

I also think I'm going to go to the metal club. Just to meet people. And people tell me Bring Me the Horizon and Parkway Drive aren't the kind of metal they had in mind (what, like they're actually good?).

Classes start on the 26th. I only have one class right now. James Joyce's Ulysses. I need 2 more, I think.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. Haven't had anything too picture worthy. I'll get some though, I promise.

The weather here kinda sucks. It's stylish to have nice coats.

Leaving Edinburgh

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...well not really. It's my life and my blog, I'll do what I want. Plus, I was having entirely too much fun yesterday to get time to. I'm here to live England, not blog about it after all. Anywayyy...

So after my nap (which was entirely too short. I barely shut my eyes and all of a sudden an hour was gone) that I took after I wrote my last blog, I went downstairs to the lobby of the hotel for the first meeting that we had for our program. I am one of two guys in a group of 13. I am definitely ok with that. We met and discussed our program for a little bit and then headed off and took a small tour of the city. We went into the cathedral, as seen here in this picture.

After that, we toured the city a bit more, and it was cold and blowing and raining. Reminded me of San Francisco a little bit. Except it wasn't foggy, it was a light rain. And the wind was much stronger. In fact the wind was so strong at some points that it almost threatened to knock people over. So I didn't really take any pictures during that, in fears of getting my camera wet for some average looking pictures. We went to the EAP study center to go and get acquainted with it so that we would know where it was and we wouldn't get lost trying to find it the next day. After that, we went to a little restaurant called Mums which advertised itself as "Extreme Comfort food". I got a new kind of beer: Trashy Blonde. It was really tasty.

The waiter there was funny. Self described as a "Scotsman that you can never get a straight answer out of. It's a curse". After dinner, we all went back to the hotel. A couple people said they were going out (Christine) so I wanted to go. Before that happened though, I went with my hotel roommate Davey to the train station to pick up his bag that he couldn't carry up here. Unfortunately, when we got back, a bunch of people had left already. I went and wandered around for while, sticking my head into the numerous amount of pubs that were around our hotel. No dice. I was wandering down some alley at one point, and I was alone with only two other guys. I may have been imagining it, but I think one of them made a move at me (he may have just been drunk and stumbled). I didn't flinch and I kept walking the other way. But it freaked me out never the less. That's when I decided maybe finding some people to drink with was not worth getting mugged on my first night here, so I went back to the hotel in a hurry. I bought a 4 pack of Heinekin to drink by myself in my room and had one before I got really tired and just went to sleep….I think it was 9 o clock. I fell asleep almost immediately, 

I woke up at 5am and could not fall back asleep. I blame a couple of factors. One, I was still jetlagged. The whole layover thing in Amsterdam really messed me up. Two, I was really excited to get up and start seeing the city and exploring England. Three, the bed was extremely uncomfortable. It was short, the blankets were short and not heavy enough and the mattress was not very comfortable. So, I laid there for about 45 minutes trying to fall back asleep, unsuccessfully. So, I decided I would go for a run. I laid there for a while longer because I didn't want to run in the dark. I got up at 6:30 and went running. I ran downhill from the Royal mile all the way down to the New Restalrig Church about 1.8 miles way. It was a very nice run. I felt really good on it. On the way back, I got a little bit lost, but was able to find my way easily enough. I got back, took a shower, and went and had a nice big breakfast. I was initially by myself, but then people started to trickle in and eventually the whole crew was there. After breakfast, we split off into two groups and our group of 6 (Tammy, Mimi, Davey, Heather, Madi and I) all went for a tour of Edinburgh castle. It was amazing. Everything in Europe is so old. You get such a feeling of rich history here that one doesn't feel in America. The castle itself was so old, but it was in use for such a long time. In fact, it still is in use. Here's a huge slew of pictures from the castle.

Entering the castle

View from the top

The battlements.

Entrance

It's a real portcullis

View of the city

More

View out the archers station

More castle

Castle

Stained glass windows

Better picture

Line of scottish kings

More

They went from pictures on the wall

To real statues

Crafting the royal scepter

Mockup of the royal sceptor

Mockup of the Crown. They didn't let us take pictures of the real thing.

Portrait of someone...

Me!

Great hall

Thatched roof the of the great hall

Suit or armor

Pirate gun wheel

Looking down into the dungeons

Writing by prisoners on the cell doors.

Model of a ship...forget which one lol

Painting of the castle!

After the castle, Madi, Heather and I(all SB bros) went to lunch at a place called Tron across the street from the hotel. They gave us free burger coupons and had £2 drinks. That was right up our alley. We ate that and had a couple drinks. Then we had to rush off to our EAP orientation meeting. We got pretty lost. We had a map and none of the streets that we saw were on it. So we ended up taking a £4 cap ride to the place. With such cheap lunch, it was affordable to us. We went to meeting and then after that we headed off to dinner. We had Pizza Express. It may sound super American, but it wasn't at all. It was a great place. The Pizza was amazing and the desert was incredible. The ice cream and the chocolate cake especially. After that, we had a ghost tour of the underground of the city. I don't personally believe in ghosts (there are lots of explanations for those sorts of things; ultrasonic vibrations that cause people to feel dread and hallucinate, dust in photo lenses, etc) but when we were down there and she lead us into a small room and told us people got bruised in that room, it was a bit creepy. This picture is a grate that she explained that if you took a picture there, you may see a little boy named jack….I don't see anything, do you?

After that, the crew of 13 went out to the pub Tron. It has a really cool downstairs area and £2 drinks. We were there for a while before wandering over to another pub called the Frankenstein. We were told that at midnight, they dropped a coffin from the ceiling and all the bartenders got up on the bar and danced. This didn't happen. We were told by a very drunk Englishman that they had already done it, before midnight. We were a little bummed. Walking home, we found the birthplace of Harry Potter. In this cafe, The Elephant Cafe, is where JK Rowling first got the idea for it. Here's an extremely good (/sarcasm) picture of Heather and Christine in front of the cafe.

After that, Christine and I went out and tried to go to a club down the street because it was playing dubstep and drum and bass until 3am. Unfortunately/fortunately, Christine had had her entire bag stolen at the Isle of Wight concert festival a week before, with her ID, her passport, money and clothes and all. The fortunate part is that someone had found it completely intact and that person was friends with a guy she's living with in Leeds. I honestly can't believe that luck. But that meant that when we tried to get into the club, we needed at ID that said she was 18. She didn't have one, which I thought was really funny that they wouldn't let her in. Who needs an ID to be 18? Seriously...we gave up after trying another bar that asked for her ID. We called it a night after that. I went to bed at 2:45, pretty drunk. I woke up at 7am and could not go back to sleep. I blame the 3 previous reasons that I blamed before. I got up, went to breakfast, and after that headed off to the train station. I collected my tickets and boarded the train to York, which I am currently on now. I'm about to transfer to Leeds.
There are a lot more blonde people than I'm normally use to. I've also started saying "cheers" in somewhat of a British accent. It's funny/awful. I still need to buy a phone. I still need to figure out where to live. I need bedding, a clothes hanger, and probably a lot of other stuff.

I have this weird pump on the top of the top of my right shoulder....hello free British healthcare.

Finally in Edinbourgh

Well after a short plane ride from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, I have arrived at the city center and I am currently at the hotel I'm staying at, the hotel Ibis. When I went through security, they confiscated my adjustable wrench and my screwdriver. It dangerous to the Britons, but not to the Americans(San Francisco security). I didn't really sleep on the plane, as it was really bright and all. I got in at about 8 40 am local time. I passed through the passport check with no problems and got my luggage quickly. I was pleased because a little part of me was nervous that they would lose my luggage. I mean, I did do 3 plane rides and 2 transfers and I've heard of them losing luggage doing less. I took a short taxi ride from the airport to the hotel, costing about £20. It was a beautiful ride. Here's a shot of the place as seen from the airport terminal...

 So this is Scotland.....

 I got to the hotel and unfortunately, the room that I am going to stay in was full. So I dropped off my bags and just decided to explore the city. Here's a funnyly colored alligator that I saw on the sidewalk. It suppose to raise awareness about endangered species I think. It said you could adopt it or something. I don't know. I thought it was funny. Anyway, just a little bit up the street, there was a rather imposing staute of Adam Smith.

 "You'll feel that invisible hand of the market if I have to beat it into you". I guess people here in Scotland are really tied to their heritage. It makes sense though. Everything is really old here. There are lots of statues and lots of memorials. It seems like everything here (at least downtown, touristy Edinburgh) is just build on something else. Its a far cry from California's newness. One of the things I really like about Europe though are all the old churches. For some reason, those towering spires are inspiring to me.

 One thing England also has is a lot of rolling hills and green hillsides too. This is a shot of just a view I got from the top of a set of stairs. Quite spectacular in person, in case you can't really see it in the picture.

 Another view of a tall church.

 One of the things I also really like about Europe is the presence of these random really narrow alleyways that go random places. It gives the city a sense of mystery and you want to explore it. It's neat. It feels really old.

 I wandered into a graveyard, and true to form, everything was really old. Most of the graves that I saw were from before 1850. People just kept adding "here lies John Johnson. Also, Jonathan Johnson, his son" and stuff like that. It cracked me up a little.

 But there's no way I would want to be here at night. That seems really scary. I mean, I swear ghosts would probably rise from the grave and play shuffleboard every night, its that old.

 I also like that there are castles here. There aren't too many in California. The only one I can think of is Hearst Castle, and that was built in homage to these castles. You feel like you're in a old place, which you are.

I like that they had a staute of Abraham Lincoln. In remembrance of all the Scotish/American soldiers who fought for freedom from slavery. I thought that was really neat. Also, what I've learned is that the dollar store has a much different feel here. It doesn't bring down the property value of the stores around it, if you know what I mean. I was able to get a new wrench and screwdriver (I need someway to put my skateboard back together) at "Poundland", as well as a power converter....Also, whenever I can't understand something that a Scottish person is saying, I just remember the Beerfest line where the British team are yelling at the American team, and the American team just turns to each other and says "Do you have any idea what they're saying?".

So now I'm just sitting around waiting to check in. While I was writing this, I tried out another kind of beer....well not beer, its cider. But it's Irish cider, so I think its a local. And even if its not, I haven't had it before. Also, they advertised it as "extra cold"...is there another way people serve it?

After this, I'm going to check in, take a nap and take a shower. I really want both of those things.