thoughts on a saturday

i may or may not be avoiding some reading, but the week has been loads better since wednesday so i thought i'd share.

thursday N, D, and i went to matt&phred's jazz club, which was a lot of fun. we were expecting a pianist, but instead there was a quartet playing (guitar, drums, trombone, & double bass). i think the pianist would've been better, but it was still good music. M and his other housemate F also joined a bit later, so we had a packed table. being my first real jazz bar, it was an experience. the venue itself is nice, as is the music and atmosphere, but it's not my very favorite place. of course, that doesn't mean it wasn't a good night out. D ordered some really interesting drinks, but i think the worst was some mix of tequila and lime that M got. N and i stuck to strawberry&lime cider. i also had a very interesting run-in with an older lady in the bathroom who (after asking why the hand dryer wasn't working) was so shocked by my accent that she proceeded to talk with me for quite a while about my history, where my family was from, and my best and worst list of accents from the states. turns out she is a linguist from the university, and was genuinely interested in why i sound the way i do. anyway, that was the fun for the night.

after the jazz club, we went back to M, D, & F's house to watch Question Time, since we missed it by going to the jazz club. it featured Nick Griffin, the party leader for the BNP. now, pardon my french, but the BNP preaches some scary shit (for lack of a better phrase). there is now a huge debate over whether or not it was a good idea to invite the BNP leader to appear on a BBC show. debate aside, it was a valuable experience for me because i learned a lot about british politics and some major concerns of voters. also, thanks to Bonnie Greer, i haven't ever felt prouder to be an american:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n8l6Gjws2s
if you do have the time to watch the whole debate on youtube, i would encourage you to do so.

friday morning was much less scary. i woke up to phillip glass and got to watch the new south park, which in my book makes for the beginnings of a very good day. i heard from a friend that i'd missed, i got some reading done, and i cleaned my room. later that night, i went for a drink with L and his girlfriend S at the Friendship Inn (what a name). it's a little pub mostly frequented by old men, so it's an interesting place to go (but you can hear people talk, which is the best thing).

today i went (window)shopping with N in the northern quarter. it was a great day. we started with coffee (best vanilla latte ever) to avoid thinking about the rain, then walked around the vintage shops, ending up at afflecks to look for typewriters. and it was a success!

i still need to name it, but it works so well and i've been playing around with it all day. i think it needs a new ribbon, but still! i'm so happy with it. also, i have to use it for a portfolio project. i have to cut this short now, D just got off work and we're going to grab a drink. oh, other good thing today: grilled cheese & tomato soup & a bunch of new music courtesy of N!

seminar and didsbury

just a quick post about this past week, nothing particularly exciting happened.

friday i met with my group to plan for our seminar (Museums of Empire and Evolution was the topic), and that went off without a hitch yesterday. we discussed how the british empire amassed and displayed objects from the colonies and wider world (mostly dealing with 19th century collections and exhibits).

i discovered great bits of the library on saturday, so that was fun. there are rows and rows of books on greek art & history, not to mention a huge section on archaeology. i was looking for roman foundations in manchester, but managed to pick up four completely unrelated books (two were supposed to be related but weren't). monday we talked about our work placements and we'll find out where we're placed by the end of next week.

today i ran some errands and went down to didsbury to visit my friend NT (speaking of which, i'm going to have to find an easier way of naming people), and i will hopefully get down there more often because it is amazing! it's a cute area and reminds me a lot of the quintessential british village. i also got to talk music with NT, which is great since we have the same taste (and most of you know this is not an easy trait for me to find in someone else). tomorrow we're off to a jazz club, so hopefully i will have pics and stories from that.

not the most interesting week, but i'm content with that. hope the fall is treating everyone well!

west kirby/oxford/etc

i feel like it's been ages since i've written anything... apparently it has been ages, since it's been an entire week since i got back from oxford. where to start...

i had my first fish&chips last wednesday, and it was amazing. i made M order for me since i had no idea what i was getting, but he chose well (although i'm not sure you could choose poorly at this fish&chips place). i also watched in the loop, which is very funny but not quite my all-time favorite. earlier that day, i had gotten my last check, opened my bank account, gotten tickets for west kirby, and registered with a doctor (yay for completed errands).

thursday was the oxford trip, and since i had lain awake thinking "i have to get to sleep, i have to wake up soon", i was tired. we were on our way at 8:15 am, and were there by 11:30. this left us a bit of time to go sightseeing, so C and i walked to the Bodleian Library and saw an excellent exhibit of precious books (think gold- and gem- encrusted covers). unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures, otherwise i'd have quite a bit more to post.

after we all met back up, we visited the Pitt Rivers Museum, which is an amazing example of museums in the early 19th century.

after touring the museum and speaking with the curator, we got to break for lunch. since it was a really nice day, C, A, and i decided to get sandwiches and enjoy our surroundings.

we visited the modern art museum (which is not, in general, one of my fortes). it was interesting to speak with the curator, but the exhibits were a bit uninspiring... as in, they made me want to run into the nearest gallery of ancient art. the rest of the trip wasn't all that much more interesting, so i'm going to skip it.

friday i left for west kirby, and was surprised at how little time it took to get there (good news, i know). tim met me at the station although we almost missed eachother because i don't think either one of us recognized the other. we dropped off my bags and immediately set off for a walk around the harbor. i can't even begin to tell you how much i missed that walk. it was windy and cold and, of course, absolutely perfect.

after a while, we got cold and headed back, but not before cutting through one of my other favorite places.

fran returned home shortly after we did, so we had a good chat while she was cooking dinner, and then more good chats during dinner. in fact, most of the night was a wonderful exchange of information: i got to see pictures of their new flat, paintings recently finished by fran (i had forgotten how phenomenally talented she is), and i got to tell them all about you guys. tim still had to finish packing, and although i had intended on getting some reading done, that didn't happen. the next morning was a bit of a rush at first so that tiim and phil could get on the road, but i did get to enjoy a proper english breakfast (yum!!!). fran and i spent the rest of the day walking around WK, taking pictures and remembering stories about every place we visited. this one was particularly good to see:


i even got my first dish of scones and cream. if i'm not careful, i could gain ten+ pounds on the dishes i've been having lately (fish&chips, scones&cream, english breakfasts...). anyway, i left saturday afternoon around 3 and was back in manc by 4:30, just in time to miss this. that night, i went out with the girls to their friend's birthday party. we got home relatively early, so i was able to wake up early on sunday.

i spent most of sunday reading, but took a short trip to the manchester art museum to study the mode and message of their 17th-19th century galleries (an example of empirical collecting). i took a break to go to a comedy show, which was great because it was "new material" night: all their comedians were trying out new acts, so we got to judge. and it was only £2, so that's also good.

monday was R's birthday, so i went over to hers and then out to the font before ditching the group (they were going clubbing and i had to get up for class).

tuesday was mostly boring.

wednesday i got up at 5 am in order to make my 6:30 bus to london. i was lucky and got a really nice cabbie who told me all about the time he spent in canada and the roadtrip he and his family took across the US. my bus ride up, however, was a disaster (kind of). we hit traffic that delayed us for 1.5 hrs, then when we took our break (they legally have to break once for every 3 hours they drive), the break was an hour rather than 10 minutes.

with all this, i was running very late by the time i got to london. to make matters worse (not really, but it still sucks), N's parents house was burgled the night before, so they had no cell phone, wallets, anything-- even their two mercedes were stolen. luckily, they were unharmed and the insurance should cover the cars. anyway, i digress. i picked up my bags and we headed back out in record time, although i had already missed my bus back. then we hit a traffic diversion whilst on the way to the station and couldn't get to the train stop!! to answer your question, no, this was not my favorite day of the week. i managed to make the 5:00 coach (2.5 hours later than i'd hoped) and so got back in at 10. i was supposed to meet D for a drink after he got off of work, but i decided to stay home and not push my luck.

today i've been cleaning, reading, and doing laundry. i've taken 3 trips to sainsburys so far, the last two just for hangers. i'm looking forward to tomorrow though, since i think we're having another girls night out (but not before i go to the doctor, finish my reading, work on a presentation, visit the roman fort...).

week #2

life just got a whole lot better: southparkstudios has started broadcasting in the UK!! when i first arrived, there was a bunch of legal shenanigans that prevented the website from working, but now it does! i'm sure one of you petitioned them into submission, so whoever that was, thanks for that.

this week has been amazing, too. i feel like i start out with something along those lines every time i write, but the only things that seem to go wrong are completely overshadowed or quickly fixed by things that are significantly better. i did get a bit of bad news this morning, though. michelle wrote to tell me that joey is having litter box problems again and that if they continue, she might not be able to keep him. so that adds a lot of stress onto my plate, but hopefully we can get that cleared up.

friday night H, D, and J came over for a drink and to visit the flat. i think it got the thumbs-up... at least they said that they'd come back! we then went for cocktails at a sweet local bar called the font. i absolutely love this place. it plays good music, and all cocktails are £2 (including their killer mojitos). we spent a couple hours there before calling it a night, but not before we met up with some of my other friends. it was the perfect night, since i was able to get out of the quarantine area but not for long enough to make me sick again!

saturday i was finally able to run errands (since i just now got my student loan check put into the account), and did so with gusto. i got a hair dryer, straightener, and toothbrush in town, then went to the northern quarter for a look around the vintage shops. i found a great pair of vintage stilettos with copper caps for £10 and also found a winter hat that's pretty sweet. i even stopped in a little cafe for a sandwich and some reading time (maybe some people-watching too). i tried to do some primark shopping but it was absolutely disastrous... way too many people. so instead, i came back to fallowfield and did some grocery shopping. i can finally cook for myself now! i got a pot, pan, cheese grater, spatula, and some knives. so far i've only managed to cook chicken and sauteed spinich and a made-up pasta salad (methinks i won't try spring onions with basil-pesto sauce again), but it makes me feel loads better to be able to cook for myself. i also got two huger bags of fruit (plums and apples, to be precise).

so after spending all day shopping, i came home and basically collapsed. sunday i went to the whitworth gallery to do visitor surveys with my classmate C. we talked to people for three hours and i loved it. it's a good feeling to know that i'm in the right place, and i get that now more than ever. after finishing the surveys, we went for a coffee to debrief. again, another great day.

yesterday, i had 3Ms. instead of visiting a gallery, we were split into groups and sent to research a particular object in a museum. my group could not stop laughing at how happy i was to get our object; i was grinning like a kid on christmas... but then you all wouldn't be surprised: we got the T Rex skeleton!! so my monday was also amazing.

today was much more relaxed. we studied cabinets of curiosity and how they contributed to the modern museum. i spent the three hours between lectures reading in the museum cafe. C joined me for the last hour or so, so we got to spend some time talking about manchester and the things i've seen around town (she grew up here). in all, a great week so far.

something to look forward to: i'm headed to oxford on thursday and west kirby on friday, so i will post pictures soon!

dorm room

it looks loads better now but it still a bit messy (keep in mind i've quarantined myself in here for the past four days). i finally got the pictures up and all that and i'm happy with the result. love it here. still.

more firsts

hello, october! i'm not quite sure i'm ready for it to be october. at the end of this month, i'll be figuring out essay topics for my first-semester classes. there will also be "reading week", a little gem of british scholastics that i hadn't heard of before. apparently we get an entire week for- you guessed it- "reading". as i've been told and as has been exemplified by my schedule, this is an excuse for professors to simply pile on every piece of work imaginable. i think i'll still have fun with this, though. i've decided that for part of that week (maybe 3 or 4 days), my books and i will take a foray into the lake district to spend some quality time together.

reading week aside, i've had many other pleasant surprises. getting sick on sunday morning was NOT one of them. i usually come down with something after traveling 3+ time zones; it's generally inevitable and generally a sinus/respiratory infection type thing. so, i wasn't too surprised to have that start on sunday. i've gone through packages of tissues and thanked myself for packing my sudafed. on the other hand, my flatmate has been kind and concerned enough to keep supplying me with (the equivalent of) Theraflu whenever she sees me. i've discovered that people here are much, much kinder about being sick (not that you guys aren't, but i even have a couple of my classmates fussing and giving me tips on meds). one of my friends even brought me mint tea and chocolate and stuck around to watch the princess bride! i feel seriously pampered... and for those of you who know what i'm like when i'm sick, pampering me and fussing are not two things that i generally succumb to.

other than that, i've just gotten through my first week of class and i couldn't be more thrilled. the first course, m3 as it will be known, is structured as lessons for the first 5 weeks, then working in groups for the 2nd 5 weeks to put together a display in the department's building. i have a great group and am looking forward to working with them. we also get to visit a bunch of places for mini-field trips. we visited the Whitworth Gallery on monday, and got to speak with the director. we had an open discussion about the American Scene (the american prints that i saw last week) and that was fun to get to input as an American History major. the other american in my course is beyond annoying though, and i really struggle to not throw my pen at her every time she opens her mouth. in all fairness, she has said one productive thing so far (so she's at 1/27 right now). she even came in 15 minutes late to a lecture, an act which i think shows the utmost disrespect for the lecturer. oh, and then her cell phone went off 10 minutes later. so much for making americans look good.

sorry about the rant. i adore my classes and classmates, and am especially excited about my discussion groups on tuesday afternoons (this is for the contexts course). i have a great range of people with various backgrounds and am interested about finding out more about them. those differences will certainly further discussions. and beyond that, students lead each discussion in pairs or groups of threes, so i have two weeks to lead: "human remains in the museum" and "museums of empire and evolution". so excited!!

so that was my experience with the first two days of classes. other than that, we had a girls night out on friday, which was educational to say the least. the clubs are certainly something else... but it was a lot of fun. i think my favorite part of the night was when everyone got so surprised that i brought "good vodka". my only reply was "honey, i had 4 years of bad vodka and i'm not about to repeat that experience". oh, undergrads!

this weekend is looking largely uneventful. i'm thinking of heading around manchester on saturday to get some good shots of the city (i'll bring a friend so that i might actually be in some shots). on sunday, i'll be doing surveys at the Whitworth Gallery to help them with the American Scene exhibit. other than that, it's reading reading and more reading.

i forgot to mention that i visited the John Ryland's Deansgate Library on sunday. it is nothing short of amazing! it houses the world's oldest piece of the new testament, though i have yet to find it. the best part is the 3rd floor reading room, where i'll be spending most of my reading time. it's full of little alcoves of really old books (behind glass), but it really reminds me that i'm participating in a great history of learning (which makes it easier to focus on the task at hand, if that makes any sense).

and now, i'm off to read a bit more and perhaps watch an episode of the Hairy Bikers on BBC iplayer. and yes, peter, please send those south park dvds!