SCARBOROUGH

9.18.2005

Even though I heard rumours of this town being small and dirty (ah hum, Phil) it was quite pleasant. I was told it would be very cold being on the coastline and all, but it was the hottest day yet! I walked around with other international students (obviously, seeing as it was only international students who went) most of whom spoke Spanish. They spoke Spanish so much, that they talked more than they walked. Another Canadian from Western named Melissa, and a Mexican named Alfonso and I managed to break away from the group. This was after we had yummy fish and chips for lunch. I figured I couldn’t get fresher fish anywhere else, so if I was going to eat fish and chips, it might as well be there.

The strip along the beach had about 10 different arcades and 20 different gift shops. It reminded me of New Jersey, and it reminded Melissa of Maine, so we really didn’t feel as though we were in England here. Except of course when we walked up the MASSIVE hill (the town is built on a hill) and could see up close an old castle...which was really a fort. There was a huge rock concert the night before so we weren’t allowed on the grounds. Oh well, we walked around the perimeter and snuck in at another exit point for a quick view. There’s actually a golf course inside!! This fort was massive!! We also visited a cute church, walked around the boardwalk, went on a boat ride up the coast and almost rode a donkey on the beach, but it was only for children! Darn kids get everything! Lol. Melissa and I really wanted to do that, it’s not everyday you can ride a donkey on a beach! Maybe in another town…
The bus ride only took an hour and a half, but it felt like longer. It honestly looked like Ontario’s farm regions, except where there were a few more trees along the perimeter of the fields and more hills. I even saw a RED horse..it must have been painted or something, that looked too weird to be real.

Scarborough Castle

Cute church

Cliffs all up the coast like this. Scarborough Castle on the top.

Later that night half of Tetley took the bus into town to the first Freshers parties. There were soooo many people giving flyers out in Headingley that day, it was chaos. Little did I know it would only get worse. Anyway, the queue was too long at one place, 6 of us went to find somewhere else. It turned out to be a foam party! I honestly have never had so much fun at a club. EVERYONE was dancing and really into the music, perhaps because they were all wasted, but w/e, the was unbelievably enthusiastic. The music as AWESOME! They played everything, from Bryan Adams (summer of ’69) to Cotton-Eyed Joe and Saturday Night (Dance Mix ’95) to Queen (bohemian rhapsody) to Oasis (the Brits loved that!) EVERYONE was singing along, until the foam came out, b/c then you’d have to close your mouth else you’d swallow the bits of foam that shooted out..mmmmm. It was so sticky and dried hard, my face felt like it had one of the mud masks on! hahaha, it was fun..until I sliced open my finger trying to get something of my shoes (it turned out to be a chunk of glass). It was really gross, and it still hurts. It actually looks like a wart now. Ewwwww.