3-legged OTLEY RUN!

11.12.2005

This past Wednesday, Nov.9th, the hiking society put on a 3 legged Otley Run! You must tie your leg to another person's legs for the night! We all met north of Headingley at the famous start of the Otley Run in a pub called Woodies. Ossian and I were paired together. He was smart enough to bring a tie, because the rope other people were using looked like it would cut into the ankle. We eventually got the rhythm of it and got quite competitive to pass other pairs along the way. I couldn't stop giggling and he couldn't stop stepping on my baby toe. It was probably my fault b/c I think I was pulling my leg toward me when we walked. It was soooo funny to see some of the guys paired together trying to walk. We managed to hit up 10 pubs that night! It was such a good time!

Go to: www.leedshike.co.uk

There are some good pictures of the night if you click on the right hand side. There's also a lot of others hikes I've been on and posted more pictures there. Oh and click on Cairngorns and Fort Williams! These are the hikes in Scotland I REALLY want to do in Jan/Feb. They require a better quality boot so that crampons (devices with spikes you attach to your boot to help you stick in the snow) won't fall off. Pretty exciting stuff!

nice tappered pants! Just how I love it! hahaha NOT! Ozz's lovely socks again.

Dave came as a banana... and Martin was hungry. lol.
Bob, Cathryn, Francois (Belgium), and Dave
mmmmmmmmm, boooots! Me and Ozz.
Dom's talent!

a ceilidh, chocolate cake, and shisha

I know, random outing for a Friday night in Leeds, but it was done!!! The ceilidh (pronounced kaley), an Irish dance/music extravaganza one could say, was good fun! There was a lively band, an older man singing songs as well as teaching dances, and of course food and drinks--that's where the chocolate cake comes in. It looks at bit like a very peppy line dance, where there was a lot of swinging of the partners and holding hands while jumping around. Good idea for a first date! ;) Except that weird girl that didn't speak to her date at the last ceilidh I went to!! hahaha, Chloe knows what I"m talking about if you're reading this! You really work up a sweat, and you also can't help but laugh b/c you look quite ridiculous bobbing around making so many mistakes! The Catholic society put it on, and the perfect amount of people showed up for the size of the "dance floor."

After the ceilidh we went to a shisha cafe called L'oragnise. It felt like I was onthe Aladin film set--exotic fabrics and pillows, lamps, candles, Middle Eastern artwork etc. Shisha is flavoured tobacco you smoke (but not inhale....kind of like a cigar) through a tube connected to this tall lamp type thing. Sorry no pics. It really did taste like apple! And after a long, invigorating walk home I slept like a baby to end my fabulous night! :D

What do vintage clothes and lip enhancement have in common?

11.15.2005

The answer is my Sunday afternoon in the city centre. First, I'd just like to mention that my house had a bonding moment on Saturday. After much kerfuffle about smelly lettuce in the fridge, we all helped clean the fridge (ok, me and Anna) but the others were encouraging us! lol. We found this really smelly chicken so we chucked it without asking whose it was b/c we were saving their health. Other than that disgusting factor, people were in the kitchen cleaning and chatting and cooking. I love dinner time on the weekends when we have to fend for ourselves, it's like a little family! Sunday we were lazy and bought a family meal from KFC. I mentioned that Colonel Saunders lived across the street from me (well before I was born) and they seemed amused for a few seconds! hahaa. I don't think they understood he started the KFC chain in America..and eventually bought a house in the suburbs in Canada (or at least I've been told that!)

Right, on to Sunday! I went with Anna to a vintage fashion fair at this swanky hotel downtown. You had to pay to get in! eghhhh! But I did b/c it looked really cute. Little did I know it was practically all dresses from like the 1920s onwards. Old, stuffy, heavy, tackey, crazy, yet some very stylish dresses. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything. My allergies were soooo bad at the end, I couldn't wait to get out of there! Stuffiness and me don't get along very well.

Anna and I headed over to do some "normal" shopping at H&M. Can I just say I love that store!! It's so eclectic, as in carries so much different, neat things! I only managed to buy some pants (what they call underwear here in England) for like 1 pound! woooo hoooo!

Bringing me to my final point, lip enhancement. Anna and I put on this lip enhancement cream at the body shop. It was funny b/c every 5min. we kept joking to each other, commenting on our voluptuous lips and how they were growing! hahaha. Supposedly it brings the water to the surface of your lips and that is what gives you the "enhanced" look. We even took a picture! lol. See the difference?
(btw, I was trying soooo hard not to laugh in this picture! I'm a horrible actress. :(

That night (Sunday Nov.13th) Tetley Hall had an open mic night! It reminded me of Kelly's Korner!! It was reallly cute! lights, and hot chocolate, and muffins, and good music!! It was fabulous! What a weekend! :D

1 Comment
Anonymous said...
na I can get the same effect by eating peppered steak. My lips swell up and I have swollen lips that don't look very sexy . Martha

THE HYPNOTIST

My week was pretty straight forward...I'm not a big drinker/clubber as it is, so my few going out stories aren't that important or worth mentioning b/c it's not like I can re-itterate my conversations on my blog...I don't have that great of a memory! I know Joy always tells me my memory is horrible! Anywayyyy, the hypnotist on Wednesday (16th) wE had at Tetley was awesome! I was very skeptical, thinking people would laugh and not go under...but it did happen! I couldn't believe it!! At first, it looked really weird and a few girls woke up and went back to their seats, but those that stayed went to "sleep" and actually woke up and pretended to drive a car the next minute! It was kind of scary, but I've never laughed soooo hard in my life! One guy kept laughing and doing the actions before everyone else, we called him "the faker" But when the hypnotist said that someone stole his 'knob' let us say, he was so believable and didn't even crack a smile. He was like "please sir, may I have my knob back? I'll be really cross if you don't give me my knob back" hahaha. oh my. The guys also pretended to give birth! One guy's face went sooo red, that the veins were popping out of his head and neck! He also started pouring sweat! omg, and then he gave birth to 7 puppies and looked absolutely JOYFUL! it was unbelievable. A lot of crude and sex related skits were done, but I won't get into that, funny as hell nonetheless. It was so funny when one guy couldn't go to "sleep" when the hypnotist said so, and so he raised his hand like "umm, I'm not asleep" hahaha, that happened a lot, and then the hypnotist would come over and put his hand on the student's head and say sleep---and he did!! :O I forget a bunch of what was done, but it's really not as funny unless you see it in person, so I'll stop there.

Thursday night Chris, Will, Anna and Faye attempted the centurian--where you drink 100 shots of beer a minute for 100 mins. Faye stopped after like 7 min, hehe, Will after 60 b/c he had class the next morning at 9am, Anna was doing really well until she couldn't hold it all down..enough said. Chris being the TANK of a drinker finished the 100! I would've have partaken, but I also had class at 9am. Not cool. I spoke to my mom that night, I hadn't in ages! Her email mentioned something like "I'll try to see if you're online tonight, so I can get to hear your voice" I thought that was the sweetest thing ever, I alsmot cried. hehe, I'm such a sap!

I've been a good girl this week and buckled down and was in the library all afternoon tues-thurs. I was absolutely exhausted at night!! my goodness, how reading sucks the life out of me!! GAHHH. my brain was dead by the end, I don't know if I can even remember what I read! NOT COOL.

SNOWDONIA, WALES -- SATURDAY NOV.19

11.22.2005

After over a week of anticipation, Friday FINALLY came! My class finished at 11am, so no worries, I had lots of time to get ready...WRONG! I managed to waste my day once again and rush to get my stuff together around 3:30 in order to leave just after 4 to be at the Union by 5pm departure. It was quite anti-climatic the first night. I recognized most of the people, but they were busy loading the buses and such, that I just stood around with the newbies that didn't know what to do but continue to stand. What I was told would take 5 hrs. only to 3hrs., so I was pleasantly surprised to arrive there just before 9pm. It gets dark by 4:30pm now, so we arrived in darkness in this parking lots next to a nice looking cabin. Only, little did I know that our lodging was at the top of the hill and not nearly as nice looking.

After a trek up the steep hill, making sure I didn't step in a pothole, we all had to wait in the cold b/c the person with the key was still at the bottom of the hill! It was a rectangular brick building and looked to me like an army barracks or something. There was a long line of connected bunk beds on the bottom floor, connected beds on the top, and a small kitchen. Not nearly as cozy and welcoming as Duddon. But that didn't matter because once the food was brought up, we all went to the pub which was a 5 min. walk down the road. I talked to the new girls--OHHHH, one of whom was on my "Meet and Greet" service shuttle bus to the Uni when I first arrived in Leeds with my dad!! Her name is Lauren and she's also from Toronto! She even remembered I was from Mississauga! Then there was Willa, a very peppy, giggly (very similar to me) American, another from Alaska named Alison, Marina (also very giggly) from Brazil--I knew her from Duddon, and a postgrad from the UK named Elaine. We walked together on the Saturday and it was soooo much fun! There were 9 of us girls.

I can't pronounce, rather remember the name of the mountain we climbed, but the day was absolutely PERFECT and clear, and no wind and good company! I think this time around climbing a 3000ft. my mind was more prepared and I wasn't so tired by the end. We had great fun playing around on all the rocks at the top of the mountain. It was also really cold up there, because once you stop walking, you really start to feel the cold. We were teasing the boys later saying we were strip hiking--which we kind of were, because every 10 min. you would get so hot you had to peel off another layer. We were in t-shirts and shorts by the top..and then you'd have to hurry to put your layers back on before you froze to death.

Marina itching her butt. haha, well it looks like it!!
Although it's called Snowdonia there was no snow--thank goodness! They was a bit of ice that crystallized and looked like snow.
a reflection..sigh.
Cathryn and her crazy rock climbing skills! yikes!
ommmmm (that's me)
Marina and me. Marina has this great picture of us where I'm taking one of the both of us, only it was set as "movie ", so we have 10 sec. of us smiling cheesely for the camera wondering why the picture wasn't being taken! It's realllly funny!

That night we all went to the pub again. It was a lot of fun because we played BALDERDASH!!! First it was 4 of us girls, and then it was like 15 people playing! Willa and I gave ourselves a pat on the back for starting a trend! haha. It was so funny, some of the answers were so random. Willa's always had something to do with royalty or far away lands, that I couldn't help but laugh when reading hers out. I never seen so many board games in a pub, but it was good fun! 3 guys who were dropped of the night before to hike 3 massive 1000m/3000ft. peaks in 20 hrs. (over night and w/o sleep!) finally returned and joined us at the pub. I don't know how they were still standing and awake, but that's the thing about beer and pubs in England, you can never be too tired to go! I, on the other hand, was exhausted and couldn't keep my eyes open so left with a group fairly early. The first night I didn't sleep more than 2 hrs. and to much of people's gossip, it was because I was cold and don't sleep well in new places! So you can imagine I was very happy to sleep and wake up to the alarm in the morning, knowing I got a full night's sleep.

SNOWDONIA -- SUNDAY NOV. 20

Sunday was the most amazing day! I know I say that a lot, but then you're climbing on your hands and knees up a steep and exposed mountain side, with nothing but a helmet and your grip of the rocks, it's pretty thrilling. Also nerve-racking, terrifying, and heart-wrenching at points--but still an unbelievable feeling! My group was 8 different people, me being the 9th, and they were sooo funny! I don't remember anything of what was said, but I remember laughing so hard at the random jokes and comments. Mark kept standing on these sticking out rocks like in the Lion King and posing. I said he was like Leoglas and laughed my head off at my own joke, which in turn made Sam think I'm crazy!! But he had a holey ass so it's ok. hahaha. I was walking behind him most of the time so I have a lot of pictures of his butt! I was trying to get a feel for the angle we were climbing, but the pictures just don't capture it and how terrifying it was to look down.

The guys kept saying lines from movies, as all guys have a gift for memorizing lines from movies. But I'd have to say half the conversation of the day was taking the piss out of me, my accent, my North American culture, and my loud giggling. So many questions! geeesh! I felt like I was being grilled from everyone about how things differ in Canada and how we say certain words. To me, it's not that interesting in Toronto--b/c it's just a big metropolitan city. I hate when people say "oh, you're from Canada, you should be used to the cold"!!! I HATE THAT! I DO NOT live in an igloo, I DO NOT go for long walks in -20 weather, nor does it get THAT cold all the time. I also had to tell them that there's really not a lot of mountains in Canada, except for the West coast, And seeing as I don't even live close to there, I'm still a novice when it comes to climbing mountains.

Someone kept passing horrible stenches, and I always seemed to be downwind of them. yuck! Mickey, our leader, was like a speeding bullet! On the way down I tried to keep up with him, but he was too fast, and it's not fun walking by yourself. After having an emotional goodbye to the Cantelever (hehe, not really, but I did really think it was fabulous) we ended up climbing the same mountain as the day before, just a steeper--scramble--way up. That means I climbed 2 mountains peaks of 3000ft. each in 1 day!! WOO HOOOO!

Tryfan -- I climbed that!!

A closer-up -STEEPER- view of Tryfan.
Taking a much needed break...


Mark jumping across "Adam and Eve" --two large boulders on the top of Tryffen.

Sadly this is not me, but I took it! This is Rachel and I absolutely LOVE this picture! I'm telling you, it was serious scrambling in some parts!
Sam's holey ass! I kept saying the hole in his trousers kept getting bigger!
Another break...haha.


Sam, steepness, and Dave at the bottom.
Herdie (that's his nickname--it's came from a type of sheep) on the Cantelever. I love this picture! That rock held all 9 of us! It was like magic! hehe.
living on the edge :)

For some reason the part I keep laughing about is on the drive home when Andy, who was sitting beside me eating pizza, all of a sudden dropped his head and his pizza fell out of his hand. I turned to look and asked if he just fell asleep eating pizza?? HAHAHHA. He denied it, but it sure looked like it! lol. And of course you can't have a proper drive back without Ozz's cheesey upbeat music and someone dying to use the toilet. Dave P ran so fast out of the car we just all sat and laughed at him running before getting out ourselves. Someone said "I think he doesn't need a nickname anymore, Dave P is just fine" HAHAHAHA. GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES! :D

EDINBURGH Nov 25-27

It was a 5 hr drive to Edinburgh, Scotland, including 45 min. stopping time. There were two coaches full exchange students, though the trip was open to anyone. Melissa (from Niagara Falls), Alfonso (Mexican), Willa and Lauren from Snowdonia trip last weekend, and a German girl named Sabrina and I shared a room. It was a great hostel, so clean and large, and it had everything!....except proximity to the city centre. The first day my group couldn't get on the same shuttle to the city centre and it took us 3 times! We managed to regroup finally. The day was cold and rainy, pretty miserable. We booted it to this Whiskey musuem, thinking it was fre....it wasn't. Forget that. We walked completely the wrong way trying the find the place and kept stopping in all the cute little shops. I bought a large umbrella and a Scotland jersey for only 15 quid! It's nice and thick and warm. I thought it was fitting because Iain (exchange student from last year) managed to get 2 tickets to the Scot vs. New Zealand rugby game. The All Blacks (New Zealand) are the best team in the world!! Melissa and I took Iain up on his offer-for only 10 quid!

We first went to a small, private pub that no on knows about. It's actually the basement of a society something like "the Free Masions" and only are allowed to open it up during large events if you sign in under a "day member." The game was really exciting! New Zealand started off with this Hacka dance--very hot. The beat Scotland 29-10, you could really tell New Zealand had it together and Scotland were always in this blob and never had running momentum. We met back up with our friends for dinner. Our waiter was very pushy and sneaky and managed to charge us for things we didn't know we were being charged for. I needed my mom there to sort him out. We kept walking around looking for a pub to sit in, but they were all full! They were so packed and smokey I had no desire to go in. Plus I was still soaking wet and cold. We took the shuttle back to our hostel and watched the funniest movie ever!!! It was called Space Camp, filmed in the 80s for sure! With the crappiest graphics and acting. You couldn't help but laugh at its cheeseyness.

The next day we managed to get up earlier to make sure we all got on the first shuttle. Today was much more productive. Melissa, Alfonso, and I split up (awwwww together again like we were touring Scarborough during the first week of term!) and toured the castle. I keep forgetting castles are military bases pretty much and prisons. For some reason I was expecting to see lavish rooms. I did however see the Scottish crown jewels and they were exquisite. The just sparkled every single second with those rainbow beams. They shouldn't be locked up, they should be worn and used! The Great Hall was really amazing. I also saw the room Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James I (future king of England). That was neat.

After the castle we hurried to meet up with our friends for another tour. This one was more eerie, as it was underground. Well, actually people used to live in these "closes", which were long open streets to the river and had stories of housing on each side. The new city was built on top of these so there's not much remaining. It was really creepy down there. Melissa was on edge and jumped so far when another character from the tour yelled something out the window. It was funny. I bought a few Christmas presents, looked at the palace where the Queen lives while she is in Edinburgh, bought some yummy fudge and managed to lose my umbrella. Oh well, Alfonso has lost 4 since he's been here! ahahaha. The bus ride home I only managed to sleep for the first 1/2 hour. crap. oh well, Melissa was good company to talk to once she woke up :)

Hostel room
The rugby game!
Iain and me!! together again! hehe.
Me with my cool (now lost) umbrella infront of a church.
The gang: (from left) Melissa, Willa, Sabrina, Lauren, and Alfonso
Our hostel on the river. You could see the snowy mountains far away from here!
some buildings
The Great Hall...it was red! Eye spy, with my little eye, some snowy mountains in the distance!! (view from the castle)
seeing double.. te he he
the Royal Mile (it's the main street--1 mile long--from the castle to the palace)
the palace..we couldn't get in, plus we had no time to.

HIKESOC CHRISTMAS FORMAL

Thursday Dec.1 was the big day! Willa and I had been the previous night to a student play at the Uni. We left just over half way through...it was kind of slow and had no plot. We met up with the others at the hiking social. It was a small gathering, without the committee members, so we decided to make up some cute awards for them. For instance, "committee member most likely to....look like Mark in 4 years" and that went to Herdie. I thought it was funny, hopefully the others did. We kind of just did it and didn't tell the committee about it, but it was all in good fun. The meal was nice, company nicer, and the dancing just cheesy! lol. Good night in all!

me and S(am)ta! hehe.

the sailors: me and Mark
Marina and me
the ladies club
the Scotsmen: Ian, Ozz, Wes, Herdie
Stephen's Kris Kringle present...too funny!

NOTTINGHAM Dec. 3 -4

I can't believe it's been 7 months since I've seen Richard! Of all the Brit exchange students last year to Toronto, he knows me the most, so you can imagine it was wonderful to see him again! I was greeted warmly by him, his girlfriend Ele, and his good friend Bertie. Bertie came to Toronto last year and was so quiet and shy, that it was good to hear him speak! He and Rich loved to put their arms around eachother as the watched TV...I dunno, it was pretty funny in their small den type thing. I think I drank more tea this weekend then my whole stay in England! Bertie's addicted and every time he came downstairs he asked "like a cuppa tea lass?" hehe.

We walked around town, went to a creepy gothic pub, then hit up another pub for lunch and eventually walked back to Rich's house closer to the Uni. The town centre is quite far from the University. Like 50min. walking distance I was told! I suppose that's the same distance from Headingley to the city centre. That night Ele and I watched Richard's ice hockey game. It was in Birmingham and we passed time in the coach playing poker with the hockey boys. I shall never look at poker the same way again! They won 13-2, and Ele and I hurt our voices cheering. We walked through the campus at night, and from what I saw it was beautiful! So large and open and green! My goodness, there was a pond, and fields, upon fields of open green grass and trees! The city centre was cute as well. Similar to Leeds, but it seemed much busier. The following day Rich and I just walked around the city, and this huge park where there were deer!! I couldn't believe these large stags were just walking around on the golf course as if they owned it. It started raining so we headed back and I just watched a movie--About a boy. I love that movie! SOOOO CUTE! I highly recommend it. I fell asleep on the coach back for about the first 1/2 hr. I don't know why I couldn't sleep more. But there's something so tranquil about sleeping on a large coach at night...I dunno, maybe I'm just weird. hehehe.

a wall

fierce, fierce

Nottingham Castle--it's actually a just mansion placed on the old site with some sort of art gallery/history exhibit inside. We didn't spend too long in there.

Me at the castle's gates...I assume the dark stones are the original.

Supposedly the oldest pub in England. We went in, and the ceilings are really low. It looks like it was built in the rock.

An old, fasionable mansion sitting high on the hill at Wollaton Park. It was closed! bugger.
Deer lingering around the park (those brown dots in the photo)
Rich admiring the trees...he made me try and climb the one on the left and took video footage (that I was unaware about) of my sad attempt. Quite funy actually looking at the video. I gave him half of this large brownie. He said ok, but only a bite--then he takes the largest bite ever and hands me back the smallest piece. hahaha.
Robin Hood and me. Everyone knows the story about Robing Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. I didn't go into the "tales of Robin Hood" which talks about the evidence they have for him. All they know is that someone like him existed. Sherwood forest is actually quite far from the city centre.

TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK

The Cantilever, Snowdonia

I love this picture! In a way it simply embodies my experience here so far. Don't laugh, there's a reason... When I first looked on the hiking website I saw a picture similar to this, and I was determined to find out where that was and go on that hiking trip to see it. Well, obviously I accomplished that and have had the most unforgettable experience thus far. The same applies to wanting to come to England on exchange in the first place. And I did it! I'm here! I knew I wanted to come to England since as far back as I can remember. The history, neat accents, rolling country-side, the romantic setting in Jane Austen's novels, castles, mystery, and culture are just some on the things that come to mind when I think of England. I still can't get over the number of people that keep asking me "why? why England?" as though I was mad to choose this as my host country. As the semester winds down England becomes more than these few descriptive words, it holds so much more to me now.

I know I came here think it will be a life changing experience, so I keep asking myself how I've changed since I've been here, what I will take back with me, what self-discovery I have realised by being in this foreign land. The honest answer is I don't know....yet. I still feel like the same goofy Katherine, but I suppose that's because I would never want to change who I am. If anything, I'm much more ambitious to see more of the world now, to see different cultures, experience a different lifestyle, take in more breath-taking views. From what I've seen and been through so far, I can't stop smiling at what I've accomplished in these short 3 months. The friendships and amazing, inspiring people I have met--regardless of whether I talk to them again and keep in touch in the long run-- have helped make my moments here so wonderful and enjoyable. I have this overwhelming sense of gladness and I think that is what makes this semester successful above everything else.

I may be speaking prematurely, because I am still here for another week to finish my essays before I go home for Christmas. At the moment there are 4 of use left in the house, soon to be just me and Jacob. I know everyone just left, but I could already feel the emptiness when I returned from the library this afternoon. Jacob from Nigeria is staying the whole Christmas vacation. It honestly breaks my heart knowing I have to leave him alone for what should be a time for family, friends, and relaxation. He was doing work in the hall foyer tonight with the radio on, when a sweet Christmas tune came on. I almost started crying, because it just reminded me how much home means to me during the holiday season....wearing my comfy polar fleece pants with my super warm slippers in front of the fire place while doing a puzzle with my mom and brother just brings a smile to my face. My sister Kirsten will be watching TV and laughing in her hyena laugh out loud at it. My dad will be eating chocolate and listening to his lovely Christmas tunes upstairs, then rounding everyone up for church by saying "wakey wakey" and flicking on our bedroom lights..... Christmas Eve we will stuff our face at Oma and Opas with Oma's wonderful German cooking. Having a fake Santa coming to the door to give presents, and opening the presents that are no doubt chocolate and money is always great to receive! Our stockings will be filled with the usual chocolate balls and random notepads and pens, maybe even a toothbrush! hehe.....

Going tobaganning, drinking Timmie's hot chocolate late at night with my friends, spending New Years with Joy watching really cheesy movies, shopping with Katherine, making cookies with Rosalia, reading Alice's cute homemade Christmas card, opening the chocolate calendars with Sarah who will get excited over the littlest things, snowboarding with Eric, skating with Alana. And although that wasn't a proper, complete sentence I can't help but look forward to all of those things because they're such comforting memories of the holidays! And on that note, I need to get my beauty sleep for tomorrow :D

1 Comment

lau|2 said...

hey kat :)

thanks for the nice comment! Both quotes are beautiful and tears do represent more... just sometimes i cry in hopes that it will changes things - when it can not. it's just a reminder that i need less of that and more action.

but on a happier note, yay to term being almost over! and i LUVVV the pic in this blog - simply breath taking. goodluck with your essay, and i hope you arrive back here safe and sound!

happy holidays to you, eric, and your family!

NORBERT

This is Norbert, my cute sheep from the German Christmas market downtown. It's standing on a rock I "stole" from Wales. I know, I'm evil. But it seems fitting doesn't it?


2 Comments

Anonymous Jenna Rocca said...
This thing is just gorgeous! The rock! Perfect!

Blogger Stefan said...
I like Norbert as a name. :)

BOLTON ABBEY - Sunday Dec.11

Bolton Abbey - The town just happens to be named Bolton Abbey...if only I could find the town. It seemed to be comprised of a bakery and town hall..hmmmm.
The Yorkshire Dales (countryside) Here we are walking in fields of heather, with large rock boulders popping at (as seen in distance).
A duck that can't make its way upstream due to the current. It was pretty funny, just like when you see seagulls motionless into the wind.

A cute, random little house pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And did I mention this is in December!!!! It looks like summer! It was the most gorgeous weather! So warm!
My crew, Martin and Paul, at Simon's Seat--the largest/coolest rocks in the area. It was freezing by the time we got up here b/c it was at a hgher altitude and the wind was howling.
countryside --just like in Pride and Prejudice Katherine!!! GORGEOUS!

It was said that the water fight scene inRobin Hood (w/ Kevin Costner) was filmed about here. (well not exactly here, but in the area, possibly the same river, I don't know).

From Bolton Abbey we walked about 4 hrs. to a small (and I mean small) town named Burnsall. We would have gone farther, but it was getting dark and the guys wanted a drink. Little did we know we'd be stuck in a crap pub for 2.5hrs. It was the hotel's pub, and when we walked in this guy asked us, "are you here to eat? No? then stand there" and pointed to these tall benches opposite the bar. Mind you, it was pretty busy at the time we got there, so once it settled down, we took a seat in the corner. I don't even know what we talked about, I was pretty tired. I just remember being appaled by this man who was alerady unzipping himself before the bathroom door which was near us. We also bought these yummy "Yorksire Dales Crisps" that came in a large canister probably making them more expensive, so I kept the canister, haha, get my money's worth. The bus ride back was maybe 45 minutes. We were on it with a guided walking group that goes every Sunday, something I think my parents would enjoy very much when they come in March, b/c the guide talks about the geography/history and such on the hike..and it's free! So all in all, it was really nice to get out into Leeds backyard and see the quaint countryside I've seen so much in movies. It was darling and so peaceful.

1 Comment

Kirsten said...
Hey, I figured it might be better to reply here than on mine...? Hope your exams went well. I don't know what you're in but I'm in biology and I'm not used to all these essay questions! But about platform 9 3/4...we just followed signs to platforms 9 and 10 and there was a wall with the sign on it so you could get pictures. I was like a superdork that weekend.

CHRISTMAS BREAK

ahhhhhh, the joys of sleeping in my own bed, with my big fluffy comforter in my own tiny room. I was surprised to find it rather clean. Kirsten just must have cleaned it. How lovely it was just to veg out on the comfy leather couches and watch TV and movies for days on end. And of course, it was absolutely wonderful to see my friends again. They didn't seem too surprised when I didn't have an accent. Joy kept insisting I did, but I think she likes to imagine things...hahaha. jk. I was pretty lucky to meet up with a lot of my college at a pub night to celebrate the end of exams (jan 20). It was like I never left. Ok I lied. The people were the same and wonderful, but friend circles have changed, co-ed residence has made Loretto even more quiet as the boys do not seem to come to Loretto anymore, lots of people have moved off campus so it was a mini reunion for old friends. Of course being in Canada, there was no smoking which was fabulous and peope drank a lot of lager and mixed drinks! Of course, I ordered a Rickard's Red and people were like "ohhhh, big ale drinker now." The pub culture is just so different from England, it was weird, it was like I wasn't really "home." I've really come to like the pub scene in Leeds. It's so relaxed and no music in most. The bars back home are louder and less intimate, but it's big city (3 mill. I think) so everywhere is always busy and active. We didn't head out until after 10:30pm, which is quite later than in England who serve alcohol until 11pm. I think there's much more conversation in bars in Canada than drinking, by far. And wayyyy much more pre-drinking. Everyone's already drunk before getting the the pub. haha. oh the cultural differences. Seeing as I'm studying "cultural anthropology" it seems fitting I think in this way. That's why I like to travel and wish to travel so much, because I want to experience different places and ways of life and all the quirks when learning about each place. :)

Rosalia (aka. Feefs) and Lara

"duhhhh, what? What's the number one rule Cramer!?" hahaha
the Schaefers!!!! :D Christmas dinner at Oma's as usual. Very nice indeed! :P YUM YUM!
me, Joy, Sarah

This is after a bunch of us watched Pride and Prejudice in the theatres. Oh so sweet! Then we put on these cool vests because my house was cold and my dad always says put on a vest and some thermal socks if you're cold. haha. I say put on polar fleece, it's even warmer! It was lovely having my friends over and just chatting with them for hours. Mommy joined us as well, but I forget what we talked about..I'm sure it's not important now anything. THis was my last outing before really getting down to work on my essays. THe rest of the break was, shall we say gruelling. I had 3 essays to complete and in no mood to do so. UGH. I managed to finish two and stayed up until awful hours in the morning. Did not bode so well when I came back to England, because my body seemed to think 7am was 2am Canadian bed time and wouldn't let me sleep until then. I feel asleep for almost a week to the birds chirping.

me, Alice, Sarah

It was so nice to finally have my Uni friends and my highschool friends under one roof the night before my departure. From top clockwise: Roberto, me, Katherine, Justyna, John, Paul. It was a very low key night, we played Cranium. Sarah really got into the game and Rosalia kept shoving ours faces with sweets. mmmmmm, Christmas chocolate is the devil, but it's soooo good! Tis a shame something so good can be bad for you. Oh well, Christmas is only once a year and I've made it one of my new Years resolutions to swim at least once a week and walk to campus every day. So far this hasn't happened, but I'll try harder once I get into the swing of things with my new courses!