alright, well. here is in update since i'd pretty much rather do anything else than study. i have one more exam on thursday and then i'm DONE for 10 days or so... no school, no obligations, no nothing! there is talk of going on a trip, but nothing has been determined yet. we all want to go somewhere warm, but apparently warm just isn't happening in europe right now.
since i last wrote i've been quite the busy girl. christmas holidays were a blast, but man... exhausting! traveling every couple of days tires me out - i'm a creature of routine and i lacked that for a few weeks over christmas. i spent the first week or so of my break in ontario with dad an laurel. we had good times, took a trip to the city, ate some good food, had our own little christmas. i also got to see the good friends i made at the plant there, and i realized that even though kincardine basically ate a part of my soul it's not entirely a bad place.
my last day there my friend karen took me to collingwood and we enjoyed the scandanavian baths. if you ever get a chance to go to something like that, GO. it's lovely... warm pools, dry saunas, and - my personal favorite - a eucalyptus steam room. there were also nordic plunges. ack. so cold. but it closes the pores (apparently) so it's an essential step in your bathing experience.
from kincardine i went on to winnipeg where i was VERY domestic. mom and i made christmas stockings and aprons. MADE them. with our own two hands and a sewing machine. it was pretty intense stuff, i embroidered, i ironed, i stitched, i sewed. all things i usually have no interest in but for some reason it was great to keep busy with mom. we had a lot of fun.
christmas eve we drove to moose jaw to hang with denae and colb and the rest of the family. the domesticity continued at the elford ranch - i helped cook (sort of - i mashed potatoes), and i helped clean, and i discovered that being helpful in the kitchen makes christmas go by a lot quicker. now, we all know i'm not really a christmas fan, but if you busy yourself the day kind of speeds on by and it's not nearly as painful as it can be. also we ate a lot. too much. snacks. everywhere. i have developed a serious christmas belly.
from moose jaw i bused it to regina, where i had a quick visit with my nearest and dearest pals, and then i hopped a flight on new years eve and came back to england. that travel day was so so yucky... gross.
here, it's cold outside, but not that cold. i'm ashamed to admit i'm not handling the weather very well here, but i've figured out it's not cause i'm a complete and total wimp it's because england lives in the dark ages when it comes to efficiently heating a building. there is no central heat in any building, and most heaters don't have thermostats so they have to be turned on manually. for example, the heater in my room only runs for 15 minutes at a time. so every time i'm cold i have to push the "on" button and get me a little blast of heat. which isn't so bad, really... except at night. there have been a few nights now where i have to get up and turn on the heater. it's insane. and once you catch a chill there is simply no shaking it. ugh. warmer weather should be on it's way soon, i hope.
post exams there is talk of a dinner party with all the other first year law students to celebrate surviving our first round of tests. i'm really looking forward to it - i've been studying pretty intensely and i haven't been very social for the past little while. we'll likely eat and drink and yell and laugh and then maybe hit the streets of leicester and paint the town red. should be silly. i'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
up-diddly-ate.
Here we are, only a few weeks before I come home for Christmas vacation and see the family once again. Time has really gotten away from me over the past month, and I can hardly believe it's the 18th of November. Since I last wrote the weather has gotten cooler, but still not cold. I bought a duffel coat. I'm getting more British by the second.
I've been trying to concentrate a little harder on schoolwork, though with minimal success. There are a lot of distractions here - I think it comes from living in residence. It's a lot like when I was in highschool, living in a dorm with all my friends. There's always something to do, someone to talk to, some ridiculous drama to discuss instead of buckling down and studying. That being said, I've had my nose in a book pretty consistently the last couple days and I think I'm getting the hang of some of bigger legal concepts. Whether or not they're applicable in real life, I'm yet to learn. But They're interesting.
I've discovered I hate political and administrative law - they're subjects which are largely based on facts and figures and are terribly, horribly boring. I've been reading my civil justice system textbook for the past hour or so and I've just realized that I've absorbed very little of what I've read. In fact, I'm pretty sure for the last 10 minutes I was just moving my eyes across the paper and thinking about something else entirely. Hopefully I retained some of what I passed my eyes over - it'll be a shame if I have to read the chapter on the Civil Procedure Rulse AGAIN. Gross.
Dad gets here this weekend, which is really exciting. It'll be nice to have family here for a couple days. Even though its only a short visit I'm sure we'll have lots of fun. I'll post again after he's left and fill you in on our adventures. Oh, and next weekend I think I'm headed to London for a day or two to explore the galleries and museums! I'm very excited about that. Other than that trip to York I haven't done much in the way of travel and I'm itching to go exploring. I'll try and take lots of pictures and get some up here. I'm most excited to visit the Tate Modern - art! Culture! Yeah!
I'm off to go have tea with a friend. This is a legitimate study break, I swear.
I've been trying to concentrate a little harder on schoolwork, though with minimal success. There are a lot of distractions here - I think it comes from living in residence. It's a lot like when I was in highschool, living in a dorm with all my friends. There's always something to do, someone to talk to, some ridiculous drama to discuss instead of buckling down and studying. That being said, I've had my nose in a book pretty consistently the last couple days and I think I'm getting the hang of some of bigger legal concepts. Whether or not they're applicable in real life, I'm yet to learn. But They're interesting.
I've discovered I hate political and administrative law - they're subjects which are largely based on facts and figures and are terribly, horribly boring. I've been reading my civil justice system textbook for the past hour or so and I've just realized that I've absorbed very little of what I've read. In fact, I'm pretty sure for the last 10 minutes I was just moving my eyes across the paper and thinking about something else entirely. Hopefully I retained some of what I passed my eyes over - it'll be a shame if I have to read the chapter on the Civil Procedure Rulse AGAIN. Gross.
Dad gets here this weekend, which is really exciting. It'll be nice to have family here for a couple days. Even though its only a short visit I'm sure we'll have lots of fun. I'll post again after he's left and fill you in on our adventures. Oh, and next weekend I think I'm headed to London for a day or two to explore the galleries and museums! I'm very excited about that. Other than that trip to York I haven't done much in the way of travel and I'm itching to go exploring. I'll try and take lots of pictures and get some up here. I'm most excited to visit the Tate Modern - art! Culture! Yeah!
I'm off to go have tea with a friend. This is a legitimate study break, I swear.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Bag lady.
A couple days into November, and I still just have to wear a light jacket and a scarf when I'm out and about. Sometimes I don't even wear socks. I don't miss Canadian winters yet. I'm not saying I won't miss them, but I certainly don't now. The only thing unpleasant about November in England is that the rainclouds are positively sneaky - you can leave the house with the sun shining, step into a shop for a minute and exit into torrential downpour. This happened to me yesterday. I must be more diligent about carrying my umbrella.
Since the last time I wrote things have been fairly uneventful. Attending school, reading lots, hanging out with fellow Canadians... it doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty fun. It's strange how just being from the same country as someone else forms a bond when you're overseas. Many of the Canadians I've met are from such different backgrounds and social circles from me that had we gone to school together in Canada we likely would never have talked. That being said, there are a ton of lovely people here and I'm pretty grateful that we've all been put in the same situation together. Do you hear that? I'm making friends! Fun, right?
For Halloween all the Canadians banded together for a night out on the town wearing costumes. I do not like dressing up - it's messy, time consuming, and often you end up uncomfortable and sometimes itchy. But I was being convinced to try and on the morning of Halloween a friend and I ventured downtown in search of costumes.
Here is a hint - if you want to be something awesome or scary for Halloween, don't wait until the day of the holiday to get your costume together. EVERYTHING was sold out. The racks only had the most awful, synthetic/inappropriate junk left on them and we were pretty discouraged when we saw our options. Luckily, my friend and I were very observant and noticed that many stores now had their Christmas stock displayed. And that is how I ended up wearing a giant Christmas giftbag for Halloween. I was dressed as a Christmas present! Genius. I know. I'll try and get a couple pictures up at some point.
That's it for now... I took a break from preparing for my Constitutional and Administrative Law class to write this little update. Back to learning about the Royal Prerogative.
And no, it's not as fascinating as it sounds.
Since the last time I wrote things have been fairly uneventful. Attending school, reading lots, hanging out with fellow Canadians... it doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty fun. It's strange how just being from the same country as someone else forms a bond when you're overseas. Many of the Canadians I've met are from such different backgrounds and social circles from me that had we gone to school together in Canada we likely would never have talked. That being said, there are a ton of lovely people here and I'm pretty grateful that we've all been put in the same situation together. Do you hear that? I'm making friends! Fun, right?
For Halloween all the Canadians banded together for a night out on the town wearing costumes. I do not like dressing up - it's messy, time consuming, and often you end up uncomfortable and sometimes itchy. But I was being convinced to try and on the morning of Halloween a friend and I ventured downtown in search of costumes.
Here is a hint - if you want to be something awesome or scary for Halloween, don't wait until the day of the holiday to get your costume together. EVERYTHING was sold out. The racks only had the most awful, synthetic/inappropriate junk left on them and we were pretty discouraged when we saw our options. Luckily, my friend and I were very observant and noticed that many stores now had their Christmas stock displayed. And that is how I ended up wearing a giant Christmas giftbag for Halloween. I was dressed as a Christmas present! Genius. I know. I'll try and get a couple pictures up at some point.
That's it for now... I took a break from preparing for my Constitutional and Administrative Law class to write this little update. Back to learning about the Royal Prerogative.
And no, it's not as fascinating as it sounds.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
York
This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to York with some new friends. York is a terribly adorable little town a couple hours north of Leicester and I had a blast there.
We left on the train Saturday morning, bright and early and we got into York around 10am. Our little bed and breakfast was only a 10 minute walk from the train station and after dropping off our bags we headed out to explore the old town. The whole morning we could hear bells ringing and we just kind of headed toward where all the noise was coming from. Turns out it was coming from York Minister, a gigantic church in the middle of York.
We had lunch in a little cafe just outside the front steps of the church, listened to the bells and planned our attack on the tourist traps of York. First stop was the York Dungeon, a haunted house type place that specialized in dry ice smoke and people jumping out of dark corners at you. Here is the gentleman I met outside:
We left on the train Saturday morning, bright and early and we got into York around 10am. Our little bed and breakfast was only a 10 minute walk from the train station and after dropping off our bags we headed out to explore the old town. The whole morning we could hear bells ringing and we just kind of headed toward where all the noise was coming from. Turns out it was coming from York Minister, a gigantic church in the middle of York.
We had lunch in a little cafe just outside the front steps of the church, listened to the bells and planned our attack on the tourist traps of York. First stop was the York Dungeon, a haunted house type place that specialized in dry ice smoke and people jumping out of dark corners at you. Here is the gentleman I met outside:
This guy thought he was pretty funny and kept on referring to Canada as "Canadia". He also made a lot of jokes about dating all the women in line and I thought he was actually pretty clever until we were leaving after the tour and I heard him using all the same jokes to the other people waiting to get in. Maybe he was working from a script.
After the dungeon we continued with the scary vacation theme and visited York's most haunted house. According to the brochure, a television crew ran screaming from this house a few years back because a guy said he was choked by an invisible hand. Suffice it to say, we survived. And didn't see any ghosts. But it was still a neat old house, lots of nooks and crannies and low doorways. Our B and B was sort of built the same way, winding staircases and additions all over the place. I find that I get lost in buildings a lot here, even at school. I'm thinking it's cause I'm used to the North American style of architecture, meaning everything is square and at right angles with each other and floors and rooms are numbered sequentially rather than with random letters and numbers (no joke - one of my classes is in a room numbered "n230.0a". It's on the 3rd floor).
But I digress.
So after the haunted house we had some dinner and then went off to meet up with Trevor Rooney, our guide for the Original York Ghost Walk. This was a super neat experience, as Trevor walked us through historic York and told us ghost stories about the buildings and alleyways. We finished up at a pub called the Black Swan which is supposedly VERY haunted. We had pints and Trevor told us one last ghost story. After the room was clearing out some (possibly drunk) women noticed our Canadian accents and invited us to their hotel room, the one they booked because it's the most haunted room in the hotel. There we learned these tipsy ladies practiced Wicca (the light version) and were really REALLY hoping to see a ghost tonight. We didn't stay long, but it was interesting.
Saturday night ended at a local drinking establishment where the 5 of us marveled at the shortness of the locals' skirts and the outfits of the groups out on fancy dress pub crawls. For example, look behind my new friends Kevin and Claire here, and you'll clearly see the lower cheeks of a young lady's bum.
Apparently you can wear a top in this country and call it a dress. Good times were had by all, however, and we went to bed tired and happy.
Sunday we went to the York Castle Museum, which surprisingly had very little to do with castles. They built a mock Victorian town that you can tour around in, complete with freaky statues in full Victorian dress and fake horses and carriages. This museum also had a display about the 1960s music culture and a fake dungeon from the 1700s. It was a very random and eclectic collection.
Before we caught the train home, we decided we were pretty hungry and we needed to indulge in the local cuisine. So of course we went for Sunday roast dinner, and dug into some very delicious roast beef, potatoes and yorkshire pudding.
After the dungeon we continued with the scary vacation theme and visited York's most haunted house. According to the brochure, a television crew ran screaming from this house a few years back because a guy said he was choked by an invisible hand. Suffice it to say, we survived. And didn't see any ghosts. But it was still a neat old house, lots of nooks and crannies and low doorways. Our B and B was sort of built the same way, winding staircases and additions all over the place. I find that I get lost in buildings a lot here, even at school. I'm thinking it's cause I'm used to the North American style of architecture, meaning everything is square and at right angles with each other and floors and rooms are numbered sequentially rather than with random letters and numbers (no joke - one of my classes is in a room numbered "n230.0a". It's on the 3rd floor).
But I digress.
So after the haunted house we had some dinner and then went off to meet up with Trevor Rooney, our guide for the Original York Ghost Walk. This was a super neat experience, as Trevor walked us through historic York and told us ghost stories about the buildings and alleyways. We finished up at a pub called the Black Swan which is supposedly VERY haunted. We had pints and Trevor told us one last ghost story. After the room was clearing out some (possibly drunk) women noticed our Canadian accents and invited us to their hotel room, the one they booked because it's the most haunted room in the hotel. There we learned these tipsy ladies practiced Wicca (the light version) and were really REALLY hoping to see a ghost tonight. We didn't stay long, but it was interesting.
Saturday night ended at a local drinking establishment where the 5 of us marveled at the shortness of the locals' skirts and the outfits of the groups out on fancy dress pub crawls. For example, look behind my new friends Kevin and Claire here, and you'll clearly see the lower cheeks of a young lady's bum.
Apparently you can wear a top in this country and call it a dress. Good times were had by all, however, and we went to bed tired and happy.
Sunday we went to the York Castle Museum, which surprisingly had very little to do with castles. They built a mock Victorian town that you can tour around in, complete with freaky statues in full Victorian dress and fake horses and carriages. This museum also had a display about the 1960s music culture and a fake dungeon from the 1700s. It was a very random and eclectic collection.
Before we caught the train home, we decided we were pretty hungry and we needed to indulge in the local cuisine. So of course we went for Sunday roast dinner, and dug into some very delicious roast beef, potatoes and yorkshire pudding.
Yorkshire pudding in York! Does life get any better?
Hopefully this isn't my last adventure... I'm pricing out Dublin next. You only live once, right?
Hopefully this isn't my last adventure... I'm pricing out Dublin next. You only live once, right?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
loser.
Another week of school is nearly over, and I'm finally starting to feel more and more like a serious student. I mean, today I don't have class until 4, but I was up and at school by 10am and spent a good 3 hours in the library reading. Came home for lunch and a bit of a nap and now I'm heading back for class. See what I mean about being a serious student? I spend time there when I don't have to, I attend all classes (haven't skipped on yet), and I take notes and do readings. I have never really acted this way before. It feels nice. It also stresses me out. But probably in a good way.
Leicester is still in the midst of fall weather, which I love. It's cool, but not cold. Scarf and light jacket weather. When the sun is out, it looks like the cover of that Bob Dylan album, and it's just lovely.
I've been feeling a little off lately... not homesick, exactly, but not right. I always get this feeling when I'm in the midst of settling into a new group of people in a new place. When I reach the point where I have a set of acquaintances - not friends, exactly, but people who may become friends in time - I always get this sick feeling when I'm interacting with them. Like everything I say is wrong. That I'm too defensive, or too quiet, or too loud, or I'm trying too hard. It's like I'm on the edge of feeling at ease with people, but before I can truly feel comfortable I have to feel terribly UNcomfortable.
It's awful. I over analyze small conversations, I read too much into things, and I almost invariably leave every single human interaction feeling like a bit of a dolt. Not a nice feeling.
I know it'll pass... inside my head I know that these silly little conversations that haunt me make little to no difference in the lives of the people I'm talking to. I know that I'm actually pretty normal and once I get over myself I can be kind of fun to be around. I know all that. But I don't feel it these days. And that's bringing me down.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I'm rocking a solid 7 these days.
Leicester is still in the midst of fall weather, which I love. It's cool, but not cold. Scarf and light jacket weather. When the sun is out, it looks like the cover of that Bob Dylan album, and it's just lovely.
I've been feeling a little off lately... not homesick, exactly, but not right. I always get this feeling when I'm in the midst of settling into a new group of people in a new place. When I reach the point where I have a set of acquaintances - not friends, exactly, but people who may become friends in time - I always get this sick feeling when I'm interacting with them. Like everything I say is wrong. That I'm too defensive, or too quiet, or too loud, or I'm trying too hard. It's like I'm on the edge of feeling at ease with people, but before I can truly feel comfortable I have to feel terribly UNcomfortable.
It's awful. I over analyze small conversations, I read too much into things, and I almost invariably leave every single human interaction feeling like a bit of a dolt. Not a nice feeling.
I know it'll pass... inside my head I know that these silly little conversations that haunt me make little to no difference in the lives of the people I'm talking to. I know that I'm actually pretty normal and once I get over myself I can be kind of fun to be around. I know all that. But I don't feel it these days. And that's bringing me down.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I'm rocking a solid 7 these days.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
hurr cut
Wednesday's I'm done class at 10am and I don't have another until Thursday at 4. This is awesome. It's strange to go from being away from home 13-14 hours a day if you count travel time to only being in class for a few hours a day. Right now I'm being a good student and trying to use at lest some of my spare time to study and read, and with any luck I'll keep that up.
I'm getting a little more used to the life of a student, I'm not as nervous as I was last week. I'm still not really into being locked in a giant echoing room with 500 other students for classes, but I suppose I'll get used to that too. I had my first small group seminar, where I learned about the joys of the Socratic teaching method... if that doesn't make you come to class prepared I don't know what will.
Yesterday I went to the Canadian Law Society presentation and joined up. I met a few people, learned about all of the events they hold throughout the year (most of which include some combination of hockey, skating and booze - how cliche), and got invited to a couple of Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations. With any luck, I'll get me some turkey dinner on Sunday.
Today I'm going to get my hair cut, which is terrifying. The worst part of moving is finding a new stylist to trust. I'm mentally preparing for a horrible bangs mishap. It's inevitable. I never luck out with stylists.
Oh, and tonight is the competitions showcase, where we learn about mooting and client negotiating and all the other things we can compete in throughout the year. Cross your fingers that I get brave and sign up for mooting... It'd be exciting to learn some advocacy skills, and hopefully I don't puke due to all the public speaking involved.
That's it for now. Kamara out.
I'm getting a little more used to the life of a student, I'm not as nervous as I was last week. I'm still not really into being locked in a giant echoing room with 500 other students for classes, but I suppose I'll get used to that too. I had my first small group seminar, where I learned about the joys of the Socratic teaching method... if that doesn't make you come to class prepared I don't know what will.
Yesterday I went to the Canadian Law Society presentation and joined up. I met a few people, learned about all of the events they hold throughout the year (most of which include some combination of hockey, skating and booze - how cliche), and got invited to a couple of Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations. With any luck, I'll get me some turkey dinner on Sunday.
Today I'm going to get my hair cut, which is terrifying. The worst part of moving is finding a new stylist to trust. I'm mentally preparing for a horrible bangs mishap. It's inevitable. I never luck out with stylists.
Oh, and tonight is the competitions showcase, where we learn about mooting and client negotiating and all the other things we can compete in throughout the year. Cross your fingers that I get brave and sign up for mooting... It'd be exciting to learn some advocacy skills, and hopefully I don't puke due to all the public speaking involved.
That's it for now. Kamara out.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
popping out to the shop.
So this afternoon I took a trip to Morrison's to pick up some stuff for dinner. Maybe the novelty of walking everywhere will wear off eventually, but it hasn't yet. It also hasn't rained yet, so...
At any rate, here is what I learned on my trip:
1. English football fans are, in fact, quite serious about the sport. My walk took me past the football stadium and it was packed and noisy, a little bit scary and a little bit awesome. I'm going to have to go to a game.
2. Crossing the street can be a 3 part affair at some intersections, but after watching some teenaged boys in front of me I've learned that if you wave your arms at oncoming traffic sometimes the vehicles will slow for you to cross. If they do, you are obligated to clap and cheer at the driver. No joke. I saw this happen twice.
3. Diet coke is more expensive than wine, but wine is more expensive than off-brand diet coke. I think my weekend beverage consumption over the next months will largely be determined by the taste of the off-brand diet coke chilling in the lil fridge right now.
4. Crumpets can be bought in packs of 6 and kind of look like english muffins, but not exactly. I bought some. I have crumpets. Ha.
5. British change makes absolutely no sense (ha... cents/sense. get it?). Who has a 2 pence coin? Honestly. and the sizes and colours and shapes have no rhyme or reason to them. The only ones I've got totally figured out are the one pound and two pound coins, and that's only because they look like loonies and toonies.
Oh, and also today someone made fun of my accent. It was great.
At any rate, here is what I learned on my trip:
1. English football fans are, in fact, quite serious about the sport. My walk took me past the football stadium and it was packed and noisy, a little bit scary and a little bit awesome. I'm going to have to go to a game.
2. Crossing the street can be a 3 part affair at some intersections, but after watching some teenaged boys in front of me I've learned that if you wave your arms at oncoming traffic sometimes the vehicles will slow for you to cross. If they do, you are obligated to clap and cheer at the driver. No joke. I saw this happen twice.
3. Diet coke is more expensive than wine, but wine is more expensive than off-brand diet coke. I think my weekend beverage consumption over the next months will largely be determined by the taste of the off-brand diet coke chilling in the lil fridge right now.
4. Crumpets can be bought in packs of 6 and kind of look like english muffins, but not exactly. I bought some. I have crumpets. Ha.
5. British change makes absolutely no sense (ha... cents/sense. get it?). Who has a 2 pence coin? Honestly. and the sizes and colours and shapes have no rhyme or reason to them. The only ones I've got totally figured out are the one pound and two pound coins, and that's only because they look like loonies and toonies.
Oh, and also today someone made fun of my accent. It was great.
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