Bumbling Around Birmingham

London Weekend Number Three

2010-03-24T20:38:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was my final weekend of going and seeing plays for the time being. When I got down to London, it was a bit strange because I couldn’t really think of where I wanted to go. I had been to much of what I had wanted to see of the city. Mostly I ended up walking around, killing time in the Burlington Arcades and in bookshops. The arcades were pretty cool just because they had a lot of used watch stores. Those who know me best know that I like a good watch. They had used watches by Omega, Breitling, Jaeger LeCoultre, Rolex… there was one store entirely devoted to vintage Rolex. They had Rolex’s from the twenties and even earlier. It was interesting for me to see that just because of how the company had evolved some of its designs in the past decades.

I did walk the down the Mall which is the road that leads up to Buckingham Palace. I also ate in a restaurant which had really crappy Disney muzak playing constantly on repeat. If I had to work there I would want to kill myself or if I didn’t, I slowly would have been driven insane.

The play I saw this past Friday was The Caretaker by Harold Pinter. It starred Jonathon Pryce as one of the main characters. He would be most notable to American audiences has having played the main villain in Tomorrow Never Dies. It was a good production. Pinter has a knack for dialogue as well as pauses which have been analyzed and debated over by scholars and critics alike. I had taken a class last year in which we had to read The Homecoming by him. There were lots of pauses in that too. This has also been one of my favorite theatre going experiences which was almost toppled by the following day’s production

Enron, a play about greed and corporate corruption based on that infamous company’s history integrating musical numbers, video clips as well as a lot of other symbols and metaphors I can’t even really begin to describe. They had business men dressed in suits wearing mouse heads using walking sticks for the blind. Three blind mice. They had men wearing raptor masks symbolizing the company’s other companies where they would dump all their debt. They had lightsabers representing how they had paralyzed California in the early 2000’s once the state had deregulated its energy holdings allowing the energy companies to raise prices astronomically. It was bleak, bitter, dark satire of the postmodern kind. It was one hell of a show which had me in hysterics at several points in the production.

London Weekend Number Two

2010-03-24T20:23:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I went back down to London. I had planned three weekends of constantly seeing plays as well as being able to sightsee whilst being down there.

This time, I went down there and the major sights that I saw were St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern art museum.

St. Paul’s was a brilliant sight. It’s probably the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. It’s also the biggest. Its construction is made up of three domes, one on top of the other. The first dome holds the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower on top of it.

I couldn’t get any photos inside because the security personnel on sight had said that no pictures were aloud. I complied just for worry of getting chucked out. I didn’t go up to the very top also because I didn’t have time nor did I really want to. I did however go up to the top of the interior. It was a bit creepy being that high up. It was also a bit exhausting. The top of the interior contains the whispering gallery. One is able to lean against the wall, whisper and it goes across the room. As long as you have your ear pressed to the side of the dome you are able to hear what the other person is saying. This is possible because it is a perfect circle. One of the staff members demonstrated this to me by having me go across the interior of the dome stopping at several points. He would then whisper to me as I proceeding from one door to the next. It was pretty cool and I had a smile on my face every time it worked. I left shortly thereafter.

I headed across the Thames to the Tate Modern. Inside were all of these weird impressionist paintings by modern artist. All of it was very… strange. Unintelligible. I only recognized a few of the artists: Jackson Pollock and Fernand Lédger. I couldn’t really begin to name the rest. It was interesting stuff but I preferred the National Gallery. I did appreciate the fact that it was a free gallery though. It is free because it is subsidized by the government.

Afterward I got dinner and then went to the play for the evening. An Inspector Calls. It was an interesting show. The special effects were pretty nifty and I was impressed that the actors breaking props was part of the show. In fact part of the stage lifts up and dumps out most of this table from inside of a mock house. That was pretty nifty. It was an entertaining, suspenseful and at times creepy production.

The next day after checking out of my hotel, I went to Hyde Park. While most of London, especially the touristy parts of London, is full of hustle and bustle, this place was full of a sense of calm. I wish I was there when the flowers were in bloom because it then would have been an impressive site. Oh well, one can imagine.

The play for this afternoon was The Woman in Black. This production has been running since 1989 in the same theatre, the Fortune theatre. It’s a horror play which also works as meta-theatre as one character tells his story to an actor to learn how he can tell the story to his family. It begins slowly but this is there for us to get to know the characters. It’s quite a funny bit at the beginning. The play actually does become quite scary with doors opening and the ghost of the woman in black showing up at certain points in the play but is it maybe that she is showing up in real life? We don’t know until the very end. On paper, reading the play, I don’t think it would be that horrifying of an experience. On stage however, when a play can come alive, it does become quite freaky. The audience screamed quite a lot and then would stop laugh at the fact that they were screaming. Just because something isn’t real doesn’t make it any less scary. Like a good horror movie, this play utilized sound and hardly relied on cheap scares evoking atmosphere rather than just have “gotcha” moments. There still are those “gotcha” moments but they happen few and far between.

Waiting for Godot

2010-03-09T21:54:00.000-06:00

The final play I saw this past weekend was Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. This play is one of the fundamental plays which any English major… no, which any human being should read. Beckett is an Irish playwright who wrote his major works in French. One of his other more famous works was Endgame which I saw last December. Personally I think Endgame is better but Godot is the more famous or infamous of the two.

The plot revolves around two characters, Estragon and Vladimir as the wait by a tree for a man named Godot (who never shows up). Two other characters, Lucky and Pozzo show up. Pozzo is a fat, bulbous bald man who smokes a pipe and Lucky is a mute who carries Pozzo’s bags and wears a noose as a leash. Lucky only has one major monologue in the play but it is quite the speech which may or may not make perfect sense.
That is the point of the play. It is the absurdity of them waiting for a man who may not ever come, which may not even exist yet they still wait.

It is the quintessential existential question: why do something for your life for which there may be no reward? What is the point? All these questions are coalescing throughout the play. In fact, Estragon even asks why they don’t just leave at numerous points in the play.

This production stars Ian McKellen as Estragon. He is the biggest name in the production. He starred in the X Men movies as Magneto and, more famously, as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series.

It was a phenomenal production with a fairly apocalyptic set. There was dust and broken planks of wood strewn throughout the stage. It was a fairly spectacularly visceral set. The play, despite being quite cynical and apocalyptic is also quite funny. It is tragic but it does it in such a light hearted way that it is easy to forget how heartbreaking the end really was. It is an absurd play but it is one which is quite funny.

I feel lucky as an English major to have been able to see both of Beckett’s quintessential works in such a short time period in London.

Afterwards I got dinner and caught my train back home.

Museums

2010-03-09T20:44:00.004-06:00

The following morning I checked out of my hotel after getting breakfast.

I decided to go to the London Film Museum which is right next to the London Eye. It was alright. Some of the props there were interesting but for the price I paid, I was expecting to see a few more props from more well known movies. Some of the people who were working the job obviously didn’t want to be there. Some looked annoyed and some were peppy. I suppose that is like any job. Especially one as mundane as working in a film museum.

The coolest prop there was the carbonite slab of Han Solo from The Empire Strikes Back. The also had the Alien queen from Aliens as well as the wet suit worn by Matt Damon in the Bourne Identity. I forgot to take a photo of some of these props.
After that I went to Covent Garden Market again. I got lunch at an outdoor Italian restaurant. It was okay though overpriced.

I went to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery. They had a wide range of paintings there. Some I’m sure I’ve seen before in an English Anthology along the line. They had paintings there by Degas, Monet (or Manet I can’t remember… or both), Pissarro, Seurat and many others. The building itself was a work of art as well. Beautiful. The best part of it was that the entry was free. They are government funded and because of this, it is open to the public. They do have donations boxes in front of the entryways.

No pictures were allowed at all. In fact there was more than one occasion when a guard had to tell patrons to delete a photo that they had just taken.

I sat in awe in front of those paintings.

Six Degrees of Separation

2010-03-09T20:44:00.001-06:00

I went to the Old Vic Theatre to see Six Degrees of Separation. The plot revolves around a young con artist who pretends to be the son of Sidney Poitier as he dupes an affluent couple in New York City. The character himself also happens to be gay but that really isn’t a major element to the character. It is just a part of him. This play is not a social critique nor is it one for understanding of the gay community. It just happens to have a character that is gay and is a con artist.

The set was pretty minimal. It involved a painting on both sides hanging from a wire. Red partitions which could be pulled backwards and a couch in the center of the stage which could revolve around. The floor was all red.

The performers were all really good. This was just a one act play at 90 minutes but it flowed beautifully. Ninety minutes is still a long time and if there is a dull moment it’s noticeable. With this play there was never a dull moment. There was drama and comedy mixed easily. One unfortunate character, he ends up killing himself, leaves the stage into the shadows. We know by this action what his fate is going to be. Passing into the shadows of death. Powerful stuff.

The main idea of the play, the theme is that we are all interconnected by six people. So, in theory, I am at the most six people away from everybody else. The idea is that we are all linked. In this play, the con artist character acts as a linchpin for all the other people. He connects a young couple from Utah to the wealthy art collector to the art collector’s children to another student at MIT to the police officer and even the doorman.

It was a good show and it was a wonderful way to end the evening. Afterwards I headed back to my hotel. I stopped off at a nearby pub and had a pint of ale and a bottle of Budweiser Budvar. Both were glorious.

Covent Garden

2010-03-09T20:33:00.001-06:00

After I saw Ghosts I continued to walk around for a while. I had a few hours to kill between that play and my next one. I crammed them in. It was more economical as well as more fun to do it that way. I also saw two on Saturday because I knew I would be exhausted from Friday.

I wandered into Covent Garden Market. Who doesn’t like open air markets? Some of the stores and stalls were selling overpriced junk, yes but still… it was a brilliant place. I had run into it the night prior by mistake but didn’t realize what it was and I didn’t stick around for very long.

I did manage to find a stall which was selling artistic renderings of famous movie stills or of famous musical artists. I bought three. Steve McQueen in Bullitt, Pulp Fiction and The Rolling Stones. I might buy three more next weekend when I’m down there again.

I headed across the Thames towards Waterloo station. I found a place to eat. I had fish and chips. They also were doing cocktails. I bought an old fashioned. It’s one of my favorite drinks. If Don Draper of Mad Men likes it, then that’s good enough for me.

Ghosts

2010-03-09T20:27:00.001-06:00

The play I saw in the afternoon was Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. It’s a Victorian play revolving around the sins of the father tainting an entire family. It’s a social critique play. I think the play is a well written play and it was well acted for the most part. There was one performer, the son who has syphilis, which was kind of a boring performance. He felt like he was in there for pretty obvious drama and he really only played him in the standard fashion of always having this glazed look over his eyes. I get it, you’ve gone crazy.

The other actors did a fine job especially the man who played the minister character as well as the woman who played the wife. It ended though in a lackluster fashion. I understood the dramatic weight of it but it didn’t pack the emotional punch it should have.

The set was well done, minor in detail but heavy on placement.

I also enjoyed the theatre itself. It was the Duchess. I saw Endgame in there last December. It is a very small theatre. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house. You are always going to have a perfect view of the action while also feeling especially close to the stage. This may not have been my favorite play but The Duchess is probably my favorite theatre mainly due to its size and providing such an intimate space for drama to unfold.

London Eye

2010-03-09T20:08:00.002-06:00

The next day I woke up. I had missed the breakfast bar at the hotel. I slept in. Whoops.

I got off the tube at Embankment and got some food at the first place I could. Something quick, cheap and fast. McDonald’s. Yes, Yes, I did the American tourist thing and went with what was safe. I realize that I should have gone for something more multicultural or for something which I can’t normally get in Iowa City or in Birmingham for that matter but time was of the essence and I just hedged my bets.

After a “nice” meal, I headed across the Thames towards the London Eye. I had been here before in the winter and it was interesting to see it again but this time I was actually going to go on it. After a long wait in line, I got my ticket. There was another long wait in line to get on it.

The ride itself was quite interesting. The view was astounding. The worst of it was the sun had just come out. The glare was really bad. Also with it being a glass box it made it feel like it was a hot box. Oh well. I saw some pretty cool stuff that on that ride. There really isn't much to talk about really without it sounding cliched. It was just one hell of a view.

Afterwards I headed off towards the Duchess theatre.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

2010-03-09T20:02:00.001-06:00

The Novello was presenting the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams with an all black cast. The plot revolves around the patriarch of a family who is dying and what will become of his estate. There is far more to it, including his son’s alcoholism and possible homosexuality. I did find it interesting to watch and listen considering Tennessee Williams went to the University of Iowa.

It was an interesting performance for various reasons.

Number One: James Earl Jones as Big Daddy who doesn’t show up until the second act. It creates this aura of mystery around the character as he is built up so much. His performance was filled with fire, passion, greed and hubris. It was an amazing performance with a lot of understanding and character development. I also found it interesting that the character would curse quite often. He had some pretty disparaging remarks to say about everyone in the family.

Number Two: the play is presented in real time. There were intermissions but once the play started up again, the actors were in their positions we last saw.
Number Three: all the performers were excellent, especially Adrian Lester as Brick, Big Daddy’s son. There were no weak performances.

Number Four: the crowd was quite unruly. On more than one occasion in the first act, cell phones went off and when they go off, they always go off for a while. Why is it that when phones go off at inappropriate times it is always some rap song like Flo Rida’s Low. Yes, that’s exactly what will add to the ambience of the theatre. “Shawty had them apple bottom jeans/ boots with the fur.” Yes. The couple sitting next to me were also lamenting at how it is disgraceful to have your cell phone on in a theatre.

Number Five: audience members showing up late. A large group of people showed up late and having people come in and shuffle about and make noise and see that they found their seats. God, that was annoying.

Number Six: the theatre itself was a bit annoying. I was up in one of the balconies. The ceilings were quite sloped. While I could still see quite well, it did make things quite claustrophobic at times.

All in all it was a quality show, strong performances all around and a truly involving human story.

Afterwards I went back to my hotel and fell asleep. Not much to tell. I did have a small blister on my foot from all the walking.

Walking Around the Thames

2010-03-09T19:47:00.000-06:00

Last Friday I went down to London to see some plays as well as to explore the city. I booked a hotel in zone two of the city (at least zone two on the underground map). There are six zones with zone one and two (especially zone one) making up the city centre. My rationale for backing a hotel vs. a hostel was the added privacy as well as the fact that from what I’ve heard, many hostels in London are party oriented. I don’t like the idea of being forced to sleep with one eye open.

When I got into London the first thing I did was went to Green Park to kill some time. Green Park is right next to Buckingham Palace. It was interesting to see as well as ironic since I’ve yet to see the White House in person. After snapping photos and asking some questions to a security guard about the palace, I started to make my way back over to Green Park. I noticed an arch way just down the road. I said, why not? I might as well just because who knows if I’ll make it back there.

The archway was a memorial and surrounded the arch were other little memorials for soldiers in past wars who are dead and gone. I found many memorials like this across the city, small plagues and small statues. It was interesting at how this city seemed to be steeped in its own history.

I took the tube to Earl’s court and checked into my hotel. They had bumped me up from a single to a double at no extra charge. I was pleasantly surprised. The room was adequately sized. It’s not as big as American hotels but I wasn’t planning on staying in my hotel for any other reason than to sleep.

I got lost on the tube after that. The district line can be a bit fickle as to where it wants to go. Once I got my bearings straight I headed to right near the centre of the Thames. I got off and walked down. I found the Millennium Bridge which is sandwiched between St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern Museum. I headed towards St. Paul’s. Snapped photos and then headed towards the Gherkin a massive skyscraper which is a huge part of the financial district. To me it looks like a Faberge Egg. It’s easy to get lost looking for it because it’s designed in such a way that you can only really see it when you are standing right beneath it.

I got a coffee and then went to the Tower of London. I didn’t go in it. I just walked around the outside. I then headed towards Tower Bridge. This is the actual name of it. It’s not London Bridge like most Americans think. From there I walked down the Thames and then crossed over again at London Bridge. Continuing along I crossed again at Southwark Bridge. I ran across the Globe theatre and then I crossed yet again at the Millennium Bridge. It was an epic walk after which I was quite exhausted.

For me it was an interesting walk just because I am a big fan of taking walks, especially around rivers. I tended to take some pretty extensive walks around the Iowa River my freshmen and sophomore years.

I headed to the Novello theatre. I found a place to grab dinner. It was a good meal though pricey. I found my seats and the play will be my next blog post.

Reading Week

2010-03-03T10:56:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago it was reading week. Reading week is a week in which there is no school for the humanities majors. The people in the science courses who don’t have a reading week think it’s a little unfair. It probably is but that isn’t my problem. At this point in the game, I’ve still kept things pretty low key just because I am going to have a lot of free time towards the end of my time here in the UK just because I don’t have a summer term which is essentially the test term. That is when I’m planning on doing most of my traveling around.

I was however interviewed by a girl from one of my classes for her radio show. She had asked me if I would be able to do so last term and I agreed. We also ran into each other quite randomly at the Guild one night. After filmsoc we go there to discuss the movie over drinks.

She interviewed me about various topics: the differences between the UK and the US, things which are different at this University compared to the University of Iowa, experiences I had had and that sort of thing. It was mostly about how different but the same this university and this country was from back home. She also asked for my reasons why I chose Birmingham over others and why I chose to come here instead of going somewhere else.

It was an interspersed with music. It was a pretty good day and it was also a very interesting experience to be interviewed for a few hours over why I’m here.
Later that week one of my friends, Sonia was having a birthday party. We went to Lazerquest which is Lazer Tag but with a different name. It was fun though there was a slight snafu with the taxis. A few friends and I missed the first game but I didn’t mind so much. I just wish the staff personnel weren’t so rude.

21st Birthday

2010-03-03T10:55:00.001-06:00

My birthday was a pretty good one. We all went to the Plough to get some food. There wasn’t much that happened other than there was a mix up at the tables and some of our group ate at the Green Man instead which isn’t as good a pub.

After my group was done we just went over to the Green Man. Their drinks are cheaper.
It was a pretty good night. Part of the fun of it being one’s birthday is that people will just buy you free pints left and right. It was nice.

For the most part I just kept it simple. We all just had a good time. Later on we went out to Gatecrasher which is a massive club. By massive, I mean massive. There are five separate club rooms each with a different theme as well as a main room with a DJ practically every night. I’m not the biggest fan of those hyper clubs. I prefer just going out to a nice bar or pub or having a quiet night in rather than something which is that loud although I do enjoy the occasional club.

When we got there I found the queue to be rather large and so I decided to hang out with my friend Victoria instead. We went back to her place which wasn’t that far from Gatecrasher. It was getting pretty late but then we both got cornered by one of her flat mates and we were forced… I mean compelled to hang out with her and her friends. It was okay but once it hit like 3 in the morning I was more than ready to leave.

Manchester

2010-02-20T15:59:00.000-06:00

After I got back home, for the next two weeks my life was hell. Writing papers is not much fun. Basically, instead of doing the work before hand, I kept pushing it off and procrastinating like crazy. One of the problems with the system over here is that while one may think that one has free time, one actually doesn’t.
My papers got done. Though they could have been better. That was my fault. I will say this, I never ever thought that I would gladly do work on a Friday just to make sure it got done.

After I handed my papers in, after all was said and done, I just did things for myself. Things which makes me happy. I went to the movies as many times as I could. I saw Up in the Air, The Road, The Book of Eli. I rented many movies off iTunes. All in all, it was mostly about just celebrating the fact that I was done with all that work.

The first major thing I did with this new term was I went to Manchester with my friend Charles from Filmsoc to go to an Ale tasting festival. That was brilliant. He like me is a big fan of stouts and ales. Lagers aren’t bad. They just don’t tend to have that personality of an Ale. Lagers all taste quite similar. Charles had been to these events before. He told me to rent the pint glass. There was also a ½ pint glass but the pint glass also had a marker for ½ pint. I just bought ½ pints all day but the vendors had a habit of overfilling by accident. So, I ended up getting more beer for less money.

One of the hosts for this event was Budweiser Budvar which has trouble selling anywhere other than Europe because of Anheuser Busch. In the pamphlet for the event which had all the different beers in it, there was a short piece which ripped the American counterpart to shreds. They didn’t beat around the bush at all. They just talked about how bad the American beer is.

Pretty much the norm for alcohol percentage was 5% or so. I think the weakest beer I had was 3.9%. Needless to say it was a good day although after a while, I couldn’t really taste the new beers just because my palate was shot. We did meet a group of German girls who kept saying cheers constantly. There was also a live band which played at the tail end of the event. They played old classic hits. Knocking on Heaven’s Door. For What it’s Worth. That sort of thing.

The city of Manchester itself seemed nice. They have a tram system there not unlike San Francisco. Before going to the festival Charles and I walked around a bit. We stopped by their public library which has a massive circular reading room. We also walked through their art museum and looked at some of the paintings very briefly. It was fun.

That night in the Manchester train station, there were a bunch of football hooligans. It was a big game day in Manchester. As we were getting on the train to get back to Brum, cops were wrestling some to the ground to arrest them. It was strange because those that were getting arrested seemed to take it pretty well like it was all part of the game. It was almost as if getting arrested was something fun for them.

It was a good day but there isn’t much to talk about really. I just went up and got decently drunk off of some very nice beer. Before I came to England, I never really liked beer. Now that I’m here, I’ve gained an appreciation. The thing is that beer in the States just tends to not have as good a flavor. My flat mates think light beer is ridiculous and in truth it kind of is. I would rather have a full flavored heavy dark beer, than one which is just like drinking water…. which is slightly off.

The Flight Back

2010-02-20T15:38:00.001-06:00

I didn’t really do much while I was at home. I saw a few friends but mostly I just hung out with the family. My flight back was another interesting adventure. It started at round about five in the morning. My brother Chris was to drive me back to St. Louis to catch a mid morning flight. We were a little rushed for time but we made several stops to grab cheap coffee from truck stops. Neither of us are morning people.

We got to the airport all right. I was the last one to check in and I had to rush to get through security. I then found out that the flight was delayed by about 30 minutes. I bought some candy for the flight. I ended up not eating it until after I got back to Birmingham.

I talked with some of the other passengers before we boarded. They were heading to Ottawa for their second Christmas and for New Years.

The flight from St. Louis to Toronto was uneventful. I wish I had had my camera on me for when we actually flew into the city because it was one hell of a view. Seeing the CN Tower looming over the city like a giant citadel was quite a sight.
I kept checking my watch constantly. We were running late and I was going to have to hoof it to get through customs to get to my next flight on time. We did land in a separate terminal and were bussed over to the main concourse to get through customs. It was annoying just because I was running so late. Thankfully, I got through on time (and I now have a Canadian stamp) and I rushed to my next flight. Due to being so late they had bumped me but they allowed me to get on this flight. I was heading to Montreal. There is a flight between Toronto and Montreal almost every hour. I didn’t need to rush as much as I thought I had to.

I did have time to purchase a book from a News stand. I had finished the only book I brought with me on the flight and I needed something to entertain myself. I purchased City of Thieves by David Benioff. It’s a pretty solid read. I did however forget at how expensive books are in North America. I had gotten so used to UK book prices.
Once we landed in Montreal, the first thing I saw once I debarked from the flight was a restaurant. I probably could have found a different one, or a much cheaper one but I didn’t really care at this point. I just wanted food. I had a salmon steak and a vodka martini. I found out pretty quickly that I don’t really like those just because I don’t like vodka. I also had a pint of Heineken beer.

I found my gate. There was added security in the airport due to the Detroit incident. There was a doorway where once I walked through I was going to have to stay on that side no matter what. I decided to hang back at a café bar type place. I had two more pints of Rickard’s Red beer which is a very tasty Canadian beer that I had never heard of before. Very amber.

I got on the plane and due to my exhaustion, and the amount of alcohol which was in my system, I crashed the second I got comfortable. I don’t remembering taxiing. I don’t remember take off. I remember waking up half way through the flight realizing that the person next to me had gotten up and was sitting somewhere else. I did ask the stewardess if there was supposed to be a meal. Apparently I had slept through that as well. They did provide me with one though. I got a crew meal just because the economy meal wasn’t looking so good at this point. It was trout and as airplane food goes, it was actually pretty good.

We landed. I went through customs. Got to the underground and went to Euston train station. Once there I was going to buy a ticket to get home.
When I was in line to purchase my ticket there was a woman in front of me who was taking forever. I kept checking my watch repeatedly. The man behind me asked where I was going. I told him I could make the 9:23 to Birmingham if this woman would hurry up. “It’s always a life story.” I’m looking at this guy. The second he said that I start noticing that he looks very familiar. I then ask a dumb question. “Has anybody ever mistaken you for James Ellroy?”

“I am James Ellroy.”

My immediate reaction was that I thought he was lying but he kept giving me this wry smile. That’s when I realized that he wasn’t lying at all. I shook his hand and said that I was a fan of his work. For those of you who don’t know, James Ellroy is the crime novelist who wrote The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential among others. A few minutes later he went up to the woman selling the tickets and told her that she should do her job just because the line was getting pretty long. “Stop listening to this life story.” The woman with the life story thought he was being rude and while, yes, he was I’m still going to side with him.

Number One: He’s James Ellroy

Number Two: I could have made that 9:23 train if this woman didn’t have a 20 minute problem.

Christmas Surprise

2010-01-31T20:35:00.001-06:00

A few months ago, I was talking to my brother Chris on Skype. It was a normal conversation. We were talking about his study abroad and my personal experiences. There wasn’t anything overtly special about it other than I hadn’t talk to him in a while. Over the summer we had had several long telephone conversations about similar topics.

He finally asked what I was going to do for Christmas. Originally, I was hoping that one of my flat mates or friends would be able to host me for Christmas. That didn’t happen. Things fell through or people’s houses were already way too full. That sort of thing. Anyway, Chris asked about the possibility of coming home for a few days. I thought it was a possibility but also was a ludicrous idea. My brother is a kind of travel whore. He has even admitted to being way too attached to his passport. Within a minute of this idea he already had sent me some possible flight details.

The game plan was to fly me into St. Louis via Air Canada. My itinerary was from Heathrow to Toronto then Toronto to St. Louis on Christmas Day. He was going to have to drive through St. Louis anyway and it wouldn’t look suspicious at all. My brother was going to have to play a gig that morning in a church in Louisville and then drive up to Mount Pleasant. This isn’t the first Christmas that has had to happen and it surely won’t be the last. He would hit St. Louis at around 4:30 right as my flight got in.

The only problem with the plan, and it really wasn’t a problem but was more of a physical hurtle to cover was staying up all night in Heathrow just because my flight was so early in the morning. There was no reason to get a hotel. I had planned to stay up all night Christmas Eve watching movies on my laptop. The hesitation to buy the tickets lasted about 20 minutes. I felt that it was too good of an idea to pass up on. It also felt like it was straight out of a John Hughes movie a la Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It’s not surprising this came to mind considering I was going to have to utilize pretty much all forms of transport to get home.

I also needed to come up with a good lie or at the very least a good reason why I couldn’t skype with them on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. The light bulb went off when I was talking with my flat mate Caitlin. My lie to my parents was that I had been invited on a trip down to France with her and her family. I had to modify it slightly when the trains between the UK and mainland Europe were cancelled due to bad weather. My family and I skyped on the 23rd. They asked why I had been invited. I hadn’t thought of how to answer that question but then another light bulb went off and without missing a beat I told them that with me in the picture, it brings the cost of the “trip” into group rate level. So, theoretically, I was doing them a favor by joining. After the conversation, I emailed Chris and told him that I had the perfect lie to cover our tracks.

On Christmas Eve around about noon, I quietly went up to Harborne to get a burger from the Plough. I ate quietly whilst slowly contemplating my travels ahead of me. I got a fat boy burger and a pint of purity ale. It was one of the most delicious burgers I’ve ever had. It consisted of a beef patty and a grilled chicken sandwiched between two buns. It was sort of like eating a mixed grille sandwich. It was delicious.

When I got back to my flat I decided to take a nap so I would have enough energy to stay awake that night. I had to stay awake so that I would crash on the plane. (I really shouldn’t use those two words in the same sentence: crash and plane.) I was awoken a few hours later by a phone call from my friend Victoria wishing me luck on my travels. I’m glad she called because it woke me up and got me focused. I had already packed the previous night on the 23rd.

I carried my bag and backpack down to University train station, transferred at New Street and then went on down to London Euston. Carrying my bag that far was the worst part of the journey. I was bringing home a lot of books. I hadn’t realized how heavy that would be. I could use many adjectives to describe that part of the journey. None of my adjectives would be very nice. The train ride to Euston wasn’t anything special. It was quiet and there were few people on board what with it being Christmas Eve.

I then carried my bag through the London Underground transferring at Green Park station onto the Piccadilly line to head straight to LHR. That took about 40 minutes. Once at LHR, I found out pretty quickly that all the ticket counters were shut off so I was going to have to spend the night in the arrivals section of the airport. That sucked because there was very little choice for food and drink on that side of the gate. I did find a 24 hour Costa. I plopped down and proceeded to watch movies all night on my laptop whilst sipping on some tea. I watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Conversation and The Night of the Hunter. All classic films and more importantly, all good films. There was very little which could be said of the evening other than it was surprising at how many other people were doing the same thing I was doing as well as one guy who I don’t think was all there. At one point he had a very vivid and very animated conversation with himself.

Once that was done, I finally got over to the ticket counter and waited to be checked in. I had a conversation with a man from Kenya who was heading to Canada. I also helped an Iranian woman, who could hardly speak any English with her bags. I hope she made it alright.

I then got through security and surprisingly enough, they did not make me take my shoes off. That was a first. Past security, there were a lot of stores in the departure gate. Several restaurants, jewelry stores, luggage shops and a few other gift/alcohol shops awaited beyond the security checkpoint. I killed time perusing stores. I bought some candy at a Boots store for the flight. I then decided to get something to help me sleep on the flight at a café. I ordered a scotch and plain water. The waitress gave me a strange look, checked her watch and shrugged her shoulders. It was 8 in the morning but I didn’t care. It was 5 o’clock somewhere.

I checked in at my gate and got a hot drink before boarding. Once on the plane I was hoping to fall asleep fast. Alas my best laid plans were all for naught. There were two screaming children a row or two back. I know it wasn’t their fault and that they didn’t understand but my God was it annoying.

I ended up watching more movies. In the span of 15 hours, I had watched six movies. I love movies but that’s just getting ridiculous.

In Toronto, customs was interesting. They asked me odd questions about why I, as an American, went through Canada to get to America. Once that was out of the way, I got some pizza and found my gate. It was an agonizing two and a half hour wait. The view of the city wasn’t that great either, through no fault of the airport. The weather was cloudy and there was a slight drizzle. I could barely make out the CN tower from a distance. I had been there some years prior so that was interesting to see it again albeit from a different perspective.

I crashed on the floor. I woke about 20 minutes later to the sound of some voices near me. Two people, who were also on the same flight as me, were quietly talking. We struck up a conversation. They lived and went to school in Wales though they weren’t Welsh or English. I couldn’t remember their nationality but it was an interesting conversation and, more importantly, it was a time killer. They made fun of the Welsh which was hilarious. When I got back, and asked my flat mates about this, they all agreed that the Welsh were the butt of many jokes. We shook hands and I checked into my flight.

I was excited. I was nearing the homestretch. I only had one two hour flight and a three hour car ride ahead of me. There were no hiccups or delays. Everything was sailing smoothly. The bad weather in the central part of the States was no problem. We flew over them. Looking down through the window, it was like looking down on mashed potatoes for the entire flight. The worst part of the flight was that the glare from the sun off the cloud gave me a slight headache. I decided to wear my sunglasses and I just laid back and was in that state of semi consciousness were one isn’t quite asleep or awake. My legs were twitching from exhaustion as well as the surge of adrenaline.

Upon landing in St. Louis, I walked through the airport with a spring in my step. I do remember passing by an airport bar and thinking about getting a celebratory drink and then I remembered the horrible truth that in the US, I was still underage. Oh well. It was merely a passing thought. I also was annoyed by a poster they had of an American beer in front of Big Ben in a show of how they are an international beer because deep down, not many people in the UK drink those beers on a regular basis. It’s about Bavarian beer or ales and not much else.

I did a lap through the baggage claim. Chris wasn’t there. Suddenly I had a horrifying thought that he had been in a car crash. That’s when I realized, while brilliant though our plan may be, there was a small problem that there was no way for each of us to communicate with each other if something tragic were to happen. Chris also mentioned that he himself had had a passing thought of “what if?” “What if the plane were to crash on takeoff or landing and was nothing more than a massive explosion for high def news?” He said that he wouldn’t have had a mental neurotic breakdown if that happened. Thankfully it didn’t. The second I turned around, there he was walking through the entryway.

I called his name and we got my bag. I then told him of my lie with the group rate portion of the trip. He stopped and said that sounded completely legitimate. At this point in the journey, I’m flying high on adrenaline. The finish line is in sight. I could see it with crystal clear vision. Dad called several times and my brother would look at me and go, “Shut up.” He and Dad argued a bit about the route he took and why it was better to go one way or another. I forgot how witty Chris can be. I had to bite my hand to keep from laughing. After the call Chris said he would tone it down a tidge. He did make the mistake of using “we” when meaning to refer only to himself in the car. Dad didn’t catch this.

Outside of the Iowa state line, we stopped at the Flying Jay for coffee and gas. It was funny because Chris asked if he should go for the house blend or the French roast. It’s gas station coffee. This isn’t like walking into a high brow coffee shop. It’s going to be black and disgusting so the only option is to make it as sweet as possible by dumping in more sugar than is needed.

One last phone call to Dad and then it was another half hour to Mount Pleasant. Once in town we stopped. Chris gave me one of those small cheap bows you put on gifts to put on and then he asked how I wanted to do this. I told him to drop me off at the corner about a block from the house. Upon doing so, I had completely forgotten how cold Iowa winters are when compared to the UK. The snow on the ground was the loose kind of snow which just would fly up your jeans upon each step. There’s a wood patch right next to the road which leads to our house. Upon the edge of the wood, I checked to see whether or not there was anybody outside the house for one reason or another. There wasn’t. I couldn’t see where the cars were parked but I decided to go the cautious route. I snuck down through our yard to the front porch. I crossed to the edge of the house. I looked to see if there was anybody at the side porch. There wasn’t. I then crouch walked and checked each window that I passed before making it to the entryway. As soon as I hit the top step, I noticed my Dad in the window cooking. I thought he had seen me. He hadn’t but that didn’t stop me from barreling through the door and into the house.

“HI!!” I shouted as soon as I entered the house. Chris was right there. Dad didn’t really notice. Mom was coming around the corner to tell us to shut the door. Once around the corner she stopped and saw who it was. She was shocked. There was a stunned silence for about 90 seconds with awkward laughter coming from Tom’s girlfriend Jen. Dad couldn’t really say anything either. Mom then feebly said, “You’re supposed to be… in France.” I started to quickly take off my coat. My bow had fallen off and nobody had really seen it. Oh well.

As soon as recognition wore off my parents gave me big hugs and my brother Tom was just like, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Chris and I thought that Tom might have blown the surprise by accident and the surprise was like, 90 percent of it. Chris and I looked at Tom and both said, “I think we won this year Tom.” There was no gift that he could give which would have been able to match ours at all. I think though that I might have raised the bar way too high to be able to ever match this one ever again.

We ate dinner and I told them about my flight and our little plan. Afterwards we unwrapped gifts. I didn’t get hardly anything at all. That’s the problem with coming home unannounced. Oh well. Mom told me that she doesn’t really remember unwrapping gifts. To be honest, neither do I. Though, I could hardly stay awake through it.

I slept pretty soundly that night. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed my bed. Maybe it was just the exhaustion, I don’t know but it was a pretty damn good sleep. I will say this, rapidly switching time zones twice in less than a week plus the flights and travel in general, is terrible for one’s sleeping pattern.

An Interesting Conversation

2010-01-31T20:34:00.000-06:00

I know it has been a long time since I’ve blogged but I’ve been incredibly busy lately. Anyway, let’s go through this one by one, all the little events that have happened since my last post.

A few days before Christmas, I was up in Harborne to go shopping for some food from the Sainsbury’s Local. I decided to stop into the Oxfam bookshop just to kill some time. I did end up picking up a book whilst there but in the process I met a very interesting old man. He was about 70 or so. The conversation got started by all accounts on a very normal circumstance but was elevated by an odd little passion of mine. I overheard him discussing how he was going to go down to Heathrow in the next few days. He looked like he had done it before so, I decided to ask him for some advice as I was going to have to go down to Heathrow in the next few days. He told me where to go and what to do. He was very nice about it. He asked where I was headed and I told him my Christmas plans. I’ll talk about those later as that is going to take some back story.

He wished me luck but then out of the corner of my eye, I got a flash of something steel, red and blue. I took a closer look and I asked him if his wristwatch was the Rolex GMT with the Pepsi blue bezel. He told me that it was. I complemented him on it. The conversation then went from watches to travel horror stories. He talked about flying to Vegas. I told him that I had done the same and how I flew over the Grand Canyon. He told me about how he was in the RAF and had been stationed in Australia where they had done some nuclear testing. He said that he had personally seen about six nuclear bombs go off. He then told me about traveling across the Orient express as well as taking the Transsiberian down to China. His next trip was to go to India. This was a man who had been around the world. It was an interesting conversation to say the least.

A Serious Avatar

2009-12-17T23:07:00.003-06:00

This past week I sort of took it easy and decided to go to the movies... a lot.

On Saturday I went to see A Serious Man at The Electric. This is probably one of the bleakest films the Coen Brothers have ever done. It is even bleaker than No Country for Old Men and that is one of the most bleakest films in recent memory. However, that is not to say that A Serious Man isn't one of the funniest movies released this year. There was one joke, one of the darkest and disturbing jokes I've ever seen that had me belly laughing so hard that people in the audience actually pointed at me. It just was that funny. It also tackles serious questions about faith and if God even is communicating with us or if life is just merely chaos. I thought it was well done without being on a soapbox. Also, like all good art, it leaves the question open rather than didactic and solvable. Discussion is key and this film feels like it is trying to open up a discussion while also being incredibly funny. It also feels like one of their most personal projects in recent memory.

About three hours after A Serious Man, I saw Me and Orson Welles. This movie was dull. It had some interesting things happening such as Christian McKay's performance as Orson Welles but the movie itself was just... boring. It felt like it was trying to be a classical Hollywood film in the sense that it was really trying for that snappy dialogue that served well in films such as The Thin Man and even Welles' Citizen Kane but it just didn't work overall. I was bored and looking at my wristwatch throughout most of the last act.

However, one of the more interesting experiences I had this past week was just within the last 12 hours of this post. My flat mate Adam and I went to see Avatar in Imax 3D. I'm not a big fan of 3D just because it's always felt gimmicky. However, in this film, it works. It works in subtle ways. It does not try and be flashy with the 3D technology except for at the beginning of the film in the first few scenes. The plot itself is somewhat clunky but hey, so is most of Star Wars plot. Essentially it is like Dances with Wolves but with blue aliens. This is not the film you watch because of the plot but because of the visuals. And my God the visuals are astounding. James Cameron really knows how to create a world and an atmosphere which anyone would want to just live in. Lush jungles and vistas as well as an entirely new culture for the screen. This is the kind of film that brings the kid in me to life. The kid in me who read many crappy science fiction novels and hey, I'm planning on going again in a few hours to see it in Imax. I'm sort of a sucker for event films.

I'm also planning on spending the entire day at The Electric on Saturday. I'm planning on watching It's a Wonderful Life, Citizen Kane and possibly but not definitely The Red Shoes. All on 35 mm.

Last Week of Classes

2009-12-17T22:38:00.002-06:00

My last week of classes was pretty uneventful. Although, man do British professors like to give out mince pies or treats of some sort or another.

It's nice. The most interesting treat given was in my Cold War Film course. My professor gave us a champagne orange juice mix. Unlike the horrible, awful, no-good mix given at the social during the winter ball, this one at least had some flavor. It wasn't too bad. It wasn't a home run either but hey, I'm not going to turn down a free drink. Personally, I prefer scotch with a touch of water but you can't always get what you want. Though if you go to the off license then you sure as hell can buy it.

Most of my classes consisted of just wrapping up the year and making sure any immediate questions about the papers were answered sooner rather than later.

The most interesting thing which happened during my lectures happened on Friday before my Theatre and Cultural Politics course. Some members of class met up before hand at a pub down in Selly Oak called the Bristol Pear. It was a decent pub and the food wasn't bad either.

It was also somewhat interesting because I went to class with an energy buzz. The sort of energy buzz which is generated by a pint of Guinness, a double Jack and coke and a Bourbon and water. Discussing Angels and America whilst being moderately intoxicated was quite interesting.

Also it was somewhat funny because the first part of lecture was to list off what are some of the perceived notions about Americans. John Warwick was the lecturer. He's also an American. He said that two of us were excluded from discussing this topic. When they brought up the arrogance of calling it the World Series, I had to get involved. I just offhandedly said that we recruit the best from Japan and foreign baseball teams. Warwick stopped class and said that he thought it was pretty obvious who couldn't speak during this activity. The class laughed but it was worth it. I made a bit of a fool of myself again later on when I was able to list off the years Rambo III and Firefox, both terrible films, were released. I quickly explained that I know way too much about films and had to study them, Rambo specifically, in a previous class.

Now it's off to write papers. I have to write 20,000 words by January 12th or something like that. Either way, it's not a lot of time. I've sort of slacked off until now. Mostly because I don't feel the pressure yet. I will and it will get done. It will get done. As fast as humanly possible but when the pressures on, that's when the writer in me comes out.

The Winter Ball

2009-12-17T21:29:00.002-06:00

Last week on Tuesday night we had our Winter Ball. It was a formal event in which we all dressed in suits and ties to eat a three course meal. The ticket for said event cost £25. Was it worth it? I couldn't really say.

A lot of my friends and flat mates were going. I decided I should go as well. There was a slight problem of not owning a suit but I rectified that situation a few weeks before the ball by going out to Bullring (I went to Suits You) and purchasing a very nice Ted Baker single breasted three button suit with three shirts, three ties, a new belt, two pairs of cuff links and a new pair of black dress shoes. They made such a killing on me, and my God was it an arm and a leg and a thigh, that they threw in a travel bag at practically no extra charge. My rationale behind buying such a nice suit was because well, it will come in handy beyond just tonight. Why buy a cheap suit which will get destroyed when I could buy a nice one which I could get dry cleaned and have it on hand for future formal events as well as job interviews and anything of that nature.

Back to the event at hand. We all got dressed in suits and ties and then we went down to the Social. The ticket said "Free Drinks" at the social. What that "Free Drinks" actually entailed, vague though it may be, was one free drink which was a cheap champagne flavored drink mixed with orange juice. It was a terrible, bland disgusting, flavorless and soulless drink. I rectified that situation by going up to the bar and ordering a Rum and Coke just to wash the sickly flavor from my mouth.

We then went down to the coaches which were going to take us to the Aston Villa Football Grounds. We were to have our meal inside of one of the executive suites. It was like a ballroom. Wood floors. A bar at one end of the room and a jazz band at the other. The jazz band was too close to my friend's table. They said it was annoying. I didn't sit there not because I didn't want to but because it just worked out that way. I sat with Sachin (Magic Man) and his flat mates. Sachin is known as Magic Man because he's so good with magic drinks. He has a whole routine with a deck of cards which ends with the card turning into a glass deck. He's really good at sleight of hand. I always keep my wallet in a safe place around him. He's not going to do anything but... just in case he ever wants to pull any tricks. Nah, he's actually a really good guy.

There were five bottles of wine at the center of the table with streamers, party poppers and a "fun box" with party nick knacks. The five bottles though were cheap, disgusting wines which had more in common with vinegar than wine. Again, I had to rectify this situation by going up to the bar and ordering a double jack and coke on the rocks with a lemon wedge. That cost me an arm and a leg but frankly, I would rather pay out money to get a good drink at an event like this than to dress up and drink terrible wine. It also had the added effect of getting my pallet somewhat numbed so I could stomach the bad stuff. My dad once told me that you drink the good stuff first, then you drink the bad stuff.

The first course was a minestrone soup and a roll. The soup itself was actually pretty good. It was a good warm up round until we got to the main course. Turkey with gravy, stuffing in the center, potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. It wasn't the greatest piece of poultry I've ever had, but then again, this was a mass produced meal. I didn't expect much from it. It was better than I thought it was going to be. The final course was a really good cheese cake. It had a layer of chocolate at the bottom. It was lush.

Afterward they had some announcements from people who got elected into office for our living area. It's Residential Advisers. Entertainment office, treasury and things of that nature. Ho hum stuff.

Throughout the meal I was having a pretty good time. I talked with a girl who was a golf management major. Yes, the University of Birmingham offers that as a major. She wants to own a golf course. I thought that was pretty interesting because you don't really meet that everyday.

After the meal is when fun took a nose dive. We went to get photos as a flat and as friends. It didn't go so well. People bum rushed the photographer and people just got agitated, especially amongst my group that we decided to get out of there.

We went downstairs. There were nine of us. We ordered a taxi. They sent us two. the first took home four leaving five. The second arrived but it wouldn't be able to take us all. Mark got angry with the driver. For a second I thought a fight was going to break out. Thankfully, another group of taxis arrived and took us home.

We all broke up and went to bed.

All in all, I think I had a good time but it was jaded at best. Some people made absolute fools of themselves. One guy, the entertainments officer, Ash, showed up at the venue absolutely battered. He was just a fool with streamers encircling and entwining around him. Most people who were civilized were less than impressed. Rod remarked to me later that he has only ever seen Ash whilst he is drunk. I will say this, it was entertaining to watch however I don't think he should be the one in charge of it.

The emotional drama at the end of the night was... well, it was less than impressive. The jazz band they had wasn't the greatest and they were way too loud throughout most of the night. It should have been a function with quiet music in the background not anything more.

I suppose I could nitpick the hell out of it but that's just what I do. I nitpick the hell out of a lot of things. I enjoyed it but if I had a choice I probably would not want to go again. I don't think I'm going to make the summer ball to be perfectly frank.

Endgame

2009-12-07T12:48:00.002-06:00

This past weekend I went down to London to see a play. Endgame by Samuel Beckett. It was a very interesting play but I'll get to that later.

The Friday before I went though was a pretty interesting one. My theatre and cultural politics course was another really interesting one. This time we were discussing the ethics of Hell Houses which are "haunted houses" but they are told from a Christian perspective. So, there would be scenes depicted suicide or abortions or a gay man dying of aids or ravers and afterward they would be dragged down to the fiery pits of Hell by demons. It's all that fire and brimstone crap. The kind of Christianity which is really disgusting. Gandhi once said that "I like your Christ but not your Christians." So true. Another interesting quote came from one of our readings. "Haunted houses are meant to scare the bejesus out of you, while Hell Houses are meant to scare the Jesus into you."

However we were not looking at it from a perspective of good or bad performance. We were actually supposed to be looking at it fairly objectively. We were supposed to be looking at the mechanics of what this sort of theatre was doing. It was a very interesting lecture and the lecturer, John Warwick was another American. He was also asking very tough questions. He told us that all theatre is exclusionary in some form or another. It was hard hitting, blunt and to the point. We were not discussing ethics but mechanics.

Many people in the lecture were a bit thunderstruck by it and sort of either missed the point or tried to make it into an ethical debate. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. After class, Serafina and I had a pretty lengthy discussion about it. We parted ways because she had to finish work on a project.

Later on that night, my friends from Oakley Court and I grabbed dinner at the pub. Green Man. God, I love that place. I wasn't planning on going but, hey I just can't say no to a good pub meal. I had the grilled lemon chicken with jacket (baked) potatoes and peas. I also had a pint of Guinness with it. I downed the Guinness pretty quickly. That stuff tastes so good. I had another pint. This time it was an ale called Ubu. I do enjoy a good ale. Don't worry, I'm not becoming an alcoholic. I do feel that one can enjoy alcohol responsibly.

The meal was good but I grew weary and headed home. I passed out and woke up that morning pretty early. I had soup for breakfast and killed time before I had to be at the station.

I collected my tickets and I was a little concerned by the way they printed out. I thought I had only purchased a one way ticket. Thankfully I hadn't but still, it was a worry.

The train ride down was uneventful. Although it was sunnier than normal which was a shock. I actually had to put my sunglasses on during the train ride. Once in London I grabbed a tube map and proceeded to head where I needed to go. I got off at Oxford Circus and I went to a Bella Italia for lunch. It's an Italian chain here in the UK. It's sort of like the Olive Garden only it's a lot nicer.

I headed to Embankment station and from there I went across the river Thames via a walkway bridge. I saw the Eye which is a giant sightseeing Ferris wheel. At the base were many street performers as well as a small Christmas market. I walked across another bridge and saw one of the major landmarks of London. Big Ben and Parliament. Big Ben isn't as big as they say. It's a little underwhelming. Old Joe, the clock tower on campus is actually taller than Big Ben.

After exploring around for a little bit, I headed back to try and find where I needed to go for my play. That was a bit trickier. Thankfully I gave myself plenty of time just in case something like this happened. I ended up taking several wrong turns. I broke down and bought a street map. Found where I needed to go and arrived with a 1/2 hour to spare.

Endgame is a play by Samuel Beckett. He is sort of a major figure in the play world. They recently had a showing of Waiting for Godot, his other seminal work which starred Ian McKellen. That play was so successful that they are bringing it back for a limited 10 week run in the spring. Yes, I'm going to buy tickets to see that.

Endgame doesn't really have a plot. It's four characters are living in what is essentially a post-apocalyptic world. Hamm is blind. Clov can barely walk. Nell and Nagg, Hamm's parents, live in waste bins. They more or less looked like demented Oscar the Grouch off of Sesame Street.

I'm fortunate at having seen the play because it was the second to last showing of it. It was a strange play. Intense doesn't even scratch the surface. I was very claustrophobic whilst watching it. I did have killer seats but the Duchess Theatre is a lot smaller than the Old Vic. One of the cooler set ideas was the window curtains, when moved, actually had quite a bit of dust fall from them. The door leading to the unseen kitchen creaked and creaked once open.

It was a one act play lasting only 100 minutes but I felt like I got my money's worth.

After the play, I walked around a bit in the rain and found a nice pub. I had fish and chips which were a lot better this time around as well as a nice good ale. Then I found my way to Euston train station and went home.

All in all it was a pretty good day.

For mementos of my play going experiences I plan on buying the programs of each show I attend.

Postmodernism Back to Back

2009-11-30T23:51:00.002-06:00

I had a pretty interesting Friday lecture in my Theatre and Cultural Politics course. So far that course has been pretty lethargic. None of the topics have been that interesting until last Friday.

We were discussing sort of Postmodern politics with beauty aesthetics and cybernetics. It's a little weird and hard to describe. We had to read Alan Ayckbourn's play Henceforward... which is about a man, his cyborg and a strange meeting to prove that he is a competent father who should be allowed to see his daughter. That's the gist. There's more to it as there always is. It was a pretty solid play. Typical of Ayckbourn in that it is absurdly funny in places.

Back to the discussion though. One of the articles we read involved this woman named Orlan who films her own plastic surgeries and sells them as art. Her face is now a pastiche of what "art" has called the human figure as beautiful. She has the forehead of the Mona Lisa for instance because that is what people have called beautiful. It's really complicated but the discussion it incited was pretty interesting.

At least it was to me and another girl. Saraphina is her name. It's a strange name but she seems pretty cool. what happened was we were discussing this woman and of course everybody is taking the very basic sides of either what she is doing is ethical or horrifying. Discussion wasn't really moving forward. Finally, after having my hand raised for quite a bit, I pulled discussion on another tangent. I asked the class how many were wearing makeup because isn't that changing your figure in some way shape or form? Isn't it changing your body even if it is only temporary? It lead discussion down a more useful tangent than the dialectical good or bad of what this woman was doing. Of course, whether you agree with Orlan or not, she has made a lot of money doing these surgeries so, I don't really think she ultimately cares about her face so much as her pocketbook.

Another little incident that happened in class was a few minutes and a few slides later we were looking at this other performer who had all these hooks in his body which could be moved by the audience members via computer. Yes, it's another ethical dilemma. We didn't spend much time on it but a lot of people in class made grimaces or small comments on how disgusting that was. I decided to say something way out of left field and asked, "What's wrong with a little sadomasochism?" Nobody laughed but Saraphina. Immediately I'm like, I need to talk with her after class. I feel like I made a friend that day.

Today in my thriller course we had an interesting discussion on postmodernism in relation to Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. It's one of my favorite topics. The professor asked who has studied postmodernism and I was the only one who raised their hand. It was a good lecture and I got to show off how much I already knew.

What was the most interesting was how lecture actually ended. It's held in the Richard Shackleton library which is a small room with a big table. It is surrounded by bookshelves. Some of these shelves have glass sliding panels. Literally, at the last moment of class, at the last comment from the lecturer, two of the glass panels fell off and smashed on the ground. It was close to three of us, me being one of them. It actually hit a girl's chair but thankfully she was leaning forward. It missed her by about three inches or so. Nobody screamed, nobody was hurt but everybody was stunned.

It was one hell of a way to end a lecture.

North by Northwest: The Electric and Cinema in General

2009-11-30T23:24:00.002-06:00

About three weeks ago... well, a long time ago... not exactly sure how long ago, I went to see North by Northwest at The Electric in city centre. The Electric is the oldest theatre in the UK. We're talking from like 1909 old.

It is a pretty interesting little cinema in that it is really hard to find. I walked right past it and didn't even know it was there. The seats were quite plush and in the back of the theatre were leather settees. My flatmate Adam and I wish we could have sat there but it was double the ticket price. The seats we sat in were that old red plush cinema seat. The screen was pretty small but the theatre itself was small to begin with. It was probably about the same size as the Bijou.

The cinema was also unique in that there wasn't really a popcorn machine or a soda machine. At least not any that I could see. What they did have behind the counter was a small bar. It looked like it was stocked really well. I took a glancing look at the prices but decided against it.

The lobby was also filled with vintage movie posters. The men's room was downstairs and leading down was one poster after another with Dirty Harry being at front and center towards the bottom.

http://www.theelectric.co.uk/index.htm

There's the link for the cinema's homepage.

As for the film, I loved it. I had seen it before but I had to watch it for class. It was the choice of watching it projected on 35mm or on a DVD. I think I'm going to go with the 35mm.

My flatmate, who had never seen or heard of it before enjoyed it. He and I have gone to see a lot of movies together either at film soc or at the actual cinema. We once did a double feature back to back of Harry Brown and 2012. These two films couldn't have been more different. Harry Brown is essentially like Gran Torino but with Michael Caine. I was blown away by it. It's not the film of the year but it is one of the better British films I have seen in a while. Comically, I feel that if Clint Eastwood brought back his Dirty Harry persona for Gran Torino and Michael Caine just brought back Get Carter, then in 15 years or so I want Bruce Willis to bring back John McClane. Basically I want Die Hard but in the suburbs.

2012 was just an alright movie. I didn't really go to that expecting anything dramatic or uplifting. I just wanted to see ridiculous special effects and everything in between. It was basically just fun for the most part. Although planes taking off and having trouble did wear a bit thin after a while.

Orange, my mobile carrier does a 2 for 1 cinema deal on Wednesdays. You just text film to 241 and they send you a little code which you can go to one movie with a guest and just split the ticket. So instead of paying £4 each you just pay £2. It's a pretty solid deal.

Last weekend we both went and saw Paranormal Activity. I'm sure it is a good film. I'm pretty sure it is but the crowd we saw it with was pretty unruly. They were loud, obnoxious, rude, crude and everything in between. I have a long list of names to call them but I really don't think anybody would really want to hear it. Adam and I were both annoyed to the point where we didn't like the movie. We both sort of had the same conclusion which was that the movie was probably pretty good but we just were so annoyed by the crowd that the experience as a whole just sucked. It is definitely on my re-watch list.

As for cinema in general, I am really digging film soc. I've started to talk with the president of the committee after each show. He even gave me some homework. The assignment, bring in recommendations for the next term's screening list. It's nice to have a say with a committee like that. While all of my choices won't be picked he did say he was really impressed with my list.

We and a few other members got talking for such a long time that we went through two pubs. One closed at 11 and the other one had last call at midnight. Instead of calling it quits right there, we just went back to some Belgian girl's flat and proceeded to have one of those 4 hour long conversations which is a little bit of everything.

Also, we had a Belgian beer little tasting. It felt like a wine tasting but with Belgian beer. I can't even begin to remember all the different beers we tried. She was kind enough to allow us to try them. She didn't really care about us paying her just because her parents had given them to her to remind her of home. She was even kind enough to give me a free bottle to take with me. She said that she would bring some back as long as I paid her. It would so be worth it. One was named Duvel... I can't even remember what all the others were called. The best one though was Grimbergen. I think I'm spelling that right. Anyway, that was the best one because of how good it tasted. It was a phenomenal beer which had so many different flavors. There were hints of chocolate, vanilla, berries, fruit, wood... it just had a little bit of everything.

That's really all I can think of interesting wise that has happened lately... well, that pertains to the topic at hand.

Notes from the Underground Wind

2009-11-22T11:42:00.002-06:00

I went down to London yesterday. It was my first time. While I technically landed in London at Heathrow it still doesn't really count.

I went down to see a play. Inherit the Wind at the Old Vic. Kevin Spacey was in the lead. I'll get to that later.

I woke up pretty early yesterday to catch a 9:30 train. The night before I had asked my flatmates on advice for traveling around that area. Mostly about the Tube but also about whether or not I should take my backpack. They said "Yeah. Just don't jump any barriers and you should be okay." There was an incident of a man getting shot to death for jumping the barriers with a backpack on. They also figured out which lines I needed to take. The Victoria to Green Park and from there I should take the Jubilee to Waterloo. The Old Vic is down the street from Waterloo.

I woke up, made myself some breakfast. Scrambled eggs, an English Muffin with cream cheese and Heinz baked beans. Beans on toast is also another wonderful meal I've discovered since being in country. Sounds disgusting but it isn't. I digress. I showered, shaved and hurried over to University station. Trained over to New Street and printed off my tickets there and hurried onto the train.

The train ride itself was about an hour and a half. It was a bit cramped but I managed. I just read a book for most of it.

Once I got to Euston station, it was ridiculous. So many people. The underground was flooding with patrons that they decided that people would pay at their stops rather than at their departures. I waited in line though. I bought a day pass just to make things easier on myself. I could ride any underground train I wanted as long as I had that card.

I got to Green Park and walked around. Green Park is located on Piccadilly one of the major thoroughfares in London. It was pretty cool seeing all the building around there right next to Green Park which is essentially like Central Park in NYC. There were also street vendors selling T shirts and oil paintings and everything in between.

I went back to the station only to find out that the Jubilee line was closed for repairs. I checked the map and went to Leicester Square though and walked around there. I took many photos. I want to go back when I'm not so stressed for time. That area had a lot of theatres for musical theatre and plays of that sort. I took photos of the marquees and of everything in between. I also walked around the National Gallery outside. It's free entry but I didn't have time to go in.

I did find a fish and chips shop and finally had fish and chips. It was pricey but I figured it would be. It's London basically add a pound to what you think it should be and that is what you're going to be paying.

Also the underground is hot. I sweated so much in there because of my coat, the number of people in such a small space and all the walking around just to get through the terminals.

After eating and wandering around I finally went to the Old Vic theatre. It's sort of out of the way and the building itself is a bit misleading. It looks small but it isn't. Once inside, and after I had picked up my ticket, I went to one of the bars in the theatre, they have those in theatres and I bought myself a drink. I also purchased a program for £4. It's pricey but it is a good memento.

I had arrived pretty early too. I couldn't remember if the performance was at 2 or 2:30 so I arrived at 1:30 just to be on the safe side. I just found a corner and kept reading my book.

I got my seat too. I was up in the top balcony. Even though I was that high, I didn't mind. There are aspects of theatre which you can see from that high up which you can't see from front and centre stage.

It was a hell of a show. The performances were really good. It started off slightly sluggish, I would chalk that one up the material itself. It's the last 2/3rds of the play that really shined. The challenges, the political undertones and the performances all come into full flower at that point. Also, the stage itself was pretty cool at how the actors brought everything on stage but you couldn't notice it. It was done so subtly.

Kevin Spacey was magnificent in his role but he didn't overplay it. It felt like an ensemble performance not a one man show. Everybody was solid and I felt like I had gotten my money's worth. Even the small performances which could get lost in the shuffle weren't.

Here's the trailer for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs8l8_ChRjg

I walked out of that theatre empowered. I also walked out of that theatre realizing that there is such a life to theatre which you don't really get in movies. Also, you don't get it in high school performances or amateur theatre (usually). Most plays I've been too, I've sat there bored but this one, I finally felt something. I finally felt pulled and sucked into the stage rather than sitting there objectively.

After the show, I wondered around a bit more. I saw some of the sights I had seen in the morning at night just to see if they were different. I went to Burger King and got a double whopper and after that I went another avenue on the underground and walked around some more. I went to Cafe Nero and bought a cafe mocha. Not bad, but not the best coffee I've ever had in the world. It definitely was a step above Starbucks.

I went to the train station and went home. I ran into some of my flat mates as they were on the way to the pub. I joined had a pint and then once we got home, I crashed.

It was a very long but very good day.

Stratford-upon-Avon

2009-11-22T11:22:00.002-06:00

A couple of Friday's ago, I sacked off a lecture. Don't worry, the professor puts the notes online. We're allowed to miss up to 3 lectures.I wasn't really interested in going to lecture as I'm not even going to write over what she was going to be speaking about. So, I decided it was worth missing this lecture.

I went down to Stratford upon Avon with my friend Victoria. We had planned a trip for reading week, the week where we didn't have class, but those plans had fallen through for sundry reasons. We went down to Stratford on a day trip. It didn't cost much. Just £4.10. We met up at New Street station, walked over to Moor street station which is very vintage and took the train out to Stratford.

The architecture there was much different than Birmingham. There were no tall structures at all. Every building looked like it had been there for well, for several hundreds of years. Lots of thatched roofs.

Everything in this town was Shakespeare this and Shakespeare that. It was great to be there for a day but I could not imagine myself living there.

Before we did any major sightseeing and meandering around, we went to a pub. I opted for a gamon with two eggs on top of it. I also had a true ale whilst there. Hobgoblin. It was pretty good. It's a true ale because the bar maid actually had to pump it out. It wasn't an electric pump. The gamon was a little salty but I didn't mind.

After lunch we walked around. Went to Shakespeare's birthplace. We didn't go inside, just because to merely go in was a tad outrageous just to see a small building. Eleven pounds was not exactly what I had in mind.

We also found a tobacconist and I purchased a Cuban cigar because, well, because here I can. It was a good cigar.

After walking around some more I spotted a sign pointed the direction to Anne Hathaway's cottage. The sign made it look like it was around the corner. A mile or so later it began to rain. We had passed that marker of, we've gotten this far. We're seeing the damn thing. Once there, we checked out the gift shop as a way to get out of the rain. We requested a taxi to pick us up and take us to the station.

I also bought myself a Shakespeare bust for my desk. I like it. It's a bit unnecessary I realize but still, it will be a way to remember the day.

Once we got back on the train to go home, which we caught in the nick of time there was an incident on the train. A young man, about a year younger than I, hadn't purchased a ticket which is a big "No no." It cost him a £20 fine. He off course went off complaining about it, that they were just stealing money from him etc. etc. even though it was obviously his fault. His friends took the piss out of him for this because they had all bought tickets. So, it wasn't that he was in a hurry but that he was just stupid.

That night, Victoria and I went to Nando's. It's a Portuguese chicken place. We split a combo meal consisting of chips, two grilled corn on the cobs and a full medium spiced chicken. That was a tasty tasty meal and reasonably priced. We also had bottomless soft drinks which is a rarity in the UK. They don't have free refills unless it's an American corporation which came in and doesn't realize that they don't have to offer that.

After that, we hung out at her place. Watched the drunken absurdity of her roommates getting ready for a night on the town and then I went home.

It was a pretty long but good day.

Lazy About Blogging

2009-11-18T23:43:00.002-06:00

I've kind of been lazy about blogging lately. Mostly because not much has happened in the past few weeks.

I've gone to the movies. I've gone to class. I've cooked for myself. I've bought more books. It's basically become a routine of reading, sleeping and studying. I go to film soc as much as I can.

We hang out in the flat and we all talk but really it's only conversation which is interesting to us.

Basically in the past few weeks not a whole hell of a lot has happened. I wish stuff had happened but seriously nothing.

We had reading week which was essentially a week in which people said they were going to study but... they didn't.

There was Vale fireworks during that week which happened on Guy Fawkes day. Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot.

It's sort of like the 4th of July. They burn effigies of Guy Fawkes. He was an anarchist who tried to blow up Parliament. He came close to. When he was caught, it was right next to the gunpowder. It would have done the job but it was wet. He was trying to light it. Essentially, it's the historical equivalent of getting caught with your pants down. They celebrate by blowing stuff up.

By the way, if he had managed to blow up Parliament, the whole world would be a different place right now. England would have gone into anarchy for a time. There would have been chaos.

Vale fireworks was fun... aside from the rain. The fireworks were set to music. Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Another way to Die (the Bond theme song), Eye of the Tiger and a few others. Star Wars was the closer. It was a good show apart from the soaking rain and the mud. I also was standing next to some jerk who didn't put his umbrella down. I got his run off and the rain on top of it.

There was also a small fair but we didn't go on any of the rides just because it was crowded and again, the rain.

Jazz Guild, Selly's Sausage and Mobile

2009-10-25T08:56:00.002-05:00

On Friday night some of us went down to the Guild, which is essentially the IMU but with a bar in it, to see some live jazz and blues. They were doing an open mic night for any musicians on campus who wanted to play.

Sadly, there wasn't much in the way of live playing but they still kept playing jazz over the stereo system. It was pretty crowded in there anyway and we were just around the corner from where the musicians were playing.

It was a very relaxing night of just cocktails and conversations. It was much better than any of the clubs I've been to. The closest thing to that in Iowa City is the Mill.

The night wore on into conversations and a late night jaunt through the area surrounding Oakley Court which lasted until four.

I woke up the next day around two. We were all going to Selly's Sausage for a brunch. I love that place. I can't speak highly enough of the full English.

This time though, I had the super big breakfast. It was three of everything. One thing I love with the big breakfast that it is so massive and with so many ingredients that it is very easy for them to forget something minor when they put it together. They had forgotten to give me black pudding which I'm okay with. I tried it. It was okay but I'm not going to go out of my way to eat it.

Afterward, Caitlin and I went off to the Bullring via train. I was in search of a phone or as the Brits call it a mobile.

I got a cheap pay as you go plan which I can top up as much as I need. I can get 100 minutes for 10 quid. I don't think I'll be on the phone that much.

I also went to the bookstore while I was in the area. It's not in the Bullring but it is down the way in sort of the shopping district. The previous week, when we were lost trying to find a place to eat, I had noticed this bookstore.

Waterstones. There is a small one on campus. This one though, is massive. It was three floors tall and felt like I was in a huge library. They also have one hell of a deal. Buy 3 and get 2 free.

Did I take advantage of this deal? Hell yeah I did.

I picked up for myself:

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
White Jazz by James Ellroy

I kind of have a problem with buying too many books. I've already bought several others.

The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I guess I'm at a point in which I would rather have a massive library than a massive DVD collection.

Insomnia and Noise Complaints

2009-10-25T08:38:00.002-05:00

This past week I had a few nights of restless sleep. One night, I stayed up all night and only passed out for a few hours before a class. I've been exhausted this past week because of it.

Some will say that it has everything to do with missing home or stress about something but those who know me best can tell you I've always had trouble sleeping. Plus the bed being as uncomfortable as it is, it's no surprise that I can't sleep.

What really sucked was the next day our entire flat was brought before the Housing Director or some such title of Pritchatts Park for making too much noise. Her name is Brynda (pronounced Brenda). Apparently, there have been noise complaints made against us for playing loud music at four in the morning. This is completely false. It's actually flat 10 who play the loud music or rave at four in the morning.

What was worse is that during the meeting, she wouldn't even listen to us. Wouldn't see our side. Would start to point out something while we were speaking. There was no communication at all.

Also, the fact that there were only four of us who could attend the meeting didn't exactly help our case.

Kerry, the quiet one in our flat, like really quiet, like never hear a peep quiet hates this woman now. Kerry has even mentioned that yes, a lot of loud music was played during Fresher's week (which even the housing director said they turned a blind eye to) but beyond that, we hadn't made any noise. We didn't host any parties and it may start in our flat but it moves on pretty quickly.

Essentially it was just a talking to. She mentioned that this happens every year and that people do get kicked out of housing. We promised to keep the noise down.

On Wednesday, I came back from hanging out with Victoria (we had to watch a movie for class together) and there were people in our flat making a lot of noise. Raving if you will but, and I checked this... I made sure of it, at 10:59 promptly the music went off. We're allowed to make noise between 8 AM and 11 PM. So, we fell within guidelines.

As I was eating a really late dinner, they all left to go out to the club. At around two or so, Caitlin had come back alone via taxi. She wasn't feeling very well. I stayed up with her, talked with her told her stories and made her some food and tea to calm her down.

At around four, Rod and the people who went out raving came back. Rod was a bit cross with Caitlin and I for being in the kitchen. His concern was noise complaints. We kept it down. He also got most of the ravers out of our kitchen and ushered them over to flat 10 who have yet to actually get a proper meeting in front of Brynda.

They made chips and promptly passed out. The following afternoon, Brynda shows up. She rang the doorbell and let herself in. What disrespect for our property. Even if you have a complaint against us, you can at least show us the courtesy of not waltzing into our kitchen without letting us get the door for you. Also, we are supposed to be given 24 hours notice before any official visits from staff which she failed to do.

I heard this secondhand but apparently, she told us about the noise complaints and that now she officially had names. She also tore down those official university posters which had been defamed with phrases which I will not repeat here. Of course, that happened during Freshers week and by her rationale of turning a blind eye to it, that should be okay. Also, we didn't write on our posters. Flat 10 did.

Rod and Harry, who both did not make any noise and I was there for when they got back from the club, had to go into a personal meeting with her. Essentially it was a stern talking to and sort of a final warning. It's ludicrous.

We all feel that because Harry had called our flat the party flat and had shouted it at the top of his lungs on several occasions, it has given us a bad reputation. We also feel like people are just blaming us because of that. We're not the ones who come home and shout at the top of our lungs, "Oakley Court!!! Wake the F--- UP!!!"

We're actually pretty quiet. Even Harry who was a party fiend during Freshers week has calmed down for the most part.

Bella Italia

2009-10-25T08:30:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday we all decided to head into City Center to go to lunch and to do some light shopping at the Bullring.

That was a mistake and a half. On a Saturday, that place was jam packed with people going out to eat, doing shopping and all sorts of different things you could think of.

Also, we had that group mentality in which there are eight of us and no one can make up their minds.

After going from one place to the next and seeing one long queue after another, we still couldn't make up our minds.

Mark got royally frustrated and stormed off. We coaxed him back but still, he was quite agitated. Essentially, in a group of eight, we became politicians who know what they want (food in our case) but can't make up their minds to get it. I'm trying to imagine us trying to go to war with some country. We wouldn't be able to make up our minds let alone come up with a strategy to execute said idea.

Finally, we settled on Bella Italia. It was a sort of posh Italian restaurant. The menu was practically all in Italian. To be honest, I can't remember what I had... well, what it was called but I can tell you it was pretty good. It was some sort of noodles, peppers, cheese, chicken and sauce dish.

We had to scrap shopping because of how late it was. So, we decided to head back to Pritchatts Park. Later on we went out to the Green Man pub. That was... fun... too much fun. I'm noticing a pattern with myself here. My Achilles Heel is for pubs.

Dr. Parnassass

2009-10-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

Last week I went out to the cinema Friday night with Victoria. We both don’t really like the club scene. The noise. The flashing lights. All of it. It’s just kind of annoying. Also, people sound like complete idiots at those rave or clubs. Hormones raging and the noise… God, the noise isn’t exactly heavenly.

So, we went with an alternative. The cinema. Also, dinner. We went out to this buffet place called Around the World in 80 Dishes. It had everything you can think of from Italian, Chinese, Indian, as well as what they called Pan-American which was basically hot dogs and little mini hamburgers. Really good food and like all things which are really good, it is really pricy. Way more than I thought it was going to be. I don’t really want to reveal how much it cost here, but let’s just say my heart sank when I saw the check.

The film we saw was The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassass. It was Heath Ledger’s last film and the filmmakers had to use Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to finish the role. It seriously worked quite well because they are only inside fantasy sequences which easily explain why he would take on a different appearance. It was a good film overall but there were some unintentionally funny lines about Heath Ledger’s character coming back to life. Also, the first time we run into Heath Ledger is of him hanging off a bridge with a rope around his neck.

I caught the train back from Five Ways to University Station. I’m becoming a fan of the rail network here.

A Typical Class

2009-10-15T20:12:00.002-05:00

One notable thing about most of my courses, well, three of them anyway is that they take place not in some randomly assigned classroom, but in the actual professor's classroom. It is interesting for me just because I find it remarkably conducive to classwork.

Instead of being surrounded by small, cramped desks which have been pockmarked by students writing all over them, I'm now in a huge office surrounded by bookshelf after bookshelf of all things ranging from literary theory and criticism, huge anthologies, book and after book or play after play of things I have read, haven't read or want to read.

Essentially, it is like having a class inside of someone's small personal library. I love it.

I know it would be impossible at Iowa to do so. Mostly because there are too many students and the professor's offices at Iowa are so much smaller than the offices here.

Part of the fun is also seeing what professors have read or, at the very least, what the professor's have on their shelf. One noticed that I was looking around her classroom before seminar started and she asked what I was doing. I confessed that I was seeing what it was she had on her shelf and that I love seeing what people are reading, have read or what they are interested in. It's something I've done a lot.

I remember a few months ago having a good conversation with my friend Alex back in Iowa City on what he had on his shelf. He has an interesting collection of books. As do my college professors here and back at home from what I can remember.

Of course, I just have to hope I don't get caught looking at their shelves during the middle of seminar but I just can't help myself.

In Search of a Winter Coat

2009-10-15T19:55:00.002-05:00

This past Wednesday, instead of going to the optional film screening for class, I headed into the City Center to go to the Bullring, the massive shopping center in town.

I had been there before and it was again, a little overwhelming. It's a three story shopping center divided into two halves with the bottom floor connecting both halves. There's a huge bull in front of one of the entrances and one of the sides of the building is covered in aluminum discs.

I walked through that building for probably a good hour. I went from one store to the next trying to find a decent coat. I found some. However, there was always something wrong with it. Didn't like the color or didn't like the fabric. Wasn't sure if it would be warm enough or would it even be worth the price.

I took my search out to the streets and I walked around that area in and around the Bullring for about a half hour. I found jewelery shops (yes, I did look through the windows at the watches) and all sorts of different eateries and take aways.

I found a small little outlet mall right next to the Bullring called the Palisades. I felt it was a lost cause. I didn't really see any stores in there either until out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked like a decent coat.

My search yielded what I was looking for. The store was named Moss. They had proper overcoats, raincoats, trench coats and all the like. Double breasted. Single breasted. Everything. I found what I was looking for, a nice coat made of wool for £90. It's a good coat and it will be one to last for a while.

I actually had to use it today due to the rain. It kept me warm and yes, I realize that this is sort of a pointless blog post which is sort of vain but hey, I feel very Euro with this coat. It's much better than my old one.

Film Club

2009-10-12T13:24:00.003-05:00

I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to join the film club. I did. It essentially revolves around a massive crowd of students getting together to watch a film in a lecture theater.

The first one I went to was The Red Shoes by Powell and Pressburger. It is a stunning film and one which I was happy to have seen. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves musicals or just films in general. It deftly mixes stage work and fantasy settings with a sense of majesty as, in the middle of a performance, we enter into these characters visions of what the stage work is doing. It's a marvelous film and one which should not be missed.

I've watched a lot of films since I've been here. Mostly at film club or for class. I don't really have any time or any desire to watch them in any setting other than that.

I've already been to the cinema twice since I've been here.

Last Friday, my friend Victoria and I got together and we went on... I guess you could call it a date though I'm wary to word it as such. It was quite relaxing. We went to The Green Man - I'm becoming a fan of that pub - and had dinner. It was just good conversation. Eventually, we both in a flurry of excitement decided to head to the cinema. I have a feeling that the bottle of wine we shared might have had something to do with it though, that's all relative.

We headed back to University Station and grabbed a train to Fiveways. Her flat is in that area. We found out the showtimes and we weren't left with much due to the lateness of the evening. We decided to go and see Up in 3D. It just got released here. It was a bit strange seeing a film again which I've already seen.... months ago.

I love that movie. It was a lot of fun.

That following Sunday, my flat mates and I all decided to see a film together. We saw Inglourious Basterds. Some of my flat mates had seen it before. Some hadn't. For me, this was my fourth time having seen the film. I love that film.

I've noticed since I've been in this country that part of my journey, one which I didn't expect I'd take but one which has happened nevertheless is a rediscovery of what my passions are. I love film and I love literature. I'm noticing that even more since I've been in this country. Rod, one of my flat mates, describes me as an intellectual. Somebody had called me a geek or a nerd. He corrected them.

That was a wonderful moment for me just because I hadn't ever really thought of myself as such. I mean, I know I'm interested in intellectual pursuits but I hadn't thought of myself in that light. I guess him calling me that has been part of my reawakening to what my drives and pursuits are.

They haven't really changed much now that I think of it, but dammit, they have been strengthened. I still have the same long term goals and desires. Now, everything just seems to be coming into a deeper sense of clarity.

First Week of School

2009-10-12T13:11:00.002-05:00

Admittedly, this is a little late.

My first week of school went fine. Finding all of my classes was simple and easy enough. Except for my class at the Selly Oak campus which is about a 50 minute walk from the main campus. I have been given a bus pass for that course. However, I did not realize that there is more than one 44 bus. They all go to the same places but at different times. I got on the 44 going into City Center when I should have gotten a bus heading up Bristol Road, headed towards Selly Oak. I ended up there just the same but it was about 10 minutes later than I needed to be. I was on the bus for about 50 minutes instead of just the normal 10 minute ride between the main campus and Selly Oak.

It could have been worse. While I was late, I still managed to participate in a class of about 60.

The most interesting first class had to be my Cold War and Film course, not so much for the course itself but for what happened afterwards. It was just an introductory day in which we went around the table introduced ourselves, got the syllabus and left.

Afterwards though, I got to talking to one of my classmates, Victoria Lester. We went down to Selly's Sausage for a full English - which is massive I might add - and proceeded to have a five hour conversation which covered a lot of topics. I can't really remember them all. We didn't really plan on having that long of a conversation. It just happened that way.

My other courses are fine. Most of them are small discussion based courses. I enjoy them all and they are all interesting albeit some are more interesting than others. I'm not a big fan of my Voicing Women course mostly due to the fact that it is stuff written in and around Shakespeare's time. It's tough material to read.

I am enjoying my Thriller, Film and Theory course. That is a lot of fun. We are reading stuff ranging from Edgar Allen Poe, Sherlock Holmes, The Big Sleep and other detective based fiction. Thrillers. Light easy reading which is fun and exciting.

Bullring Pub

2009-10-04T16:33:00.002-05:00

A week ago, myself and my flat mates all went out to the Bullring. This is a shopping center inside of Birmingham city center. It's huge. One side of it is covered in aluminum discs.

It's like any mall only a lot more compact and a lot more post modern. Some of the stores just blend together. I mean that quite literally. There are some shops which are just what they are... shops. For instance, there was a sports store we went to. Some were on a mission to find retro sports gear for a club night theme.

I was only there to find an alarm clock. I found one for 12 quid. For those of you who don't know, quid is a slang term for pound. It's not amazing. It just does the job.

Also, the Bullring is famous for a statue of a maroon-ish bull statue which stands outside guarding the front entrance. I forgot to take a photo but I have a feeling we are going to go back again.

Mark bought himself a mini table tennis set. It's now been resting on the kitchen table, which is quite small I might add, and will probably be there for the rest of the year. They play that game all the time. Sometimes whilst others are eating. The ball has landed in several peoples plates and it will probably happen again.

That night, we went up to Harbourne to go to a local pub called The Green Man. The food was quite reasonably priced as were the drinks. I found it interesting in that I spent more at the pub than I ever have at the club. It was a very good night to say the least. The food was also quite good too. I had gamon which is a grilled piece of ham with two eggs on top of it. It was a very good meal.

We also played the Pub Quiz. Essentially, everybody chips in £1 and each table is given a sheet. Then questions are asked. General knowledge. Sports. Movies and TV. That sort of thing. We came in second. That's not the first time we've had a pub quiz night. At the Pritchatts Park social, which is the campus sponsored bar for my village, we had one. My flat came in second that night as well. It seems to becoming a streak.

My Flat Mates

2009-10-03T10:38:00.002-05:00

I really like my flat mates. We are all very buddy buddy. We all get along fine. There are plenty of days in which we just sit around and talk for hours on end. There are ten of us. The kitchen, which is the communal area, can get pretty crowded from time to time.

There is Caitlin, she's a year younger than me. She's a French and Drama student. She's sort of like the mother hen of our flat. Basically, if you had a problem or needed a shoulder to cry on, she'd be there to see you through it.

Rod is 22 years old. He worked once he was done with secondary school for four years. He's into political studies and international relations. He loves to party. He can neck back alcohol like none that I've ever seen before. I played a drinking game with him called Centurion. The goal is to drink 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes, one per minute. I got up to 82 before I had to call it quits. Essentially, he's coaching me on how to drink like a Brit. Don't worry, I'm not spending all my money on alcohol. Just some of it.

Adam is an economics major. He's got flaming red hair. He's a nice guy. I had a nice long chat about Harry Potter with him one night after he got back from the club. He drunkenly made himself curry. It was quite amusing but it was still an enthralling conversation.

Laura is studying Italian and Spanish I believe. After a while it is hard to keep majors straight. She's a spitfire. She knows how to banter very well. She doesn't necessarily talk the most, but she knows how to get a good line or two in there. She is very humorous. She's also a very good cook.

Kerry is a quiet one. I haven't had too many conversations with her just because she's usually in her room. She's nice though. She's studying archaeology. The difference between her and the rest of my flat mates is that she doesn't really go for the whole club scene like the rest have. I'm not a big club fan either so I can relate. Also, she can play the violin pretty well. We could hear her playing for hours on end.

Mark is a physics major. Like me, he is also a third year student. Most programs here only last three years but his is a four year program. He is a student mentor which is sort of like an RA but without the power of writing somebody up for drinking in the dorms (which is okay here) or noise complaints. He's a nice guy. A fast talker. He's from London which is probably why. He does have quite the deviant mind though.

Maggie is also an exchange student. She's from Canada. She works out all the time and if memory serves correctly, she is also going to join a triathalon society or something like that. She's pretty nice but I haven't gotten the chance to really get to know her very well. She's very health conscious.

We do have a 24 year old post graduate living with us. His name is Adam and he's studying to become a medic. I talked with him a lot earlier but I don't see him much anymore because of how much work he's doing. His room is literally just tubs and tubs of books. The rooms also aren't very big to begin with. He's pretty much packed in there like a sardine. He's a nice guy though and we get along just fine. He's also not really into the club scene.

Then there is Harry. He's a first year who loves to club and rave like no one I've ever seen. He's nice when he's sober but I'm not really a fan of him when he gets drunk. At one club, he apparently threw up eight times in there. Twice in the toilet and six times on the dance floor either in the corner or in a glass before he got thrown out. While that's kind of impressive that he was able to do that eight times before he got caught, it's also not very flattering. Don't get me wrong though, he is a nice guy and he will be there if any of us gets into trouble. For instance, we all went out to the club Risa. I got lost in the shuffle after a few hours. He found me on the street and we all piled into a cab. If he hadn't found me, I don't really know how I would have gotten home. We have gotten a noise complaint filed against us, in no small part due to him shouting chants on weekdays whilst he's absolutely plastered.

Classes

2009-10-03T10:23:00.002-05:00

They do registration a bit differently here. Instead of everything being online for registration, like at the University of Iowa, they have face to face meetings. So, if I want to register for a film course, which I did, I would have to go up to the American and Canadian Studies department on the fourth floor of the Arts building and talk with one of the office staff.

I did a lot of running around in the first few weeks here. Registering for classes.... excuse me, modules, attending inductions, signing up for the film society, buying books, food and drinks.

The courses I'm going to be taking are

Death and the Moving Image (Term 2)
Theatre and Cultural Politics
Voicing Women (early women's writing)
John Donne and Metaphysical Poetry
Thriller, Film and Theory
American Musicals in the 20th Century (Term 2)
Cold War Film

All in all I'm looking forward to all of my courses. They all sound intriguing at the very least. I also like the way in which they will be assessed. One giant paper due at the beginning of next term which I shall write over Christmas Holiday rather than two or three smaller papers scattered throughout the course of the year.

There is also a lot of reading. I mean... A... LOT of reading. However, I'm looking forward to it.

Also, the courses only meet once a week or twice if there is a screening involved. Most of the course work is independent reading and studying. It is different than back home. This will definitely shake up my college experience and my study habits.

One last note, my Theatre and Cultural Politics course actually meets on a different part of the campus than the main one. The main campus is in Edgbaston. It's sort of like the Iowa campus in that there is just one big blob of buildings. The Selly Oak campus, which is where my Theatre course is, is a good thirty minute hike away from the main part of the campus. But all is okay because as a student, I have a free bus pass for the 44 buss which will take me there and back with no worries.

First Few Nights Here

2009-09-23T09:09:00.002-05:00

The second day here was pretty cool. It was also really long. I had decided to explore the campus for a bit. Needless to say, I got lost something massive. I was trying to head to Selly Oak so I could get a spot of breakfast. I ended up there completely by accident but that was not before I took a wrong way... ended up going past the Aston Webb, the clock tower and the guild.

I finally found my way there though. I found a small hole in the wall diner called Cafe Face. I got the full English breakfast. If any of you ever go to England this is the one thing you need to try.

The full English consists of eggs, baked beans, two pieces of toast, two pieces of sausage, mushrooms, tomato, hash browns, black pudding and bacon. I might be forgetting something. There is just so much food. I had it with coffee. I've since been told not to do that because it is best with tea. I had it again later in the week and it is a lot better with tea.

By the way, the British do make tea all the time. I mean, all the time. It is pretty quaint.

That night we had an invent at the Social which is one of the many university sponsored pubs on campus. It's on the second floor of the building. The front of it is all glass. It's a pretty nice building.

Anyway, the even being held was called a Traffic light party. If you were wearing green then you were single, yellow was a question mark (i.e. you could be persuaded) and red meant that you did have a boyfriend or girlfriend. It was pretty interesting.

We did a little bit of pre gaming beforehand so as to not spend all our money at the bar. Once there it was a flurry of meeting people, trying to explain where Iowa is in the states... that sort of thing. There was one man I met named Fairchra. He was Irish. Strange thing though is that he goes completely against type in that he actually doesn't like the taste of alcohol at all. He told me that he doesn't even drink.

But that wasn't the most interesting thing to happen that night. Later on in the evening I met a man who had lived in Iraq for most of his life. He was about my age. He and I had a very intense political discussion. An Iraqi and an American talking politics and religion probably sounds like a recipe for a roadside bomb but it actually went quite well with quotes from the Koran, French philosopher Bertrand Russell and we both talked about our own personal experiences. It was quite academic. My flat mates though had left in a hurry just because they thought it would blow up but like I said, it was quite academic.

I turned in earlier than most though. The music was quite loud and I was pretty exhausted from walking all over the place. I just needed to pass out.

If I had to say what my biggest frustration is with this university is though is the amount of running around I've been having to do. Unlike Iowa, wherein everything is pretty much online, here everything is done in person. While that is nice, as it does force one to move around quite a bit, it is so slow and sometimes quite annoying. For instance, just to get my online code (which they should have sent to me by the time I got here, but they didn't) it took about an hour and a half of waiting in line. I registered online pretty easily but still... I couldn't get my ID card until the next day. I also haven't been able to open up a bank account just because of all the backup the banks are facing.

That's not to say that there aren't good things on campus. Near the university center there is a fruit stand. I bought some strawberries for a pound... quite a lot of strawberries actually. Fruit here is surprisingly cheap and it all tastes a lot better than what I've had in the States. Also, the sodas do taste a lot different here than they do back home. I had a Dr. Pepper today and was taken aback by how different it was flavored. I don't know if I like it yet or not.

I finally have gotten registered for some courses. I'll be taken Cold War Film, Death and the Moving Image, John Donne and Metaphysical Poets as well as Voicing Women in the 17th Century plust The Thriller, Fiction and Film Theory. I'm still not finished registering but I'm quite excited.

They also have a lot of sponsored clubs on campus. It is much more prominent here than it is at Iowa. I plan on joining the film club as well as joining the Eurobrum club. It is a club designed for foreign exchange students. They organize a lot of day trips and stuff like that. It'll be a good way of meeting other foreign students as well as being able to see England for cheap.

Probably though my biggest frustration with uni is Fresher's Fest. It is essentially a big party which goes on throughout the course of the first two weeks of school in which everybody goes clubbing especially first years. I've been there and I've done that so I'm not really interested. My biggest annoyance is one of my flat mates Harry. He came back last night with the party in tow and started pounding on everybody's door screaming "Oakley Court! Flat 4! Party Flat!" It's funny now in retrospect but it was not funny then. It took until four am for him to pass out. This type of rave/club atmosphere is going on until the end of the second week of school. I'm not happy about that and neither is my next door neighbor Andy. He's a post grad student. The other foreign exchange student, Maggie, is not happy about it either. Us three feel that he may have insecurity issues. That whole loudest dog in the room is also the most unconfident kind of thing.

Well, more to come soon.

Ted, I want my sandwich.

Flight and First Day

2009-09-21T12:04:00.003-05:00

My flights were not too bad. Before I left my parents took me out to eat at Hu Hot in Iowa City. That was very good and I can't wait to go back.

After that they dropped me off at the airport and I gave up my cell phone and said my goodbyes. Then it was waiting at the terminal for 2 hours. Cedar Rapids is a boring airport to be in for 2 hours. It's so... dull.

The flight up to Minneapolis didn't take very long. Just under an hour. Once there I walked around MSP for a while and got dinner at TGI Fridays. Whilst there, in a case of serendipity, the song London Calling by The Clash was playing. It was the best possible way to end a meal for me.

After that it was back to waiting. And waiting and waiting some more. The stores and shops after a while got really really boring.

Finally at 9:15 we boarded the flight and left. The flight itself was just under 8 hours. It wasn't bad. It just got old after a while. I was seated next to a girl who was going for her Post Grad work so we talked for a bit. To my right was an elderly Indian couple. They were nice.

I also watched Star Trek on the little TV monitor on the back of my seats. There were a ton of movies to pick from but I didn't really want to watch any of them. I slept for a bit but the constant noise of the jet engine plus the popping in my ears was really annoying. Almost impossible to sleep in a place like that.

Also the food on the airplane was equally as dull. It was just a step above a TV dinner. I got a dinner and a breakfast but seriously, each one could have been a lot better. The drink service was good though. I got several cups of coffee just because I knew I was going to need that to make it through the rest of the day.

Once at Heathrow, I went through customs right away. That was pretty quick. I got my luggage and then it was off again to get to Terminal 3. I had to take a train to get there. Carrying 2 duffel bags is a pain in the ass through that airport. Even with the carts.

Once at Terminal 3, I found the University of Birmingham welcom committee and from there we loaded onto a bus and headed on up to Brum. It was only a 2 and a 1/2 hour bus ride or so. It wasn't too bad. I got to know a few of the international students but most of us were crashing after our flights. I even fell asleep listening to the Beastie Boys. I don't quite know how I managed to pull that one off.

I got settled into my flat and I got everything set up as quick as I could. My flat mates are all really nice. Maggie, a Canadian, lives just down the hall from me. There is also Rod, Caitlin, Laura, Kerry, Mark, Andy, Adam and Harry. They're all pretty unique. I'll make sure to tell you all about them later.

After we all got to know each other for a bit we went down to the Pritchatts Park Pub. Over here, they have uni sponsored pubs. It's pretty interesting considering over at Iowa that wouldn't fly. We have bars but not any uni sponsored drinking events. After we went to that pub we went down to the guild which was converted into a club -- it wasn't too far off from what the clubs are like in Iowa City.

Once we got back, we had tea and toast. Then I crashed.

That's was just the first night. I don't really have much in the way of jet lag due to the fact that I stayed up so late.

More to come soon.

Teddy I will get my sandwich upon graduation.

Flightplan

2009-09-18T02:26:00.002-05:00

Well, in about 14 hours or so, I'll be heading out to the UK. My flightplan is to to fly from Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis and from there connect over to London Heathrow. It's going to be a long flight but hopefully a good one.

I like flying but I haven't flown since 2006 when I went out to Vancouver on a youth trip with a local church in town. I'm looking forward to this. It's what I've been looking forward to all summer.

Summer for me was kind of like going into exile. I was hoping to find a summer job but that didn't work out too well for me. Essentially, my summer consisted of having nothing to do and all day to do it. It was dull.

I did read a lot over the summer. I read:

Demons by Dostoevsky
The Double by Dostoevsky
The Plague by Camus
Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut
The Black Dahlia by Ellroy
Blood Meridian by McCarthy

I might be forgetting something. I also watched a lot of movies. I would go on movie renting binges. Family Video in town has some pretty good deals on movies. I saw a lot of films. Some I had heard of and others I hadn't. Either way, I watched a lot of movies.

I also hung out with friends when we could. Playing video games with them or just chilling. I also went to church as well as slept. A lot.

The most exciting thing I did over the summer was get my Visa. That process was so much paperwork. It was a bit ridiculous but hey, I got it so everything is all good.

I also was able to make it up to Iowa City at least once to see most of my college friends. If I didn't see you then I promise next year we'll hang out and catch up some time.

That was a good weekend. I'm going to miss them and I'm glad we all got together at least once to have a grand old time of our typical college angst driven debauchery. I hope they have a good year without me.

Well, I need to finish packing and try and get some more sleep. I'm looking forward to this year and it's finally here. This last week has been the longest just because of the anticipation. Oh well. This has been a long time coming but tomorrow, I'm heading off.

Again, Teddy Soldberg owes me a sandwich. (I'm not going to forget about that Teddy.)

3 1/2 Hours for 3 1/2 Minutes

2009-07-10T19:04:00.003-05:00

This past Tuesday on the seventh of July, I had to go up and get my biometrics done for my visa. Essentially I had to get my fingerprints taken which they are now going to run through a database to make sure I am who I say I am. And to make sure that I'm not a serial killer or a terrorist or a fugitive on the run from the law. This Visa process is ridiculous.

Anyway, this is going to need some back story. My Uncle Jack, my mom's brother, died on the fifth. He lives in Mississippi so my parents needed to get down there to make the funeral as well as my mom needed to be down near family. There were several options. Either my dad took me up on Tuesday and we all left on Wednesday for Mississippi or they went ahead without me and I went up with my good friend Caleb. We went with the second option. It's not that I didn't want to be there but that I felt it was more important for my mom to get there and to be around family.

Uncle Jack was a good man. Intelligent. He had an IQ of 160 and was a member of Mensa. However he also had led a hard life. My parents told me that he didn't really grow up until about the age of 40. He was an alcoholic and he did dabble in drugs but he also lived a very unique life. I don't know much about him but I do know that he did go to Woodstock, like the original Woodstock. He was a New York cabbie at one point in time and he also transported oil or supplies in the Congo. I'm not quite sure. I wish I could have gotten a chance to know him but what I do know sounds like he was an incredibly interesting man. He had been through AA and was sober for many years before he died. He was 61.

Tuesday morning, my friend Caleb came over and we went up to Des Moines around 9:00. My appointment was at one and we were going to arrive a little after eleven. We wanted there to be no rush. We get there and we went for lunch. We settle on Taco John's. Caleb locks the car on the rationale that Des Moines is a bigger city than Mount Pleasant. Big mistake. Caleb has the only car on record or at least the only one that I know of that has a seperate lock key from an ignition key. He left the lock key at home. You see where this is going. Yeah. We were locked out of the car and all my documentation that was needed for my appointment was stuck in there as well. I needed that paperwork for this appointment. Of course, I didn't realize that we were in quite a pickle.

We decide to wait and just get our lunch. We figured that the police could open the door for us. We thought wrong. Apparently they changed that policy. So, we asked the employees for help and they obliged. One of the windows was down by a few centimeters. They had these rods which we used to try and pop open the lock. That didn't work. Even though it didn't work, I was very thankful to them for trying to help. My appointment was approaching quite quickly. I of course was in a panic.

So I called up my college friend Shawn Gude to come and help. He brought some clothes hangers and we tried to use them to push the unlock button. That didn't work. However, Caleb had been able to get a hold of a lock smith in the time it took for Shawn to find us. The locksmith unlocked the car in about 4 minutes using special tools and what not. Caleb asked if he had to pay for it. The man laughed and said, "Sure."

I grabbed my documentation and Shawn and I took off for the Federal Building. He works there part time. We said our good byes and I arrived at the room I needed to be at just in time. The staff then took me over to a machine which scans for fingerprints. I thought they were going to have to use ink. The whole process of scanning each individual finger literally took 3 1/2 minutes. With the car ride and the time we were trapped outside of the parking lot, that all added up to about 3 1/2 hours. It's sort of anti-climactic in a way.

To make up for the hassle, we drove over to Iowa City and had a nice cigar at Tobacco Bowl. I also stopped by Prairie Lights Books and picked up a copy of Crime and Punishment. I'm starting to get into Dostoevsky. Yes, I am that pretentious.

And Teddy Solberg still owes me that sandwich.

Why I'm Going Abroad and What I Want to Accomplish

2009-07-05T02:23:00.000-05:00

I suppose I should start by explaining why it is that I want to go abroad. There are various reasons as to why. There is the practical reason. Which is quite a long one. Back in February when I decided to go on this little adventure several various things fell through. I had tried to become an RA. That fell through. All of my friends had gotten places and apartments lined up so I couldn't really jump on any of their bandwagons. I didn't really want to live in the dorms again and I didn't really want to find a place of my own. This is right around the time the idea for going abroad came into my head. I also figured that junior year was really the last year to do it. Senior year is about mopping things up and is a time to look at graduation rather than going somewhere else. At least from my point of view.

At first it was only going to be for the spring semester. I was planning on living in the dorms one semester and then I was looking at going to Cork, Ireland in the spring. My brother Chris, who had studied abroad in France, told me to see if there were any year long programs I would be interested in. This is when I found out about the UK Exchange program. It sounded too good to be true but when I started doing rough estimates on cost, it looked like it would cost just the same as living in Cork for a semester.

At first I had settled on the University of Hull but that fell through. However, my study abroad adviser recommended that I look into the University of Birmingham. I fell in love with the idea immediately. Mostly because it is closer to what I wanted to study and experience. This being Stratford-upon-Avon and Shakespeare. I had taken a Screening Shakespeare course and have fallen in love with his works. Hamlet especially.

Practical reasons aside, there are other reasons as to why I wanted to study abroad. A lot of my mentors back home have mentioned that I should look into studying abroad during my college years. They told me that it is easiest to travel when one is a student rather than later in life. Junior year is really the perfect time to do so and right now with my life I am looking for something different.

I love college. I love my friends. All of them. But I have grown tired of the same old grind. College isn't that exciting for me anymore. It has lost its sense of wonderment. With each new semester, I know that I'm going to have a paper within three or four weeks and I know that I am going to have about two weeks to write it and usually said paper will be five to six pages long. Even when I have multiple papers to write it never feels like a challenge. I know that sounds like an arrogant thing to say but it's the truth. I have never really stressed too much about writing a paper or at least I don't stress about it anymore. There was a time but that was when I was fresh in the game.

Right now, I am in search of a change. I need something that is totally different than what I am used to. I also have been wanting to go on an adventure and this feels like it will be a grand quest. I am just tired of things being the same. I need something new. And if this whole study abroad experience is a failure, well... least I tried.

People have asked me why I've been doing this or if I'm concerned about going abroad or how much its going to cost and if I've truly planned ahead. I remember one person told me that this whole idea sounded too good to be true. Maybe it is, but I'm not going to worry about those things. I am not going to worry about how expensive this adventure is going to be or if this might just be one massive failure. I'm not going to worry about the "what ifs" because I've come to find that those concerns just get in the way of a situation and cause much unneeded stress.

By the way, Teddy Solberg still owes me a sandwich.