la semaine
predictably, Saturday & Sunday never came about in writing. they were really, really good though. Dad came by (delayed) train and i took him to his B&B, this cute Spanish tapas place. i can't describe what it was like to see him. eight months since i'd seen anyone from home, eight months. and there he was, talking, taking photos, drinking pints, browsing stores in my city, my beautiful perfect English city. unbelievably surreal. Dad loves England though, always has. the beer, the whisky, the food, the television, the history, etc. you could tell this was his little escape from home, far from the eyes of Mom, haha. he was loving it. i took him to all my favourite places that day, from the food section of Marks & Spencer to Evil Eye to Mr. £andwich to the abbey ruins. he laughed at my new English-y voice and cringed at the horrible fashion. he was in awe of the Minster and took photos of all the same, touristy things i did in my first day. in the evening, Dad asked me to phone Chris, to see if he wanted to come into town for dinner.
we ate at the Old White Swan, this gorgeous old pub in the quieter part of town. ohhh, the dinner was amazing. i love well-made pub food. afterwards we went for another pint at the Golden Fleece, the most haunted pub in York. Chris and Dad got along okay, i guess. they'd met before, on Skpye chats, so they weren't total strangers. thing is, both of them are shy with strangers, so there were gaps in the conversation. not to mention, they don't have a whole lot in common, haha. if Mom were there it would've been better, you know, having a nosy, chatty woman there who asks all the right questions. but it was alright, neither of them scared the other too much, haha.
on Sunday, Dad came up to the campus in the morning. (his phone call scared Chris and i out of bed, ahaha, awkwarddd.) we went for a walk around the lake, and i showed him everything: all the colleges, the stray with the cows, Buddha, the Quiet Place, Hes Hall, all the birds, the fish, everywhere. of course, he also had to come back to Cell Block so i showed him the disgraceful kitchen, small cell rooms, and all the glorious rest. he left, leaving me to study for the exam. in the evening, i went into town to meet him for dinner at the Lowther, mmm.
by the time he left on Wednesday (his train came over an hour and a half late, holy shite, epic fail England) he had spent countless hours at the station trainspotting, visited the best museums, gone up the Minster tower, eaten at the good pubs, had fish and chips, ate one of Chris's curries (and liked it! of course), met all my best friends, and joined us for a pub quiz at McQ's. that was funny though. i was anxious fo him to meet Lee, as i know they're fairly similar: classical music, ale, military history, etc. etc. they even agree on political/educational issues, my god. they were having a grand old time, the two of them. on Tuesday night, Dad took Chris and i to Kapadokya50, a great Turkish restaurant. ohh, i'd missed Mediterranean flavours. that was better, they talked quite easily about ale and world foods. Dad even took the photos he was obliged to by Mom, haha. Chris and Dad like each other, thank god.
anyway, the rest of the week was spent mainly working on my beastly History exam. am so glad to be finished now!! though i will miss the seminars. English is crap. i'm so angry with it at the moment, but i don't want to get in to it.
over the weekend, Chris and i decided to get working on our list of things to do. Saturday morning we woke early for a nice stroll around the city walls. i had no idea it would be so lovely. the views! you could see into the clergy gardens, smell tasty bbq's, go above the city, etc. you were taken through parts of the city you had no idea existed. for instance, two of the Bars contain museums, which were great surprises. i love how York is so wrapped up in history and culture, you don't even have to look hard to find it. for that matter, most of England's like that. everywhere you look there are plaques and signs indicating a significant piece of architecture, art, torture device, etc. in the area. eight and a half months here, and i still can't get over how awesome that is. we bought lunch at Mr. £andwich, and ducked into an alleyway to eat. though it was lovely out when we left, by midday, there were clouds and lots of rain. only a poor little umbrella for the two of us! still, when the clouds parted, it was fantastic. i'm so pleased we did it.
Saturday afternoon, Chris went to watch the first Lions rugby test with Arthur and Lee, while i stayed in and.. well, nothing really. very lazy. in the evening, we ate pesto pasta for tea, and then met up with Vicki, Tom, Harriet, Jason (read: Heyson), and Anna to see Dutchie in her play this term, "You can't control how your iPod shuffles". Ellen was hesitant about our attendance, but i'd say she shouldn't've been. it wasn't a particularly classy or brililant of life-changing piece of work, but god - was it ever hilarious. it was student written, and basically a set of vignettes about student life at York Uni. more specifically, the situations were about going on nights out. there were six actors playing a variety of different parts. lots of it was crude, and hyperrealistc, but overall, it seemed freakishly accurate. the students, taxi drivers, homeless people, nurses, dj's, dancers, bartenders, couples, and bouncers were all quite good. it was fun catching the references to York things, like the cows, Ziggy's club, Nag's Head, at £4.50 for 45mins, it was definitely pricey, but it was nice to watch Ellen.
later, we went for drinks (without Tom and Vicki, but with Lee) to the Courtyard. this was really nice too. we quite literally raced there, good fun. Chris and i are dead broke so we didn't have anything (well, except the Kronenburg's from Lee, haha) but it was fantastic nonetheless. just casual, relaxed, fun, with no one i didn't particularly like, you know? we don't do quiet nights often enough.
this morning (gah, this is turning into quite the entry) Chris and i decided to check out the Castle Museum. it was the same place i'd been to for my earlier Food & Drink seminar, but i hadn't seen all of it and wanted to return. the place is absolutely incredible. congratulations to the curators, because none of it was boring. i love that they didn't crowd the place with signs and writing. none of the small print, highlighting the exact details and history of every single artifact. we saw the period rooms, the exhibits on marriage/birth/death, the Chinese experience in York, the process of cleaning through the ages, the seriously impressive recreated Victorian street (the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa could learn a few lessons from them), military studio, fashion, prison cells, toys, WWII in York, on and on and on. the place is proper massive, in a beautiful old manor. one of the most interesting sections was on the 60's, the television, toys, space race, fashion, music, everything. perfect, since we'd just seen The Boat that Rocked*. after a few hours, our feet were aching, but it was worth it. in the food studio, they had this "food historian" cooking a pie similar to what Henry VIII would've eaten. it was a beautiful creation, and we got to taste it too! not bad, i tell you. he told us about the whole cooking process/getting food/serving it, and Chris was enthralled. god, that would combine two of his great loves, being a food historian.
afterwards, i dragged him into a shop to get me some wild cherry ice cream, and we began the trek back home. it was another warm, sunny day in Yorkshire, and i was loving it. right now, he's at American football, and i've got to start tea in a bit. he's dishing up some Bombay potatoes, mmm. we're definitely making progress on the list now, and i'm so glad!
* this movie was fantastic! highly, highly recommended. Richard Curtis is a genius. his first non-romantic comedy, and it was great. between the fashion and music, there was enough alone to watch. the acting, of course, was great. i mean, with Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Ken Branagh, what do you expect? pure hilarity. even Jack Davenport and Emma Thompson (really, which other actress could it have been?) made appearances. i loved the story, but above all - it was so relaxed and funny that you couldn't help but grin. very upbeat, and with its stick-it-to-the-man attitude, everyone else did as well. at the end, the entire front section of the cinema broke out into applause. we're students. we're cynical, we don't applaud! but it was that great. i suppose though, if you're writing a movie that says the government is bad and rock and roll is good, students can't help but adore it. awww, really, go see it! it'll put a smile on your face, guaranteed.
we ate at the Old White Swan, this gorgeous old pub in the quieter part of town. ohhh, the dinner was amazing. i love well-made pub food. afterwards we went for another pint at the Golden Fleece, the most haunted pub in York. Chris and Dad got along okay, i guess. they'd met before, on Skpye chats, so they weren't total strangers. thing is, both of them are shy with strangers, so there were gaps in the conversation. not to mention, they don't have a whole lot in common, haha. if Mom were there it would've been better, you know, having a nosy, chatty woman there who asks all the right questions. but it was alright, neither of them scared the other too much, haha.
on Sunday, Dad came up to the campus in the morning. (his phone call scared Chris and i out of bed, ahaha, awkwarddd.) we went for a walk around the lake, and i showed him everything: all the colleges, the stray with the cows, Buddha, the Quiet Place, Hes Hall, all the birds, the fish, everywhere. of course, he also had to come back to Cell Block so i showed him the disgraceful kitchen, small cell rooms, and all the glorious rest. he left, leaving me to study for the exam. in the evening, i went into town to meet him for dinner at the Lowther, mmm.
by the time he left on Wednesday (his train came over an hour and a half late, holy shite, epic fail England) he had spent countless hours at the station trainspotting, visited the best museums, gone up the Minster tower, eaten at the good pubs, had fish and chips, ate one of Chris's curries (and liked it! of course), met all my best friends, and joined us for a pub quiz at McQ's. that was funny though. i was anxious fo him to meet Lee, as i know they're fairly similar: classical music, ale, military history, etc. etc. they even agree on political/educational issues, my god. they were having a grand old time, the two of them. on Tuesday night, Dad took Chris and i to Kapadokya50, a great Turkish restaurant. ohh, i'd missed Mediterranean flavours. that was better, they talked quite easily about ale and world foods. Dad even took the photos he was obliged to by Mom, haha. Chris and Dad like each other, thank god.
anyway, the rest of the week was spent mainly working on my beastly History exam. am so glad to be finished now!! though i will miss the seminars. English is crap. i'm so angry with it at the moment, but i don't want to get in to it.
over the weekend, Chris and i decided to get working on our list of things to do. Saturday morning we woke early for a nice stroll around the city walls. i had no idea it would be so lovely. the views! you could see into the clergy gardens, smell tasty bbq's, go above the city, etc. you were taken through parts of the city you had no idea existed. for instance, two of the Bars contain museums, which were great surprises. i love how York is so wrapped up in history and culture, you don't even have to look hard to find it. for that matter, most of England's like that. everywhere you look there are plaques and signs indicating a significant piece of architecture, art, torture device, etc. in the area. eight and a half months here, and i still can't get over how awesome that is. we bought lunch at Mr. £andwich, and ducked into an alleyway to eat. though it was lovely out when we left, by midday, there were clouds and lots of rain. only a poor little umbrella for the two of us! still, when the clouds parted, it was fantastic. i'm so pleased we did it.
Saturday afternoon, Chris went to watch the first Lions rugby test with Arthur and Lee, while i stayed in and.. well, nothing really. very lazy. in the evening, we ate pesto pasta for tea, and then met up with Vicki, Tom, Harriet, Jason (read: Heyson), and Anna to see Dutchie in her play this term, "You can't control how your iPod shuffles". Ellen was hesitant about our attendance, but i'd say she shouldn't've been. it wasn't a particularly classy or brililant of life-changing piece of work, but god - was it ever hilarious. it was student written, and basically a set of vignettes about student life at York Uni. more specifically, the situations were about going on nights out. there were six actors playing a variety of different parts. lots of it was crude, and hyperrealistc, but overall, it seemed freakishly accurate. the students, taxi drivers, homeless people, nurses, dj's, dancers, bartenders, couples, and bouncers were all quite good. it was fun catching the references to York things, like the cows, Ziggy's club, Nag's Head, at £4.50 for 45mins, it was definitely pricey, but it was nice to watch Ellen.
later, we went for drinks (without Tom and Vicki, but with Lee) to the Courtyard. this was really nice too. we quite literally raced there, good fun. Chris and i are dead broke so we didn't have anything (well, except the Kronenburg's from Lee, haha) but it was fantastic nonetheless. just casual, relaxed, fun, with no one i didn't particularly like, you know? we don't do quiet nights often enough.
this morning (gah, this is turning into quite the entry) Chris and i decided to check out the Castle Museum. it was the same place i'd been to for my earlier Food & Drink seminar, but i hadn't seen all of it and wanted to return. the place is absolutely incredible. congratulations to the curators, because none of it was boring. i love that they didn't crowd the place with signs and writing. none of the small print, highlighting the exact details and history of every single artifact. we saw the period rooms, the exhibits on marriage/birth/death, the Chinese experience in York, the process of cleaning through the ages, the seriously impressive recreated Victorian street (the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa could learn a few lessons from them), military studio, fashion, prison cells, toys, WWII in York, on and on and on. the place is proper massive, in a beautiful old manor. one of the most interesting sections was on the 60's, the television, toys, space race, fashion, music, everything. perfect, since we'd just seen The Boat that Rocked*. after a few hours, our feet were aching, but it was worth it. in the food studio, they had this "food historian" cooking a pie similar to what Henry VIII would've eaten. it was a beautiful creation, and we got to taste it too! not bad, i tell you. he told us about the whole cooking process/getting food/serving it, and Chris was enthralled. god, that would combine two of his great loves, being a food historian.
afterwards, i dragged him into a shop to get me some wild cherry ice cream, and we began the trek back home. it was another warm, sunny day in Yorkshire, and i was loving it. right now, he's at American football, and i've got to start tea in a bit. he's dishing up some Bombay potatoes, mmm. we're definitely making progress on the list now, and i'm so glad!
* this movie was fantastic! highly, highly recommended. Richard Curtis is a genius. his first non-romantic comedy, and it was great. between the fashion and music, there was enough alone to watch. the acting, of course, was great. i mean, with Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Ken Branagh, what do you expect? pure hilarity. even Jack Davenport and Emma Thompson (really, which other actress could it have been?) made appearances. i loved the story, but above all - it was so relaxed and funny that you couldn't help but grin. very upbeat, and with its stick-it-to-the-man attitude, everyone else did as well. at the end, the entire front section of the cinema broke out into applause. we're students. we're cynical, we don't applaud! but it was that great. i suppose though, if you're writing a movie that says the government is bad and rock and roll is good, students can't help but adore it. awww, really, go see it! it'll put a smile on your face, guaranteed.