Sunday, December 14, 2008

End of Term Update

I apologize for the infrequency with which I have been updating this blog. My only excuse is that it has been a very busy end to my term here in Norwich.

Unfortunately, since it has been so long, I will not be able to remember exactly what I've been doing since my last post, nor in much detail, but here is my attempt.

I believe I left off saying that my next event was another LitSoc discussion. If I recall correctly, it was slightly more successful than the previous one, but there was not as much food. I think it was just Alan, Chad, Hannah, and I, and we read a couple poems that I had found on the New Yorker website and sent to Siobhan. Oh well. We can't all be the Literati.

Moving on. Thursday, Nov. 20, the Humanities students went to the Norwich Theatre Royal to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Romeo and Juliet. I headed over with Leah, Juli, Lauren Deitz, Meghan, and Zach. The quickest way to the theatre was through Chapelfield Mall, so we walked through the mall and came out to the courtyard where there was a juggling show going on. We stayed to watch for a few minutes and then started off toward the theatre. But no sooner had we gotten away from the mall then we saw a huge crowd gathered outside the Forum and City Hall. Curious, we walked over and asked what was going on. It was the Great Christmas Lights Switch-on, we were told, and we got there just 20 seconds before all the Christmas lights in the area were turned on. There was a choir singing carols in front of City Hall, Father Christmas came out, and fireworks shot off the roof of City Hall and across the street near the market. We were all giddy like small children, trying to catch the fake snow and giggling, "It feels like Christmas!" It was really nice to be part of a big commuity gathering like that, since Christmas, cliche as it is, is a time to gather together and celebrate.

But we couldn't celebrate for long, since we were due at the theatre. I hate to say it, but I really do not like Romeo and Juliet. It's probably my least favorite Shakepearean play that I've read, and I've never seen a performance of it that I've enjoyed. Unfortunately, that was still true at the end of the night. You'd think the Royal Shakespeare Company would be qualified enough to take what is a very difficult play to perform because of how cliche it is and transform it into something enjoyable. Not so. They basically turned it into some sort of "The Godfather" motif, used switchblades as their "rapiers," and would snap and freeze-frame for asides, then snap to return to action. If I wanted that, I would have just gone to see West Side Story. Also, most annoying, was that the Balcony Scene was NOT done on a balcony. They didn't even try. Juliet was standing on her bed, leaning over the headboard facing the audience, while Romeo stood next to her, looking up and pretending that she was several feet, not inches, above him. It didn't work. I don't care how "experimental" they were trying to be. The Balcony Scene HAS to be done on a balcony. The acting was all right, but I would have expected better from the RSC. I still haven't decided what I thought of Juliet. I didn't like the character, but that's because she was played as if she were a 13 year old girl...which she is. She threw tantrums and was impulsive and silly, everything that a normal 13 year old girl would be. But Juliet is this classic tragic heroine who dies for love, a symbol of romance, and to see her degraded to her realistic state just sort of killed the romantic mood. The only actor I really liked was the one who played Friar Lawrence. He was easily my favorite character in this rendition. He was the wise old advisor, but he had a cheeky side, too, and was often funny. I think the actor did very well, because Friar Lawrence can be a very boring character if played badly. All in all, though, I did not enjoy it. I think Romeo and Juliet will just never work for me. It also didn't help that the audience was full of annoying 12 year olds who wouldn't shut up and would "oooh" at every kissing scene.
My friend Alex and two of his flatmates were at the theatre, too, and I met up with them once the show was over. I went back to them to Alex's flat, and he and I watched a couple episodes of Bottom before I got too tired and went home.

It snowed sometime during that week, as well. Snow in mid-November would be odd enough in Carlisle or Leesburg, but apparently it's extremely odd here in Norwich. If it snows at all here, in snows in late January or February. And it hardly ever accumulates. This time it was enough for people to make pretty substantial snow men. And EVERYONE was excited about it. I went into my Shakespeare class the following Monday and the first thing anyone talked about was the snow. I must have had three people ask me if I had gone out to play in the snow...which I didn't, unfortunately. I think I take snow for granted, supposing that it will just happen again. From what I hear about Norwich, that might be all I get for the year.

I know something happened on Tuesday of that week, too, but I can't remember. If it suddenly strikes me, I'll come back and edit.

Wednesday, Nov. 26, I can't remember what I did during the day, but in the evening I went over to Unthank Rd. (Prof. Rudalevige's house) to help his wife Christine make pies for Thanksgiving. A bunch of us went over together and we spend a few hours helping. At one point Prof. Rudy ordered a ton of Indian food for us, and we basically pigged out, made pie, and went home. I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but those are the highlights.

Thursday, Nov. 27, of course, was Thanksgiving. In the afternoon we all went over to Unthank for dinner. Instead of our usual picnic-round-the-living-room style of eating, we had tables with table settings. Rudy's kids Eliza and Owen had been kind enough to make us each our own hand turkey place cards. Christine was wonderful and made a TON of food, including a stuffed mushroom to accomodate Leah's and my vegetarian needs. I don't generally like mushrooms, but this was delicious. There were mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce...oh, it was wonderful! I'm not sure what was stranger, to be honest: Having Thanksgiving in England or not having Thanksgiving with my family.
After dinner had finished and pie had been eaten, we somehow ended up playing charades in the living room.

Friday, I can't exactly recall what I did. I know it was my dad's birthday and I talked to him on Skype, even though he was sick and lying on the couch all day. Sorry, Dad.

Saturday I went over to Unthank to babysit for Eliza and Owen. Except for a little tantrum when I was trying to get Eliza to bed, they were really well-behaved. I even taught them to play Jungle Speed, but Eliza wasn't terribly interested and it only works with three people or more. We ate dinner, watched X-Factor (British American Idol) for a while, and then it was time for bed. Once I had finally gotten them to bed, I sat down to watch TV, which was strange. I haven't had access to a TV since London, and I didn't have time to watch TV at the Arran House. So I flipped through channels and found that Doctor Who was on. Ironically enough, it was the episode that my flatmate James had been telling me about for weeks, where the Doctor goes to a planet that is suspended in orbit around a black hole, held there by some force. There is a mining operation on the planet to find the source of the energy, and it turns out to be Satan, trapped in the center of the planet for all eternity. It was a really good, very interesting episode. Unfortunately it was in two parts, and only the first one was on. So I watched an episode of House and did some reading before Prof. Rudy and his wife came home. Oh, and they let me do my laundry, which was much appreciated.

I woke up Sunday morning and watched the second half of the Doctor Who episode. I can see why it's such a popular show over here. That episode as particularly well-written, but they're not all like that. However, it's pretty addictive and people get really wrapped up in it. There's a huge controversy now because David Tennant, the actor who plays the Doctor, is leaving the show after this next season. Several people have played the Doctor, which they get away with by saying that each time the Doctor dies, he takes a new body. In any case, since David Tennant is leaving the show, they have to cast a new Doctor. It's all very secretive and no one knows who the new Doctor will be, but you can place a bet, if you want.

I've also discovered and become obsessed with this BBC children's show called Young Dracula. It's sort of corny, but it works, in its own way. Basically Count Dracula, his son Vlad, and daughter Ingrid have been chased out of Transylvania by an angry peasant mob and have come to living in the ruins of an old castle overlooking a small suburban British town. Vlad just wants to be a normal kid and befriends the town's vampire-obsessed geek Robin. Ingrid is a particularly nasty teenager who is ignored by her father. In the second episode a incompetent father-son duo of vampire slayers comes to town, discovers that Vlad's family are all vampires, and spend the rest of the series trying to slay them. There are some other odds and ends, but it all makes for an interesting child-friendly interpretation of the vampire mythology. I'm surprised that I don't hate it, considering how it warps traditional vampiric themes, but it's cute. And the actor who plays the Count, Keith-Lee Castle, is particularly entertaining.

Let's see. What else? Somewhere between all this YouTube watching, I actually did some research for my three end-of-term essays and went to class. On Tuesday, Dec. 2 Chad, Leah, Lauren Deitz, and I went to the LitSoc pre-LCR bash for the Skool Daze LCR. Corie was kind enough to lend me her school tie and a button-down shirt, so I felt like a Harry Potter character, even though almost all school kids here wear uniforms. It was fun, but I only stayed at the LCR until midnight, then went back home. I've been feeling ill and tired for a while, so I didn't want to stay too late.

On Friday, Dec. 5, we got up absurdly early to catch a train to Cambridge. There, Prof. Rudy's old college friend Dr. Bert Vaux, Professor of Linguistics and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, took us on a tour around town. We saw the King's College buildings, went inside the beautiful chapel, and walked around the river. As we were walking, this guy in a punt called out to us and tried to get us all to agree to take a group punt tour with him and his friend who ran a punt tour service on the river. Betsy, I thought of you because he was charming and non-threatening, persuasive...and in a boat. Much like a certain Yatchsman. We did not, however, give in, and continued on our way to have lunch in the King's College dining hall. Although not Christ Church, Oxford's dining hall (the inspiration for Hogwarts's Great Hall), King's College's dining hall is still very pretty, and vastly superior to our cafeteria at Dickinson. After lunch we went to Prof. Vaux's rooms to discuss Oxbridge-style higher education in England. It's pretty intense, and I honestly don't know if I'd be able to handle it. Looks like there's a significant gap between the Oxbridge standards of education and UEA's.
After our meeting with Dr. Vaux we were free to wander town on our own. Chad and I did some Christmas shopping and then I dragged him to Christ's College, alma mater of Milton. There wasn't much to see there, but I was happy enough to know that I was walking the same paths that Milton once traversed. We wandered around town a bit more, finally settling down for dinner at The Mitre pub, and getting a train back to Norwich. I agree with most people. Cambridge is far nicer than Oxford.

I know I spent the weekend working on essays. I wrote my Shakespeare essay on plays-within-plays and my Medieval Writing essay on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Matthieu came over on Saturday night and we had dinner. Sunday night was the last Circus meeting. It was rather disappointing. No one showed up except Matthieu, Samantha, the officers, and I, and people were too lazy to actually get equiptment, so we just sat around talking for a couple hours. Then Matt and I went to the pub to try and find Alex, since his birthday was the next day. I gave Alex his birthday present (a Tic-Tac-Toe Rubix Cube) and gave both him and Matt their Christmas presents (a book on English swear words for Matt and a book of foreign pick-up lines for Alex, since he claims to be 100% British and a perfect speaker of the English language, despite the fact that he was born and raised in Greece). We went back to Alex's room to watch a couple episodes of Fawlty Towers, bickered, had a tickle fight, and wished Alex a happy 19th birthday once the clock struck midnight.

Monday, Dec 8, I spent working on papers. In the evening we went to Rudy's house one last time to wrap up our fall semester, eat one last meal of Christine's amazing cooking, and play Yankee Swap. I ended up with a tub of McVitie's Mini Digestives, which were delicious. The funniest gift of the night, though, was when Chad opened the UEA Naked Calender, shrieked, fumbled, put it face down on the ground and sat on it. He eventually traded it for Chris's chocolates.

Tuesday I polished my two UEA papers and started my paper for HUM 310 on Victorian medievalism, religion, and neo-Gothic architecture. For both of my Dickinson papers so far, I've written on architecture for some reason. It seems I've found a hobby. None of my papers are up to my usual standard, which bothers me. I'm not particuarly happy with anything I've written this year. I found the writing process extremely difficult for these last papers, though, since I have been plagued with England ADD since I got here. I don't know what it is, exactly, but I can't seem to concentrate on work. The internet is a dangerous thing, and YouTube has taken so much of my time, but I could get distracted by that just as easily at home. It's not that I'm not interested in my work. I really enjoy doing all the research, taking notes, learning about my topic. I just can't make myself sit down and punch out a decent essay. Now I'm nervous about going back to Dickinson and having to write a 50 page thesis, which I want to take very seriously and do well on. I'm sure once I get back into a more academic atmosphere, the spark will return to me. Until then, though, I'll have to put some more effort into my work for next semester.

I worked some more on Wednesday and Thursday, and I turned my HUM 310 paper Thursday afternoon. Friday I went to the LitSoc Holiday lunch at the Mad Moose Pub. A good 15 people were supposed to show up but, once again, it was just me and the officers, and Siobhan's friend Krissy. We ate, talked, and played a little Apples to Apples before wishing each other a Merry Christmas and heading off. That night I went over to Matthieu's house since he had offered to cook me dinner, and we spent some time hanging out, since he was leaving very early the next morning for London and I wouldn't see him until January.

Yesterday I got up, made myself breakfast, and took a bus down to the train station so I could catch the 9:57 train. I did catch the 9:57 train...just not the right one. Instead of getting the one that went out to the West Midlands, I ended up on a local train that went to Lowestoft. I knew it sounded wrong when they annouced the stops. In any case, the guy on the train was really nice and wrote a little note on my ticket that ended up being a free pass on every train I was on the rest of the day, since I ended up missing all of my intended trains. Finally, at 3:15, I made it to Durham, where Erica picked me up at the train station. Durham is a beautiful old city. Unlike Norwich, it's kept a lot more of its medieval charm. The castle is a far more impressive castle than ours, and the cathedral is enormous. Durhman University is set up like the Oxbridges, with Colleges within the university scattered throughout the town. Erica is at St. Chad's College. Anyway, that's where I am now, sitting in Erica's room, which as a gorgeous view of the city. Last night we had dinner with some of her friends and went on a bar crawl to several of the other colleges' bars. There will be another update once this trip is done. Now it's off to see the St. Chad's Christmas pantomime, which is Aladdin themed. Should be interesting.

Oh, and I need to rant on the National Health Service. But that will come later.

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