Nott What You'd Expected...

Margret Thatcher is a Bitch.

Dramatic title, for sure, but after having experienced the crap that is the Nottingham Mass Transit System, I feel like I am well suited to make such a remark. For a little background, before Margret Thatcher's tyrannical Torry (uber conservative) reign over the UK, cars were almost nonexistant. People were able to traverse from city centre to their homestead with relative ease, and make it back from work in time to watch their favourite BBC dramas.... now, thanks to Thatcher's infatuation with the free market economy and daily asskissings from the car companies, the car is slowly taking over the English landscape. Craving that sort of 'American Freedom' that comes with being able to gas up (for 98 pence a litre) and drive to Wales for the weekend is almost too good to be true.

So, here we are, about 45 min. walk from the University and without any decent modes of transportation after 6pm. Please note that crosscountry practice runs until 6.30. So, for yet another day, Hil and I explored the hilly expanse that is the UNott campus, and came up screwed again....arriving home at the flat at 8pm- almost two hours after practice was over....

In other news, Brandon and I were able to make it to our overly crowded Physical Landscapes of Great Britain class, or as I will think of it, Glorified Earth Science (9th Grade UHS class)... What's interesting to note is how indepth and focused these students are on their geography and geology. Because we're taking it as a Luther-transfer elective class, we could honestly care less about this stuff, but these kids are in love with Geology. They heart it. At several times in the lecture (our professor is awesome), they would shout out answers to obscure geological questions or complicated and random answers about American geography that we hardly knew in a way that was almost cultlike and creepy.... "San Andreas Fault!" they would yell, and later criticize the stupid Americans for building hospitals, resovoirs, and homes on the epicentre....

Cross practice was great- we started late, but the run was amazing. We again did a loop around Wollaton Park (as is the practice every single monday), but this run was far and above better than last week... The actual running was great, and the conversation with a kid from Hong Kong who was raised in a private International High School yet was still very British was entertaining. We talked about language differences, pronunciations and otherwise, that bugged him and myself (Tuhmayto, Toemahtoe, Contrehversy, Contruhversy, Jello vs Jelly vs Jam vs Preserves, etc), and later I talked with Tom about US Div III XC- Dickinson as it turns out is the Luther of the East Coast (can't quite get over the whole Wartburg thing....or in their case, Haverford...)

All in all, a decent day. I have a ton of reading for our Luther classes here at the flat, and much American Lit to digest, but all in all a very easy schedule considering I only have one class a day for three days of the week, and no subsequent classes to speak of....

Tommorow I'll more than likely run on my own, read, do my weekly cleaning, and read some more. Maybe make zucchini bread? Maybe this list is personal, because if I were reading it, i'd be bored as hell.

To maintain a strong readership, I'll include more pics:

These first few are just funny signs, interesting tidbits, and a few inside jokes from our latest trip to Wales....
Apparently this is a problem??
This one's for Aunt Deb.... you roodee....
These next ones are a compliation of the best Cigarette Warnings from my stay here so far...

Say what?Well, yeah....

An oldie, but a good one....again, who are they trying to target with this one?Telling it like it is.....just in case you didn't get the message....Let's get specific.... how is that slow and painful death achieved?And yet more specifically.... for the science majors out there.....
Randoms:
Ryan showing off some pics to Anna as Kate looks on....jealous?
Myspace meets 60mph winds....
Architecturally stunning Jubilee Library (Jubilee is our sister-campus about 15 min from the flat that houses all of the Business classes.... the buildings are all wood-integrated and 'green')I'm still waiting for the day when Wes Santee, Jim Ruyan, Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, etc. make their way on to a coin in the States.... this one's for Roger Bannister, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the sub-4 minute mile.... and yes, i'm too lazy to repost it rotated clockwise....After a long hike and an awesome group pic, Ryan needs some help getting down from the rock.... this picture may or may not be staged... Back to Club Oceana, where Brandon' s face expresses exactly what we're all thinking.... This was taken back on Thursday of Oreintation...Actually from the first day in Nottingham, this documents our collective first drinks in the 'oldest pub in England', Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem... one of three Nottingham businesses to make the same claim (See also: The Salutation, The Bell)For the old UHS bretheren, this pic of a yogurt container brought back old memories as to the confusing entemelogical roots of a certain jv showchoir's name....

That's all for now..

posted by Kevin @ 10:28 PM